Just wanted to comment that they should add a button to switch between stepped and full range, but great work of Pulsar that they already thought of this 👍
@@vadimmartynyuk The purpose of the video was just to sonicaly compare with the real thing which he owns, so the details of the GUI of the plugin are not so important in my opinion.
Great review and another great plugin. Love Pulsar! By the same settings the hardware sounds fuller,and low end sounds fuller. But it is really enough just to push a bit low frerquencies on the plugin up ,- and the same sound can be easily reached. We live in the real golden era of what the plugins can do!
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the plugin was that you have the part as a hardware unit. And I was almost sure that there will be a video about it. I was not disappointed.
The matching of the EQ curves is actually pretty amazing if you consider the real life component tolerances for the hardware units... And even more amazing is how well mached your hardware units are, but maybe they have been sold as a matched pair. If all units that leave the factory are that close to eachother, they probably spend a considerable amount of the manufacturing costs matching components (or buy prematched or otherwise very high tolerance parts).
Low shelf up boost mono, high shelf sides (cut or boost) - work early in the chain so other master eq does the push or pull to compensate for potential harshness or over lows
rofl. nothing that cannot be accounted for. I think we are putting too much stock in it. Each hardware EQ will be slightly different, but this aint anything to write home about here in that department. I think it is fair to give credit where it is due, it probably is a very accurate emulation of their hardware EQ. It sounds close enough, even when compared against a different unit. Phenomenal really.
@@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013This is a comparison of only one software model in mid/side (correct?) vs two hardware units in L/R. The side channel content generated by differing L/R low frequency hardware curves and harmonic responses could account for some difference.
Amazing! Very Very Very close to the Analog. I felt a touch more punchiness from the analog version but the rest was identical. Thanks for the video and the link!
The only difference is in the harmonics. The analog has a bit more, and as the host said, that could've been attributed to old components in his own units. Plus, if it's harmonics you want, there are so many ways to get that now! So, I did a little test, I compared my API 550A to waves version. The EQ curves were pretty much identical, but the analog had a bit more saturation. On the channel with waves plugin, I ran it through the Elysia Karacter hardware (not that I needed to), and I was able to dial in some of that so-called analog goodness. I was able to get waves 550A and API 550A 100% indistinguishable! And I'm sure I could have achieved that 100% with plugins too! Just thought I'd share.
Plugin sounds great. Hardware will always have the advantage of warmth, stereo imaging with more precise low mids, transients. Use the plugin for what it is, just as the hardware will be used by professionals or those who really have the budget to indulge themselves. Pulsar is a great French brand, and as "true parisian Boy" I'm proud to say : VIVE LA FRANCE
What makes plugins like this one valid is really when developers take into account how the hardware specifically colourises the signal and don’t simply imitate the EQ curves only.
I hate to say it but the free TDR VOS Slick EQ still outperforms the Pulsar W495. I challenge you to test it for yourself and draw your own conclusions! It's slightly more versatile based on additional features and has several harmonic profiles.
Thanks a lot for this review. Original lo end is more transparent. Kick is more audible. And also the mids sound a bit harsher in the plugin. The add harmonics obviously. Or, maybe also, something that is not reflected in the tests generally is that every anlog amplifier has a dynamic characeristic that can't be modelled so far that means how fast or slow the circuit responds to the input signal also depending on the frequency and loudness!
I normally don't like the "hardware sounds better" comments. But the hardware sounded a lot fuller and less bright. I was impressed when I saw that the curves were almost identical.
Great comparison! I’m listening on the phone about 3:19 in and I’m already hearing the analog definitely sounding more full and slightly has some weight. I do hear the tonality is matched pretty well but just through the phone I don’t hear the weight and fullness that the analog piece is bringing. Thanks for the comparison!
You an hear the analog sound better on your phone, must be an awesome phone I better spend $3000+ on the hardware so people can have good sound on their phone.
@@kimseniorbInteresting... maybe the hardware left and right phase are actually less coherent in the low end, which would generate more low frequency side channel harmonics.
@@sparella i doubt it, its very easy to measure and model. it could be distortion which is still very hard to replicate 100% accurately. it’s usually what gives that real compression/glue to everything with the hw.
You should watch some Dan Worall videos. Phase is the same on all EQ’s if you match the curve, because the phase change is what they use to EQ. Linear phase excluded, obviously.
I'd resume it in a few words... "the same sound but with no cable noise and a bit more sparkling highs" Hardware seems to be fuller in the mid range, but less transparent (obviusly digital). I'm so happy to find this one by mistake since I'm hunting for Massive on a discount. And for a true A/B test would've been fair to try nulling them out! That'd be very interesting to hear/see.
Nulling will never work when comparing an analog unit to digital. Or even another analog unit. The data isn’t useful. Two passes of the same analog unit would never even remotely null
One other advantage of a plugin is that you can put it on all tracks at the same time if you'd wanted to do so. When with the hardware version you'll need to buy two for just one stereo Chanel.
@florisbackx1744 I end up committing everything to audio anyway and don't need to have a load of plugins running just because we can now. I.E. The same as with hardware.
A quick note on the plugin doctor bit: The linear analysis tab assumes the thing under test is fully linear. When an effect unit adds harmonic distortion, the LA graph doesn't perfectly match the actual EQ curve. With the W495 it isn't far off, because the distortion is very minimal but this is definitely something you should keep in mind when comparing analog (modeled) EQs.
I know about it, indeed, because there was so little distortion, I dared to use the linear analysis, knowing there could be discrepancies. If there where huge discrepancies, I wouldn’t have done that test and would have switched to harmonic analysis or using pink noise or something. I’ve also learned more about Hammerstein Analysis, which is something I want to include the next time
The response curve isn't effected by harmonics, at least in hardware & most plugins, harmonics will change the tone but the curve should stay the same, in PI Dr. different test methods are used in each tab. You can test this by lowering the input gain and the response shouldn't change, but in the harmonics tab you will see a difference. There are some plugin comps that have a curve but in to achieve the tone actually would be created by harmonics, Slate Mu & FG Grey have fixed curves, also VCC, Softube Germanium Comp has big curves. W495 sounds excellent, very analog like therefore I don't really care if it sounds like the original, i'll never have one.
Very Nice Video. With every Free plug in that is supposed to replicate an expensive piece of hardware, there's always the need for some form of spectra graph or oscilloscope visual to compare them. You provided that excellently making it worth the price, which is free. There's also a menu that allows you to put the plug in into stepped mode and so it might even be closer but as you stated, the difference that you showed indicates that the audio difference might not be audible to the professional audiophile person.
I can't help preferring hardware all the time. Even if the EQ curves are the same, I always hear a flat layer of sound with plug-ins. The hardware preserves or creates a space for all the individual instruments/vocals. Like a micro 3d placement. Hard to describe but definitely there!
Exactly what i think. And this is the reason that makes the hardware so unique and the better choice for sound. In terms of versatility the digital plugin obviusly wins. We can only decide in which side we want to stay. Hybrid i Guess. 😉
Is there a reason you are not showing the phase behavior with the plugin doctor? I noticed the transients of the high-hat sounded a bit opener to my ears on the hardware version.
You should also check Hammerstein to see how harmonic distortion behaves across the whole frequency spectrum. Real analog gear tends to have much more interesting behavior compared to emulations
The analog sounded like it had higher resolution and a little bit more natural or less dead than the plugin. but the difference is negligible sounds like they have matched the curves well though.
@@TransistorLSD I think I understand what you are saying, but it's a very easy check. In most of my own exploring, you can say the same for plain EQ-ing. It's tricky sometimes, and easy to overlook levels. It's all about approach?
@@gossipboynyc9625-VN I probably would prefer auto-gain above clippping. Auto-gain in this way, sort of acts like what you want a muliband-compressor to do, without the hassles. It is very easy to set by ear. You can always turn it off.
Fuse Audio Labs also does a free version of this that's worth checking out. Maybe a shoot out to how this one, that one, and the Overloud version compare to each other and the hardware would be cool.
It's a great one, and one of my favorite free EQ's. However, the Fuse Audio Lab's plugin is not a direct emulation of the w495, but rather an emulation of an EQ designed by Roger Schult - the W2395. The W2395 hardware is inspired by the Neumann w495, but it's not a clone. You could probably still consider the two plugins pretty equal to each other. The Pulsar plugin has M/S for each band separately, and freely adjustable frequencies for the shelves, so it has some advantages over the Fuse Audio plugin.
@@sparella yes, I did. The most significant differences are that the high filter in RS-W works a bit like a Pultec, meaning when you boost the highs it also cuts a bit in the mids at the same time. If you cut the highs with the high filter, it instead boosts the mids a bit. The mid bell filter in RS-W is not as surgical as in W495. The tightest Q factor in RS-W is about the same as the widest Q factor in W495. RS-W also has higher order saturation, and the saturation is pretty much flat throughout the frequency spectrum, while W495 only saturates the very low frequencies (so a bit more realistic transformer saturation). You can also drive the saturation in RS-W without affecting the output. You can't do this in W495. I would probably choose RS-W for individual instrument tracks since it's a bit easier on CPU, isn't fully parametric and doesn't have M/S capabilities. W495 is probably better for mastering and buss processing since it has M/S functionality, is a bit cleaner, is fully parametric, but is also a bit heavier on CPU. You can definitely use them interchangeably though. Just choose the one that works for the situation. Both are great sounding and are very good for broad tonal adjustments.
I would love to see ur opinions of the apb-8 or -16 because it seems like a really cool concept, but it really seems like a too good to be true type situation.
After listening to a few A/B’s of hardware vs plug-in it seems like there’s a sort of “plug in sound” that just always sounds a little flat compared to hardware
I got Surge by Tim P Nebula...GML Eqs.....and the Nebula GML EQ sounds almost identical to your Physical W495 My Nebula Sontacs...sound very Similar as well Youve definatly made be feel better about my Nebula Sontac and GML Eqs....pretty cool...that Ive got some High End EQs in the DAW
It's a well designed plugin overall, but it has one bug/issue: if you are working at 44.1 or 48kHz and have oversampling disabled, the transformer saturation peaks are at about 30Hz, but if you enable oversampling (or set your samplerate to >88.2kHz) the peaks for the saturation shift down in frequency to something like 5Hz. It shouldn't matter what your samplerate is, or if you have oversampling enabled, this shift in frequencies shouldn't happen. You could argue that the difference is barely audible, but it still shouldn't happen at all. Pulsar Massive has similar transformer saturation, and there's no change in the saturation when you enable oversampling in Massive (aside from attenuation of the aliasing).
Ouch, that's a woopsie! Thanks for the info. I wonder if the plugin's harmonics were actually supposed to peak higher than 30Hz, considering how thick the hardware is by comparison.
Okay, I may be going insane, but I actually heard quite a noticeable difference (even with my eyes closed). I'm not someone who believes hardware is necessary in mixing at all, but in this example, I preferred the hardware. I perceived it as wider, softer, and more glued, which theoretically could be due to the differences in L/R (width), slightly fewer mids and highs 1k- 10k (softer), and additional harmonics (glue). Btw. - this is coming from someone who doesn't perceive the UA-cam conversion to be a big concern for the overall quality. Conclusion: I'd suggest implementing optional differences between L/R to Pulsar. When it comes to the differences in the curve that could be just the difference between the unit modelled and yours, like the harmonics (less likely though). It's not the kind of plugin I'd need, but maybe someone like you when they are on the road could benefit from it.
The lowend sounds so much better on the hardware. Maybe they update the plugin. nice to have for free but for full price that would be a bit disappointing
A) How does it compare to the Overloud EQ495? ua-cam.com/video/XKt9KksfO8w/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared B) You can make it stepped the same as your hardware in the settings. C) If you take 10 different analog EQs and boost or cut the same frequency, they all do something different. - First, in analog the designers picked the Frequencies to begin with, based on the designer’s idea of importance. Rupert made very different choices to Saul. - Then, yes obviously there’s the Harmonics and that unit’s particular character. - But even with the same Frequencies, the actual Curves between different Analog technologies are also a factor. Most obviously are Pultec curves with the separate boost and cut. The resulting curves are completely unique. So it’s possible that those Neumanns speak to you because of the chosen frequency points, or their harmonic character, or what they actually do when you boost or cut. I feel like the EQ Curve Shape, what’s actually grabbing your signal, gets left out of a lot UA-cam Audio discussions.
What I got about this great video and review: It is a great and faithfull emulation of a specific and limited piece of gear... but... Do we need another great and faithfull emulation of a specific and limited piece of gear?. My take: I believe that the main advantage of digital is not its capability to emulate specific pieces of gear. Some curves and armonic distortion (static or dinamic) don´t make a great sound. The skill to use them does. Those that believe that a great sounding record can only be made with top tier equipment are as wrong that those who think that a great painting or drawing can only be achieved by top tier colours and brushes. Taste and emotion can be expressed thru infinite sources... and digital is where you have more creative options and tools. Pd: I loved the sound of the hardware. The placement of the bass and the focus of the mid channel created a very enjoyable 3D image and depth.
At the end of the day, the listener does not care what EQ we use as long as it sounds good. Trust your ears and you'll be fine. This plug in a) sounds like an EQ b) doesn't f**k up the sound when used correctly, and 3) is easy to use. The price is a winner too (free at the moment)!
It's fascinating that a company can so precisely replicate the sound and settings of their own hardware equalizer into a software plug-in. I'm not aware of any other company that has achieved this. Truly remarkable.
I could clearly heard the more round (full) sound of the 60hz boost, and the CJ clarity and cut off the mid range from the 1.4k boost. In my mind I was saying I like the saturation from the "mastering" 🤷🏿♂️ plugin more cause of the clarity and openness it gave the mids. That was proven when you showed the extra harmonic content of the hardware... the plugin was good but stale in comparison.
In your point of view lets say that your hardware eq burned out and you need to send them to repair and they gonna take a month or two. Well you have the equivalent to continue your work while you wait for your hardware to return. I think the plugin is a most have in your particularly case.
Honestly wondering, if you make/mix any EDM subgenre, is there any point/appeal to using EQs like these? And if so what is it? Sounds like it would be a much more limited version of Fabfilter Pro Q3 to me, and I likely wouldn't notice any subtle distortion or harmonics or whatever else it may be adding. Am I wrong? Let me know since I am genuinely wondering.
It’s about speed. If you know the different EQ curves of each unit. You can get the sound in your head almost instantly. With a digital EQ like fabfilter you have infinite options and possibilities which can lead to analysis paralysis and slow down your workflow. Plus the lack of saturation and harmonics leads to a more sterile mix. There is a place for pure digital EQs but it’s not on everything.
Pulsar plugins are fantastic across the board....We are lucky to live in times where we can "try" hardware in a plugin, then later buy the hardware, finances permitting. We aren't all that flush....
You can have stepped knobs if you want, you can chose that in the settings of the plugin (the 3 dots in the upper right of the window).
Just wanted to comment that they should add a button to switch between stepped and full range, but great work of Pulsar that they already thought of this 👍
That’s what happens when someone does a video about a plug-in but didn’t read the manual on it or learned all about it
@@vadimmartynyuk The purpose of the video was just to sonicaly compare with the real thing which he owns, so the details of the GUI of the plugin are not so important in my opinion.
definitely should do more research before posting a lot of these vids he does@@vadimmartynyuk
1- Throw the egocentric "exclusiveness" away
2- Enjoy the chance to be able to put 30 instances of your favorite EQ for free.
What about that???
😂
Top right corner.. You can access a menu that can allow you to make the knobs stepped..
😂 easy 👍
Yeah, plus superb Oversampling
Great review and another great plugin. Love Pulsar! By the same settings the hardware sounds fuller,and low end sounds fuller. But it is really enough just to push a bit low frerquencies on the plugin up ,- and the same sound can be easily reached. We live in the real golden era of what the plugins can do!
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the plugin was that you have the part as a hardware unit. And I was almost sure that there will be a video about it.
I was not disappointed.
The matching of the EQ curves is actually pretty amazing if you consider the real life component tolerances for the hardware units... And even more amazing is how well mached your hardware units are, but maybe they have been sold as a matched pair. If all units that leave the factory are that close to eachother, they probably spend a considerable amount of the manufacturing costs matching components (or buy prematched or otherwise very high tolerance parts).
Low shelf up boost mono, high shelf sides (cut or boost) - work early in the chain so other master eq does the push or pull to compensate for potential harshness or over lows
I saw this on another channel and thought "White sea has this for real he should cover it" and he you are 👌
The fuller low mids make the bass sound much better on the hardware. Was able to detect both of them with my eyes closed because of that.
rofl. nothing that cannot be accounted for. I think we are putting too much stock in it. Each hardware EQ will be slightly different, but this aint anything to write home about here in that department. I think it is fair to give credit where it is due, it probably is a very accurate emulation of their hardware EQ. It sounds close enough, even when compared against a different unit. Phenomenal really.
@@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013This is a comparison of only one software model in mid/side (correct?) vs two hardware units in L/R. The side channel content generated by differing L/R low frequency hardware curves and harmonic responses could account for some difference.
Amazing! Very Very Very close to the Analog. I felt a touch more punchiness from the analog version but the rest was identical. Thanks for the video and the link!
The only difference is in the harmonics. The analog has a bit more, and as the host said, that could've been attributed to old components in his own units. Plus, if it's harmonics you want, there are so many ways to get that now!
So, I did a little test, I compared my API 550A to waves version. The EQ curves were pretty much identical, but the analog had a bit more saturation. On the channel with waves plugin, I ran it through the Elysia Karacter hardware (not that I needed to), and I was able to dial in some of that so-called analog goodness. I was able to get waves 550A and API 550A 100% indistinguishable! And I'm sure I could have achieved that 100% with plugins too! Just thought I'd share.
@@experiment0003interesting! Thanks for sharing
Thre's is an option to set it to stepped in the menus somewhere.
Analog EQ has more warm Low End. I appreciate this comparison video 🙏
Plugin sounds great. Hardware will always have the advantage of warmth, stereo imaging with more precise low mids, transients. Use the plugin for what it is, just as the hardware will be used by professionals or those who really have the budget to indulge themselves.
Pulsar is a great French brand, and as "true parisian Boy" I'm proud to say : VIVE LA FRANCE
What makes plugins like this one valid is really when developers take into account how the hardware specifically colourises the signal and don’t simply imitate the EQ curves only.
I hate to say it but the free TDR VOS Slick EQ still outperforms the Pulsar W495.
I challenge you to test it for yourself and draw your own conclusions!
It's slightly more versatile based on additional features and has several harmonic profiles.
More harmonics from hardware eq? How do you know it is not THD from your DA-AD conversions?
Thanks a lot for this review.
Original lo end is more transparent. Kick is more audible. And also the mids sound a bit harsher in the plugin. The add harmonics obviously. Or, maybe also, something that is not reflected in the tests generally is that every anlog amplifier has a dynamic characeristic that can't be modelled so far that means how fast or slow the circuit responds to the input signal also depending on the frequency and loudness!
I normally don't like the "hardware sounds better" comments. But the hardware sounded a lot fuller and less bright. I was impressed when I saw that the curves were almost identical.
I agree, the snare is somehow more “blurry” with the digital one, like you loose a little bit the micro timing of the snare being behind.
@@henriksalvesen1078I hear it as the fundamental of the snare being accentuated with the hardware.
The hardware felt punchier to me
Great comparison! I’m listening on the phone about 3:19 in and I’m already hearing the analog definitely sounding more full and slightly has some weight. I do hear the tonality is matched pretty well but just through the phone I don’t hear the weight and fullness that the analog piece is bringing. Thanks for the comparison!
Exactly the same for me 👍🏻
You an hear the analog sound better on your phone, must be an awesome phone I better spend $3000+ on the hardware so people can have good sound on their phone.
I slightly prefer the brighter highs of the plugin but really like the punchier fuller lows of the hardware. Thanks for the A/B Wytse.
yeah analog does feel more solid, as if the phase is more coherent
I wonder if there are some mad folks who combine both like in New York compression.
@@kimseniorbInteresting... maybe the hardware left and right phase are actually less coherent in the low end, which would generate more low frequency side channel harmonics.
@@sparella i doubt it, its very easy to measure and model. it could be distortion which is still very hard to replicate 100% accurately. it’s usually what gives that real compression/glue to everything with the hw.
You should watch some Dan Worall videos. Phase is the same on all EQ’s if you match the curve, because the phase change is what they use to EQ.
Linear phase excluded, obviously.
GREAT NEWS!!! I LOVE German vintage EQs! Have to get it right now!
Overloud made a nice emulation of this, some time ago. Still use it.
I'd resume it in a few words... "the same sound but with no cable noise and a bit more sparkling highs" Hardware seems to be fuller in the mid range, but less transparent (obviusly digital). I'm so happy to find this one by mistake since I'm hunting for Massive on a discount. And for a true A/B test would've been fair to try nulling them out! That'd be very interesting to hear/see.
Nulling will never work when comparing an analog unit to digital. Or even another analog unit. The data isn’t useful. Two passes of the same analog unit would never even remotely null
@@Rhuggins sure! There's even cable noise involved. But still it'd be interesting to see
As you can see in the PluginDoctor frequency analysis, they will not only never null bc of analog noise, but also bc of different harmonics.
I can hear a good difference on the width of instruments on analog.
what I hear is something more punchy around the 100hz area, more "bumpy" in a pleasing way with the hardware, sort of more woody and organic feeling.
Impressive! Even more impressive as a freebie.
Thanks for heads-up!
One other advantage of a plugin is that you can put it on all tracks at the same time if you'd wanted to do so. When with the hardware version you'll need to buy two for just one stereo Chanel.
Yeah you will have more LESSER quality audio for your song 😂
@florisbackx1744 I end up committing everything to audio anyway and don't need to have a load of plugins running just because we can now. I.E. The same as with hardware.
That's a sho' nuff funky Eartrh Wind and Fire funky version of "Sand Storm"!!!
A quick note on the plugin doctor bit:
The linear analysis tab assumes the thing under test is fully linear. When an effect unit adds harmonic distortion, the LA graph doesn't perfectly match the actual EQ curve.
With the W495 it isn't far off, because the distortion is very minimal but this is definitely something you should keep in mind when comparing analog (modeled) EQs.
I know about it, indeed, because there was so little distortion, I dared to use the linear analysis, knowing there could be discrepancies. If there where huge discrepancies, I wouldn’t have done that test and would have switched to harmonic analysis or using pink noise or something.
I’ve also learned more about Hammerstein Analysis, which is something I want to include the next time
The response curve isn't effected by harmonics, at least in hardware & most plugins, harmonics will change the tone but the curve should stay the same, in PI Dr. different test methods are used in each tab. You can test this by lowering the input gain and the response shouldn't change, but in the harmonics tab you will see a difference. There are some plugin comps that have a curve but in to achieve the tone actually would be created by harmonics, Slate Mu & FG Grey have fixed curves, also VCC, Softube Germanium Comp has big curves. W495 sounds excellent, very analog like therefore I don't really care if it sounds like the original, i'll never have one.
Very Nice Video.
With every Free plug in that is supposed to replicate an expensive piece of hardware, there's always the need for some form of spectra graph or oscilloscope visual to compare them. You provided that excellently making it worth the price, which is free.
There's also a menu that allows you to put the plug in into stepped mode and so it might even be closer but as you stated, the difference that you showed indicates that the audio difference might not be audible to the professional audiophile person.
The low end of the hardware was more full. Otherwise the plugin got pretty close
I can't help preferring hardware all the time. Even if the EQ curves are the same, I always hear a flat layer of sound with plug-ins. The hardware preserves or creates a space for all the individual instruments/vocals. Like a micro 3d placement. Hard to describe but definitely there!
Exactly what i think. And this is the reason that makes the hardware so unique and the better choice for sound. In terms of versatility the digital plugin obviusly wins. We can only decide in which side we want to stay. Hybrid i Guess. 😉
Is there a reason you are not showing the phase behavior with the plugin doctor? I noticed the transients of the high-hat sounded a bit opener to my ears on the hardware version.
Feels quite close to my ears. Got the freebie myself today, let's see if it gets a lot of use.
I thought the hardware sounded a little bit more open, which I suppose could be due to the additional harmonics of the hardware.
Could always test highest over-sampling as well which gives plugin sometimes extra open-ness
What about Slates VSX?
You should also check Hammerstein to see how harmonic distortion behaves across the whole frequency spectrum. Real analog gear tends to have much more interesting behavior compared to emulations
I’m not competent enough in that analysis yet
@@Whiteseastudio me neither but if that approach shows the non-linear behavior it’s definitely something to learn about
The analog sounded like it had higher resolution and a little bit more natural or less dead than the plugin. but the difference is negligible sounds like they have matched the curves well though.
I absolutely heard no differences between hardware & software! Use that on an MP Controller and there you go, you can have it on your desk :P
Did you open the settings? There are options for stepped parameters and up to 8x oversampling.
at 4x oversampling sounds yummier!
alright, he said he's running at 96k, no OS needed
You can match the settings...by changing the "stepped" button under the three dots.
I downloaded it immediately, because of the auto-gain option .....super handy.
And it sounds really good.
Autogain for EQ can be very distracting, be careful
@@TransistorLSD I think I understand what you are saying, but it's a very easy check. In most of my own exploring, you can say the same for plain EQ-ing. It's tricky sometimes, and easy to overlook levels. It's all about approach?
@@Projacked1 Just pull it back yourself manually is possible practice too, or go into a leveler - soft clip (or hard ceiling) - analog machine
@@gossipboynyc9625-VN I probably would prefer auto-gain above clippping. Auto-gain in this way, sort of acts like what you want a muliband-compressor to do, without the hassles. It is very easy to set by ear.
You can always turn it off.
Great sounding track White Sea!!
Whytse! Pronounced Wit-ser. Hence people calling him what you did, and hence the channel name. 😉
you can also just click the number and it will snap right to it
Fuse Audio Labs also does a free version of this that's worth checking out. Maybe a shoot out to how this one, that one, and the Overloud version compare to each other and the hardware would be cool.
It's a great one, and one of my favorite free EQ's. However, the Fuse Audio Lab's plugin is not a direct emulation of the w495, but rather an emulation of an EQ designed by Roger Schult - the W2395. The W2395 hardware is inspired by the Neumann w495, but it's not a clone. You could probably still consider the two plugins pretty equal to each other. The Pulsar plugin has M/S for each band separately, and freely adjustable frequencies for the shelves, so it has some advantages over the Fuse Audio plugin.
@@nj1255 Did you happen to compare the two plugins? I'm curious if the Fuse has the low end punch that the Pulsar is lacking next to the hardware.
@@devinwright9441 I've never noticed it taking up a lot
@@sparella yes, I did. The most significant differences are that the high filter in RS-W works a bit like a Pultec, meaning when you boost the highs it also cuts a bit in the mids at the same time. If you cut the highs with the high filter, it instead boosts the mids a bit. The mid bell filter in RS-W is not as surgical as in W495. The tightest Q factor in RS-W is about the same as the widest Q factor in W495. RS-W also has higher order saturation, and the saturation is pretty much flat throughout the frequency spectrum, while W495 only saturates the very low frequencies (so a bit more realistic transformer saturation). You can also drive the saturation in RS-W without affecting the output. You can't do this in W495. I would probably choose RS-W for individual instrument tracks since it's a bit easier on CPU, isn't fully parametric and doesn't have M/S capabilities. W495 is probably better for mastering and buss processing since it has M/S functionality, is a bit cleaner, is fully parametric, but is also a bit heavier on CPU. You can definitely use them interchangeably though. Just choose the one that works for the situation. Both are great sounding and are very good for broad tonal adjustments.
@@nj1255 Makes sense,
I would love to see ur opinions of the apb-8 or -16 because it seems like a really cool concept, but it really seems like a too good to be true type situation.
low end transients on the hardware sound more pronounced, probably cause of the more harmonics.
Thanks for the great review!
After listening to a few A/B’s of hardware vs plug-in it seems like there’s a sort of “plug in sound” that just always sounds a little flat compared to hardware
i think the magic there is the constant q of the mid band?
Writing on 7:30 ........... What about three dots in right upper corner ? There's stepped mode there!!!
Muchas gracias deberías de hacer más comparaciones de plug-ins va análogo sería genial gracias ❤
I got Surge by Tim P Nebula...GML Eqs.....and the Nebula GML EQ sounds almost identical to your Physical W495
My Nebula Sontacs...sound very Similar as well
Youve definatly made be feel better about my
Nebula Sontac and GML Eqs....pretty cool...that Ive got some High End EQs in the DAW
Tried installing this on offline pc but it attempted online activation and gave a virus warning when doing so...
Have you thought about including more reviews of 500 series on your channel? Thanks a lot
Yes! I’m currently producing a few
It's a well designed plugin overall, but it has one bug/issue: if you are working at 44.1 or 48kHz and have oversampling disabled, the transformer saturation peaks are at about 30Hz, but if you enable oversampling (or set your samplerate to >88.2kHz) the peaks for the saturation shift down in frequency to something like 5Hz. It shouldn't matter what your samplerate is, or if you have oversampling enabled, this shift in frequencies shouldn't happen. You could argue that the difference is barely audible, but it still shouldn't happen at all. Pulsar Massive has similar transformer saturation, and there's no change in the saturation when you enable oversampling in Massive (aside from attenuation of the aliasing).
Ouch, that's a woopsie! Thanks for the info. I wonder if the plugin's harmonics were actually supposed to peak higher than 30Hz, considering how thick the hardware is by comparison.
Why should anyone use such kind of limited EQ if we have something like fabfilter or even any Stock EQ can do that no?
I have no clue 😂
@@Whiteseastudio is there a difference in sound if you use the same curves ?
@@eliaszerano3510Not really, most EQs are pretty much the same and replaceable
Am i hearing incorrectly or did he say “ashilliate link” at the end?
Did that on purpose… but this plugin is free, so there is no affiliate or ashilliate for this one
Okay, I may be going insane, but I actually heard quite a noticeable difference (even with my eyes closed). I'm not someone who believes hardware is necessary in mixing at all, but in this example, I preferred the hardware. I perceived it as wider, softer, and more glued, which theoretically could be due to the differences in L/R (width), slightly fewer mids and highs 1k- 10k (softer), and additional harmonics (glue). Btw. - this is coming from someone who doesn't perceive the UA-cam conversion to be a big concern for the overall quality.
Conclusion: I'd suggest implementing optional differences between L/R to Pulsar. When it comes to the differences in the curve that could be just the difference between the unit modelled and yours, like the harmonics (less likely though). It's not the kind of plugin I'd need, but maybe someone like you when they are on the road could benefit from it.
Thanks for unbiased review.
07:10 - "Unsung heroes" perhaps...?
Thank you for sharing! ❤
The lowend sounds so much better on the hardware. Maybe they update the plugin. nice to have for free but for full price that would be a bit disappointing
woot. multiple videos! my friday morning is made!
Great video! I Love Pulsar audio eq’s🎹🎼👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
A) How does it compare to the Overloud EQ495?
ua-cam.com/video/XKt9KksfO8w/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
B) You can make it stepped the same as your hardware in the settings.
C) If you take 10 different analog EQs and boost or cut the same frequency, they all do something different.
- First, in analog the designers picked the Frequencies to begin with, based on the designer’s idea of importance. Rupert made very different choices to Saul.
- Then, yes obviously there’s the Harmonics and that unit’s particular character.
- But even with the same Frequencies, the actual Curves between different Analog technologies are also a factor. Most obviously are Pultec curves with the separate boost and cut. The resulting curves are completely unique.
So it’s possible that those Neumanns speak to you because of the chosen frequency points, or their harmonic character, or what they actually do when you boost or cut.
I feel like the EQ Curve Shape, what’s actually grabbing your signal, gets left out of a lot UA-cam Audio discussions.
What I got about this great video and review:
It is a great and faithfull emulation of a specific and limited piece of gear... but... Do we need another great and faithfull emulation of a specific and limited piece of gear?.
My take:
I believe that the main advantage of digital is not its capability to emulate specific pieces of gear. Some curves and armonic distortion (static or dinamic) don´t make a great sound. The skill to use them does. Those that believe that a great sounding record can only be made with top tier equipment are as wrong that those who think that a great painting or drawing can only be achieved by top tier colours and brushes. Taste and emotion can be expressed thru infinite sources... and digital is where you have more creative options and tools.
Pd: I loved the sound of the hardware. The placement of the bass and the focus of the mid channel created a very enjoyable 3D image and depth.
I did not get the message....???!!!!
They still dropping Sandstorm huh.... Remix #4,245???? Not sure...
5:14 says it all
At the end of the day, the listener does not care what EQ we use as long as it sounds good. Trust your ears and you'll be fine. This plug in a) sounds like an EQ b) doesn't f**k up the sound when used correctly, and 3) is easy to use. The price is a winner too (free at the moment)!
Thanks for the video✌🏻
It's fascinating that a company can so precisely replicate the sound and settings of their own hardware equalizer into a software plug-in. I'm not aware of any other company that has achieved this. Truly remarkable.
Its not “their” equalizer- it was made by Neumann back in the 70s. Pulsar is a new company
Then check out the Louder Than Liftoff Silver Bullet, which is also apparently a great translation.
7:05 “Not all Hero’s wear capes.”
Downloaded this lil eq yesterday after their website was buggin for a while, cool to find this vid
long time fan BTW.
Downloaded the freebee. Had to get used to it... but it is great!
I could clearly heard the more round (full) sound of the 60hz boost, and the CJ clarity and cut off the mid range from the 1.4k boost. In my mind I was saying I like the saturation from the "mastering" 🤷🏿♂️ plugin more cause of the clarity and openness it gave the mids. That was proven when you showed the extra harmonic content of the hardware... the plugin was good but stale in comparison.
Even as a primary-english-speaker I'm not sure... "draped in superhero clothes"? "A caped crusader"?
The vst sounds a lot clearer and open, but i could tell you that beforehand. Analog in this way is always sound degradation. (what else ?).
Damn I nearly forgot to keep pushing... thanks for reminding me!
Low end is nicer and it sounds more cohesive on the hardware but the plugin sounds good too. For free it's a no-brainer.
Wauw allmost the same only the plugin sounds a little bit thinner and more fluffy., But wauw amazing ill use it now on my master
In your point of view lets say that your hardware eq burned out and you need to send them to repair and they gonna take a month or two. Well you have the equivalent to continue your work while you wait for your hardware to return. I think the plugin is a most have in your particularly case.
Damn, that's a huge difference in the A/B test. Hardware feels alive and 3D. Plugin is flat and 2D.
Honestly wondering, if you make/mix any EDM subgenre, is there any point/appeal to using EQs like these? And if so what is it? Sounds like it would be a much more limited version of Fabfilter Pro Q3 to me, and I likely wouldn't notice any subtle distortion or harmonics or whatever else it may be adding. Am I wrong? Let me know since I am genuinely wondering.
It’s about speed. If you know the different EQ curves of each unit. You can get the sound in your head almost instantly. With a digital EQ like fabfilter you have infinite options and possibilities which can lead to analysis paralysis and slow down your workflow. Plus the lack of saturation and harmonics leads to a more sterile mix. There is a place for pure digital EQs but it’s not on everything.
Pulsar plugins are fantastic across the board....We are lucky to live in times where we can "try" hardware in a plugin, then later buy the hardware, finances permitting. We aren't all that flush....
Original is a BEAST on loops…drum loops, percussion loops, instrument loops….
the two hardware eqs being slightly different is smearing the spectrum and making it a smidge wider sounding and better tbh
Wow this is one accurate plugin
"Unsung heroes" is the expression you were looking for, I think.
You can really feel the weight and openness of the track through the hardware EQ version as opposed to the plugin
Thank you :-)
I think that sounds really, really close!
the hardware sounds a touch more alive, impressive tho
the Kick hits better on the real one IMHO
The hardware has a richer low end, that said, thats one nifty free plugin!
It's free for a limited time btw.
It’s not really a true emulation if it has in between frequencies.
wow! really big BIG difference...without the 'doctor' guy...plugin just sounds way thinner and more 'digital'...colder, harsher... less warm...
iLok, why?
Is more consistently flavor in the analog side, more meat, more alive, not to bad for the Plugin