I got my hearing checked by an audiologist a few days ago, and I knew from the results that I wouldn't hear any changes from your massive +20 dB boosting of the high end above 10k. It isn't lost on me that the way I used to listen to music I love has now taken away a part of that music forever. Wear hearing protection, folks. This is no joke.
Well, his original wave-file had anyway nothing above 12kHz in it, which could have been made louder, so his mentioning of a 20 DB boost was nonsensical anyway. The curve in the graph showed a meagre 4 DB boost at around 12 kHz, that is what was hearable.
Played in loud bands for years - no hearing protection. At 55 - tinnitus. I'm basically used to it - but when I'm mixing, I can't trust my treatment of the high end completely. To the younger players - you're going to live much longer than you think. Be good to your future-self and take care of your hearing.
I'm a metalhead - but I have to say Dan Worrall, I love your walkthroughs of plugins. You walk us through EVERY ASPECT of a plugin, and you expertly tell what settings do and don't do and why. I like that man, a lot of other folks who do producer tutorial videos aren't nearly as concise as this for free. God bless you man. Thanks for not charging us out the ass for these tutorials and lessons. Its really cool man. You cover the really deep production stuff that other people want to charge masterclass prices for, for free. Love ya man.
Some relevant EQ history. In the early 70s, even console EQs used inductors, with their limited range adjustment, high cost, but fine musical curves. Those dips, a serendipitous result of the attempt to narrow Q beyond what the 2nd order inductor topology would naturally permit, were - to a traditional circuit design engineer - ‘ringing’, a failure to design out, and design-it-out most of them did with not a thought to how that ringing might sound. I was a junior designer at MCI and recall a perpetual struggle in our engineering dept to distinguish our circuit from API’s by getting rid of that behavior! Our EQ would be better, more ‘accurate’! No one even considered its musical performance at MCI. Our main competitors Neve, API, Trident, had creatives at the top whose ears could could cut through considerable nonsense. The fact I was a trained musician and mix engineer who could have been very useful meant only that I was underpaid relative to those with nearly irrelevant degrees. Such was the world of sound engineering in America. It was the heyday of outboard EQ, where cost and physical space were not dealbreakers. Pultecs, Eventides and others were very common in those days. A good control room having dozens of them does not seem to have conveyed the message to console manufacturers to up their game. I don’t remember us benchmarking them ever. Parametrics were just coming into use but they did nothing to solve the musical ‘problem’. It would never occur to 70’s engineering hubris to look back to the 1950’s tube monsters for enlightenment.
This story about how the 70s musical eq problem could have been solved through knowledge from the 50s provides awesome perspective. I find it a relevant tale reminding us not to forget to seek out wisdom from the past as we chart our course into the future. Thanks for sharing.
it's interesting how EQ went from damn near nonexistent in the 1950s and was used mainly to tune out line problems like allpass filters do, line losses, like a gentle H.F. restoration, etc. Then somewhere along the line somebody got the bright idea of using bass / treble controls to 'fix' "problems" that many times didn't need fixing, and we were off to the races. Knobs and switches everywhere. Sexy ! And let's face it, those huge consoles sell studio time. And that's the name of the game. Today everything needs some sort of 'fixing' with some sort of gimmicky "EQ", blah blah blah. I started recording in 1961. One mic., one mono tape machine, one basement. In those days, we knew where to place the mic to get the sound we wanted, etc. Let's face it, looking at those massive consoles, ask yourself.... "If this is what I need to sound good, maybe I should re-evaluate my artistic capabilities". Put another way, "If you need EQ you probably recorded it wrong". That's what experience sounds like.
@@RocknRollkat I don’t share your theory that $700k recording consoles are just decorative. The best of them have included truly excellent preamps, eq, and dynamics for a very long time. From the early 1980’s I worked almost exclusively on Neve and SSL with no use of outboard eq. SSLs console eq has been superb all along.
Exactly the same here. Except where was Dan 20, 30 years ago? We both could have REALLY used his knowledge/wisdom! But, in thinking, I gather he was earning all the knowledge he freely shares with us now. Better late than never!
Great vid as always Dan! Love the sound of this plug. I really like that you can turn on, and to some extent customize, the stepping for the knobs. For tone shaping I find the contrast of stepping speeds things up for me, and you can always hold CTRL to fine tune if needed.
Life can be stressful, often unfair and a bit shitty, but all of us audio peeps need to remember, and appreciate, the fact that we were around when Dan Worrall was. Seriously.
Thanks for this, there aren't many plugin reviews/overviews of this quality, especially with this much detail or by someone with technical knowledge. I love it!
Love these videos. I appreciate that you went back-and-forth several times when you A/B'd Pulsar and ProQ - and that you lingered in each long enough to let our ears acclimate. Very useful touch. A lot of creators give a quick A/B and I find myself having to 'rewind' frequently. Great attention to detail. You should produce music 🙃
Could have spent the rest of the day listening to that hypnotic track. Happy to say I am actually starting to hear the subtle differences - in part, for sure, thanks to your videos Dan Many thanks
Onyaa DannzO !! My gal jus complimented you saying your her favourite and least grating of all the tech audio tomfoolery i subject her too !! Haa. Keep it up ol son !
I love Pulsar plugins and I'm happy to see you talking about them. It is time they take reward for their good work so they further improve their plugins.
Turns out one of my UK clients had never seen Black Books series so we've been watching them in the studio when we have a food break. This week was that line where Fran asked "have you never had a nice bottom?" And he replied "there was this one girl, not sure about nice, but it was huge, which gave it this tremendous sense of value" 🤣🤣🤣
Dan, your videos are on a totally different level that the other info out there. Such a refreshing change to see content based on engineering instead of hype!
I can't be the only one who wants to hear how Dan would compare the Pro-Q 3 against the Kirchhoff-EQ. I like them both, but I would love to get some Worrall insight. I am so thankful that you are sharing your knowledge. Although we, most likely, will never meet, you've become a mentor to me. I hope to work together on a project someday.
won't comment on functionality, but I will say Kirchhoff SOUNDS better than Q3 to me. So do GSIEquity, Pulsar Massive, Izotope Neuron 4 EQ, Slate Infinity EQ, Voxengo Gliss EQ, TDR Nova, DMG Equillibrium, Softube Weiss MP, NoiseAsh Need series, and others. I've revisited Q3 multiple times after seeing how many people love it, but I just think there are many better sounding options out there.
Thanks for another interesting teatime entertainment, Dan. Congratulations on making 88.2k digital subscribers! I assume the next party is planned for 96k? Better make it a big one since it's a long wait after that. :) I'm still not wholly convinced you are human and not a robot, though. I note that because it is unable to store the large samples required for human sounds, the bot has been programmed to utter "lol" instead of laughing...
It’s actually wonderful when you do these tests with a brilliantly designed piece of software. Pulsar, in my humble opinion, are at the top of their game. Yes, this stuff is subtle…as it is with the hardware. People often think tube gear will automatically distort the crap out of their material, but it was not designed to do this. The distortion is often tiny, but the cumulative effects over a mix can prove to be very musical.
1:57 "But holy smokes, that's a 15db boost, apparently, how can that sound so natural" Ngl i giggled a bit too much when he said this, never heard a grown man thirst over a low shelf before ahaha
One thing glossed over but not overtly stated as technique, is that one can get a pretty good “passive eq feel” with any parametric eq, using very wide q and being conservative with boosts and cuts. Passive eqs have a thing where q narrows as gain/attenuation gets more extreme, but the general “transparent sound” associated with passive eqs is a lot about the wide q, with harmonics to taste. And about Pulsar Massive specifically- it’s the closest thing I’ve heard to Massive Passive in plugin form, but the drive and transformer options do make it especially versatile and kind of a different tool. The visual curves aspect should be turned off, though, as they are needlessly deceptive for getting the Massive Passive sound you expect.
This kind of honest content is superb, given the insight and experience of this guy! Sure the amazing radio voice gives the cherry on top on form of charisma
Another day of me saying: Dan you’re spoiling us. Jokes aside, I started using Reaper again, and my mixes sound better than ever. Not because I’m using specifically the “tricks” you’re teaching but because I feel my ears have gotten a lot better thanks to your content. Thanks a lot!
@@alexanderstuartpetty485 I like StudioOne too, but it’s got some very annoying quirks. The multi instruments are very useful for sound design tho, and the MIDI programming is better than in Reaper imo
@@mihneazoican2479 Reapers midi is very powerful, as you describe, and reaper is the goat when it comes to mixing/mastering. But studio one & cubase's midi production and sound design applications are superior in the sense that they require much less effort to use than reapers. Yes, I wish Reaper would spend some time on its production applications and improve upon them in a more visual way. I have studio one now, and I'm thinking of doing all my production with it, then move the instrumental to Reaper for mixing and recording vocals. I use Maschine inside of Studio One wich unfortunately is a pain no matter wich DAW one uses. If Maschine had good linear midi timeline capabilities I'd use it stand alone for production.
I've got this adds also in my mail from Pulsar, but indeed it's a subtle difference, between the pro-Q3, but the Pulsar brings something ear candy, I have no idea what, but it's pleasant to hear. Thanks for reviewing this plugin, because I get so much different adds about plugins. That you can't have them all. But this one would be great in my plugin pool.
the ssl native x eq plug in has a "Pultec mode" too. It also has an integrated graph that displays possible pre ringing and, well, phase shifting in linear phase mode... very useful...
I found out how EQ's really are not all "just the same, but with different gui's and options" like I used to believe, when I played around with a free plugin called Luftikus. Some people were praising it and I had strong doubts how a simple fixed frequency EQ could be of any use at all. Playing around with it I did like the result of some of the changes I made with it, so I assumed I could do the same with my regular EQ. I really couldn't. Blew my mind. P.S. I love the tune and especially the name of it "Logical Fallacio". That's brilliant. It gives me the feeling I'm watching a spy movie and not a plugin review.
This quickly became my favorite plugin and an indispensable part of my mastering chain. I don't even turn the knobs most of the time, but simply turn it on with the neutral "Passive Balance" preset and run through it for some air. It makes me really want to own the real thing if I win the lottery lol.
Damn i was trusting way to much on the plugin parameters!! Glad i always used fabfilter pro q 2 or 3. Thank you dan for sharing this important knowledge!
Your videos are crafted so perfectly, it's nice to know you are actually human (a computer wouldn't develop a cold from catching a virus), get well soon! ;-)
4:40 as a young viewer it's not loud at ALL. It actually almost sounds better like that, maybe a bit much as far as sounding good but it's almost manageable.
Great vid! I have the mastering version of the Massive Passive and this plugin behaves and sounds very close to the hardware. I would love to see how the curves change for the air band when the 16k and 27k bands are selected. Those higher frequencies are supposed to have a similar effect to the low band, creating dips and bumps. I generally keep the frequency selected to 12k because it behaves more like a traditional shelf. The bandwidth is super unique on these EQ's and I very often will make the small changes I need to with that control since it increases (or decreases) the dB so significantly. The low and high pass filters on the hardware are incredibly powerful as well. Sometime I won't use any EQ but will just use the filters and gain to get some extra mojo into a track.
Reminds me of my JLM PEQ500s. I always would tell people, " I can add +12db if 12k and it never sounds harsh. It just sounds like too much 12k" . I am quite certain I will purchase this. Very impressive demo
Dan made it clear that it didn't add those db, that's why it didn't sound like it. And there is pretty much no harmonic content added, so it's as close to a digital EQ as it gets. I'm sorry... but did you watch the whole video? Or am I missing something?
@@DanWorrall I didn't mean to misrepresent your words, my apologies Sr! I meant that, in my opinion, what it does can be easily found in other plugins, not irreplaceable at all. For example, RVox adds harmonics in a way I haven't been able to replicate with anything. It's surprisingly unique. But I've seen this under-100-hz harmonic content in plenty of places, specially SSL emulations. I just didn't understand why this user seemed so keen on buying it, given those factors. Shouln't have lead with "Dan made it clear [...]". My remarks about the added dB still stands, though.
I can’t be the only one here seeing the irony of being served up a Harrison Mixbus ad, before being permitted to watch Dan’s great video. UA-cam are messing with you Dan. 😂
Transformers and tubes are awesome, but for realism, it’s hard to beat a transformer-less, solid-state, passive EQ. If you haven’t tried one, it’s pretty amazing. First one I tried was on a jazz mastering project, the transformer-less version of the Langevin Mini Massive Passive EQ in the late 2000’s. First time I ever boosted the high-highs on a ride cymbal and my ears were genuinely fooled into thinking I moved closer to the kit/speakers. So good!
Oh... i saw this a few weeks ago and thought "i dont need any more EQs" But I actually want this now :P very useful quirks in this thing. Its actually unique from all my other EQs
Dan has cleared up quite a few confusing mysteries for me over the months with reference to plugins and so on. It’s good to know what your ears and instincts are telling you is probably true as apposed to myth and hype - I have tried lots of plugins especially mythical ones that claim to impart some vintage glow or what have you I’ve blind tested them and many times just thought I really can’t tell the difference- music production is a lot of a mine field at first my advice is try anything let it settle and re visit it see if your senses are wasting your money. Marketing knows that if they say it enough you will believe it they know that modern digital producers love the fantasy of old out of reach mystical equipment there is of course plenty of gold in between the dirt to be had and of course different approach and talent can make the difference
In the ProQ vs Massive comparison at the end, the massive sounded wider/more open. The cymbals fellt fresher. They are probably more panned so more emphasis means a more spacious sound (or not!).
I LOVE the UI and it is great to learn and understand how the massive passive curves work. But honestly when I compared the pulsar with the Universal Audio one UA was the clear winner for me..(soundwise)
And now you know why the more you can get good sounds in the recording process with microphones and mic placement the less you have to eq/phase shift in the mix process.
Surprisingly good effect on the music. I did think it tightened or compressed the lows, adding more “glue” than Fab Filter, which was crystal clear but actually sort of ruined the groove of the music in comparison. The Pulsar gave your track better bounce.
Hello, would you mind getting a hint on LMMS ? Im using it since almost 13 years, in fact since i was 13... im just intereseted in what you would say about the open source daw ! Also i use a 4x4 allpass filter from this daw wich creates massive phace shifts, but i sometimes need them to create a kind of seperated roomy bass or drum scape.. love this DAW!
"Eq IS phase shift"... I've watched enough of your videos to know this, but I still don't understand why! Can you please do a video showing what exactly is happening to a waveform and why? Help us Obi-Dan, you're our only hope!
I can't explain it for each filter type, but lowpass is the easier filter to figure out: Here the phase shift job consists into delaying/spreading fast signal changes over time and thus making them less significant.
It's the inherent nature of how capacitors work as filters, the "output" lags behind the "input". You can see it generally by looking up a Bode plot that shows frequency and phase for a low pass RC filter.
Valuable message: I don't need to buy another vintage emulation of which the marketing claims are bigger than the sound design coloration. Who of experienced audio pros or semi pros still believes in these advertising? Save your money and invest in real innovative plugins. Btw. Great test from Dan as always.
I think this plugin is fairly innovative. 1.) You can view it 3 different ways: knobs, graph, and both. 2.) it adds features not found on the based hardware. 3.) it’s a parallel EQ, which is notably different than our stock EQs.
@@ASJerrell I compare it to smart EQ 3 for innovation and to acustica audio for true analog emulation. The "best" already exists. It's a me too product.
Hi Dan, would you mind going over the UAD SSL E Channel? I found your videos clearing up on a lot of which was thought of as "wizardry" before, thanks for that!
Pulsar plugins are some of the only expensive analogue emulation plugins I'd pay for outright (a few others I use are on sub model). Features that belong in the digital world plus basically no snake oil.
My compliments to the chef who made this video :) One little note I would like to add: The low end knobs creates harmonics all over the spectrum, not only for low frequencies. It would have been nice if you have switched from Hammerstein to Harmonic Analysis to show this.
@@TheJohnsofDoes Not sure what you mean by amplitude modulation, the paper about Hammerstein curves by Novak et al. does not state or refer to such thing. I do understand though that the harmonics created for freqs above 250Hz shown under the Hammerstein tabs do have a roll off compared to the low freq spectrum, which is also shown on the Harmonic Analysis tab (for the Low Freq knob)
@@TheJohnsofDoes Maybe I made a wrong assumption when I read "Those are harmonics from amplitude modulation". Anyway I said I was not sure what you meant by that which is an implicit question. I don't mind being corrected with facts or knowledge. I don't need to "lol or being condescendent" to anyone whether I am right or wrong.
Hey Dan, great plugin test video. I love Pulsar plugins. You mentioned phase. Love to hear what you think about Multi-Band Phase shift and how it affects the audio. Also, the TC Electronics MD4. It's a multi-band compressor with EQ and Limiting. If you've ever heard of the TC 6000 Hardware unit. It's based on that. Thanks, Marc
@@TheJohnsofDoes Here is what I see with the TC MD4. Wait, I thought I could drag the pic in the comment. Definately not Linear phase. Is phasing a lot like a min phase multiband plugin.
@@marcsmith8146It uses FIR crossovers. the port is exactly the same as the algo used in the TC Electronic Powercore, and they all share a genesis with the TC Finalizer which also isn't minimum phase. i was using the plugin just the other day. it isn't minimum phase. if you are seeing crazy phase wrapping in the plot then you are probably seeing a delay that Plugin Doctor or the EQ analyser cannot account for because of any number of reasons e.g a fixed buffer size that PD doesn't adapt well to and this is a common thing with things that do not use IIR's in their filter structure. you'll also see it with anti-aliasing implementations sometimes too
@@johndozesoph4136 Hey John, thanks for that info. Yeah, I noticed in PD that, other Multi-Band limiters ala Fabfilter Pro MB and Waves Multi-Band Limiter "LinMB" don't show these issues but all of TC plugins do show that issue as well as McDSP multi-band limiters. I wonder if Fabfilter and Waves use FIR filters. This is an area for me that is lacking when it comes to Multi-Band Limiters and their phasing issues/non-issues.
It’s not the same as a massive passive but it’s fantastic and I use this for M/S or when I have to do masters ITB .it really helps with my workflow that way The drive and gain is what really makes this special and different then the massive passive…not better but different I won’t be selling my massive passive but I love this plugin and use both Eve Anna from Manley has stated that the tubes in the massive passive don’t add to the sound of the unit as much as people think.
I got my hearing checked by an audiologist a few days ago, and I knew from the results that I wouldn't hear any changes from your massive +20 dB boosting of the high end above 10k. It isn't lost on me that the way I used to listen to music I love has now taken away a part of that music forever. Wear hearing protection, folks. This is no joke.
Well, his original wave-file had anyway nothing above 12kHz in it, which could have been made louder, so his mentioning of a 20 DB boost was nonsensical anyway. The curve in the graph showed a meagre 4 DB boost at around 12 kHz, that is what was hearable.
no one over 50 can hear past 12K
Played in loud bands for years - no hearing protection. At 55 - tinnitus. I'm basically used to it - but when I'm mixing, I can't trust my treatment of the high end completely.
To the younger players - you're going to live much longer than you think. Be good to your future-self and take care of your hearing.
@@johnviera3884Not true, I'm 61, I check my hearing constantly, and I can hear 15k. Although my audiologist did say I was exceptional for my age. 😎
"The beauty of a massive bottom"
Confirmed: Dan is a bass man
“Knob only mode”
(b)ass man for sure
more like boomer man
I'm a metalhead - but I have to say Dan Worrall, I love your walkthroughs of plugins. You walk us through EVERY ASPECT of a plugin, and you expertly tell what settings do and don't do and why. I like that man, a lot of other folks who do producer tutorial videos aren't nearly as concise as this for free. God bless you man. Thanks for not charging us out the ass for these tutorials and lessons. Its really cool man. You cover the really deep production stuff that other people want to charge masterclass prices for, for free. Love ya man.
Awesome! But, Worrall with an a please ;)
@@DanWorrall my bad, i'm new
Some relevant EQ history. In the early 70s, even console EQs used inductors, with their limited range adjustment, high cost, but fine musical curves. Those dips, a serendipitous result of the attempt to narrow Q beyond what the 2nd order inductor topology would naturally permit, were - to a traditional circuit design engineer - ‘ringing’, a failure to design out, and design-it-out most of them did with not a thought to how that ringing might sound.
I was a junior designer at MCI and recall a perpetual struggle in our engineering dept to distinguish our circuit from API’s by getting rid of that behavior! Our EQ would be better, more ‘accurate’! No one even considered its musical performance at MCI. Our main competitors Neve, API, Trident, had creatives at the top whose ears could could cut through considerable nonsense. The fact I was a trained musician and mix engineer who could have been very useful meant only that I was underpaid relative to those with nearly irrelevant degrees. Such was the world of sound engineering in America.
It was the heyday of outboard EQ, where cost and physical space were not dealbreakers. Pultecs, Eventides and others were very common in those days. A good control room having dozens of them does not seem to have conveyed the message to console manufacturers to up their game. I don’t remember us benchmarking them ever. Parametrics were just coming into use but they did nothing to solve the musical ‘problem’. It would never occur to 70’s engineering hubris to look back to the 1950’s tube monsters for enlightenment.
This story about how the 70s musical eq problem could have been solved through knowledge from the 50s provides awesome perspective. I find it a relevant tale reminding us not to forget to seek out wisdom from the past as we chart our course into the future. Thanks for sharing.
This would be the beginning of a book, or podcast....please keep going!
Such a great comment! A post where I learn sth. and gain insights from 1st hand.
it's interesting how EQ went from damn near nonexistent in the 1950s and was used mainly to tune out line problems like allpass filters do, line losses, like a gentle H.F. restoration, etc.
Then somewhere along the line somebody got the bright idea of using bass / treble controls to 'fix' "problems" that many times didn't need fixing, and we were off to the races.
Knobs and switches everywhere.
Sexy !
And let's face it, those huge consoles sell studio time.
And that's the name of the game.
Today everything needs some sort of 'fixing' with some sort of gimmicky "EQ", blah blah blah.
I started recording in 1961.
One mic., one mono tape machine, one basement.
In those days, we knew where to place the mic to get the sound we wanted, etc.
Let's face it, looking at those massive consoles, ask yourself....
"If this is what I need to sound good, maybe I should re-evaluate my artistic capabilities".
Put another way, "If you need EQ you probably recorded it wrong".
That's what experience sounds like.
@@RocknRollkat I don’t share your theory that $700k recording consoles are just decorative. The best of them have included truly excellent preamps, eq, and dynamics for a very long time. From the early 1980’s I worked almost exclusively on Neve and SSL with no use of outboard eq. SSLs console eq has been superb all along.
I've been producing music since 1995 and I'm still learning new things from Dan. I really appreciate the deeper knowledge. Thanks mate 👍🏻
Exactly the same here. Except where was Dan 20, 30 years ago? We both could have REALLY used his knowledge/wisdom! But, in thinking, I gather he was earning all the knowledge he freely shares with us now. Better late than never!
Learning is an infinite process.
what exactly do you learrn?
“Lol “
-Dan Worrall, 2022.
Mr. Dan you're a legend in this game. Hands down the absolute best and realest reviews on UA-cam. Each one is an entertaining educational experience.
Can’t wait for the “hi, and welcome back”
Am I the only one that wishes Dan would start a weekly/monthly (whatever suits you best Dan!) podcast? I think it would be fantastic.
He would say that's too much saturation...
Not even an audio one, could be about paint drying.
I'd be there, too. Even if he choses gardening, deep sea diving or wood casting.
I want to see Dan create a "Mixing with Mike" type product. I'd be there for it.
Also maybe over the shoulder live mixes or something like that? Even if hes not talking for 2 hours I'd watch that hehe
Crazy Guy...😀😆 but in the most positive Way"
Thanks for the Inspiration 👌✌🤟
«Don’t fear the fase shift» 🤘 Thank you, Dan !
"needs more bell curve"
It'd look great on a t-shirt, or it could become the new Don't fear the reaper, or both ;)
_Don't Fear Reaper's Phase-Shift_
Great vid as always Dan! Love the sound of this plug.
I really like that you can turn on, and to some extent customize, the stepping for the knobs. For tone shaping I find the contrast of stepping speeds things up for me, and you can always hold CTRL to fine tune if needed.
I didn't expect seeing you here lol
Never expected to find you here lmaoo omg
Roomie, you watch Dan! I would never have thought you dove this deep into engineering!
Omg roomie say hi to Rob pls
Well this is surprising
Life can be stressful, often unfair and a bit shitty, but all of us audio peeps need to remember, and appreciate, the fact that we were around when Dan Worrall was. Seriously.
Thanks for this, there aren't many plugin reviews/overviews of this quality, especially with this much detail or by someone with technical knowledge. I love it!
Wow, you are not only the best audio geek youtube video maker... your are our best teacher !
Love these videos. I appreciate that you went back-and-forth several times when you A/B'd Pulsar and ProQ - and that you lingered in each long enough to let our ears acclimate. Very useful touch.
A lot of creators give a quick A/B and I find myself having to 'rewind' frequently. Great attention to detail. You should produce music 🙃
what a bizzare eq. never seen anything like this before. thx for sharing!!
The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'
The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand
@@BleuNoirProductions My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo...
@@BleuNoirProductions Lmfao
You know what I mean....
How can I leave this behind...
Could have spent the rest of the day listening to that hypnotic track.
Happy to say I am actually starting to hear the subtle differences - in part, for sure, thanks to your videos Dan
Many thanks
"It rotates like a drunken ballerina". Awesome!! Thank you for this great review. .
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, Dan. Your videos are always top-quality and full of great information. Much appreciated.
Onyaa DannzO !!
My gal jus complimented you saying your her favourite and least grating of all the tech audio tomfoolery i subject her too !! Haa.
Keep it up ol son !
I love Pulsar plugins and I'm happy to see you talking about them. It is time they take reward for their good work so they further improve their plugins.
This EQ sounds super warm. I got a kick out of your brain-flex regarding phase-shifting. Lovely video, Dan.
Absolutely beautiful and elegant mastering eq. And Dan does another amazing job at working through it.
Turns out one of my UK clients had never seen Black Books series so we've been watching them in the studio when we have a food break.
This week was that line where Fran asked "have you never had a nice bottom?"
And he replied "there was this one girl, not sure about nice, but it was huge, which gave it this tremendous sense of value"
🤣🤣🤣
Great TV show.
Dan, your videos are on a totally different level that the other info out there. Such a refreshing change to see content based on engineering instead of hype!
Tjanks a lot for reviewing this!
I did put a comment for you to do it in another video
Great work thanks 👍🏽
I can't be the only one who wants to hear how Dan would compare the Pro-Q 3 against the Kirchhoff-EQ. I like them both, but I would love to get some Worrall insight. I am so thankful that you are sharing your knowledge. Although we, most likely, will never meet, you've become a mentor to me. I hope to work together on a project someday.
won't comment on functionality, but I will say Kirchhoff SOUNDS better than Q3 to me. So do GSIEquity, Pulsar Massive, Izotope Neuron 4 EQ, Slate Infinity EQ, Voxengo Gliss EQ, TDR Nova, DMG Equillibrium, Softube Weiss MP, NoiseAsh Need series, and others. I've revisited Q3 multiple times after seeing how many people love it, but I just think there are many better sounding options out there.
Don’t forget SSL
@@GoldenDeathMusic Kirchoff is wasted potential without the non-linear capabilities of Volcano 3.
Thanks for another interesting teatime entertainment, Dan. Congratulations on making 88.2k digital subscribers! I assume the next party is planned for 96k? Better make it a big one since it's a long wait after that. :)
I'm still not wholly convinced you are human and not a robot, though. I note that because it is unable to store the large samples required for human sounds, the bot has been programmed to utter "lol" instead of laughing...
Gonna watch this on my phone speakers and rewatch it in my studio because it’s a video from Dan .
Love the mix and track used in demonstration that right ear left ear rhythm on piano and guitar, great video thanks 👍
Wonderful lecture 👍. I hope the offline oversampling options becomes the new trend on plugins. 🥂
It’s actually wonderful when you do these tests with a brilliantly designed piece of software.
Pulsar, in my humble opinion, are at the top of their game.
Yes, this stuff is subtle…as it is with the hardware.
People often think tube gear will automatically distort the crap out of their material, but it was not designed to do this. The distortion is often tiny, but the cumulative effects over a mix can prove to be very musical.
1:57 "But holy smokes, that's a 15db boost, apparently, how can that sound so natural" Ngl i giggled a bit too much when he said this, never heard a grown man thirst over a low shelf before ahaha
Awesome demo/review video Dan. Purchased Pulsar Massive shortly after it came out & have had a blast with it.
All the quality of the insights apart, you are a top storyteller
My compliments to the musician! Really liked this one - very Scofield-ish
I already can hear White Sea Studios screaming "AUTO-GAIN !!" nice Video and nice Plugin
One thing glossed over but not overtly stated as technique, is that one can get a pretty good “passive eq feel” with any parametric eq, using very wide q and being conservative with boosts and cuts. Passive eqs have a thing where q narrows as gain/attenuation gets more extreme, but the general “transparent sound” associated with passive eqs is a lot about the wide q, with harmonics to taste.
And about Pulsar Massive specifically- it’s the closest thing I’ve heard to Massive Passive in plugin form, but the drive and transformer options do make it especially versatile and kind of a different tool. The visual curves aspect should be turned off, though, as they are needlessly deceptive for getting the Massive Passive sound you expect.
This kind of honest content is superb, given the insight and experience of this guy! Sure the amazing radio voice gives the cherry on top on form of charisma
i luv that investigative format! Robin (underthe) Hood Worrall
Great musical eq, and what you say about phase is absolutely right, only matters more with identical/similar signals due to phase cancellation
Another day of me saying: Dan you’re spoiling us. Jokes aside, I started using Reaper again, and my mixes sound better than ever. Not because I’m using specifically the “tricks” you’re teaching but because I feel my ears have gotten a lot better thanks to your content. Thanks a lot!
They is no better DAW then Reaper... and imo, the 2nd place DAW isn't even close.
@@alexanderstuartpetty485 I like StudioOne too, but it’s got some very annoying quirks. The multi instruments are very useful for sound design tho, and the MIDI programming is better than in Reaper imo
@@mihneazoican2479 i think the reaper midi editor is very powerful... but, yeah, if reaper didnt exist, I'd be a cubase user.
@@mihneazoican2479 Reapers midi is very powerful, as you describe, and reaper is the goat when it comes to mixing/mastering. But studio one & cubase's midi production and sound design applications are superior in the sense that they require much less effort to use than reapers. Yes, I wish Reaper would spend some time on its production applications and improve upon them in a more visual way. I have studio one now, and I'm thinking of doing all my production with it, then move the instrumental to Reaper for mixing and recording vocals. I use Maschine inside of Studio One wich unfortunately is a pain no matter wich DAW one uses. If Maschine had good linear midi timeline capabilities I'd use it stand alone for production.
I've got this adds also in my mail from Pulsar, but indeed it's a subtle difference, between the pro-Q3, but the Pulsar brings something ear candy, I have no idea what, but it's pleasant to hear. Thanks for reviewing this plugin, because I get so much different adds about plugins. That you can't have them all. But this one would be great in my plugin pool.
Those added harmonics are priceless.
Always inspiring, always informative. I can't get enough Thank you 🤴
The king has spoken. This baby is a beast.
the ssl native x eq plug in has a "Pultec mode" too. It also has an integrated graph that displays possible pre ringing and, well, phase shifting in linear phase mode... very useful...
If I recall there is no linear phase mode. It just displays phase shift and group delay.
I found out how EQ's really are not all "just the same, but with different gui's and options" like I used to believe, when I played around with a free plugin called Luftikus. Some people were praising it and I had strong doubts how a simple fixed frequency EQ could be of any use at all. Playing around with it I did like the result of some of the changes I made with it, so I assumed I could do the same with my regular EQ. I really couldn't. Blew my mind.
P.S. I love the tune and especially the name of it "Logical Fallacio". That's brilliant. It gives me the feeling I'm watching a spy movie and not a plugin review.
This quickly became my favorite plugin and an indispensable part of my mastering chain. I don't even turn the knobs most of the time, but simply turn it on with the neutral "Passive Balance" preset and run through it for some air. It makes me really want to own the real thing if I win the lottery lol.
Damn i was trusting way to much on the plugin parameters!! Glad i always used fabfilter pro q 2 or 3. Thank you dan for sharing this important knowledge!
Dan Worrall is a national treasure
Your videos are crafted so perfectly, it's nice to know you are actually human (a computer wouldn't develop a cold from catching a virus), get well soon! ;-)
4:40 as a young viewer it's not loud at ALL. It actually almost sounds better like that, maybe a bit much as far as sounding good but it's almost manageable.
flawless review , thanks Dan , it would be great if you can cover the new Izotope ozone 10 , cheers mate .
Great vid! I have the mastering version of the Massive Passive and this plugin behaves and sounds very close to the hardware. I would love to see how the curves change for the air band when the 16k and 27k bands are selected. Those higher frequencies are supposed to have a similar effect to the low band, creating dips and bumps. I generally keep the frequency selected to 12k because it behaves more like a traditional shelf. The bandwidth is super unique on these EQ's and I very often will make the small changes I need to with that control since it increases (or decreases) the dB so significantly. The low and high pass filters on the hardware are incredibly powerful as well. Sometime I won't use any EQ but will just use the filters and gain to get some extra mojo into a track.
Reminds me of my JLM PEQ500s. I always would tell people, " I can add +12db if 12k and it never sounds harsh. It just sounds like too much 12k" . I am quite certain I will purchase this. Very impressive demo
Dan made it clear that it didn't add those db, that's why it didn't sound like it. And there is pretty much no harmonic content added, so it's as close to a digital EQ as it gets. I'm sorry... but did you watch the whole video? Or am I missing something?
It does add significant harmonic content, especially from the low shelf band. Could you not hear that in my comparison?
@@DanWorrall I didn't mean to misrepresent your words, my apologies Sr!
I meant that, in my opinion, what it does can be easily found in other plugins, not irreplaceable at all. For example, RVox adds harmonics in a way I haven't been able to replicate with anything. It's surprisingly unique. But I've seen this under-100-hz harmonic content in plenty of places, specially SSL emulations.
I just didn't understand why this user seemed so keen on buying it, given those factors. Shouln't have lead with "Dan made it clear [...]". My remarks about the added dB still stands, though.
As always, love your vids.
I can’t be the only one here seeing the irony of being served up a Harrison Mixbus ad, before being permitted to watch Dan’s great video. UA-cam are messing with you Dan. 😂
If you click on those ads Harrison has to pay me money (indirectly). Just an observation...
Transformers and tubes are awesome, but for realism, it’s hard to beat a transformer-less, solid-state, passive EQ. If you haven’t tried one, it’s pretty amazing. First one I tried was on a jazz mastering project, the transformer-less version of the Langevin Mini Massive Passive EQ in the late 2000’s. First time I ever boosted the high-highs on a ride cymbal and my ears were genuinely fooled into thinking I moved closer to the kit/speakers. So good!
Um this track is straight fire.
The 'lol' at 5:05 fuckin destroyed me 🤣🤣🤣
These videos are so amazingly helpful. Thank you. I have learned so much.
Code id da dose....get well soon.
Always a pleasure sir....don't fear the phase shift.
Oh... i saw this a few weeks ago and thought "i dont need any more EQs"
But I actually want this now :P very useful quirks in this thing. Its actually unique from all my other EQs
Dan has cleared up quite a few confusing mysteries for me over the months with reference to plugins and so on. It’s good to know what your ears and instincts are telling you is probably true as apposed to myth and hype - I have tried lots of plugins especially mythical ones that claim to impart some vintage glow or what have you I’ve blind tested them and many times just thought I really can’t tell the difference- music production is a lot of a mine field at first my advice is try anything let it settle and re visit it see if your senses are wasting your money. Marketing knows that if they say it enough you will believe it they know that modern digital producers love the fantasy of old out of reach mystical equipment there is of course plenty of gold in between the dirt to be had and of course different approach and talent can make the difference
Cliffs: Don't buy another EQ plugin. Buy a keyboard with a working full stop key.
run-on sentences can do that to ya
@@shaft9000 I’m just warming up here
In the ProQ vs Massive comparison at the end, the massive sounded wider/more open. The cymbals fellt fresher. They are probably more panned so more emphasis means a more spacious sound (or not!).
Incredible work Dan
Not exactly what I was looking for when I searched "Dan Worrall Massive Bottom" but it will do.
aye yoooooo
You can hold right-click to fine tune the knobs instead of holding CTRL btw.
could just be my ears and laptop speakers, but you can definitely hear the sterility of pro-Q3 in the comparison. nice vid Dan 👍🏻
I LOVE the UI and it is great to learn and understand how the massive passive curves work. But honestly when I compared the pulsar with the Universal Audio one UA was the clear winner for me..(soundwise)
Wrong. Pulsar is the clear winner.
And now you know why the more you can get good sounds in the recording process with microphones and mic placement the less you have to eq/phase shift in the mix process.
It's very lush and comfortable even pushed... Like you said not surgical but very round.. Kinda like it
thank u man .. ur channel is Best than netflex movies .. please the next video acustica audio plugin
Thanks Dan. Pulsar is good so far. I often use Massive and 1178. A hope you dissect 1178 too.
1178 is way better than an 1176.
Blue Oyster Cult - Dont Fear the Phase Shift 🤘
After watching this I slightly prefer the behaviour / workflow of my trusted TDR Slick EQ Mastering Edition!
That's my dilemma too. I have the TDR too, will this replace or augment it? 🤔
I liked this review, it's an honest one and those are hard to find.
I really like their 1178 plugin too
4:59 Good video very informative would recommend
I NEED "don't fear the phase shift" on a t-shirt. 😆 Keep 'em coming Dan!
Surprisingly good effect on the music. I did think it tightened or compressed the lows, adding more “glue” than Fab Filter, which was crystal clear but actually sort of ruined the groove of the music in comparison. The Pulsar gave your track better bounce.
Dan, you ever use Airwindows plugins? I just tried IronOxide5 on my fretless bass and it sounds great.
Hello, would you mind getting a hint on LMMS ? Im using it since almost 13 years, in fact since i was 13... im just intereseted in what you would say about the open source daw ! Also i use a 4x4 allpass filter from this daw wich creates massive phace shifts, but i sometimes need them to create a kind of seperated roomy bass or drum scape.. love this DAW!
"Eq IS phase shift"... I've watched enough of your videos to know this, but I still don't understand why! Can you please do a video showing what exactly is happening to a waveform and why? Help us Obi-Dan, you're our only hope!
I can't explain it for each filter type, but lowpass is the easier filter to figure out:
Here the phase shift job consists into delaying/spreading fast signal changes over time and thus making them less significant.
It's the inherent nature of how capacitors work as filters, the "output" lags behind the "input". You can see it generally by looking up a Bode plot that shows frequency and phase for a low pass RC filter.
@@feignit aaah cool, i can grasp that, thanks. And plugins emulate this capacitant behaviour?
Get well soon sir.
Valuable message: I don't need to buy another vintage emulation of which the marketing claims are bigger than the sound design coloration. Who of experienced audio pros or semi pros still believes in these advertising?
Save your money and invest in real innovative plugins.
Btw. Great test from Dan as always.
I think this plugin is fairly innovative. 1.) You can view it 3 different ways: knobs, graph, and both. 2.) it adds features not found on the based hardware. 3.) it’s a parallel EQ, which is notably different than our stock EQs.
@@ASJerrell I compare it to smart EQ 3 for innovation and to acustica audio for true analog emulation. The "best" already exists. It's a me too product.
And yes, this thing for mixing is fantastic. Volcano 3 is right there.
Hi Dan, would you mind going over the UAD SSL E Channel? I found your videos clearing up on a lot of which was thought of as "wizardry" before, thanks for that!
that " lol " killed me so hard
I would love to see someone do a comparison between his plugin and the Acustica Audio Magenta 5
Pulsar plugins are some of the only expensive analogue emulation plugins I'd pay for outright (a few others I use are on sub model). Features that belong in the digital world plus basically no snake oil.
My compliments to the chef who made this video :) One little note I would like to add: The low end knobs creates harmonics all over the spectrum, not only for low frequencies. It would have been nice if you have switched from Hammerstein to Harmonic Analysis to show this.
@@TheJohnsofDoes Not sure what you mean by amplitude modulation, the paper about Hammerstein curves by Novak et al. does not state or refer to such thing.
I do understand though that the harmonics created for freqs above 250Hz shown under the Hammerstein tabs do have a roll off compared to the low freq spectrum, which is also shown on the Harmonic Analysis tab (for the Low Freq knob)
@@TheJohnsofDoes Maybe I made a wrong assumption when I read "Those are harmonics from amplitude modulation". Anyway I said I was not sure what you meant by that which is an implicit question. I don't mind being corrected with facts or knowledge. I don't need to "lol or being condescendent" to anyone whether I am right or wrong.
I have the UAD Manley Massive Passive and it’s amazing. I have the Pulsar Smasher it’s pretty awesome.
I love pulsar massive. :D.
So, I would love to see a video on you making one of these tracks you use for the videos. And mixing it.
Hey Dan, great plugin test video. I love Pulsar plugins. You mentioned phase. Love to hear what you think about Multi-Band Phase shift and how it affects the audio. Also, the TC Electronics MD4. It's a multi-band compressor with EQ and Limiting. If you've ever heard of the TC 6000 Hardware unit. It's based on that. Thanks, Marc
Dan has done loads of videos recently about running pass filters in parallel. Very useful stuff.
Worth a watch
@@TheJohnsofDoes Here is what I see with the TC MD4. Wait, I thought I could drag the pic in the comment. Definately not Linear phase. Is phasing a lot like a min phase multiband plugin.
@@CarlyonProduction He hasn't touched on Multi-Band Phase yet.
@@marcsmith8146It uses FIR crossovers. the port is exactly the same as the algo used in the TC Electronic Powercore, and they all share a genesis with the TC Finalizer which also isn't minimum phase. i was using the plugin just the other day. it isn't minimum phase. if you are seeing crazy phase wrapping in the plot then you are probably seeing a delay that Plugin Doctor or the EQ analyser cannot account for because of any number of reasons e.g a fixed buffer size that PD doesn't adapt well to and this is a common thing with things that do not use IIR's in their filter structure. you'll also see it with anti-aliasing implementations sometimes too
@@johndozesoph4136 Hey John, thanks for that info. Yeah, I noticed in PD that, other Multi-Band limiters ala Fabfilter Pro MB and Waves Multi-Band Limiter "LinMB" don't show these issues but all of TC plugins do show that issue as well as McDSP multi-band limiters. I wonder if Fabfilter and Waves use FIR filters. This is an area for me that is lacking when it comes to Multi-Band Limiters and their phasing issues/non-issues.
It’s not the same as a massive passive but it’s fantastic and I use this for M/S or when I have to do masters ITB .it really helps with my workflow that way
The drive and gain is what really makes this special and different then the massive passive…not better but different
I won’t be selling my massive passive but I love this plugin and use both
Eve Anna from Manley has stated that the tubes in the massive passive don’t add to the sound of the unit as much as people think.