2023 Blind Plugin Test: How Good Are Your Ears?
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
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00:00 - 04:44 Blind Plugin Test
04:45 - 07:48 Answers
07:48 - 13:36 Blind Testing Myself
13:37 - 14:42 Are Expensive Plugins Worth It?
important note: always beware of plugins simply making a sound louder, which tricks our brains into thinking it sounds better. try to volume match when you're using plugins. even some of the sounds here appeared more "professional" simply because they were slightly louder.
This is kind of a misconception. It's not so much that it tricks the brain into thinking it sounds better, it's that it actually DOES sound better. Level-matching might be the wrong way to go if it does, in fact, sound better. The reason WHY it sounds better isn't really important, it could be that that loudness is exactly what you needed to improve your mix. This is kind of a higher-level type of advice though, you probably would be better off just level-matching until you know what you are listening for.
that was also I was listening too...as you say. The cheap ones tend to make the sound just louder..but also they sound often more muffled or muddy
I don't think it was an issue in this test as most of the sounds were almost identical to their comparisons, but some plugins literally add a decibel or two of gain to the input signal while adding their "effect". That is indeed a "trick" to make you think the effect is better than it really is. e.g. Two distortion plugins could produce exactly the same overtones, but if one of them also introduces some input or output gain, it will almost always sound "better", just because it's louder, even if the waveform is essentially the same shape.
@@Arcessitor “higher level type of advice” 😂😂😂. Dude you’re literally saying “maybe loudness it’s what you needed in the end to make your mix better”, but how in the hell is that true if loudness can literally be achieved or altered via your volume knob on your sound card as simple as that😂. When you load up a plug-in on your track other than a limiter, the only objective change that matters and that you expect as a pro engineer from a non-limiter plugin is that which alters frequency domain, THD, time domain (eg pumping effect) and so forth. Making something louder (by just pushing the levels via simple math algorithm) does literally nothing to the characteristic of the track itself, it only “alters” what you perceive out of your speakers which doesn’t mean it will translate the same on someone else’s speakers especially since you can’t predict how lound those from your audience decides to listen to your track or the kind of system they’ll use to listen to it. If you load a non-limiter plug-in on a single channel and tell yourself “louder is what was needed”, then why don’t you remove the plug-in to save CPU resources and just lift the volume fader up? When a plug-in that’s meant to inflict changes in the frequency domain bakes in loudness simultaneously, then it fools your brain into thinking that your shiny GUI plugin does a better job than another plug-in with an uglier interface which has a more honest approach by not altering volume post-processing or even matching it to the input for a more accurate bypass audition.
I got 7/8 (didn't get the transient one). Good to know there is actually a noticeable difference in sound quality with these plugins and not just the UI.
My guesses were...
Reverb - B
Delay - B
Stereo - A
Trans Shape - B
Distortion - A
Comp - B
EQ - A
Limiter - B
Most obvious to me were the Reverb, Stereo Imager, and Limiter. The others could have gone either way pretty easily for me.
I got 7 out of 8 right! I think the delay, reverb, and stereo widener were pretty obvious, the others were very similar or the exact same. Nice video!
Aside from the obvious stereo spread I only got the compressor and limiter right. Because I think in the case of the others the settings were pretty different and it wasn't a measure of how good or bad the plugin is, but rather of taste (especially delay and reverb). Compressor and limiter do such a similar job it's actually easier to tell cause they're really mathematically supposed to be doing the same thing
super excited about new splice pack!
I've been really discouraged with making music, but surprisingly I got them all correct and boosted my confidence. Thanks for the awesome video!
I was surprised as well. Only got 2 wrong and tbh they sounded almost exactly the same so i dont think it matters. Really just showed me that my ears got better to listening to the finer details in a sound.
This is a good ear exercise for beginner producers like me, loved it!
8/8 right here! It was very tough, but after years of using Logic i've learnt the stock plugins and some answers may have been luck for sure. This video defo proved that stock plugins still rock, the EQ and compressor and transient designer especially
I took them all, but use Logic stock plugs extremely often. Logic's skewed pan stereo widner is because it doesn't work with multi channels. if you put two on and choose different settings, it gets better. In the rest, they had gone to fix them all so that they sounded the same with a EQ.
The Delay, Distortion, Compressor and EQ, I couldn't tell the difference. So I skipped those. For the remaining 4, I actually got them all correct. The Valhalla reverb had more depth and sparkle. The Stereo widener was super easy, the stock one sounded nasally. The expensive Transient shaper had a nice crispiness to the attack. The Limiter was also easy, the expensive one sounded much more fuller. Honestly, without high quality headphones though, most people probably would not be able to tell the differences.
Wow, I got 8/8 on my earbuds (Sony xm4). The transient, distortion, and compressor ones were really hard to tell, but I picked the one that felt "fuller." This video really shows how you don't NEED most of these third party plug-ins.
The chance of you getting that randomly was 128:1 so well done! I got the limiter, stereo, EQ and distortion right- on a mobile phone!
Nice one Big Z!! Loving your video's, loads of great content. I have to admit I got only 5/8 but the ones I got right are the pro plugins I use regularly
I really like the tune featured in this test!!! Please do more of that type of music and tutorials on sounds and mixing of this kind of music. Went on SPotify - "Don't let me go" is my favorite there atm!!!! My type of music!! Rhythms and arrangement and sounds
6/8. Distortion and Compression got me! Fun and useful video Z, great takeaway.
What gives the compression away was that it worked alot faster and had less dynamics. And the distortion that it had more harmonics (sounded fuller and warmer)
Great Test - got 5/8! I missed the Reverb (tweaking the output eq was key), EQ, and Limiter. Like you, the stereo widening was the easiest. On the limiter, I liked the smoother sound vs. more pumping from fabfilter-L2 on this example. Looking forward to your Serum pack!
Wow! What a great video bro! 😍🔥
That was fun. Got about half correct using KRK speakers.
I usually buy plugins for the functionality, not the tiny difference in sound quality. Also, the stock stereo imaging plugin in logic is the direction mixer (spread fader at the bottom). This would have been a fairer comparison if you had used that plugin. Very interesting video however.
Always instructive and fun thanks… plus we like the bouncing head while listening 😂 you rule man !
Some good points! One thing to remember is it’s most important which one you LIKE the most. Maybe that’s an expensive compressor, maybe it’s a stock EQ. Maybe it’s your iPhone microphone! (Ref: Fred Again.. here). You can get a good sound from anything these days, so really comes down to your own preference.
But very good point, don’t just buy something cause it’s expensive
6/8 using Airpod pros
Great video
Reverb - B
Delay - A
Stereo Imager - A
Transient Shaper - A x
Distortion - A x
Compression - A
EQ - B
Limiter - B
Great topic! I've learned that you can achieve HQ results with stock plugins as well if you add EQ or compressor to them on the send track and tweak them correctly. There may be some very specific effects you're after that can only be generated with expensive plugins but overall it makes me wonder if each plugin I bought was worth the price...
My go to eq's are the Waves Puig Tec & the Schepps Omni Channel b/c they are so fun and easy to use. But I use Soundtoys Decapitator as a channel strip eq too even with no saturation. Again, so easy to use.
8/8 here listening on the studio monitors!! Super proud of myself haha, great video dude I loved playing a long!
Damn bro haha
Nice! Somehow got all of them except the compressor on my phone speaker (guessed the imager one, mono lol) fun vid thanks BigZ
I got 6/8 right. Great vid!!! I felt like the release on the compressor gave that one away. I still like the stock eq better even knowing. That one surprised me.
This is a super cool video.
I missed lots of them, but here are my guess notes (as a Hard Techno producer), voting for a better sound to my taste.
Sorry for the quality of the notes; I was high when chilling with the vid.
The "X" is my vote for more expensive, and I added below the comment for the section, which one was actually more expensive, so it's easier to follow.
Reverb:
[x] A - sounds cleaner, easier to manage reverbs
[ ] B - lots of unwanted freqs that sound bad and clutter
more expensive: B
Delay:
[ ] A - sound easily "mathematically" defined (too straightforward), without more details
[X] B - sounds more spacey, more nuance on other freqs
more expensive: A
Stereo Imager:
[x] A - good
[ ] B - what, this is bad (sandy distortion)
more expensive: A
Transient Shaper:
[ ] A - no diff
[ ] B - meaningless difference (brighter than A)
more expensive: B
Distortion:
[X] A - distorts the main sound nicely, while the other is...
[ ] B - ..., same as the A in Delay, and the distortion is on the reeverb of the sound rather than on the sound
more expensive: B
Compression:
[ ] A - this will be the expensive but...
[x] B - this sound with more "background ambient" sound generated
more expensive: A
EQ:
[ ] A - well, the other...
[X] B - ... have more volume, I guess
more expensive: B
Limiter:
[ ] A - quieter, emptier
[X] B - louder, fuller
more expensive: B
Great video!!
8 / 8 - was listen on Sonos Arc in the living room. Crazy surprise that I did so well. Great video.
I think different plugin has something to do with the workflow rather than how it sounds. EQ is EQ no matter how expensive that is, it's doing the exact same thing, but some EQs have more features and visual responses in order for us to work faster and more efficiently.
more expensive eq has different algorithms which results in lower levels of artifacts, resonance and phase issue created
@@michaelz8795 I am pretty sure every DAW's stock EQ is good enough to deal with these issues.
but some vintage EQs are doing the opposite. They try to rebuild these things to have some "flavor".
8/8 - wow. Great comparison and it actually made me realise couple of things that were not sounding right in my mixes with stock plugins. Thanks for that boss! 🫡
What a Nice Video! Really enjoyed it♥
I got 7/8 rigth, only the Distortion one was wrong. My own Masters sucks most of the time, so I guess thats why I recognize the better sounding Effects haha
Listening on phone speakers, a few were impossible for me to tell (eq, compression). But the limiter was the one that the biggest difference by far! Makes me think that the limiter might be the best investment for making tracks that translate best to different sound systems, if you are on a budget and can only choose one expensive 3rd party plugin
8/8, the distorsion was definitly the most difficult haha, great video man.
I got 50% correct listening on iphone lol. That delay, compression, distortion tests I honestly couldn't tell any difference😂
Great video and reminder that that expensive isn’t always massively different (except for limiters) I got 6 of 8! 😊
7/8 Loved this Video!
What I listened for:
Reverb: B was lusher
Delay: A was more stereo and B was more mono
Stereo Imager: A was wider and B was boomy
Transient shaper: guessed A, was wrong. Felt like B added a bit of sustain as well while A increased the attack only.
Distortion: B had less harshness in the high-end (could be better oversampling).
Compression: A retained more dynamics.
EQ: guessed A, was wrong
Limiter: B was able to make the song louder
So 6/8 listening on my airpods - I’ll take it 😃
wow got 8 out of 8 !! I always thought I had average ears when it comes to telling the difference between stock and 3rd party plugin (never really could hear the "color" of a compressor, for instance) but so glad I did this blind test, funny enough I feel much more confident in my listening skills now!
Thanks for the test! I got 6/8 correct when listening through HD-25 out of my MBP headphone output. Got the EQ and distortion wrong, but both were fine in that context and wrote down that I don't care for a difference. I do audio for living.
I think it would be a little easier to hear the differences if you had only a 1 bar loop playing the versions back to back seamlessly. For example in the distortion A/B the notes are changing when switching the versions, which makes it hard to compare tonal differences.
Nice video, good idea. I had the compressor and EQ wrong.
I was able to get 6 out of 8 on phone speakers. I had seen it as a challenge lol. your right the distortion one was tough. along with the compressor. Cool test man!
Fun test! I got 5/8. And great concluding thoughts.
I actually got all of them right, only place I was confused was at Fab C2 where I picked A although I like B more, maybe cause I use it a lot. It was fun...
Cool test. I got 5 of the 8 correct but it was tough.
Well, I only got 3/8 correct… one of those (distortion) was a guess to be honest. I edit in Logic and I can’t help wonder how much my own using stock plugins biased my answers here 😅
My boy drop that pack!
I only got two wrong and that was the saturation and reverb .
Really good content esp cus I was a bit curious to buy the valhalla reverb 😌 Now i'm thinking maybe my stock is good enough ❗
6/8 the reverb one was a big of a trick though, of course on vvv you'd do an eq after or even use the shelfs on vvv itself. and the compressor was indistinguishable for me. excellent test though, really got me listening :D
Such a practical video, cheers. I got 5/8.
Awsome video! I got 6 of them right, I missed the transient shaper and the compressor ... But you got one thing right ... think before you buy. And I'm gonna go for your tip ... select one (or 2) plugins of each type, and learn them in depth. Don't do that enough...
I got 7/8 on phone speakers. The paid plugins just offer more clarity across the spectrum. That said, your advice to learn a few plugins well is gold. Advice that I need to take to heart. Sometimes I am more of a plugin collector than a producer. 😞
4/8 using phone speakers
I think for me it wasn't just about what was expensive, it was about what sounded good to my ear, and that's not always the expensive plugin.
I got all of them correct, except for the EQ.
But for half of them I really had to listen very carefully to notice a difference, even with professional mixing headphones.
The ones that were the most obvious to me were the reverb, delay and stereo plugin!
I felt like decapitator gave the sound a bit of a cleaner and brighter tone tbh but the difference is negligible when you listen to it in a full mix i bet
This was so good and a bit crazy... Used my AirPods Pro and was able to tell the difference (guess) on 6 out of 8. Thanks for the video and the test!
personaly i think a lot of stock plugins already sound good enough and you dont need to buy them bc of that but some vst plugins have different and more settings than stock so personaly i buy them bc of that
I am ableton guy with quite big FL studio experience, and I guessed wrong only distortion and compressor, since they might be really difficult to distinguish in general.
Reverb quality of the stock plugins in general is mediocre, except if you are using convolution and impulse responses.
Delay depends on the additional functionality of the delay that makes each plugin unique. You can get away with stock pretty much all the time.
EQ - each eq amplifies certain frequencies differently. If you use EQ just for cuts - it doesn't really matter what type of EQ are you using.
Stereo imager and limiter were the most obvious ones. Good limiter for the mastering chain is important, and using stock is quite limiting
I was playing it on a phone. I couldn't hear the stereo one cos my phone doesn't do that but I did pretty well on the others. Distortion I got wrong as well as delay (probably because I couldn't hear the stereo nuances).
Really cool video nice one mate 👍
I got 2/8 haha. I guess that settles it - at the moment stock plugins will work just fine. Good video, this was an interesting test.
6/8. Happy with it :)
Note that for the EQ, the settings might look the same, but FabFilter's Q number is non-standard. They arbitrarily used a figure of 1 for the bandwidth where other plugins would use 0.714 (or whatever the real number is for representing one octave of bandwidth). Two digital EQs should sound completely identical if the knobs are described accurately. (Note that *analogue* EQs and some of their virtual emulations - like SSLs or Pultecs - have wildly inaccurate labels on the knobs. e.g. You turn a knob to boost 5k, but it actually boosts at 3k. With digital EQs, at least the frequencies are where you expect, so a preset in Logic/Ableton stock EQ can be copied into Pro Q, or vice versa, provided you read the manual and adjust the Q number appropriately.
I quite liked the sound of the stock ones more than the expensive ones.
only got the Transient wrong, damnit 😂 great video and nice idea for ear training.
Wow did it in my iphone14 pro and I could really tell the difference in the ones I have selected. I have got lucky with distortion. 5/8 on phone speakers is descent.
B delay - A
A stereo image - A
B Reverb - B
A transient shaper - B
B distortion - B
A compression - A
A eq - B
B limiter - B
I got 7 out of 8 by pure luck but I think your high score may have been because you have good ears, and you know your plugins very well! Look forward to your new Serum preset pack and many thanks for all the tips.
Great idea for a video. I got 8 out 8 using studio quality headphones, no way I would have done so well using anything less.
Big difference on the reverb, and the delay too. The distortion (professional) sounded a bit warmer. On the compressor, I liked the standard compressor better. It sounded more musical. The EQ is almost the same. Had it right, but I think with EQ it's quite a personal taste what you like or don't like. I often use the Pro Q3 for cutting. Others like the Gem EQ 550 to boost on drums, and the Lil frEQ on synths. Limiter was easy and also sounded much louder. I got the transient wrong.
Personally, I believe investing in plugins can be worthwhile. I had Valhalla, but since I got the SP2016 and LX480 V4, I hear a marked difference. Not to mention Cubase's stock reverb. That's a difference between night and day.
Most plugins have a trial version, which is a good way to test out whether it really adds something, and whether this is worth the money. Never buy them blindly because some UA-cam guy says it's the best, or when you believe this one plugin is going to help you make the best track ever. They are tools, and as Big Z also says, take your time with them. You can make music just fine with stock plugins, and paying extra for a plugin can help, but you need to know the basics first.
I had wrong on the Transient and I didn't even bother guessing for Distortion. Rest I think I had right because I could hear it. However when you did the Distortion I started to hear why the expensive sounds better. You can hear it when notes are playing fast.
That compressor one surprised me. Even after hearing both multiple times and knowing which one was the stock one, I still couldn't discern a difference. Gotta get my ear training up.
Well... I got 5 out of 8 wrong. Which in my opinion mostly means that the stock plugins actually are very good sounding. Probably some personal taste for a type of sound also plays a role in these decisions.
However...I had 3 doubts too. Quite confusing!
Very obviously to hear are the Limiter, the EQ and the Stereo Imager.
I got 3 right. Stereo imager, EQ and Limiter. I chose my answers based what actually sounded better which was surprising. If Disclosures twitch streams taught me anything its that they've made their biggest hits using only Logic stock plugins. Fabfilter Limiter seems to be supreme though. Maybe Oxford Limiter might come in 2nd
Smart limit is also pretty dope
surprisingly got 8/8, sick video man
Definitely interesting! Didn't even rate the transient shapre and compressor, bc. I could not hear any difference. Got the widener, delay, limiter and eq right, failed on the reverb and the distortion. I never use distortion, so that's not surprising. Good to know which ones to get, if the need arises...
I got 5/8 right i psyched myself out with the first two as they both sounded brighter and louder but i thought that was a "bad" sound so would be less proffessional.
Amazing video as always Big Z
Same thing here with the reverb and delay
Yeah, same here with the reverb. The EQ on the stock plugin was more muted and that made the sound nicer.
Great test! for me the answers would be:
1 B REVERB: More "lush" I believe.
2 A DELAY: I don't know why, but it sounded better to me...
3 A IMAGER: less phase cancellation, sound is more focused
4 B TRANSIENT: better response in the initial transient, although they are very similar.
5 B DISTOR: although they are equal in the high register, it is true that b adds more low-end
6 B COMP: this one is difficult, but I think that B sounds better, although the volume may deceive me ...
7 B EQ: similar but B sound more crispy
8 B LIMITER: maybe also because of the volume but it sounds much better to me B
sorry for my english, greetings from Argentina!
I'm quite proud of myself, the only one I got wrong was the transient shaper, which sounded exactly the same to me. Reverb and stereo was really easy, I guess with the others the value proposition also includes level of customisation, ease of use, design etc. Not sure they would be worth it.
I got 6/8 right. Reverb and Eq I got wrong. Eq surprisingly as I use Fab Filter Q. I usually use Fab Filter R for reverb. Happy with that though. Good video bro.
I failed distortion and compression. But that eq was a shot in the dark. If you set it exactly the same then those two should most likely null unless there’s cramping on the stock EQ.
Got 8/8. I guess there's a reason I have a passion for sound engineering because I could hear the difference quite easily. You just have to know what to listen to. :D
I picked 5 out of eight. In one case (Transient) I couldn't decide. In every case this answer is based on what I like, often because it feels more lively.
There is nothing to say that the same or "better" results couldn't be achieved with the stock devices once the target is set.
:-)
I got all right, I cannot believe it actually, I mean, the fact that I use those plugins everyday maybe had some impact on my hearing? I like noticed instantly that those were the plugins, the hardest one was the Transient one and the compressor (I have difficulties hearing it for some reason) but it was an eye opener test, knowing how sharp FabFilter plugins makes everything is weird to find out haha, super cool video brother!
When pro C2 came on I knew right away. Same with decapitator.
I use SoundId Ref for headphones with HifiMan Sundara. Surprisingly I was able to get all 8 correct (with only having to rewind the reverb, delay, and compressor). However, it wasn't just the sound I was listening for, it was how the plugin controlled and presented the new sound. Btw...I'm not a music producer, I just play one on TV. ;o
5/8 in my M50x. I thought the stock distortion plugin sounded better than Decapitator, wow!
I'm with my good old a7xs. I'd prefer reverb A as B has some high noisy artifacts. Delay B is resonating compared to A. stereo A is better, B has some unwanted phase sound to it. transients: I prefer B. A is less punchy and somehow the added transient does not glue to the rest like in the other. Distortion: I'd pick B but because it's a bass sound and it feels more powerful. The other could sit better in the mix for a lead maybe. Compressor: I would use an opto comp for this. B has some color to it. eq: The diff is so tiny it doesn't worth a penny for sure. B is better-or-equal. limiter: B obv.
great ear train also :)
only one i got wrong was the comp which makes sense to me because i dont like pro c. i actually guessed it was decapitator for the distortion lol i really like saturation/distortion
6/8 I honestly prefered the stock reverb 😅
because in the expensive one you can hear the transient in the reverb 👎
8/8 with studio monitors but some of them were actually tricky (compressor for example).
the distortion one is actually easy to tell...the stock one has a distinctive crunch in the higher note than the decapitators,,,although I can't tell if that's an expensive sound or not.. i guess distortion can be put in the subjective category
Got the limiter, distortion and compressor right failed all the others though
6/8 I only got the Transient Shaper and the Equalizer wrong. Both are not surprising. EQ (A) sounded harsher and so I thought that it's either A since the effect is more audible, or B since it's more subtle and smooth lol. Also my ATH R70X headphones aren't that bright and I seem to miss a lot of highs in them...
As for transient shaper it's even easier. Logic's Enveloper is simply an amazing plugin and it is better than most third party ones. I just picked the best sound which was Logic's plugin.
Most of the professional plugins make the sound slightly more saturated and boost high end, something you can replicate with other free plugins to make your songs sound better without needing to spend a cent! :D
My guesses
1. A (less artifact)
2. A (more pronounced delay)
3. A (sounds more full)
4. B (brighter deeper “staccato”)
5. Sound the same but maybe B?
6. Couldn’t tell difference
7. A.. (felt I heard more frequencies)
8. B (sounds fuller, louder)
5/8, got unlucky on all of those where I guessed.
But no way I would have recognised any of the first 7 in a mix.
I think it goes to show that if you're on a budget the only plugin you really need to pay extra for is the limiter.
Can you please make some review about your SRH1540 headphones?
7/8
I don't use logic so I'm not familliar with the stock plugins either. I thought the first one was A due to less transients and overall just a smoother sound in the reverb, but that was because of the eq.