FYI on the vocal the ultramarine was in the Lookahead setting of the SHMOD as I felt it was a little harsh compared to UAD and resulted in a more smooth vocal.. And yes I did use the balance features on the UAD in shootouts to try and get close to the hardware and both plugins utilused the sidechain as well to get retain the low end more and get closer to the hardware 🤓
The Fairchild is one of the trickier comps to pilot and often sounds best in 50% parallel - the way it was used on Beatles records. I use the M:A Fairchild a lot and really like the woolly vintage sound, it's more of a color box than a standard compressor and has sweetened a lot of my stale digital material.
Yeah I'd definitely agree with the colour of the mix analog. You could easily just pass sources through it. It just has that warmth and glue whilst still maintaining transients and punch. I used the puigchild in parallel for years on my mixbus just for that colour. I stopped but would definitely consider doing it again with the M:A. Sadly the unfairchild is massively out my reach at 10 grand haha 😅
Mix analog is also using Burl converters in the path. Burls are known for having a nice fat transformer in the signal path to add a little extra vibe. Such as extended low-end, euphonic top-end, smoother transients. You might be hearing the Burls in your tests. Burls have often been compared to analog tape in sound.
I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about the role of transformers and AD/DA converters in “analog magic”. Just one piece but I think an often overlooked one. I’m a bassist by trade and this company Origin Effects makes an 1176 comp in a stomp box. The cheaper mini ones don’t have a transformer and while they sound great they def feel a bit clinical (extremely transparent). The big brother box has a transformer and that one sounds like an 1176 to me, there’s mojo even though it’s not super colored sounding. There’s shootouts online and it’s telling how much difference it makes
Transformers are huge for that big coloured sound. Even in the 33609 you can hear the differences as they moved to different transformers. The fairchild is scary as it has so bloody many of them! 😂 Is there not like 20 tubes and 11 transformers or something in them 😅
@@mrnelsonius5631 I agree, transformers make a huge difference in sound. I am a big fan of them personally. They can saturate a signal in a pleasing way. Adding extra dimension to lows, mids, and highs, while also slowing down harsh "clicky" transients. They add a slight compressed vibe to the sound. Almost like a soft 1:5:1 compression ratio. Part of the classic Neve sound is actually two different transformers in the signal path. One on the input and a second one on the output.
Thanks for doing this. It's certainly helpful. The only issue I always have with hardware / plugin shootouts is that for hardware connections you need to do a round of DA and AD and that imparts the sound of the convertor to the process.
No it doesn't impart anything audible. They use a lynx Aurora. It's as transparent as it gets. Even an audient evo imparts nothing audible to the signal.
@@PaulThird YMMV. I find that once you get out of the box, quality of cables becomes a factor, as well as the round trip DA/AD, and even convertors can have a recognizable color. Perhaps not the Lynx Aurora - I haven't tried that one.
I did a test on both lynx and audient evo. And either didn't add any more than 0.1db of a difference on a full mix. Something like a burl that's intentionally meant to add colour maybe but your average DA/AD.. No audible difference
especially with something like the Fairchild, you should try more extreme compression... on something with ambience... e.g. drum room mics in a big room... in the extreme settings is where you can really tell where a plugin might fall apart.
That's true. I think cause I hardly ever really push compression that much I don't tend to do many shootouts with compression over like 10db. I'll give rooms like 10db or so but normally it's like 1-2db on most sources. I'm pretty conservative unless it's drum rooms, bass or vocals haha I'm a bit of a compression whimp sometimes 😂
Could barely tell the difference at all and when I could notice anything sometimes I would prefer the character of the plug-in lol. I’m listening on a cheap sound bar and I wonder if TH-cam compression affects it too but thanks for the demonstration it’s helpful and those free credits on mix analogue sound worth a pop
TH-cam compression is not as drastic as everyone thinks. It's actually a massive myth. Was true back in the day but the codecs are just as high quality as streaming platforms. Needs to be as you've got vevo and all the music videos and stuff as artists main platform 🤓 I managed to get them pretty close 😜
The way I mostly use the Fairchild plugin is to just use it as a tone box on the master bus. Then when I'm done with the mix, I send it off to eMastering in The Netherlands and they run it through their Pultec for the final master.
Tbh I just see it as compression. There's a vari mu shootout I've made as well so that might be handy but honestly just view it as you would any other compressor and see how it affects the source 🤓
great job dialing them in similarly. i would be very curious to hear them all slamming 10-15 dB of gain reduction. i picked the UAD on bass+drums, but the HW was a close second. and i picked Acustica on the vocal. HW for the others. thanks, Paul!
Still makes me want to try out a working well maintained vintage fairchild though. I love the way JJP talks about his and how on its day its magic but its very temprimental. These guys make them sound like mythical beasts 😂
ON DRUMZ 1. ULTRAMARINE (BEAUTIFUL 3D SOUND) 2. FAIRCHILD (I LIKED IT TOO IT'S EXTREMLY CLOSE TO 1) 3. UAD (VERY DRY AND FLAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE ADDED HIGH SHELF EQ )
The analogue gear just adds more punch/weight/depth/feel. Hard to do with plug-ins ;-) But as someone already mentioned in the comments - it's most likely a combination of all the tubes and transformers in the compressor plus the Burl converters.
I've actually been thinking about running the plugs through the access analog prism converter as they allow you to use that separately but.. Kind of makes it unrealistic though as most won't have a high priced converter like that. I am going to do a seperate video on it though to see how the converter changes the sound of the plug. Burls aren't cheap though eh? 😅
How does it work for full mixing? Love the idea of this and analog access, I’m just not sure how it would work in a full mix situation, but maybe that’s not the intention?
Mix analog is printed stems being uploaded to their online server so it's not something you can try out in the mix. Whereas access analog is a plugin you stick in your session that routes the signal from the daw to the access analog server and back into the daw. You can book a piece of hardware for as ever long as you require as long it's not already pre booked. It's expensive though so you are better to get the sound you want in the mix and print it.
I had t-racks back in the day. I remember I didn't really use it that much over waves. I think I used the 2a and the 33609 but in most cases I preferred other plugs. I am including the ik studer tape in next week's tape shootout though 🤓
I made my living recording and producing. I always tracked my basics on a console, and used tape when I could up until about 2010 when I couldn't justify it in the budget anymore. As I gradually moved into being full in the box I realized I had the two best analogue pieces of gear in the word all along and still use them to this day.......my ears. Kind Regards kid, great channel, great content.
Hello, I've been wanting to give Acoustica Audio pugins a try, and I recently heard of a free EQ called Coffee the PUn. I am not seeing it on the product page..do you know if it's still available?
Another nice video, Paul! :) I'm learning some things with these comparison videos (better narrow it down to 2 things, for brevity): 1. My ear (preference) is drawn toward the (transient) overall POP and PUNCHINESS. 2. I think that is because many of these plugins today, take me back to the days when I was trying to get more pop and punchiness out of my 'meager' analog gear. And I think that Acustica have kind of figured/found that out also. They definitely have enough of the analog mojo in their plugins... but I believe they may realize, many people prefer a bit more of what I mention above. For me, it is WAY easier to tame pop/punch (if I must) than enhance the same, as excellently as Acustica apparently does. :)
There's not much analog gear that I've been absolutely blown away with in terms of differences. Funnily enough all of the analog gear I do really like are all heavily transformer based. Im coming to the conclusion that I really like transformers haha I need to start utilising the electronic department in work 🤓
@@PaulThird I’m also a huge fan of what quality transformers do to audio, even though it is indeed a bit subtle. I have a Rupert Neve RNDI, a not expensive but quality transformer in a box and I won’t track any guitar or bass without running through it. An engineer friend thought it was totally placebo, so he did a blind test between it and his Radial and I picked it out within seconds every time!! He couldn’t believe it, but then I told him what I was listening for and he was blown away, he could pick it out every time after that too. It just rounds things out and creates a sense of depth, somehow accentuates even order harmonics adding a gentle sweetness. Anyway, I like me some transformers too 😂
Software plugins pumped a lot more than the hardware. I picked out the Fairchild on every one of these. The Ultramarine was more pumpy / fake sounding than the UAD. Is it a result of the GUI not accurately showing the level of compression? I still think there is something to the analog magic it just sounds more mixed. Love these comparisons man!
Nah its just that acustica aren't good at correctly modelling compression envelopes. Probably their biggest downfall. They admitted it last week when they released an update with new upgrades to their tan compressor
I have just discovered your videos. Congratulations for taking the effort in doing blind tests, they are very useful. If any, in some videos it would be nice to test the plugins applied to a whole mix, in the mix bus, or to several tracks of the mix, to be able to hear the impact of the plugins in the context of a mix, which is something that can get lost when testing subgroups or isolated instruments. Nevertheless, great work!
In my most recent shootouts I've done this where most sources have been processed and then brought together to make a mix and then compared. However I may look for a royalty free track just for pure mixbus use 🤓
Best compressor plugins for punch ie drums I've heard is softube Mike-e, tone empire model 5000, AA cola comp, UAD 2500, track comp 2 zener and TimP TNT which is my overall favourite.
From what I understand... fairchilds were so vastly different from one another hardware to hardware. Might as well use a 'kind of the real deal' to compare.
and that's also the reason why you can't really say what's best. Let Paul do the same test with 10 more real Fairchilds and 5 more Fairchild-Plugins in the mix and I guarantee you he will mix up Fairchilds and Plugins all the time. Of course I wouldn't expect him to remember the sound of 17 different Fairchilds.. what I'm saying is he wouldn't be able to say "plugin or hardware" correctly. Yes, one can tell 3 different tracks apart and yes one can prefer some over others.. but no, hardware is not, nor ever will be superior. And 99,99% of "3D" and "fat bottom" you don't get with a compressor-unit, you get it with compressor type and settings and even more than that: EQ, Saturation, Reverb, Volume and panning. Somebody tells you any different - he's a hack.
My anecdote from the early 90’s when I was doing sessions - famous band doing a recall mix for a track, SSL desk recalled without a hitch but the hire company had supplied a Fairchild which was a different serial number from the one they had previously mixed through. They ended up having to redo all the automation moves...
Great comparison, as always. In this case I was blown away by the HW. My impressions are that UAD is closer to the saturation, and acustica is closer to the transient response and none can give the fatness that the original hardware have. And if I have to choose one, I definitly choose the HW, but only because I can sell it to buy the other 2 plugins and a lot of more stuff for my studio 🤣
The thing that’s become clear to me over the past few years, and your videos continue to confirm this.. is that there is just such subtle differences, particularly when you’re dealing with processing one or two tracks in isolation. I love analog gear and buy it to have the workflow, but I also use tons of plugins and in this arena the difference is so small as to not matter, Changing instruments or musicians will make a way bigger difference in tone and vibe than this will in my opinion. I know you say you hear a definite “thing” with the analog unit and hats off to you, my friend! but I don’t hear enough of a difference for it to matter, which is good for me I guess :-)
Tbh its one of the few shootouts where I can hear a difference between them but still pretty subtle and I did say that I still prefer ultramarine on vocals which is really the only time I use a fairchild anyway. Is it worth the money?? Nope, it'd just be cool to have it as compressor color box
@@PaulThird I also really liked the ultramarine on vox the second I heard it …but then when I heard the other version I liked both and could have used either in a mix :-) The thing that this drives home is that the tools we use really have to prove their worth in the tool box and do heavy lifting, not just subtle marketing hype.. as I think you allude to
Hi Paul! You know what's funny? Recently I watched a really long interview with Andy Jackson, Pink Floyd and David Gilmour's engineer for over 40 years, in which he talked about Gilmour's Astoria houseboat studio, which houses a Neve 88R console and every single piece of vintage outboard gear most people can only dream of, including a Fairchild of course and the Spanish (or Mexican... forgot) interviewer asked Andy about how Pink Floyd's 2019 remix of their A Momentary Lapse Of Reason studio album and their Delicate Sound Of Thunder live album was remixed and his answer was: "oh, I did 90% of that in my bedroom studio! Slightly better version of what many kids have in their bedrooms nowadays." I couldn't believe it! So the interviewer asked: "what about the Astoria houseboat studio then?" Jackson: "Oh, most of that stuff never gets turned on anymore! I don't know what David's plans for the equipment in there are, but he might sell all of that at some point." Pink Floyd are known for their outstanding audio quality, so when they go almost 100% ITB, it's proof that hardware became something nostalgic, right? I mean, just like owning an original Nintendo NES, which I once did but I now have a NES emulator on my gaming PC and not only does it look slightly better, I can also save my gameplay now. In the old days, when you turned off your NES, everything's gone and you had to start all over, hahaha. What I'm trying to say is: people are obsessed with hardware and I fooled a lot of people on my previous YT channel, which doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately. Oh no, I wanted to leave it with that... okay: short story then: remember people crapping on the Focusrite Twintrak Pro (or Platinum series in general) in the past whilst praising the ISA/Red series? Well, one day, I split the signal of my vocal mic and acoustic guitar so both channels were being sent to the ISA and the Twintrak (same sound source). I recorded them both, put the results here on YT and to my surprise, it got a lot of views and comments and you know what? Everyone's *****ing on the Twintrak once again. "Twintrak sounds like **** whilst the ISA sounds warmer and more 3 dimensional"; etc; etc. I was the only one who knew that when the video showed a pic of the Twintrak, it's actually the ISA they're listening to and vice versa. That personal "experiment" teached me A LOT!! :D
Analog gear is a fantasy for many. A fantasy that fades over time when it becomes a reality. Most of the top mixers I speak to hardly use any outboard, they may have it on show but doesn't mean to say it's being used
to my ears on the snare, soundwise, it's inbetween Ultramarine and U.A.D. not "winning" just different. Context will determine which one "wins" every time.
Im late to the party, but I fell into UAD since theyve been native. A/B with at least 4 other companies before i bought anything..fairchild and capitol chambers are prob the last thing ill get a for a whileee..so came here to double check myself.. Def going with the uad fairchild. love it on "warmer" vintagey drums..distressor on my heavier stuff
What you guys dont know is hardware works good with ad/da converters so yes the burl was clipped but trust me the ultramarine just as far and big just like the hw when you use the preamp of the plug that's what acoustica audio known for
Damn that was close. Perhaps it's the time I've taken away from listening to these, but I really can't tell much difference. I know you say you can pick it out every time, but only after a long time listening to them very closely. If they're using Burls as well it might be worth emulating some transformer mojo on the Ultramarine, maybe with ASH if they do it, but you've got Kelvin and True Iron to pick from as well
when plugins are doing light work they sound ok byt when you slam the hardware and the plugin , you will be able to see that its night and day comparison. Also hardware sounds wider and flush in the mix and plugins are 2 dimensional. If you cant hear the difference then check on your headphones and you'll be able to discern.
The Acutica Audio because it was Tighter sounded more glued...it just sounded better than the hardware even the Hardware may have been "Slightly Warmer"
How can they be compared equally if the Ultramarine 4 user manual says that the attack and release times are 3x slower than the orinal Fairchild? Ultramarine4 manual says: position 1 and 2 = 2ms Attack / Position 3= 3ms and Position 4 = 5ms. UAD fairchild is the same as the hardware attack which is microseconds. UAD attack times: Position 1 and 2 = 0.2ms (200 microseconds) / Position 3 = 0.4ms / position 4 = 0.8ms. That's a damn huge difference. Not even the slowest Original fairchild attack time gets to 1ms while the fastest attack time in Ultramarine is 2ms.
Subscribed after watching the brilliant takedown of the whole "Analogue is always better than Plugins BS video." That fool most probably is not even somebody who earns an income from audio production and more than likely hardly ever works with a DAW and has never ever released any recording of bands in his life.
Fairchild sounds the best. I could pick it in Blind Test. Usually I fail but this was not so difficult. Acoustica audio was the second best - but not as magical as hardware. UAD was boring,
Yeah transients didn't really get me with the UAD. Really lacked. Can be pushed more in terms of harmonics compared to ultramarine but the hardware has both so its an easy win for me haha
@@PaulThird And hardware always has something special. Cant describe it, but its almost like your ears are more "sensitive" to that sound. More dimension or something... This time UAD totally lacks that and Ultramarine have few percent of it haha.
I know it's like an up and down battle with the plugins haha when hardware is at its best its genuinely magical. Reminds when I did the 33609. Really the only analog gear I would consider paying the money for. Plugs cant come close.. BUT.. I never did compare it the UAD 🤔
I am right along with you with the hardware thickness. It's a gel that I can clearly detect. There is a release that is "too quick" on the emulation plugins in my opinion. It's less silky and more pokey when it comes to high end transients.
Yes, the Fairchild have more bottom than the two others... ( i`m a drummer ... ). But my personnal view is surprising ... : the Acustica have less bottom than the Fairchild, but more attack ( so i think in a mix the Acoustica will have a better result for ``cuting`` the mix... BEST of both world... ). For the UAD , very more attack and also VERY less bottom ... So my choice : Acustica Ultramarine ( i don`t have this plugin , but i will buy it VERY SOON !!! ) . Thank you , very good video .
Id love to see some Analog Obsession thrown into the mix with some of these comparisons. I've really been putting my plugins through the ringer - and discarding ones from my workflow that don't hold up (thanks to you Paul). I was listening to a few Fairchild comparisons, for example. I found the UAD one to have the best compression curves as well as tone (to MY ears). I have just about every damn Fairchild emu, and nothing held up like Analog Obsessions VariMoon (the YALA is an Altec Emu he makes which is SICK too). His stuff even beats out 3rd party Nebula Libraries (to my knowledge Tim P doesn't make a Fairchild - otherwise I'd love to test that against Analog Obsession). If youre sleeping on Analog Obsessions stuff, I'd LOVE to see you try some of it. Oh and FREE too...insane
@@PaulThird there are many software products on the market, but they are all fake, even the ICJ does not really come close. The reason why the Fairchild compressor cannot be imitated is the power of the transistors and the software codes of the lamp characters, companies code according to the sensation and sell it unknowingly. i have been using fairchild hardware for 13 years and the effect on your voice is very different, what happens on the market crushes a bad sound and makes it worse but the hardware is not like that, even if it is a bad sound it makes it fuller, there is an amazing feeling of power and durability. i discovered this with the goodhertz faraday limiter. i really turn it on and off and I can't hear the difference, they've colonized it so well. i am waiting for you to test this software as well.
thanks for this video fella for 50,000 I would have expected a difference that I would be blown out of my chair 50,000 for a compressor unit anyways is out of proportion i'm sure i'd show the test to someone who doesn't make or mix music wouldn't hear any difference most plugins these days are really worth the money!!,,,, uad still has to work on the prices with their joking dsp units haha
Its so funny how everyone in the comments magically own a real Fairchild... 😅😂pretty crazy when only 7,000 were ever made so you must of hit the fsirchild lottery paul 😅
Mix:analog still has original parts. Just pieced together "Fairchild 670 recreation assembled by Distopik. It's made from original parts as well as parts used for repairing originals by the likes of Vintage King"
FYI on the vocal the ultramarine was in the Lookahead setting of the SHMOD as I felt it was a little harsh compared to UAD and resulted in a more smooth vocal.. And yes I did use the balance features on the UAD in shootouts to try and get close to the hardware and both plugins utilused the sidechain as well to get retain the low end more and get closer to the hardware 🤓
did you try to use "PRE" button in Ultramarine?
Always have the pre's on in acustica plugs 🤓
What are the "balance features" in UAD?
Daamn these are soo close, like it's almost scary. So good I already have Ultramarine
The Fairchild is one of the trickier comps to pilot and often sounds best in 50% parallel - the way it was used on Beatles records. I use the M:A Fairchild a lot and really like the woolly vintage sound, it's more of a color box than a standard compressor and has sweetened a lot of my stale digital material.
Yeah I'd definitely agree with the colour of the mix analog. You could easily just pass sources through it. It just has that warmth and glue whilst still maintaining transients and punch. I used the puigchild in parallel for years on my mixbus just for that colour. I stopped but would definitely consider doing it again with the M:A. Sadly the unfairchild is massively out my reach at 10 grand haha 😅
Curious now how the unfairchild plugin matches up at this point
Mix analog is also using Burl converters in the path. Burls are known for having a nice fat transformer in the signal path to add a little extra vibe. Such as extended low-end, euphonic top-end, smoother transients. You might be hearing the Burls in your tests. Burls have often been compared to analog tape in sound.
Very very possible now I know that.
I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about the role of transformers and AD/DA converters in “analog magic”. Just one piece but I think an often overlooked one. I’m a bassist by trade and this company Origin Effects makes an 1176 comp in a stomp box. The cheaper mini ones don’t have a transformer and while they sound great they def feel a bit clinical (extremely transparent). The big brother box has a transformer and that one sounds like an 1176 to me, there’s mojo even though it’s not super colored sounding. There’s shootouts online and it’s telling how much difference it makes
Transformers are huge for that big coloured sound. Even in the 33609 you can hear the differences as they moved to different transformers. The fairchild is scary as it has so bloody many of them! 😂 Is there not like 20 tubes and 11 transformers or something in them 😅
@@mrnelsonius5631 I agree, transformers make a huge difference in sound. I am a big fan of them personally. They can saturate a signal in a pleasing way. Adding extra dimension to lows, mids, and highs, while also slowing down harsh "clicky" transients. They add a slight compressed vibe to the sound. Almost like a soft 1:5:1 compression ratio. Part of the classic Neve sound is actually two different transformers in the signal path. One on the input and a second one on the output.
@@PaulThird Yes! my kronehite filter has 24 tubes and 3 transformers and just running in flat bring some huge weight.
i love the Ultramarine !
It still remains on my vocal bus 🤓🤓
How big is the CPU need for that?
Will an i5 8400 suffice?
(planning to only use it on a mono voiceover track, not a whole mix)
@@gkiss2030 you should be fine, but you should install the trial first and find out.
Great stuff man! Glad to see you getting into mix:analog.
I tried messaging them to get them on board like access analog but they never got back to me 😢
@@PaulThird chat with them on their facebook profile, they are usually very responsive.
I messaged via Instagram but I'll try Facebook 🤓
Thanks for doing this. It's certainly helpful. The only issue I always have with hardware / plugin shootouts is that for hardware connections you need to do a round of DA and AD and that imparts the sound of the convertor to the process.
No it doesn't impart anything audible. They use a lynx Aurora. It's as transparent as it gets. Even an audient evo imparts nothing audible to the signal.
@@PaulThird YMMV. I find that once you get out of the box, quality of cables becomes a factor, as well as the round trip DA/AD, and even convertors can have a recognizable color. Perhaps not the Lynx Aurora - I haven't tried that one.
I did a test on both lynx and audient evo. And either didn't add any more than 0.1db of a difference on a full mix. Something like a burl that's intentionally meant to add colour maybe but your average DA/AD.. No audible difference
Great comparison🔥
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The Ultra Marine is pretty close to emulating a $10,000 compressor...man thats impressive.....I think Auqua marine is my new Mix Thickner...
especially with something like the Fairchild, you should try more extreme compression... on something with ambience... e.g. drum room mics in a big room... in the extreme settings is where you can really tell where a plugin might fall apart.
That's true. I think cause I hardly ever really push compression that much I don't tend to do many shootouts with compression over like 10db. I'll give rooms like 10db or so but normally it's like 1-2db on most sources. I'm pretty conservative unless it's drum rooms, bass or vocals haha I'm a bit of a compression whimp sometimes 😂
Overloud got me amazed. 3 tones and amazing sound..also no cpu usage
Yeah overloud is pretty impressive 🤓
I have to agree....
I really like your method for making the samples blind. I wasn't consistent in my preferences among the plugins.
In a blind test is when you trully see what you can actually hear 🤓
Could barely tell the difference at all and when I could notice anything sometimes I would prefer the character of the plug-in lol. I’m listening on a cheap sound bar and I wonder if TH-cam compression affects it too but thanks for the demonstration it’s helpful and those free credits on mix analogue sound worth a pop
TH-cam compression is not as drastic as everyone thinks. It's actually a massive myth. Was true back in the day but the codecs are just as high quality as streaming platforms. Needs to be as you've got vevo and all the music videos and stuff as artists main platform 🤓
I managed to get them pretty close 😜
The way I mostly use the Fairchild plugin is to just use it as a tone box on the master bus. Then when I'm done with the mix, I send it off to eMastering in The Netherlands and they run it through their Pultec for the final master.
Could you please do a comprehensive video on vari mu compression and how to actually use it. It's something I can't wrap my head around
Tbh I just see it as compression. There's a vari mu shootout I've made as well so that might be handy but honestly just view it as you would any other compressor and see how it affects the source 🤓
Paying 50K for 0.1% difference? nah... mix is in your head. Great video.
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i preferred the uad, haha this was fun. i like these vids
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great job dialing them in similarly. i would be very curious to hear them all slamming 10-15 dB of gain reduction. i picked the UAD on bass+drums, but the HW was a close second. and i picked Acustica on the vocal. HW for the others. thanks, Paul!
Still makes me want to try out a working well maintained vintage fairchild though. I love the way JJP talks about his and how on its day its magic but its very temprimental. These guys make them sound like mythical beasts 😂
I prefer the Acustica on drum and bass...
ON DRUMZ
1. ULTRAMARINE (BEAUTIFUL 3D SOUND)
2. FAIRCHILD (I LIKED IT TOO IT'S EXTREMLY CLOSE TO 1)
3. UAD (VERY DRY AND FLAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE ADDED HIGH SHELF EQ )
The analogue gear just adds more punch/weight/depth/feel. Hard to do with plug-ins ;-) But as someone already mentioned in the comments - it's most likely a combination of all the tubes and transformers in the compressor plus the Burl converters.
I've actually been thinking about running the plugs through the access analog prism converter as they allow you to use that separately but.. Kind of makes it unrealistic though as most won't have a high priced converter like that. I am going to do a seperate video on it though to see how the converter changes the sound of the plug.
Burls aren't cheap though eh? 😅
@@PaulThird The price is the only downside to the Burls ;-)
@@PaulThird Mix analog vs Access analog?
Maybe... 😜
I actually had to watch it again to be sure I did the blind tests in this video haha
How does it work for full mixing? Love the idea of this and analog access, I’m just not sure how it would work in a full mix situation, but maybe that’s not the intention?
Mix analog is printed stems being uploaded to their online server so it's not something you can try out in the mix.
Whereas access analog is a plugin you stick in your session that routes the signal from the daw to the access analog server and back into the daw. You can book a piece of hardware for as ever long as you require as long it's not already pre booked. It's expensive though so you are better to get the sound you want in the mix and print it.
Hello Dr. Wells, I hope you are doing fine.
I would love to know your views on IK Multimedia plugins.
I had t-racks back in the day. I remember I didn't really use it that much over waves. I think I used the 2a and the 33609 but in most cases I preferred other plugs. I am including the ik studer tape in next week's tape shootout though 🤓
@@PaulThird ok thank you for your POV
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I chose right on everything, but the plug in is so close in the best way everytime does it even matter anymore.?
Id say so.. Your not getting any where near 9 grands worth of a difference haha
I made my living recording and producing. I always tracked my basics on a console, and used tape when I could up until about 2010 when I couldn't justify it in the budget anymore. As I gradually moved into being full in the box I realized I had the two best analogue pieces of gear in the word all along and still use them to this day.......my ears. Kind Regards kid, great channel, great content.
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Hello, I've been wanting to give Acoustica Audio pugins a try, and I recently heard of a free EQ called Coffee the PUn. I am not seeing it on the product page..do you know if it's still available?
Dunno tbh. Never used it. Everything needs to be installed via aquarius anyway
Another nice video, Paul! :)
I'm learning some things with these comparison videos (better narrow it down to 2 things, for brevity):
1. My ear (preference) is drawn toward the (transient) overall POP and PUNCHINESS.
2. I think that is because many of these plugins today, take me back to the days when I was trying to get more pop and punchiness out of my 'meager' analog gear.
And I think that Acustica have kind of figured/found that out also. They definitely have enough of the analog mojo in their plugins... but I believe they may realize, many people prefer a bit more of what I mention above.
For me, it is WAY easier to tame pop/punch (if I must) than enhance the same, as excellently as Acustica apparently does. :)
There's not much analog gear that I've been absolutely blown away with in terms of differences. Funnily enough all of the analog gear I do really like are all heavily transformer based. Im coming to the conclusion that I really like transformers haha I need to start utilising the electronic department in work 🤓
@@PaulThird I’m also a huge fan of what quality transformers do to audio, even though it is indeed a bit subtle. I have a Rupert Neve RNDI, a not expensive but quality transformer in a box and I won’t track any guitar or bass without running through it. An engineer friend thought it was totally placebo, so he did a blind test between it and his Radial and I picked it out within seconds every time!! He couldn’t believe it, but then I told him what I was listening for and he was blown away, he could pick it out every time after that too. It just rounds things out and creates a sense of depth, somehow accentuates even order harmonics adding a gentle sweetness. Anyway, I like me some transformers too 😂
Love your videos. Keep up the good work 👍
Thank you 🤓
Is the preamp turned on in Ultramarine?
Pre's are always on in every AA video I do 🤓
Software plugins pumped a lot more than the hardware. I picked out the Fairchild on every one of these. The Ultramarine was more pumpy / fake sounding than the UAD. Is it a result of the GUI not accurately showing the level of compression? I still think there is something to the analog magic it just sounds more mixed. Love these comparisons man!
Nah its just that acustica aren't good at correctly modelling compression envelopes. Probably their biggest downfall. They admitted it last week when they released an update with new upgrades to their tan compressor
I have just discovered your videos. Congratulations for taking the effort in doing blind tests, they are very useful. If any, in some videos it would be nice to test the plugins applied to a whole mix, in the mix bus, or to several tracks of the mix, to be able to hear the impact of the plugins in the context of a mix, which is something that can get lost when testing subgroups or isolated instruments. Nevertheless, great work!
In my most recent shootouts I've done this where most sources have been processed and then brought together to make a mix and then compared. However I may look for a royalty free track just for pure mixbus use 🤓
Hi paul, is there any compressor plugin you can recommend that could get close to that punch?
Best compressor plugins for punch ie drums I've heard is softube Mike-e, tone empire model 5000, AA cola comp, UAD 2500, track comp 2 zener and TimP TNT which is my overall favourite.
@@PaulThird the Magenta is on sale, you won’t reco the comp on those?
Their vari mu comp is identical to the hardware but I don't like a manley vari mu that much being honest
From what I understand... fairchilds were so vastly different from one another hardware to hardware. Might as well use a 'kind of the real deal' to compare.
Thats probably why an undertone unfairchild costs over 10 grand haha 😅
and that's also the reason why you can't really say what's best. Let Paul do the same test with 10 more real Fairchilds and 5 more Fairchild-Plugins in the mix and I guarantee you he will mix up Fairchilds and Plugins all the time. Of course I wouldn't expect him to remember the sound of 17 different Fairchilds.. what I'm saying is he wouldn't be able to say "plugin or hardware" correctly. Yes, one can tell 3 different tracks apart and yes one can prefer some over others.. but no, hardware is not, nor ever will be superior. And 99,99% of "3D" and "fat bottom" you don't get with a compressor-unit, you get it with compressor type and settings and even more than that: EQ, Saturation, Reverb, Volume and panning. Somebody tells you any different - he's a hack.
My anecdote from the early 90’s when I was doing sessions - famous band doing a recall mix for a track, SSL desk recalled without a hitch but the hire company had supplied a Fairchild which was a different serial number from the one they had previously mixed through.
They ended up having to redo all the automation moves...
Great comparison, as always. In this case I was blown away by the HW. My impressions are that UAD is closer to the saturation, and acustica is closer to the transient response and none can give the fatness that the original hardware have.
And if I have to choose one, I definitly choose the HW, but only because I can sell it to buy the other 2 plugins and a lot of more stuff for my studio 🤣
Prices are scary eh 😨 even an undertone unfairchild will set you back over 10 grand 😅😅
I was guessing which was a real piece of a hardware after just a few seconds on the laptop tiny speakers... such a great piece of equipment!
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I think on them together...the Ultramarine sounds more musical.......and a little tighter........
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The thing that’s become clear to me over the past few years, and your videos continue to confirm this.. is that there is just such subtle differences, particularly when you’re dealing with processing one or two tracks in isolation.
I love analog gear and buy it to have the workflow, but I also use tons of plugins and in this arena the difference is so small as to not matter,
Changing instruments or musicians will make a way bigger difference in tone and vibe than this will in my opinion.
I know you say you hear a definite “thing” with the analog unit and hats off to you, my friend! but I don’t hear enough of a difference for it to matter, which is good for me I guess :-)
Tbh its one of the few shootouts where I can hear a difference between them but still pretty subtle and I did say that I still prefer ultramarine on vocals which is really the only time I use a fairchild anyway. Is it worth the money?? Nope, it'd just be cool to have it as compressor color box
@@PaulThird I also really liked the ultramarine on vox the second I heard it …but then when I heard the other version I liked both and could have used either in a mix :-)
The thing that this drives home is that the tools we use really have to prove their worth in the tool box and do heavy lifting, not just subtle marketing hype.. as I think you allude to
in blind tests i seem to choose ultramarine as 'most analogue', though differences are insanely subtle
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Hi Paul!
You know what's funny? Recently I watched a really long interview with Andy Jackson, Pink Floyd and David Gilmour's engineer for over 40 years, in which he talked about Gilmour's Astoria houseboat studio, which houses a Neve 88R console and every single piece of vintage outboard gear most people can only dream of, including a Fairchild of course and the Spanish (or Mexican... forgot) interviewer asked Andy about how Pink Floyd's 2019 remix of their A Momentary Lapse Of Reason studio album and their Delicate Sound Of Thunder live album was remixed and his answer was: "oh, I did 90% of that in my bedroom studio! Slightly better version of what many kids have in their bedrooms nowadays." I couldn't believe it! So the interviewer asked: "what about the Astoria houseboat studio then?" Jackson: "Oh, most of that stuff never gets turned on anymore! I don't know what David's plans for the equipment in there are, but he might sell all of that at some point." Pink Floyd are known for their outstanding audio quality, so when they go almost 100% ITB, it's proof that hardware became something nostalgic, right? I mean, just like owning an original Nintendo NES, which I once did but I now have a NES emulator on my gaming PC and not only does it look slightly better, I can also save my gameplay now. In the old days, when you turned off your NES, everything's gone and you had to start all over, hahaha.
What I'm trying to say is: people are obsessed with hardware and I fooled a lot of people on my previous YT channel, which doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately. Oh no, I wanted to leave it with that... okay: short story then: remember people crapping on the Focusrite Twintrak Pro (or Platinum series in general) in the past whilst praising the ISA/Red series? Well, one day, I split the signal of my vocal mic and acoustic guitar so both channels were being sent to the ISA and the Twintrak (same sound source). I recorded them both, put the results here on YT and to my surprise, it got a lot of views and comments and you know what? Everyone's *****ing on the Twintrak once again. "Twintrak sounds like **** whilst the ISA sounds warmer and more 3 dimensional"; etc; etc.
I was the only one who knew that when the video showed a pic of the Twintrak, it's actually the ISA they're listening to and vice versa. That personal "experiment" teached me A LOT!! :D
Analog gear is a fantasy for many. A fantasy that fades over time when it becomes a reality. Most of the top mixers I speak to hardly use any outboard, they may have it on show but doesn't mean to say it's being used
The difference in the snare is unbelievable. In the drum and bass shootout, Fairchild wins by far.
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to my ears on the snare, soundwise, it's inbetween Ultramarine and U.A.D. not "winning" just different. Context will determine which one "wins" every time.
So if i just want the color of the comp, i just engage the pre and input? I dont
Yes.
@PaulThird cool thanks. Didn't realize I was still writing mid sentence. 🤣
Im late to the party, but I fell into UAD since theyve been native. A/B with at least 4 other companies before i bought anything..fairchild and capitol chambers are prob the last thing ill get a for a whileee..so came here to double check myself.. Def going with the uad fairchild. love it on "warmer" vintagey drums..distressor on my heavier stuff
ultramarine sounds more closer actually too good enough, only issue is cpu power where is what ua do best, but they now the waves 2.0
Yeah ultramarine is a complete cpu hog
What you guys dont know is hardware works good with ad/da converters so yes the burl was clipped but trust me the ultramarine just as far and big just like the hw when you use the preamp of the plug that's what acoustica audio known for
I did use the PRE though.. I always do haha
Damn that was close. Perhaps it's the time I've taken away from listening to these, but I really can't tell much difference. I know you say you can pick it out every time, but only after a long time listening to them very closely. If they're using Burls as well it might be worth emulating some transformer mojo on the Ultramarine, maybe with ASH if they do it, but you've got Kelvin and True Iron to pick from as well
Danks Paul
when plugins are doing light work they sound ok byt when you slam the hardware and the plugin , you will be able to see that its night and day comparison. Also hardware sounds wider and flush in the mix and plugins are 2 dimensional. If you cant hear the difference then check on your headphones and you'll be able to discern.
The Acutica Audio because it was Tighter sounded more glued...it just sounded better than the hardware even the Hardware may have been "Slightly Warmer"
How can they be compared equally if the Ultramarine 4 user manual says that the attack and release times are 3x slower than the orinal Fairchild? Ultramarine4 manual says: position 1 and 2 = 2ms Attack / Position 3= 3ms and Position 4 = 5ms. UAD fairchild is the same as the hardware attack which is microseconds.
UAD attack times: Position 1 and 2 = 0.2ms (200 microseconds) / Position 3 = 0.4ms / position 4 = 0.8ms.
That's a damn huge difference. Not even the slowest Original fairchild attack time gets to 1ms while the fastest attack time in Ultramarine is 2ms.
UAD for me
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Subscribed after watching the brilliant takedown of the whole "Analogue is always better than Plugins BS video." That fool most probably is not even somebody who earns an income from audio production and more than likely hardly ever works with a DAW and has never ever released any recording of bands in his life.
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Fairchild sounds the best. I could pick it in Blind Test. Usually I fail but this was not so difficult. Acoustica audio was the second best - but not as magical as hardware. UAD was boring,
Yeah transients didn't really get me with the UAD. Really lacked. Can be pushed more in terms of harmonics compared to ultramarine but the hardware has both so its an easy win for me haha
@@PaulThird And hardware always has something special. Cant describe it, but its almost like your ears are more "sensitive" to that sound. More dimension or something... This time UAD totally lacks that and Ultramarine have few percent of it haha.
I know it's like an up and down battle with the plugins haha when hardware is at its best its genuinely magical. Reminds when I did the 33609. Really the only analog gear I would consider paying the money for. Plugs cant come close.. BUT.. I never did compare it the UAD 🤔
I am right along with you with the hardware thickness. It's a gel that I can clearly detect. There is a release that is "too quick" on the emulation plugins in my opinion. It's less silky and more pokey when it comes to high end transients.
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I literally can't tell the difference when I'm not paying attention to the screen
That's the main test that matters
Yes, the Fairchild have more bottom than the two others... ( i`m a drummer ... ). But my personnal view is surprising ... : the Acustica have less bottom than the Fairchild, but more attack ( so i think in a mix the Acoustica will have a better result for ``cuting`` the mix... BEST of both world... ). For the UAD , very more attack and also VERY less bottom ... So my choice : Acustica Ultramarine ( i don`t have this plugin , but i will buy it VERY SOON !!! ) . Thank you , very good video .
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Id love to see some Analog Obsession thrown into the mix with some of these comparisons. I've really been putting my plugins through the ringer - and discarding ones from my workflow that don't hold up (thanks to you Paul). I was listening to a few Fairchild comparisons, for example. I found the UAD one to have the best compression curves as well as tone (to MY ears). I have just about every damn Fairchild emu, and nothing held up like Analog Obsessions VariMoon (the YALA is an Altec Emu he makes which is SICK too). His stuff even beats out 3rd party Nebula Libraries (to my knowledge Tim P doesn't make a Fairchild - otherwise I'd love to test that against Analog Obsession). If youre sleeping on Analog Obsessions stuff, I'd LOVE to see you try some of it. Oh and FREE too...insane
I did an 1176 and 2a vocal comparison shootout with AA, UAD and hardware 🤓
Ya I picked it too.
But I hated the plugins.
I listen for the personality it adds charming or abrasive.
No wonder with all those bloody transformers and tubes in it haha must weigh an absolute ton
i actually love the puigchild
On a mixbus in parallel I still prefer puigchild.. Now there's one I never thought about oversampling 🤔
@@PaulThird all good your videos are awesome
Thanks James. Appreciate it 🤓👍
puigchild actually is a moded fairchild JJP uses.
Ik t racks vintage compressor next please.
Your guitar is beautiful
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i use original fairchild hardware. in my opinion, the closest copy of the best company (goodhertz faraday limiter) is number one fairchild.
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@@PaulThird there are many software products on the market, but they are all fake, even the ICJ does not really come close. The reason why the Fairchild compressor cannot be imitated is the power of the transistors and the software codes of the lamp characters, companies code according to the sensation and sell it unknowingly. i have been using fairchild hardware for 13 years and the effect on your voice is very different, what happens on the market crushes a bad sound and makes it worse but the hardware is not like that, even if it is a bad sound it makes it fuller, there is an amazing feeling of power and durability. i discovered this with the goodhertz faraday limiter. i really turn it on and off and I can't hear the difference, they've colonized it so well. i am waiting for you to test this software as well.
I never realized that the faraday limiter is a Fairchild compressor??
Great shoe aout.
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@@PaulThird that comment was full of love btw. I am always a fan of accents!
thanks for this video fella
for 50,000 I would have expected a difference that I would be blown out of my chair
50,000 for a compressor unit anyways is out of proportion i'm sure i'd show the test to someone who doesn't make or mix music wouldn't hear any difference
most plugins these days are really worth the money!!,,,, uad still has to work on the prices with their joking dsp units haha
And whats crazier is that the software can only get better haha 😅
@@PaulThird it is mate
Also for 50.000 you can buy a pc with nasa hardware inside😎
You can buy a fixer upper house for 50k where I'm from haha
AA hands down
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I dont know is it youtube, but i don't hear a sh!t.. I mean you talking like it was some huge difference, but i bet they almost null in null test.
Completely agree, listening here on a Crane Song dac in a well treated room. Very subtle to the point where I can’t tell a difference
@@andrewwhitehouse1878 maybe consider non loss files for nerds ;)
plot twist, mix:analog actually uses plugins
Listened on shit. Uad did great job, I preferred it in every example. Real one most detailed, aa passed here, but I love them.
Try C660 from Cupwise
I wonder which fairchild clone he sampled 🤔
@@PaulThird I can do the processing, but it has peculiar meanings on the handles. may be it is clone.
Its so funny how everyone in the comments magically own a real Fairchild... 😅😂pretty crazy when only 7,000 were ever made so you must of hit the fsirchild lottery paul 😅
Internet for you
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Remember to check out my autism channel if you want to learn more about my life 🤓🤓🤓
idk I cant really take this seriously as there isnt a real fairchild used
Mix:analog still has original parts. Just pieced together
"Fairchild 670 recreation assembled by Distopik. It's made from original parts as well as parts used for repairing originals by the likes of Vintage King"
Wow, the UAD version sounded really weak here, the worst of the three. Real Fairchild was way better sounding than the plugins.
of course it's always more "magical" lmao