Acustica Audio - Revisited

[billinder33]

I recently acquired the Vertigo VSS-2 as a buss processor to add some 'glue' and 'color' to summed instrument busses. Since I've been really happy with the results, I decided to re-install some of my old Acustica purchases as none of them made it into my latest computer build 2020. So it's been well over 5 years since I’ve touched an Acustica plugin. But I wanted to see if there were some potential to re-introduce them for instrument buss processing and see if they provide any different flavors than I'm getting from the VSS-2.

Acustica plugins are different from most plugins. On the plus side, many of their offerings sound amazing and very similar to the hardware they emulate. On the down side, file sizes are huge, there are several files per plugin, and the interfaces vary wildly and are generally clunky. This is because the parameters are essentially a version of IR's, meaning one snapshot/file for most parameter settings.

I started on their website to see what plugins I already own, and what plugins have been released in the last 6 years that may be of interest. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Acustica gave me Eminence (channel strip), Jet (Dynamic EQ), and Celestial (SSL Fusion). Nice!! So I downloaded their Installer application.

The Installer and site have basically the same annoying issue. Acustica offers a massive number plugins and the sortability and filtering on the site is not great. There is no filtering in the installer, so you're basically working through a huge linear heap of plugins, and if you want detail on a specific plugin it routes you to the website. Both interfaces are also somewhat slow. None of this is a deal killer, but worth noting. I found some other plugins that I wanted to demo, so I put a list together and got down to business.

I downloaded 5 that I already own - Cream, Big Ciel, Celestial, Eminance, Taupe, and Jet. I also downloaded 4 that I wanted to try - Sunglow, Desert, Wine, Mystic. Downloads take forever, because of the number and file sizes for each plugin, but this is expected as noted above. What I didn't expect was that many of these files are not located in subfolders, so they clutter up your top level VST folder (over 30 files in some cases) - very, very annoying. Many of these offerings are actually multiple plugins bundled into a package, but there's no option to only download the ones you want, so more clutter - again, very annoying. But ultimately they all loaded just fine.

Generally, despite much marketing about how the newer plugin 'engines' are more responsive, and guzzle less CPU than older versions. IMO the interfaces are still very clunky, slower to respond than algorithmic plugins, and still guzzle massive CPU. Useable for sure, but the experience varies widely from plugin to plugin. Also, gain staging can be a real pain in these plugins, but again, this is just part of the way their plugins work and in reality, gain staging real hardware can be a challenge as well. For this reason, I don’t see Acustica plugins as practical for use on most individual tracks. But for busses they should be fine, assuming you have enough hardware to throw at them (M-series Mac or a properly sized, well-cooled Windows tower).

All that said, when retrying the plugins I previously owned, they all sounded as good (or ‘meh’, or bad) as I remember. I tested all these against the VSS-2, and also compared to each other. Since this is getting really long, I’ll document my impressions on each plugin in the next post:

[billinder33]

Cream: My recollection from using this channel strip years ago was that it was a great sounding, thick, ‘creamy’, and full of analog-goodness. Post reinstall, my thoughts haven’t changed - It’s a great plugin. Very clunky interface though. But nothing I own sounds like it. This one’s a keeper.

Taupe: I used this one quite a bit when I had it installed years ago. Probably the best sounding tape emulation I’ve heard. On the downside, the fact that there are so many tape machine models to choose from means ‘death by choice’. There’s an updated version that looks nice, but TBH tape emulators just aren’t my thing these days. Uninstalled.

Big Ceil: This one was just meh. Sounds ok but brings nothing new to the table. Unfortunately my freebie bundle did not include Cercie (Neve MBP emulation), which I really wanted to try because I used to own the hardware. Uninstalled.

Mystic: I tried this one on a problematic vocal buss that I had previously spent a lot of time with trying to get right with other plugins,, but nothing I tried seemed to get these Vox to sit right in the mix . Not sure what’s happening in this one, but it was like magic. It inherently pulled all the Vox into the center and squelched some obnoxious resonances without me specifically trying to do so. What it did on these vox was nothing short of incredible. The UI has this annoying, distracting, randomly blinking graphic of a tube - I hate this so much. A monumentally stupid design decision on an otherwise great plugin. That said, I’m probably going to buy this one.

Eminence: This one is a nice channel strip that has one killer feature that sets it apart from most buss processors. The compressor and EQ are nice, but it includes an amazing, 100% mono-compatible widener that works great on signals that need emphasis in the stereo field like drum tops, percussion, synths, guitar busses, etc. To have this included in a buss processor is a really nice feature. The combination of a great sounding mono-compatible widener on a channel strip with a great sounding EQ & comp is a great workflow enhancement for a buss processor. Definite keeper, I may have even purchased this one if it wasn’t a freebie.

Celestial: SSL Fusion clone. Nice buss processor. Very ‘gooey’ and ‘gluey’. Reminds me of a differently flavored VSS-2. I kept this freebie, but I probably wouldn’t have paid for it.

Sunglow: This one was ok. I liked the pre and EQ, but didn’t care for the compressor, which struck me as overly grabby. The comp section is an emulation of a Smart, which IIRC is based on a SSL-G, but reminds me more of a DBX, which I’m not a fan of. I’d like to try it on some live drum busses or overheads, but I don’t have any of those projects right now. I will probably uninstall when the trial runs out.

Jet: This one is a but of a mystery. It’s a dynamic EQ, but not in the sense of a Pro-Q or that ilk. No graphical interface, so hard to tell exactly what’s going on. It’s basically a host for EQ filter emulations that are sold separately, but it only comes with 1 captured model and 2 algorithmic models. I only tested the captured model, and used it on a mid-bass the sat above a sub. What it did to that sub-bass was like magic. So I tried it on a mid bass in a completely different project with the same result. I may trial the capture packs at some point. Kept.

Desert: Hated the interface. Looks like some old big-iron unit from the days of yore, but sounds like nothing special. Dropped 35 files in my main VST folder. Spent 15 minutes trying to get this one dialed in before I gave up. Uninstalled.

Wine: I don’t get this one at all. It’s supposed to be a mastering processor. It has 2 main components - harmonics and widener. The harmonics section adds a nice growl to the low end, but nothing I can’t replicate in some other saturator. The widener made everything I used it on sound ‘smeary’ and objectively worse. I tried it on some instrument busses and was not impressed. Then I tried it on a master buss, and quickly realized I wouldn’t want it anywhere near a master. Uninstalled.

[billinder33]

TLDR for the last two posts:

Acustica plugins IMO are never ‘insta-buys’. Some of them sound amazing and probably like nothing you already own. Some are meh, and some are just flat out bad. Sound wise, they can all be all radically different and you really have to try each one to see if it works for you before you buy. They still guzzle massive compute resources, clutter up your VST folder, and are large in size with clunky UIs due to the capture technology that they use. Moral of the story with these, try before you buy.

Keepers: Celestial, Cream, Eminence, Mystic, Jet
Uninstalled: Taupe, Big Ciel, Desert, Wine
On the fence: Sunglow

Hope someone finds this helpful. Interested to hear anyone else’s experience with Acustica - any that currently using, love them?, hate them? (have at it @bmanic!!).

[Ploki]

I find them extremely mediocre and bloated. Not a fan.

Anything i tried was underwhelming, and it's a f**king effort to even try them.

[concealed identity]

I'm generally not a fan of their interfaces, and I've gotten some plugins they gave away that I just don't enjoy using.

But I have two Acustica plugins I use a ton: Fire the Clip and Fire the Delay. It makes sense that they both have extremely simplified interfaces. But they both sound great; Fire the Clip is the first clipper I reach for, as it usually gives me the results I hope for, and Fire the Delay has so many emulations/modes that it's easy to set up the delay I want and then flick through the different emulations until I find one I like.

[Kretch]

I’ve only ever bought 2 plugins from AA. It was my early days into learning how to mix. I got the mic emulation plugin, Lava, and also El Rey 2. They’re decent plugins. I quickly realized that this company, after a year or so, makes a lot of promises but hardly keeps it and is full of excuses. I’ve been waiting for the promised new Aquarius for too long now. They seem more keen on popping out new plugins every week or so that’s similar to their older plugins, when they could be spending their time actually working on their existing plugins and improving it. AA is just a mess right now and is not worth your money or your time. There are much better companies out there with much better emulations of analog hardware.

[seangm]

Eminence is a nice plugin, especially for a freebie. I don't know anything about the widening but just slapping it on anything seems to make it sound better IMHO.

[nusound mind]

There's too many of them. Plugins that is. There's a market for having emulations of every last rare piece of coveted, expensive gear, which isn't my thing but I in principle I get the appeal.

I have their first synth, a compressor and a reverb and I like and use them. Pers. sp. more than that seems superfluous. Select of their plugins sound amazing, but all are glitchy in a weird way. I'd rather they perfect and maintain much fewer plugins, a new one every other week feels cash grabby but otoh part of me respects their grind.

[CapnLockheed]

Revisited

NEVER shall I ever. Totally not worth the hassle. Tried to love Nebula and Acoustica plugins but between Giancarlo's attitude, lack of support and the sheer cumbersome clunkiness of that ecosystem, it was, in the end, not worth the grief. But hey, that's just me....YMMV.

[plexuss]

Revisited

NEVER shall I ever. Totally not worth the hassle. Tried to love Nebula and Acoustica plugins but between Giancarlo's attitude, lack of support and the sheer cumbersome clunkiness of that ecosystem, it was, in the end, not worth the grief. But hey, that's just me....YMMV.

Not to mention that Nebula continues to consume processor even if bypassed and also even if the track is pre-rendered/frozen. Mac AU. So there is no way to manage CPU with Nebula. AA claims this is "to prevent CPU spikes". I say BS on that. It's crap software.

[martiu]

bloated mess

[martinjuenke]

Buy not!

[DCrown]

Eqs sometimes nice, the rest not

[seangm]

del

[UltraByte]

not to forget the mess with their "copy protection". im happy i got rid and sold of everyting acustica several years ago. Never missed anything. Sometimes i look in the "other forum" in the release threads just to shiver pleasntly