Listening in a studio, the hardware is subtly soooo much better. It’s like there’s separation within the sound. Matching the high boost on the plug-in alliance just brought more top end artefacts in. Type of thing that across many tracks will give that slightly vague feeling. I went from analog to digital and embraced it fully, but more and more I’m just hearing that analog doesn’t destroy the original signal. It’s musical and just feels so much tighter
I was just about to buy the BAX EQ hardware last night. The differences are so minor that it really doesn't make any difference. I'm glad i didn't blow $2400 on it because i own the Plugin Alliance plugin and the UAD version. Thanks for the audio examples.
Thanks for this. Always close but never a real replacement if you value the additional qualities of analog. At this point, all plugins essentially sound the same, or rather always limited in the same way, there is no way to view a 4K movie on an HD TV, it doesn’t matter what filter is used to try and negate the lack of resolution, computer models collapse the same equally whether a distortion plugin or a high end compressor. Those small differences are important in such a competitive industry.
just got me a hardware unit of the bax, yep I can confirm it kicks butt on the plugin! adds a 3dness to the sound like a neve 1073 mojo. it retains the chest pump hit of kick way better than plugin,
The Plugin Alliance instantly sounds more 3D and more like the hardware when you engage the M/S processing. Even if you don't tweak the settings & leave them linked.
Good comparison, thanks for doing that. Just shows that a round trip through a good AD/DA can add that dimension to a track. I do that with an Apollo X6 and 8 channels of analog summing, and it works a treat.
Great test, Matty! Coral2 Bax was crazy close to the Dangerous, through the converters. Hardware had a slightly more natural sound and made the music appear to "move" or flow more, but we're definitely cutting teeth here! About a 5% difference, to my ears. Glad that you're keeping the real thing, there's no replacement, however, Coral2 for FREE??? No-brainer!
I Think when you start talking about that extra 5-10% difference from each piece of hardware it adds up to amazing! long term value really quick...especially if you have the skills to match!!
I was fan of Plugin Alliance but I dig the plugins of AA more. They have something special (more close to hardware), they make the sound less flat. I am more fan of AA plugins :)
I downloaded the youtube audio to compare a little bit better, I hope you don't get upset, I didn't see difference trought youtube. But A/B faster I can tell that the Dangerous sound a little bit transparent or less eqeed, the PA one sounds a little bit loud in high-mids (not actually harsh to me), and de AA sounds different, but they three would sound exactly how I would expect to sound like - Really good Nice content! Congratz!
Great channel, brother! From one gear junkie to another... thank you for all the time you give to us! I’ve been a loyal UAD user since they first came out back in the early 2000’s! The original 1176 legacy blackface is still the closest 1176 emulation I’ve heard. (I don’t know if Acustica has one or not yet, K just started trying out their plug ins last week.) Not trying to sound arrogant here.... but I can hear like a Bat 🦇 Lol I’ve freaked my engineer friends out by telling them exactly what compressor, EQ or reverb plug ins/hardware they used on specific tracks in their mix. 😉 And to my ear the Acustica plug ins sound more like analog gear than anything out there! Especially the EQ. However... they take up so much CPU that it disrupts my workflow and distracts me from what really matters.... the SONG! I wish they sold a separate hardware box like UAD’s satellite! If they did I would buy every plug in they had and use UAD much less. I can’t believe I’m even saying this as I’ve been a die hard UAD fan for nearly 20 years! But damn! Acustica has blown my mind! Again though... I believe a fast & steady workflow is much more conducive to creativity than the tiny 10% difference in tone that Acustica offers with all the error messages stopping my playback! I have to commit my tracks once I get more than 5 or 6 AA plug ins going at once. Side note.. have you tried www.mixanalog.com ? Pretty freaking amazing being able to use REAL analog gear in the cloud!
Nolan Neal Seals Hey Nolan, big fan of AA plugins here too and I definitely suggest you should try Diamond Eq and Lift / Made by AA with Luca Pretolesi at Studio DMI in Las Vegas. I know you’ll love them. I like Mix Analog as well, and I suggest you should try www.AccessAnalog.com as well. A lot more variety of equipment at Access Analog ( aprox $40k of analog gear ) and the best feature - you can run it directly as a plugin in your session, without having to bounce your files , upload etc as you do with MixAnalog. That waists a lot of time in processing. With AccessAnalog you can still make changes to your session in real-time. Try it out ✌️
As someone who is absolutely in the "analog beats digitial all day every day" camp... The Coral blew me away. I don't think I could have heard a difference on the second test without being told there was a difference. I have the Pultec collection from acustica (which is rock solid) and saw this little "coral" thing appear on my installer the other week as a free add-on and couldn't believe how nice it sounded. I was curious how it stacked up against the real deal, and.... wow.
Ive download the audio from this vid, match them in daw and flip a phase on one of them. The HW and PA almost null. AA the same. The difference is so minior, that it is barely hearable. Stiil there is something going on inside of the HW.
It would be smart to create a tonematch profile between the hardware and the plugins. Save that as a preset and use it after either plugin and you would basically have a clone of the hardware that you would know is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing
Hmm, the difference between the hw and Coral is so minor you'd be able to make these moves in the box: just notch some lower mids and upper highs and widen the stereo stage and you couldn't hear any difference. I think it's just a tonality scale thing, not really an emulation lacking any depth.
Even with my $200 headphones the differences between all three of these is almost imperceptible imo. Sometimes I think it's just your power of suggestion that makes me think I hear a difference. In a blind test it would be hard for me or I think anyone to tell which one is which. It's a very subtle EQ too so maybe that's why. I got the Plugin Alliance EQ for only about $20-25 on sale last month. I like the couple additional controls on it and M/S processing. I'll keep it. I don't need more plugins for plugins sake and as much as I think studios filled with hardware look awesome, it's a bit ridiculous if you're not a pro studio.
@@mixedbymatty yeah I can see that, invest in some great mics and pres and get the best sound you can into the box and then at that point just working in the box will be nearly as good ... maybe. You're also listening in a studio, to the real thing, on monitors. I know this is in HD but still it's probably not as good as in your studio. Not to mention your ears are probably better trained than mine, although I often can detect a difference in these shootouts. But this one was hard for me to hear. Cheers
I don't understand, why did the plugins sound better when you ran them thru converters. Can someone explain = when he said convters did he mean a summing mixer ?
The bax is supposed to be great for cutting. It should be before other eq's Even when you track, you should be cutting out what you can before boosting. This video is an example on the master bus but not with each track used with a cut. How much of a difference would that make?
thnak you for the comparison, Matt! What is the project samplerate, 44100 or 96000? Did you test your hardware loopback? 'Cos this "wideness" is probably hardware channel difference which is bad but we all like it ))
I feel the converters were adding some harshness to the sound. It was especially obvious in the rim; it just had a lot of bite. The hardware might be better, but it had to fight a lot to get there. I'm curious whether you could eke out a better sound from the software by putting some subtle saturation on it.
hardware was just more dynamic with eqs having more dynamics in volume than the plugins, plugins sounded like they were not rising and dropping in volume like the hardware.
Nice comparison , the hardware version sound more better , the hi are better and less harsh than the plugin version. The plugin are good but I feel the plugin color the hi more.
Thank you very much for your video, it's helpful. I wanted to add the Bax EQ to my Dangerous Music rack, but after seeing this video I'm not so sure anymore. The plugin seem according to you just as good. Is that really possible ? I'm not a pro engineer, just a musician and I record my backing tracks for live gigs, and having nice gear gives me pleasure when recording and mixing. I believe you sold your Dangerous Bax EQ in the meantime. I'm broke these days and I want this BAX so much, just as a collection item to add to my rack, but I'm afraid 'll disapointed if I compare it to the plugin. The one I've found is 2000€, it's way cheaper than a new one.... So ther is really almost no difference at all between hardware and plugin ? Thank you
It's the preamp, on or off... With PRE engaged, it sounds closer to the hardware, without, more transparent ( they samled the Bax just after the preamp stage in this case, just the eq without preamp i think )
@@ShinyDrums Thanks. Where did you get that information? I couldn't find any documentation of it anywhere. Also, not really sure how the AI presets are supposed to work. I would expect to see the knobs move in response to the AI after it has sampled the music. Is the sampling automatic? Or how does one engage it?
@@berkeleybernie I'm an acustica audio plugins user and i've had the info on the acustica audio facebook group, or gearslutz etc...the pre function is almost on every acustica plugin. For the AI presets, you have to play your music a little time, the plugin "analyse" it, after you select a preset, and it change the eq value ( sorry for my english, i'm french...)
Interesting... The P.A. Bax sounds "Droopy" when I hear it with the conversion. *Edit* After replaying the first section, I hear it in the PA version there too, but it sounds less pronounced to me.
I was debating buying this on sale for 29 bucks and decided against it, but I only mix, and don't do mastering. Does anyone ever use this in mixing situations similar to a Pultec or no?
software still sounds veil and small hardware is still king itsthat 5 -10 % that carries not saying you cant make good music with plugins but its no where near that close
Just tested both. Coral sounds better. More natural. Open. Bax is flat. Like always. Acustica Audio engine is superior form anything on the market. Even UA plugins which require their sound card which is laughable. AA is best (hardware emulation) sounding company on the market, because of their unique technology. Period.
The Coral Bax is free. Incredible value.
one of the few youtube channels where the engineer actually knows what they are talking about. always coming back! thanks Matty!
Listening in a studio, the hardware is subtly soooo much better. It’s like there’s separation within the sound. Matching the high boost on the plug-in alliance just brought more top end artefacts in. Type of thing that across many tracks will give that slightly vague feeling. I went from analog to digital and embraced it fully, but more and more I’m just hearing that analog doesn’t destroy the original signal. It’s musical and just feels so much tighter
At last an honest review where a good engineer admits how close software is at present. Respect for your honest review Sir
Great review!. I'll put these "time links" to help visitors for comparison. Just clic on them. Cheers!
2:49 - HARDWARE
2:55 - PA BAX
3:08 - CORAL BAX
I was just about to buy the BAX EQ hardware last night. The differences are so minor that it really doesn't make any difference. I'm glad i didn't blow $2400 on it because i own the Plugin Alliance plugin and the UAD version. Thanks for the audio examples.
The HW and Coral sound so much better though. Get Coral and then it's no difference.
Thanks for this. Always close but never a real replacement if you value the additional qualities of analog. At this point, all plugins essentially sound the same, or rather always limited in the same way, there is no way to view a 4K movie on an HD TV, it doesn’t matter what filter is used to try and negate the lack of resolution, computer models collapse the same equally whether a distortion plugin or a high end compressor. Those small differences are important in such a competitive industry.
The plugins sound really good, hardware just sounds amazing with really smooth upper mids.
just got me a hardware unit of the bax, yep I can confirm it kicks butt on the plugin! adds a 3dness to the sound like a neve 1073 mojo. it retains the chest pump hit of kick way better than plugin,
The Plugin Alliance instantly sounds more 3D and more like the hardware when you engage the M/S processing. Even if you don't tweak the settings & leave them linked.
Good comparison, thanks for doing that. Just shows that a round trip through a good AD/DA can add that dimension to a track. I do that with an Apollo X6 and 8 channels of analog summing, and it works a treat.
Great shootout video Coral is dead onto the hardware
Great test, Matty! Coral2 Bax was crazy close to the Dangerous, through the converters. Hardware had a slightly more natural sound and made the music appear to "move" or flow more, but we're definitely cutting teeth here! About a 5% difference, to my ears. Glad that you're keeping the real thing, there's no replacement, however, Coral2 for FREE??? No-brainer!
Cool shoot out. I’ve heard several
times that you have to push the plugin alliance versions more. But it works great
+EasyStreet Productions ya. I’ve heard that too. Didn’t really realize it till I tried it.
The free coral bax is not the paid version. The paid version has M/S mode and the free version does not.
I Think when you start talking about that extra 5-10% difference from each piece of hardware it adds up to amazing! long term value really quick...especially if you have the skills to match!!
Thank you so much Matty, the only useful video I found on this hardware! Wonderfully done!
I was fan of Plugin Alliance but I dig the plugins of AA more. They have something special (more close to hardware), they make the sound less flat. I am more fan of AA plugins :)
+martijnvandongen nice. Ya. I’m a fan of both. They both got great features. 😎
I downloaded the youtube audio to compare a little bit better, I hope you don't get upset, I didn't see difference trought youtube.
But A/B faster I can tell that the Dangerous sound a little bit transparent or less eqeed, the PA one sounds a little bit loud in high-mids (not actually harsh to me), and de AA sounds different, but they three would sound exactly how I would expect to sound like - Really good
Nice content! Congratz!
Great test! The hw was clearly the best, but where the technology has come, we are all the real winners! All three are excellent.
Thanks for this. Downloaded the coral bax because of your video!
Great channel, brother! From one gear junkie to another... thank you for all the time you give to us!
I’ve been a loyal UAD user since they first came out back in the early 2000’s! The original 1176 legacy blackface is still the closest 1176 emulation I’ve heard. (I don’t know if Acustica has one or not yet, K just started trying out their plug ins last week.)
Not trying to sound arrogant here.... but I can hear like a Bat 🦇 Lol
I’ve freaked my engineer friends out by telling them exactly what compressor, EQ or reverb
plug ins/hardware they used on specific tracks in their mix. 😉
And to my ear the Acustica plug ins sound more like analog gear than anything out there!
Especially the EQ.
However... they take up so much CPU that it disrupts my workflow and distracts me from what really matters.... the SONG!
I wish they sold a separate hardware box like UAD’s satellite! If they did I would buy every plug in they had and use UAD much less.
I can’t believe I’m even saying this as I’ve been a die hard UAD fan for nearly 20 years! But damn! Acustica has blown my mind!
Again though... I believe a fast & steady workflow is much more conducive to creativity than the tiny 10% difference in tone that Acustica offers with all the error messages stopping my playback!
I have to commit my tracks once I get more than 5 or 6 AA plug ins going at once.
Side note.. have you tried www.mixanalog.com ?
Pretty freaking amazing being able to use REAL analog gear in the cloud!
Nolan Neal Seals Hey Nolan, big fan of AA plugins here too and I definitely suggest you should try Diamond Eq and Lift / Made by AA with Luca Pretolesi at Studio DMI in Las Vegas. I know you’ll love them.
I like Mix Analog as well, and I suggest you should try www.AccessAnalog.com as well.
A lot more variety of equipment at Access Analog ( aprox $40k of analog gear ) and the best feature - you can run it directly as a plugin in your session, without having to bounce your files , upload etc as you do with MixAnalog. That waists a lot of time in processing. With AccessAnalog you can still make changes to your session in real-time.
Try it out ✌️
As someone who is absolutely in the "analog beats digitial all day every day" camp...
The Coral blew me away. I don't think I could have heard a difference on the second test without being told there was a difference. I have the Pultec collection from acustica (which is rock solid) and saw this little "coral" thing appear on my installer the other week as a free add-on and couldn't believe how nice it sounded. I was curious how it stacked up against the real deal, and.... wow.
Ive download the audio from this vid, match them in daw and flip a phase on one of them. The HW and PA almost null. AA the same. The difference is so minior, that it is barely hearable. Stiil there is something going on inside of the HW.
It would be smart to create a tonematch profile between the hardware and the plugins. Save that as a preset and use it after either plugin and you would basically have a clone of the hardware that you would know is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing
Totally agree on your thoughts after comparing. Great video Matty!
Perhaps in second test of PA vs hardware, along with 4.8 Khz's extra boost,boosting output by 0.5 db will sound identical to hardware.
Can't believe that Coral is free. Sounds pretty damn close to the hardware.
Hmm, the difference between the hw and Coral is so minor you'd be able to make these moves in the box: just notch some lower mids and upper highs and widen the stereo stage and you couldn't hear any difference. I think it's just a tonality scale thing, not really an emulation lacking any depth.
would like to see a test of what you just describe
Even with my $200 headphones the differences between all three of these is almost imperceptible imo. Sometimes I think it's just your power of suggestion that makes me think I hear a difference. In a blind test it would be hard for me or I think anyone to tell which one is which. It's a very subtle EQ too so maybe that's why. I got the Plugin Alliance EQ for only about $20-25 on sale last month. I like the couple additional controls on it and M/S processing. I'll keep it. I don't need more plugins for plugins sake and as much as I think studios filled with hardware look awesome, it's a bit ridiculous if you're not a pro studio.
💯 you can make amazing records with a laptop these days. The hardware gives you another 5%. Maybe....
However I must add. When it comes to recording hardware is wayyyyy more important then mixing. Quality mics and pres make a world of difference
@@mixedbymatty yeah I can see that, invest in some great mics and pres and get the best sound you can into the box and then at that point just working in the box will be nearly as good ... maybe. You're also listening in a studio, to the real thing, on monitors. I know this is in HD but still it's probably not as good as in your studio. Not to mention your ears are probably better trained than mine, although I often can detect a difference in these shootouts. But this one was hard for me to hear. Cheers
I don't understand, why did the plugins sound better when you ran them thru converters. Can someone explain = when he said convters did he mean a summing mixer ?
Wow man, they are so close! As you said the hardware has a little more air.
The bax is supposed to be great for cutting. It should be before other eq's Even when you track, you should be cutting out what you can before boosting. This video is an example on the master bus but not with each track used with a cut. How much of a difference would that make?
hi do you have the files? would love to compare
thanks
thnak you for the comparison, Matt! What is the project samplerate, 44100 or 96000? Did you test your hardware loopback? 'Cos this "wideness" is probably hardware channel difference which is bad but we all like it ))
+andivax hey! It’s at 44.1. No hardware channel difference. Calibrated perfectly. :)
@@mixedbymatty FYI the native Acqua/Nebula libs sampling frequency is 96K.
The best software Bax is Baxter by Variety Of Sound.
When you say ran it threw the converter what was you talking about ? And how much does it cost and where I can get it from
AD and DA played an unignore role on it
I feel the converters were adding some harshness to the sound. It was especially obvious in the rim; it just had a lot of bite. The hardware might be better, but it had to fight a lot to get there. I'm curious whether you could eke out a better sound from the software by putting some subtle saturation on it.
Is the “pre” button engaged on coral? That could be the tonal difference, it’s emulating a preamp
ya it's on. :)
hardware was just more dynamic with eqs having more dynamics in volume than the plugins, plugins sounded like they were not rising and dropping in volume like the hardware.
Nice comparison , the hardware version sound more better , the hi are better and less harsh than the plugin version. The plugin are good but I feel the plugin color the hi more.
yes, but with the pre off on coral, its more clean, losses a bit of a spakle, but very nice, when we do not need colour too much
I’m lovin’ the audio acustica stuff - but my cpu does not - having said that they are the closest thing to hardware gear
Sid East +1
Thank you very much for your video, it's helpful. I wanted to add the Bax EQ to my Dangerous Music rack, but after seeing this video I'm not so sure anymore. The plugin seem according to you just as good. Is that really possible ? I'm not a pro engineer, just a musician and I record my backing tracks for live gigs, and having nice gear gives me pleasure when recording and mixing. I believe you sold your Dangerous Bax EQ in the meantime. I'm broke these days and I want this BAX so much, just as a collection item to add to my rack, but I'm afraid 'll disapointed if I compare it to the plugin. The one I've found is 2000€, it's way cheaper than a new one.... So ther is really almost no difference at all between hardware and plugin ? Thank you
Its been cracked for over a year and the plugin is way better then the hardware
matty is the best!!
What the hell does the PRE button do on the Coral Baxter? I can find no information about it in their "manual" or on the website.
It's the preamp, on or off... With PRE engaged, it sounds closer to the hardware, without, more transparent ( they samled the Bax just after the preamp stage in this case, just the eq without preamp i think )
@@ShinyDrums Thanks. Where did you get that information? I couldn't find any documentation of it anywhere.
Also, not really sure how the AI presets are supposed to work. I would expect to see the knobs move in response to the AI after it has sampled the music. Is the sampling automatic? Or how does one engage it?
@@berkeleybernie I'm an acustica audio plugins user and i've had the info on the acustica audio facebook group, or gearslutz etc...the pre function is almost on every acustica plugin. For the AI presets, you have to play your music a little time, the plugin "analyse" it, after you select a preset, and it change the eq value ( sorry for my english, i'm french...)
@@ShinyDrums Pas de problème! Merci!
Yo Bro thanks..this was well received....
i stay in the box, not convinced, putting warming up effects in the box solves a lot for me
Interesting... The P.A. Bax sounds "Droopy" when I hear it with the conversion.
*Edit* After replaying the first section, I hear it in the PA version there too, but it sounds less pronounced to me.
wow such a small difference in sound I would think you wouldn't go wrong with any of them.
man acoustica audio plugins is hardware in a plugins they are the secret big gun of todays industry they sounds just like hardware units
I was debating buying this on sale for 29 bucks and decided against it, but I only mix, and don't do mastering. Does anyone ever use this in mixing situations similar to a Pultec or no?
+Brodie it’s great on mix bus. I use on vocals from time to time as well. Great on kicks too.
Brodie
I use the UAD version on the mixbus also. I tend to use it especially when I want to use a bit of M/S to maybe open up the upper mids or highs.
To my ears the PA version sounds a bit more aggressive than Acustica Audio.
The hardware has more AIR
coral is identical to the hw no joke
software still sounds veil and small hardware is still king itsthat 5 -10 % that carries not saying you cant make good music with plugins but its no where near that close
the coral actually sounds better than the hardware to me....warmer.....
that Coral is scary good. Plugin Alliance was a bit sloppy tbh.....but then after the boost on the high end I was resting easy
PA was just a bit quieter.
Coral is so Close....that is really good to know...Coral is so Close is that worth....payng top doller for Bax...nope......just for that other 10%
Just tested both. Coral sounds better. More natural. Open. Bax is flat. Like always. Acustica Audio engine is superior form anything on the market. Even UA plugins which require their sound card which is laughable. AA is best (hardware emulation) sounding company on the market, because of their unique technology. Period.