What a strange artefact packed male vocal to use as a test. Can't concentrate on the compressors because that awful gritty vocal is ripping my ears to shreds.
They seem pretty similar, the Waves seems to flatten it the most, the Neold seems the brightest. The other ones were hard to tell apart. Also, wish the Analog Obsession LALA was included here (that's what I've been using but I'd like to hear it next to the UAD ones)
I kind of like the black rooster sound ,funny because it's the company I'm least familiar with . I have the waves and have used it a lot , i'll likely end up with the Neold as soon as they drop it to $29.99 lol .I'll look into that black rooster . I also have the Softube Summit audio TL 100 it's nice for the LA 2a style. and they have a new Opto as well i haven't tried, I also have the Opticom XLA-3 from Plugin Alliance which is in this family and it works nice.
Thank you for your very helpful comparison. It was insightful and i appreciate all your hsrd work to make the video. I had the hardware UA LA-2A in my studio and did a shootout . Believe it or not the Softube Tube Tech CL1B Mark II was the best sounding plug in to my ears vs the LA-2A hardware. The hardware had a a tad bit more color but the UAD Silver plug in sounded layered on top of the signal and removed the openness, of the top end that the hardware provided. The Cl1B kept the signal integrity. It actually made me interested in trying out the hardware Tube Tech version
Yeah, the CL1B has some additional tricks up its sleeve, making it more of a deviation from the original LA-2A concept. You have to basically restrict the CL1B to match the behavior of an LA-2A. Curious how the new warm audio clone of it performs.
On most of this material I much prefer the uncomressed sound, though of course that is without real track context😁. That said, I own three of the compressor plugins and will probably reach for the T-Rex and Neold before the Waves in the future. Especially after Waves' recent antics.
This was a very nice comparison. Of course, we'd really need to try out the trials to fully make up our minds. But this is instructive on the kinds of differences to listen for. That was very helpful. For the most part I was drawn to the overall sound of the Black Rooster plugin. But that may be because that's the one I use and so I recognise the sound of it!
I have the IKMultimedia version, Waves CLA, Neold U2A, Analog Obsession LaLa and the Slate Digital FGX-2A in addition to those plugins I have the Golden Age Project 2A hardware unit too
I got 12 DSP chips for UAD, so I'll still be using their LA-2A version! :) The Neold one sounds really nice too though! Thanks for this rundown, nice to see how they stack up!
I never went UAD platform! Mostly because I use a PC most of the time and never got into the UAD ecosphere. But now with Spark and the native version I finally dive into those. And yes, there are some sweet vocals on Vocalfy ( where i got them) :-)
The UAD Gray and Neold were consistently my favorites. They seemed to preserve the tonality of the raw vocal the best, bringing the tone forward and keeping it sounding big. The Waves sounds narrow for lack of a better word.
Interesting comparison between these. I have the Waves CLA-2A, haven’t used it in a while though. The Black Rooster and the Neold had what seemed like “grit”, probably saturation. I think this was why I liked those 2 best.
BTW the Black Rooster plug-ins are on sale $19.99 including this VLA-2A, and VLA-2A Mark II, then there's a RO-GOLD plate reverb and Cypress TT-15 guitar amp free. Looks like all plug-ins have demos too. I'm not in any way affiliated with Black Rooster, just passing on sale and free stuff info.
@@whitenoisestudio sure, it's your channel. But I found it much better than eg. Waves - closer to analogue devices + useful feature "fast reset" of photocell.
really great comparisson - you are trying your best t make it as fair as possble! thank you!I was actually surprised with how good black rooster handled this.....And waves was the worst for me .... :D
@@whitenoisestudio there was a big update in april 2021, so I wouldn't say that's a lot of time necessarily. If it ain't broke don't fix it, right? And I don't know where the 20 plugins argument comes from - all I'm talking about is one free alternative for comparison
I thought it was interesting that the IK seemed to be in the middle. If you already have that a small amount of EQ can do anything you need. I like it and the CLA and the Rooster were my favs.
@@whitenoisestudio 100% and everyone has different tastes / likes so it's nice to be able to find out (hear) what might work well for me or for you, etc. True in many many things music related.
I already own the T-Racks one so well... I'll stick with that one for now. I'm planning on eventually getting the UAD Mix Edition bundle which includes the Teletronix LA-2A Collection, but that's not going to be soon because I don't have the $$$tamina 😅
What is your favorite LA-2A compressor for vocals?
Hornet HA2A is my go to, as it has a few extra features over the typical LA2A emulation
Yeah like the Neold for instance.
Great comparison video. I prefer UAD and Neold, but I’m sure the end user / listener won’t know the difference.
Shows how small the differences are really.
I own Overloud LA and CLA-2A. Most of the time I use Overloud. UAD version (silver) is also one of my favorite emulations.
Why leave out Analog Obsession??? It is free and would be interestjing to see it compared to the Best???
The reason why the CLA-2A sounds less grabby out of all of them is because the HF tilt is set all the way up on the others and at 50% on the CLA-2A.
What a strange artefact packed male vocal to use as a test. Can't concentrate on the compressors because that awful gritty vocal is ripping my ears to shreds.
Piccie or it didn’t happen!
Same here. This male vocal sounds awful. The female one sounds nice though if you blend out the sound of the room it was recorded in.
for years and years the UA LA2A Silver has been my #1 choice. Lately I have used the softube Opto compressor a lot as it is fantastic.
They sound so similar. I’d just chose the one using less CPU
And maybe the price will be a factor as well.
@@whitenoisestudio Which one uses LESS CPU?
@@apologeticajosecarlosif you have a UAD interface, the processing happens in the UAD interface and not the CPU.
They seem pretty similar, the Waves seems to flatten it the most, the Neold seems the brightest. The other ones were hard to tell apart. Also, wish the Analog Obsession LALA was included here (that's what I've been using but I'd like to hear it next to the UAD ones)
I own only the CLA 2A and liked the sound of that one and the Neold the best.
I kind of like the black rooster sound ,funny because it's the company I'm least familiar with . I have the waves and have used it a lot , i'll likely end up with the Neold as soon as they drop it to $29.99 lol .I'll look into that black rooster . I also have the Softube Summit audio TL 100 it's nice for the LA 2a style. and they have a new Opto as well i haven't tried, I also have the Opticom XLA-3 from Plugin Alliance which is in this family and it works nice.
yeah probably a few months before the Neold drops to 29,99.
Damn this makes me wanna buy some uad stuff.
The uad one is one of the best it just sounds more open but still controlled
the vocal tone you are putting through it is just too weird for me to tell
Thank you for your very helpful comparison. It was insightful and i appreciate all your hsrd work to make the video.
I had the hardware UA LA-2A in my studio and did a shootout . Believe it or not the Softube Tube Tech CL1B Mark II was the best sounding plug in to my ears vs the LA-2A hardware. The hardware had a a tad bit more color but the UAD Silver plug in sounded layered on top of the signal and removed the openness, of the top end that the hardware provided. The Cl1B kept the signal integrity. It actually made me interested in trying out the hardware Tube Tech version
Yeah, the CL1B has some additional tricks up its sleeve, making it more of a deviation from the original LA-2A concept. You have to basically restrict the CL1B to match the behavior of an LA-2A. Curious how the new warm audio clone of it performs.
Hello, I have the UAD, Waves, Neold and T-Rex, and also feel that Waves and Neold were more consistent for vocals. Thanks very much!
Thanks for watching!
On most of this material I much prefer the uncomressed sound, though of course that is without real track context😁. That said, I own three of the compressor plugins and will probably reach for the T-Rex and Neold before the Waves in the future. Especially after Waves' recent antics.
The Neold is goood. And of the 6 here the most flexible.
UAD are the clearest and nicest on my focals 6be
This was a very nice comparison. Of course, we'd really need to try out the trials to fully make up our minds. But this is instructive on the kinds of differences to listen for. That was very helpful. For the most part I was drawn to the overall sound of the Black Rooster plugin. But that may be because that's the one I use and so I recognise the sound of it!
Yeah you always better check with audio files in your own daw. There's also some information that gets lost here on youtube.
Tracks Ik multimedia imparts most character and sounds very controlled. Such underated plugins that are very musical
Black Rooster wins for me with the different options and a bit shinier sound. Thx for the review and your honest opinion ❤
I try to be as unbiased as possible, thanks for watching!
I have the IKMultimedia version, Waves CLA, Neold U2A, Analog Obsession LaLa and the Slate Digital FGX-2A in addition to those plugins I have the Golden Age Project 2A hardware unit too
You could say that you're sorted ^^
good for you but which is best according to you
Going to grab the neold soon
Waves and Neold, my two favorite at the moment
I got 12 DSP chips for UAD, so I'll still be using their LA-2A version! :) The Neold one sounds really nice too though! Thanks for this rundown, nice to see how they stack up!
Btw, lit vocals, now it's stuck in my head and can't stop singing it, fark 😅
I never went UAD platform! Mostly because I use a PC most of the time and never got into the UAD ecosphere. But now with Spark and the native version I finally dive into those.
And yes, there are some sweet vocals on Vocalfy ( where i got them) :-)
@White Noise Studio I got Windows too but I build my own tower with a TB3 PCIE. Works like a charm :)
The UAD Gray and Neold were consistently my favorites. They seemed to preserve the tonality of the raw vocal the best, bringing the tone forward and keeping it sounding big. The Waves sounds narrow for lack of a better word.
I like to use the word grabby for the gray and neold. I get what you mean with narrow.
I'm curious about what you think of Hornet's.
I think they're big and make much noise in the summer.
Awesome! Neold is fantastic... I am a big fun of Ik Tracks Magic glass. But I love Overloud too.
Neold is too dark.
Interesting comparison between these. I have the Waves CLA-2A, haven’t used it in a while though. The Black Rooster and the Neold had what seemed like “grit”, probably saturation. I think this was why I liked those 2 best.
It's a sort of thickness and solid sound right.
BTW the Black Rooster plug-ins are on sale $19.99 including this VLA-2A, and VLA-2A Mark II, then there's a RO-GOLD plate reverb and Cypress TT-15 guitar amp free. Looks like all plug-ins have demos too.
I'm not in any way affiliated with Black Rooster, just passing on sale and free stuff info.
you made bx_opto cry alone in a corner..
Neold came and kicked it ;-)
@@whitenoisestudio
UAD is awesome, but I really love the caracter of the NEOLD
Comparison lacks my favourite Ca2a made by Cakewalk.
it doesnt lack it, it was a choice.
@@whitenoisestudio sure, it's your channel. But I found it much better than eg. Waves - closer to analogue devices + useful feature "fast reset" of photocell.
Vla, U2a, silver sound the best to my ears.
really great comparisson - you are trying your best t make it as fair as possble! thank you!I was actually surprised with how good black rooster handled this.....And waves was the worst for me .... :D
Thanks! Yeah I do my best, thanks for mentioning it!
Shame you didn't include the free Analog Obsession LALA. I think it would show whether the paid options are worth the money
No I made a choice. I could have included 20 plugins easily. LALA hasn’t been updated in a while, right?
@@whitenoisestudio there was a big update in april 2021, so I wouldn't say that's a lot of time necessarily. If it ain't broke don't fix it, right? And I don't know where the 20 plugins argument comes from - all I'm talking about is one free alternative for comparison
The 20 plugins comes from that i had made a choice in which plugins to include, that's all :-)
@@whitenoisestudio I believe that it can be evidence that a one guy company is giving us free alternatives and sounds like a millions companies
@@johndoe-cb5ck I believe that reactions by users with anonymous generic usernames are paid by the russian troll factory in st.petersburg.
I have the CLA and the T Racks, I also have the Presonus Everest which is part of the Fat Channel and that's my favourite.
Thanks for sharing!
I thought it was interesting that the IK seemed to be in the middle. If you already have that a small amount of EQ can do anything you need. I like it and the CLA and the Rooster were my favs.
Yeah, thats why comparisons work so well. the answer is never what you expect.
@@whitenoisestudio 100% and everyone has different tastes / likes so it's nice to be able to find out (hear) what might work well for me or for you, etc. True in many many things music related.
Nice video.
I already own the T-Racks one so well... I'll stick with that one for now. I'm planning on eventually getting the UAD Mix Edition bundle which includes the Teletronix LA-2A Collection, but that's not going to be soon because I don't have the $$$tamina 😅
I wonder if UAD will do some nice sales anytime soon. Would be great.
@@whitenoisestudio I hope so. If not soon, then for Black Friday!
And our winner is... Overloud!!! As always...
Opal - came out - and takes the crown - I think that was settled once UVI entered teh game a few weeks ago?
No it doesnt in my opinion: ua-cam.com/video/S56mFt3fOAY/v-deo.html