Hardware sounds warmer to my ears. SO I can see how they both have their place in the mix. On Lexicon plugins I usually find myself reducing the treble, which leads it to sound more like the hardware. Thanks for doing this comparison
I heard just a slight difference in the low mid around 200hzish. I was referencing on studio monitors. However in the grand scheme of a full mix I'm sure it would all blend well
Lexicon still had the original source code that UAD worked with, so apart from the analogue components sound, it’s identical. They lost the 224x code, which is my favourite as it’s so much warmer than the 480. The 224x/l was the bridge between the 224 and the 480 and sounded amazing
I was 100% that the hardware was A. Much clearer, more separation and transients, less artefacts. Wow. So glad I own this plugin. Better use it more. Just hate the interface compared to Valhalla.
Listening thru my Neve desk and Genelec monitors I could really hear/feel the weight and picked B as the better sounding and feeling. On my iPad the difference was much smaller but………hardware is sooooo much more fun than software any day. The people who don’t believe that I’ve never played with Real hardware and have grown up mixing in the box. I urge everyone to go, try and get some experience mixing with real external processors and hardware. It is so much more rewarding as an engineer. Thank you Thomas for doing this. I can’t imagine how much work it was.
So I could tell the difference, the “A” sample is clear and defined. The “B” sample is bigger and has more weight to it. I have a Lexicon 300 it does the same thing. Anything I run through it just sounds big, kinda like you’re in the reverb. I get why people use the plugin, it has the flavour of the lexicon but it still missing that 20% that the hardware has.
The drum one I thought B was the hardware as B sounded ever so slightly less bright, yet on vocals I consistently felt A sounded slightly more lush with just a tiny bit more tail. Man I'm so happy with the plugin!
There is no way to recognize, maybe after hundreds of hours working with both hardware and plugin. but if someone like me has never experience with hardware unit, there is no difference. No way to recognize any changes. It is soo cool that in 2023 we have that good plugins!
The hardware LX480 is immediately audible. more volume, more details. But the plugin is also very great, will there be a difference in the mix? I think so. but is it so critical, I think not.
A sounded cleaner on the low-mids and wider/more open on the highs B sounded better on the vocal doubler (last exemple), because of that low-mid bump (something you could emulate with eq I guess)
I guessed correctly, but honestly if I didn’t have a visual reference on the screen of the switching I’m not sure I would have noticed.. also while I heard a difference, I wouldn’t say one was better or worse. Why I thought B was hardware, was because it sounded a bit darker and more blended with the source which I would put down to age of the unit, and the additional ADDA processing through the units converters. Nicely done thanks!
I hear the difference. but its a 5% difference in quality and a price difference of a $174 vs roughly $7,000 . The question is it worth getting the hardware for $6,284 more... Not for me.
ReLab Lx480 claims to make a sample identical plugin faithful to the HW including the conversion. I could tell B was HW because it was darker and sample rates and bit depth of the time were lower= less high frequencies. Funny enough it seems to sound warmer as a result. If one wishes to approximate this one could use a tilt filter or possibly a LPF shaving off a bit of top end (the latter should get you almost exactly there). As usual we are guided by our ears anyway, so it doesnt matter how true to source it sounds, so long as it sounds GOOD
A sounded a little clearer. Not sure which is which. B sounded a little muddier. I was listening on a TV not monitors. I am guess B has more harmonic distortion that may not work without filters/passes / eq setup properly on the verb may result in more frequency smearing if it broad audio.
Couldn't tell dif on a phone. But either way post benefit is big enough to justify. Do you have a video on a great channel strip for vocalist and streamer? I loved a dbx 256 product in past but sold it. Hated presonus channel strip. If you have product recommendations drop an affiliate I'll use it. But little feedback on why that would be nice. Vocally I do a ton of rasp and also high range vocals using dynamic and condenser mics.
I couldn't tell which was which until the last example when it was blatantly obvious! On the snare, the way you have it sounding, the transient is being affected on B, and the drum sounds further back. I didn't know whether that was a mix decision, but it confused me a little. Hearing it in a mix would be interesting, but as I said before, no doubt about it, B being the hardware on the 2nd vocal. Thanks for the comparison, I was wondering about this very question myself.
Hardware sounds so much fuller, it simply sounds much better to me. HOWEVER using plugins is easier for recall. All comes down to what the client wants.
I'd say they both sound pretty identical, but no client is going to come into your studio, look down at your desk and say, "WOW !! You have a 480L plug-in !!"
i couldn´t tell exactly, what the difference is - but i hear something as a difference ... especially in your last example with Koba Brown: version B is really much more from whatever as version A ...
Great video! I have worked with the hardware and I also own the UAD software so I could tell which was which. That being said, it's really impressive how close the plugin is sounding compared to the hardware for a fraction of the hardware units price and that's why I had to have it in my workflow. Unless you completely drown a track with reverb it is very hard to tell if software or hardware was used in the mix anyway.
With the hall presets the plugin sounds better because is does not emphasize the "s" of the singer so much like the hardware does. The plugin sounds warmer. Wow, times have changed 🙂
Hardware sounds like it has slightly better sounding saturation. Its a bit more 3D but extremely hard to notice for the average ears. The convenience of the vst make it well worth preferring. Add a pleasant subtle saturation plugin to it & itll compete even better if not sound better than the hardware(but thats easier said than done when most digital saturation doesnt sound as good as real hardware). Its all in the recipe.
The harware sound 3d the plugin 2d, sorry, in the blind test with headphones the B always sounds more realistic. I understand the ease of the plugin, but honestly it seems to me that there are better plugins than UAD for that, Relab essential sounds much closer to me. and then cheaper options may sound the same as the UAD. From UAD I prefer plugins like Capitol or Sound City, those are really useful.
B sounded fuller and more rich for me so I guessed that would be hadrware (just assumed that more expensive=better result, haha). My use case would be using plugin to tracks which are playing with other, often nearly as same volume tracks and reverb is more "hidden" in there and I would use hardware in cases when for example vocals are solo in track or with a few quiet instruments. There I think I would benefit the fullness.
Did the listening on the speaker in my phone. One was very natural, the other i thought actually was a bit screechy... On my phone A sounded better. Less loose from the source material. Therefor i THOUGHT that A was the 480. I was wrong. I will give it a go in the studio. Lets see what my opinion is then. I would opt for a less generic setting on these by the way. I did think both settings sounded a bit cheap in the first place. A 480 can do nicer. Be it plug or hard.
Hi great, there is a fairly slight difference between the real machine and the plugin, I immediately recognized the machine. But Uad really did a very, very good job. Personally I have the plugin and for me it's as if I had the real machine, it sounds very good and precise, so it's good stuff.
Its easy to tell the difference even on my cheap 50 dollar HP. Why? Maybe I hear good, maybe I am a good sound engineer, or maybe it is totally clear that firstly, tonaly wise it sounds darker and therefore warmer which is quite obvious and secondly it is, timing wise more direct and therefore glueing better to the direct sound. Thanks for the comparison! PS: I like my reverb bass heavy and dense.
Thomas i love you again man lol. Well, i was expecting to hear depth and a sense of a space missing from the plugin, but that was not a problem at all. And because of that, i would happily use the plugin. Thats great news for me. The only thing that did bother me is that the plugin was smearing a little bit, while the hardware was defined. That is something i found when i compared my old hardware to plugins years ago. However, the overall envelope was still ok and it sounded fine with the source material. No problems here, and i'm curious about how the Relab version would have sounded if you compared them. I heard a hardware comparison on youtube and it was lacking a bit of depth.
The depth and space thing you are refering to is assosiated with the difference between ANALOG hardware vs plugin emulations. But digital is digital. The LX480 hardware is a "plugin in a box".
@@asor8037 Yes, but if there is an analog process happening at some point of the outboard digital box, then it may bring with it those spatial properties. I'm trying to think of an example of ported digital code that doesn't quite have the same depth in the plugin version - i can't think of it right now. I was reading about reverb and sample rate. It would be important to match the sample rate of the hardware box or it could sound different depending a couple of variables like frequency multipliers
wena ¡. me gustó siempre el B, pensé ojala sea el haardware porque quiero comprar siempre el original y me gusta mover perillas en vez del mouse. Gracias por el video, está muy bueno, saludos desde Chile en 2023. Ahora intentaré averiguar si el precio de la máquina es accesible. Bravo y Felicitaciones
Are you boosting your 8kHz-12kHz range yourself or is that just your mic? That needs to be attenuated. Really tiring on the ears. edit: I said A was plugin and B was real thing. Almost indistinguishable for the most part, so good job matching them, but it was the drums that did it for me. A seemed to have a more "static-y" sound whereas with B it felt warmer.
“A” sounded the best to my ears. Very impressive plug-in
Basically identical. So happy with my 480L uad plugin lol, at the doubler preset I was sure A was the hardware but I was wrong! Great
Hardware sounds warmer to my ears. SO I can see how they both have their place in the mix. On Lexicon plugins I usually find myself reducing the treble, which leads it to sound more like the hardware. Thanks for doing this comparison
I heard just a slight difference in the low mid around 200hzish. I was referencing on studio monitors. However in the grand scheme of a full mix I'm sure it would all blend well
Lexicon still had the original source code that UAD worked with, so apart from the analogue components sound, it’s identical.
They lost the 224x code, which is my favourite as it’s so much warmer than the 480.
The 224x/l was the bridge between the 224 and the 480 and sounded amazing
I was 100% that the hardware was A. Much clearer, more separation and transients, less artefacts. Wow. So glad I own this plugin. Better use it more. Just hate the interface compared to Valhalla.
Same lmao
Same for me
Ditto!
Listening thru my Neve desk and Genelec monitors I could really hear/feel the weight and picked B as the better sounding and feeling. On my iPad the difference was much smaller but………hardware is sooooo much more fun than software any day. The people who don’t believe that I’ve never played with Real hardware and have grown up mixing in the box. I urge everyone to go, try and get some experience mixing with real external processors and hardware. It is so much more rewarding as an engineer. Thank you Thomas for doing this. I can’t imagine how much work it was.
So I could tell the difference, the “A” sample is clear and defined. The “B” sample is bigger and has more weight to it. I have a Lexicon 300 it does the same thing. Anything I run through it just sounds big, kinda like you’re in the reverb. I get why people use the plugin, it has the flavour of the lexicon but it still missing that 20% that the hardware has.
The drum one I thought B was the hardware as B sounded ever so slightly less bright, yet on vocals I consistently felt A sounded slightly more lush with just a tiny bit more tail. Man I'm so happy with the plugin!
I really couldn’t tell the difference
Both sound like a 480! I would be great to have a USB-LARC to dial in the UAD plugin though.
I could definitely tell that the B was always brighter. And thats it.
There is no way to recognize, maybe after hundreds of hours working with both hardware and plugin. but if someone like me has never experience with hardware unit, there is no difference. No way to recognize any changes. It is soo cool that in 2023 we have that good plugins!
Great comparison! I really like the plug in, I don't think you are missing much by using it.
B sounds much more dense, lush, full
The hardware LX480 is immediately audible. more volume, more details. But the plugin is also very great, will there be a difference in the mix? I think so. but is it so critical, I think not.
The Lexicon 480 L is 18 Bits, and the plugin 24 bits. Even so, the hardware continues to have more "openness" and "definition"
A sounded cleaner on the low-mids and wider/more open on the highs
B sounded better on the vocal doubler (last exemple), because of that low-mid bump (something you could emulate with eq I guess)
I guessed correctly, but honestly if I didn’t have a visual reference on the screen of the switching I’m not sure I would have noticed.. also while I heard a difference, I wouldn’t say one was better or worse. Why I thought B was hardware, was because it sounded a bit darker and more blended with the source which I would put down to age of the unit, and the additional ADDA processing through the units converters. Nicely done thanks!
I hear the difference. but its a 5% difference in quality and a price difference of a $174 vs roughly $7,000 . The question is it worth getting the hardware for $6,284 more... Not for me.
with the fact that this video is processed by youtube in video and audio domain it sounds exactly the same
ReLab Lx480 claims to make a sample identical plugin faithful to the HW including the conversion.
I could tell B was HW because it was darker and sample rates and bit depth of the time were lower= less high frequencies. Funny enough it seems to sound warmer as a result. If one wishes to approximate this one could use a tilt filter or possibly a LPF shaving off a bit of top end (the latter should get you almost exactly there). As usual we are guided by our ears anyway, so it doesnt matter how true to source it sounds, so long as it sounds GOOD
Β is more open to my ears (my monitors: Neumann KH 310 A)
Thank you for this video.
I thought that A was the plugin since it sounds a little cleaner. More highs. But they are so close it‘s almost sad
My guesses were the reverse. Both sounded good to my ears. Thanks for doing this comparison.
A sounded a little clearer. Not sure which is which. B sounded a little muddier. I was listening on a TV not monitors. I am guess B has more harmonic distortion that may not work without filters/passes / eq setup properly on the verb may result in more frequency smearing if it broad audio.
Couldn't tell dif on a phone.
But either way post benefit is big enough to justify.
Do you have a video on a great channel strip for vocalist and streamer? I loved a dbx 256 product in past but sold it.
Hated presonus channel strip.
If you have product recommendations drop an affiliate I'll use it. But little feedback on why that would be nice.
Vocally I do a ton of rasp and also high range vocals using dynamic and condenser mics.
Thanks for taking the time to do this comparision. Curious if you compared the RANDOM programs?
Agree 100 %!, Also B was warmer.
Great as always! 🤘 Arturias 224 is absolutely amazing
I couldn't tell which was which until the last example when it was blatantly obvious! On the snare, the way you have it sounding, the transient is being affected on B, and the drum sounds further back. I didn't know whether that was a mix decision, but it confused me a little. Hearing it in a mix would be interesting, but as I said before, no doubt about it, B being the hardware on the 2nd vocal. Thanks for the comparison, I was wondering about this very question myself.
Hardware sounds so much fuller, it simply sounds much better to me. HOWEVER using plugins is easier for recall.
All comes down to what the client wants.
I'd say they both sound pretty identical, but no client is going to come into your studio, look down at your desk and say, "WOW !! You have a 480L plug-in !!"
There is some 3D scene in hardware, slight difference but still..
placebo. digital is digital. same code, same sound.
please test with relab version thanks
It was obvious. But I believe it’s correctable by saturating a bit.
i couldn´t tell exactly, what the difference is - but i hear something as a difference ... especially in your last example with Koba Brown: version B is really much more from whatever as version A ...
That was two separate plug-ins UAD and lexicon witch one did you use
One is the plugin and the other is the actual Hardware. Hence the name of the series Plugin vs Hardware
I thought the A was a much nicer sounding reverb, awesome review.
To my ears there is a huge difference - A - flat sound - UAD? B hardware I guess.
I liked the A on all examples. Its feels slightly wider on lo mids. Its more obvious on snare drum... Uad made it better??? Thank you for this video!
Great video! I have worked with the hardware and I also own the UAD software so I could tell which was which. That being said, it's really impressive how close the plugin is sounding compared to the hardware for a fraction of the hardware units price and that's why I had to have it in my workflow. Unless you completely drown a track with reverb it is very hard to tell if software or hardware was used in the mix anyway.
Do all hardware units sound the same ? Thanks.
With the hall presets the plugin sounds better because is does not emphasize the "s" of the singer so much like the hardware does. The plugin sounds warmer. Wow, times have changed 🙂
We are likely hearing the cables and their shortcomings rather than the hardware itself.
Bro great video. Not much of a difference at all. The HW had a little more bottom warmth while the plug in had more clearity. It was supper suttle.
Hardware sounds like it has slightly better sounding saturation. Its a bit more 3D but extremely hard to notice for the average ears. The convenience of the vst make it well worth preferring. Add a pleasant subtle saturation plugin to it & itll compete even better if not sound better than the hardware(but thats easier said than done when most digital saturation doesnt sound as good as real hardware). Its all in the recipe.
The harware sound 3d the plugin 2d, sorry, in the blind test with headphones the B always sounds more realistic. I understand the ease of the plugin, but honestly it seems to me that there are better plugins than UAD for that, Relab essential sounds much closer to me. and then cheaper options may sound the same as the UAD. From UAD I prefer plugins like Capitol or Sound City, those are really useful.
B sounded fuller and more rich for me so I guessed that would be hadrware (just assumed that more expensive=better result, haha). My use case would be using plugin to tracks which are playing with other, often nearly as same volume tracks and reverb is more "hidden" in there and I would use hardware in cases when for example vocals are solo in track or with a few quiet instruments. There I think I would benefit the fullness.
Did the listening on the speaker in my phone.
One was very natural, the other i thought actually was a bit screechy...
On my phone A sounded better. Less loose from the source material. Therefor i THOUGHT that A was the 480. I was wrong. I will give it a go in the studio. Lets see what my opinion is then. I would opt for a less generic setting on these by the way. I did think both settings sounded a bit cheap in the first place. A 480 can do nicer. Be it plug or hard.
Hi great, there is a fairly slight difference between the real machine and the plugin, I immediately recognized the machine. But Uad really did a very, very good job. Personally I have the plugin and for me it's as if I had the real machine, it sounds very good and precise, so it's good stuff.
Its easy to tell the difference even on my cheap 50 dollar HP. Why? Maybe I hear good, maybe I am a good sound engineer, or maybe it is totally clear that firstly, tonaly wise it sounds darker and therefore warmer which is quite obvious and secondly it is, timing wise more direct and therefore glueing better to the direct sound. Thanks for the comparison!
PS: I like my reverb bass heavy and dense.
B is always better ,more mid and low linformation on b =less digital= more warm sound = more soul on the hardware,
first two id go with A
the doubler effect sounded better on the hardware to me
holy sh... I was swearing that A was the HW. 🤯
Thomas i love you again man lol.
Well, i was expecting to hear depth and a sense of a space missing from the plugin, but that was not a problem at all.
And because of that, i would happily use the plugin. Thats great news for me.
The only thing that did bother me is that the plugin was smearing a little bit, while the hardware was defined.
That is something i found when i compared my old hardware to plugins years ago.
However, the overall envelope was still ok and it sounded fine with the source material.
No problems here, and i'm curious about how the Relab version would have sounded if you compared them.
I heard a hardware comparison on youtube and it was lacking a bit of depth.
The depth and space thing you are refering to is assosiated with the difference between ANALOG hardware vs plugin emulations. But digital is digital. The LX480 hardware is a "plugin in a box".
@@asor8037 Yes, but if there is an analog process happening at some point of the outboard digital box, then it may bring with it those spatial properties.
I'm trying to think of an example of ported digital code that doesn't quite have the same depth in the plugin version - i can't think of it right now.
I was reading about reverb and sample rate.
It would be important to match the sample rate of the hardware box or it could sound different depending a couple of variables like frequency multipliers
@@bontempo1271 It's a digital reverb
@@asor8037 yep
wena ¡. me gustó siempre el B, pensé ojala sea el haardware porque quiero comprar siempre el original y me gusta mover perillas en vez del mouse. Gracias por el video, está muy bueno, saludos desde Chile en 2023. Ahora intentaré averiguar si el precio de la máquina es accesible. Bravo y Felicitaciones
This looks like a great comment. I might need to continue those spanish classes after all, or is this portuguese? Italian?
I love how you never let us know your opinion haha
Same things for the two !
I picked B as hardware
I Was 100% Wrong. I actually like the plugin more. Thanks
Are you boosting your 8kHz-12kHz range yourself or is that just your mic? That needs to be attenuated. Really tiring on the ears.
edit: I said A was plugin and B was real thing. Almost indistinguishable for the most part, so good job matching them, but it was the drums that did it for me. A seemed to have a more "static-y" sound whereas with B it felt warmer.
Not ashamed to say I prefered A
Sounds basically the same to me, B sounds a little more tame
They sound the same to me
A\B sound shoking identical to my ears....
only low end is 5 percent
more on hardware
I went wrong 😅 Plugin sound niiice!
B has more depth to it, sound bigger
Tbh unless you are a sound engineer...I dont think you could tell the difference
Barely audible difference. I thought A was hardware. In this case I think plug-in is a better option.
I liked A better in all instances, wow.
Incredibly close. I heard no difference. Great comparison.
Not enough difference to justify the difference in cost.
I like B better
I just cant tel the difference.
A sounds better (less ringy) to me everywhere except the last one .. soo .. no reason for hardware in my opinion 🎉
A sounded way better. Won for me every time. Somewhat embarrassing that I liked the copy over the legend.
Happy that i could help you save about $4000 😂
V similar. A sounded a bit more "3D" on my headphones. Guess is hardware is A
Damn.
If barely hear it your moma wont 💯
I felt the A is more warm, so I thoght A was hardware.