Any suggestions regarding to Acustica Audio?

[dark water]

It's fair to say that Acustica Audio is VERY much a divisive topic - as evidenced in MANY threads at KVR, Gearslutz and elsewhere over the past 10 years or so.
I don't think that will ever change.

Some people HATE AA plugins, some REALLY swear by them, and others (for example me) just use a few AA / Nebula programs and balance these out with some favourite algorithmic plugins as well.

As put earlier in this thread, I enjoy using some Acustica Audio plugins (eg Ruby and Lemon), but particularly several Nebula 4 programs made by Tim P, Alex B, Cupwise and VNXT.
Compared to a few years ago when I personally felt that algorithmic vst plugins didn't quite match the 'depth' / 'hardware 3D' nature of Nebula 3 (now Nebula 4) programs, I think now in 2021 there are many great algorithmic plugins on the market.

CPU hit is still much higher on my computer system when using AA / Nebula programs compared to nearly all algorithmic plugins.
However, to be completely truthful (and somewhat bizarrely to me at least), the DAW Reaper seems to be much more optimized for a lower CPU hit than when I use my Nebula 4 / AA plugins in my other DAW Ableton Live.
I don't know if users of other DAWs - eg Logic, ProTools, Bitwig etc - also find the CPU hit for AA / Nebula programs varies greatly depending upon which DAW they use, but curiously and genuinely, Reaper seems to cater for a much lower CPU hit than Ableton in my experience when using Nebula / AA.
(I think various posts at GearSlutz have also made this point about reduced CPU hit in Reaper when using Nebula / AA plugins).

Anyway, I imagine a few years from now threads will still have people divisively acclaiming / denouncing Acustica Audio in ways that most other software developers don't endure

The good news in 2021 for those who HATE AA and Nebula is that there are so many great compressors / EQs / distortion / reverb etc plugins on the market nowadays that one is spoilt for choice.
Time and life are very short - and we waste too much of them grumbling instead of creatively making music with a few select plugins that we actually enjoy using.


ps, apologies in advance for anyone reading this post and being dazzled by countless blue, automatically underlined references by the KVR auto-linking bollocks

[Jet Set]

Just to come back to the recommendations side of this thread...

I am finalising my mix today for this drum and bass track.

The Coffee Eq and Coffee Compressor (ultra mode 2-5db gain reduction) are an absolute joy to use for ITB Electronica which needs some ‘warming up’, ‘glueing’ and other such vague descriptors...this is on the mix bus.

And of course it’s not just AA doing the ‘analogifying’ - there’s a True Iron before them in the chain and a Saturn 2 after...among others.

[The Noodlist]

I'd try 3rd party devs like Tim P and Cupwise. I think they are far superior and refined. But, they often lack demos.

I find nebula EQs sound cleaner than their algorithm counterparts. Is this the lack of aliasing in Nebula?
Acustica's libraries are still on lower cores. They ought to outsource to other developers like Gemini Audio.
I would only purchase N4 when on sale.

Reaper seems to handle CPU resources better when using this technology.

[CircuitEYE]

It's fair to say that Acustica Audio is VERY much a divisive topic - as evidenced in MANY threads at KVR, Gearslutz and elsewhere over the past 10 years or so.
I don't think that will ever change.

Some people HATE AA plugins, some REALLY swear by them, and others (for example me) just use a few AA / Nebula programs and balance these out with some favourite algorithmic plugins as well.

As put earlier in this thread, I enjoy using some Acustica Audio plugins (eg Ruby and Lemon), but particularly several Nebula 4 programs made by Tim P, Alex B, Cupwise and VNXT.
Compared to a few years ago when I personally felt that algorithmic vst plugins didn't quite match the 'depth' / 'hardware 3D' nature of Nebula 3 (now Nebula 4) programs, I think now in 2021 there are many great algorithmic plugins on the market.

CPU hit is still much higher on my computer system when using AA / Nebula programs compared to nearly all algorithmic plugins.
However, to be completely truthful (and somewhat bizarrely to me at least), the DAW Reaper seems to be much more optimized for a lower CPU hit than when I use my Nebula 4 / AA plugins in my other DAW Ableton Live.
I don't know if users of other DAWs - eg Logic, ProTools, Bitwig etc - also find the CPU hit for AA / Nebula programs varies greatly depending upon which DAW they use, but curiously and genuinely, Reaper seems to cater for a much lower CPU hit than Ableton in my experience when using Nebula / AA.
(I think various posts at GearSlutz have also made this point about reduced CPU hit in Reaper when using Nebula / AA plugins).

Anyway, I imagine a few years from now threads will still have people divisively acclaiming / denouncing Acustica Audio in ways that most other software developers don't endure

The good news in 2021 for those who HATE AA and Nebula is that there are so many great compressors / EQs / distortion / reverb etc plugins on the market nowadays that one is spoilt for choice.
Time and life are very short - and we waste too much of them grumbling instead of creatively making music with a few select plugins that we actually enjoy using.


ps, apologies in advance for anyone reading this post and being dazzled by countless blue, automatically underlined references by the KVR auto-linking bollocks

You make some good points.
On some projects I like the hardware vibe, not sure how accurate they are to the original hardware.

My biggest grip is that they tend to very often crash Cubase when closing a project.
This has been a known problem for a long time but still no fix.

[Najimad]

I agree

[dionenoid]

My biggest grip is that they tend to very often crash Cubase when closing a project.
This has been a known problem for a long time but still no fix.

Yeah, known issue. Microsoft DirectX problem apparently. Still waiting on a fix.
With me it doesn't crash Cubase tho, but it hangs on closing. Sometimes a get a crash when removing an Aqua.

Hope they'll fix it soon, i asked recently and there was no news.

[The Noodlist]

I like some of their eqs, but I can't buy the eqs only, there is just a lot that could be improved imo
circuitEye wrote:... we waste too much of them grumbling instead of creatively making music with a few select plugins that we actually enjoy using."

I think this is an opportunity missed. Why not sell preamps. EQs and compressors as separates. Maybe $29 each. (just a number off the top of my head, the area with no hair)

[pixel85]

My biggest grip is that they tend to very often crash Cubase when closing a project.
This has been a known problem for a long time but still no fix.

Hope they'll fix it soon, i asked recently and there was no news.

For AA the issue is on the Cubase side so they will do nothing about it (I got this info recently on their FB group). I also suppose that Steinberg doesn't care that much about AA to also fix it.
- crashing at exit (usually closing project then Cubase help to avoid it)
- crashing when there are several instances of the same AA plugin (when there's still a lot of CPU and RAM available so it's not the reason)
- very bad performance in comparison to eg. Reaper

These issues are here to stay

[Najimad]

I like some of their eqs, but I can't buy the eqs only, there is just a lot that could be improved imo
circuitEye wrote:... we waste too much of them grumbling instead of creatively making music with a few select plugins that we actually enjoy using."

I think this is an opportunity missed. Why not sell preamps. EQs and compressors as separates. Maybe $29 each. (just a number off the top of my head, the area with no hair)

Yep, I think I would buy two eqs. Would be cool not to have to download the whole suite with lots of GB space and plugins I would and some I could (too high cpu) never use

[The_Ogre]

Hey guys,

I'm relatively new into the Acustica Audio world, so I won't join the bad / good Acustica Audio wagon that seems to exist on the digital world. However, I must say I'm getting very good results with the ones I grabbed so far (CREAM2, MAGENTA5, NAVY2, PINK4 and SAND3). I won't say they are better or worse than anything else out there, just good enough for my own ears. And I mix them with other stuff (Black Rooster, Hornet, IK Multimedia, iZotope...), as it's the end that justifies the means.

I just don't use any of them on tracking, but I definitely use them during the processing and mixing stages (still improving my mastering process). I'm using mainly the preamps and EQs, but eventually the comps too. And, sometimes, none of them.
kkkkkkk

Well. I'm using Reaper with the machine that is on my signature. The normal instances usually use about 0.7% of the CPU processing power, and the zero latency ones about 2.3%. Nothing far away from any other high quality plugin I'm using (SSD, Neural DSP, IK Amplitube 5, IK T-Racks 5...).

And, to finish here, don't remember if I already saw it in this thread, but for anyone struggling to know which simulation each of the Acustica's plugin seems to be modeling, I discovered this list (Unofficial Acustica Master List):
https://justpaste.it/AcusticaAudioAcquaMasterList

Cheers!

[MogwaiBoy]

I find nebula EQs sound cleaner than their algorithm counterparts. Is this the lack of aliasing in Nebula?

Does Nebula oversample? I don't think AA Acqua plugins do - there's aliasing in Plugindoctor but ofcourse if you input the plugin low (-18VU) then it shouldn't be audible.

Offline oversampling during render would be welcome.

Re: cores, they seem to be stuck at Core16 which was "experimental". I guess AA haven't resolved some issues before moving forward.

[GRUMP]

Tried them, loved them, bought them and haven´t had a problem yet.
For mixing they are a CPU problem - but that is a question of the workflow.
Recording was usual in analog times. You shouldn´t expect to get 42 Neve consoles.

Nothing I´ve tested yet will even get you close to that 3D colorized sound. Take it or leave it

[The_Ogre]

Tried them, loved them, bought them and haven´t had a problem yet.

Same here! Not a single problem so far.

For mixing they are a CPU problem - but that is a question of the workflow.
Recording was usual in analog times. You shouldn´t expect to get 42 Neve consoles.

Nothing I´ve tested yet will even get you close to that 3D colorized sound. Take it or leave it

A mix full of Acustica plugins would require an extremely more powerful computer than the one I have, but 0.7% usage per instance (not the zero latency) encourages me to test them, even if only for occasional uses during the mix. At the master, I think you can take more chances, because the number of plugins to be used is much smaller.

[dionenoid]

My biggest grip is that they tend to very often crash Cubase when closing a project.
This has been a known problem for a long time but still no fix.

Hope they'll fix it soon, i asked recently and there was no news.

For AA the issue is on the Cubase side so they will do nothing about it (I got this info recently on their FB group). I also suppose that Steinberg doesn't care that much about AA to also fix it.
- crashing at exit (usually closing project then Cubase help to avoid it)
- crashing when there are several instances of the same AA plugin (when there's still a lot of CPU and RAM available so it's not the reason)
- very bad performance in comparison to eg. Reaper

These issues are here to stay

AA updated some plug-ins, they say it should fix the Cubase issues. Until now Sienna, Tan (free) and Coffee Pun (free) had this update.
There are also some other Aquas updated recently (Magenta, Purple, Cream) but it's not sure if they contain the fix for Cubase.
First reports from some users are hopeful, i'll be testing as soon as they update Aquas that i own.

Simply put, the problem seems to be that the graphic engine of AA plug-ins is not released from memory (which was also stated by Steinberg multiple times). This is most probably due to AA using an older, rewritten sdk for their plug-ins which causes the hanging and freezing on modern Windows systems.

It's a shame that it took AA over a year to acknowledge their own mistakes and finally do something about it. But on the other hand, it's good that the AA devs are active on forums personally and despite their initial stubborness finally take action.

[The_Ogre]

I use Reaper here, but it's good to know that they're taking action updating their plugins. Installed the new version of Cream, Coffee the Pun and Tan yesterday.