Totally agree, i have a Titan Rack with the Prometheus and Dione, so lovely and works like a charm and sounds awesome! The recall is incredible and never fails! Cheers
@@AudioAnimalsStudio Exactly! You only say good things about things that are good. Its for that reason I have learned so much from you - you have really helped me navigate the analog / digital audio space. Thank you!
Thank you for the review. I have the Pandora thanks to you and love it. I have a Wes Audio super carrier 2 but am buying the Titian because I am buying more 500 series. I will move the pandora to it. I had to buy an angled micro usb to plug in the front for now. Oh, the Titan is on sale along with other select Wes Audio gear.
@CT-ho6si yes I only use 500 series for mixing. I wouldn't personally use any 500 series gear in a mastering chain. I've done it before and the lack of headroom is a real issue. Why you'll never see 500 series in any high end mastering chains.
Have you used the Rhea saturation during the mastering stage at all? I mean you have the Carnaby of course, but maybe if you were looking for more of a tube saturation sound, does it hold up? Cheers, Paul!
@tylerbireley26 I like the saturation on the Rhea it's a welcomed addition. I can't say I've tried it in mastering. I tend to use the tube EQ if I want to add anything like that in at the mastering stage.
@abuthegreat9371 I honestly don't know. I guess it's more because I haven't been sent any to test out and fall in love with. If I was sent Teglar gear to try out I'm sure I'd end up buying it.
I was looking at 500 series gear for my mix bus. I was thinking 2 RND 542, Hyperion, Dione, and RHEA. All in a cranbourne audio chasis to use ADAT. Would this be a bad move for my mix bus? Also kinda wanted the Spl Big. Can’t decide if imaging or eq is more important for mix bus. Any recommendations ?
@berdeauxlaveau6515 consider this option if you want to use ADAT to connect your rack. Wes audio titan rack with a wes audio calypso converter in it. Then add those 4 modules. Don't add the SPL BIG. Try the plugin first. It's very very close and if you watch any videos of the plugin being pulled apart it's interesting how basic it is.
Thank you for the honest feedback! Do you see any benefits to the 19 inch units over the 500 series options? For example does the Ng Bus Comp have additional features over the 500 series Dione?
@hosedog99 they have similar features. With the NG bus comp you now get feedback and feedforward compression. Which is really good. The main benefit I've always found with using 19inch rack units over 500 series is the amount of additional headroom you have. Feature wise they are similar.
@VersatyleMusicGroup I had one in to test and loved it. Worked incredibly well. Was perfect for a titan rack. Conversion was great. Only reason I didn't keep it was because it wanted more processing modules in my rack and not take up two slots with converters.
Hi Paul , thanks again for your great work. I recently got into analog gears via a titan rack and for what I understand Wes audio brings some much more to the table. Quality, convenience, reliability, options. Really great products . Obviously in a big studio like yours with all the outboard gears that you have, I understand that you don’t use the 500 modules for mastering but I wonder if you did which modules you’d use for mastering principally ? I don’t plan to buy another titan rack anytime soon because of the space. I have Calypso ,Rhea , Dione and Prometheus and was thinking to add Hyperion in the 2 slots left but I’m tempted to grab Pandora instead and sell Dione to get one more slot … all the best
@MrHidrissa the was i see the Pandora is a multiband dione. It's an upgrade to the dinone. The hyperion will be very good for mastering. I'd use the Rhea as my mastering compressor and the dione or Pandora as my bus comp. Then the EQ as my mastering EQ.
@ thanks a lot Paul! I greatly value your opinion and I thank you for your time. Correct me if I’m wrong but do you think that I should go with the Pandora instead of the Dione and the Hyperion instead of the Prometheus module? I thought that an analog broad band pultec type eq can be a must have in my hybrid mastering chain and I like the Prometheus so far but I didn’t try the Hyperion.
@MrHidrissa hey can you give a review or detail your experience on the calypso? Any comparison to what other converters they sound close to in your opinion? And how you use it as an interface etc.
@@VersatyleMusicGroup Hey! To be honest, I come from fully in the box and I used to use only the RME ADI 2 Dac Fs that I liked a lot as my monitoring converter . Very transparent and clear. I recently add the titan rack and use the calypso as my converter I’m still using the rme Dac for monitoring and I use a small rme digiface to connect the calypso and the Dac via adat. So far my experience is pretty good in terms of sound quality and outstanding in terms of convenience. With the calypso no need to add for cables to use the modules in the rack and that’s so practical and efficient . I think that the titan with calypso as a converter is a great compact solution and it sounds good. So @audioanimalstudio is definitely more qualified than me to answer this question. As a Wes audio product Calypso has to be on the level of the others and to me it’s a good converter but I can’t tell you that it’s in the level of legendary mastering grade converter. Hope that helps a little bit.
I’ve seen you comment that you preferred the SSL ultraviolet 500 eq over the WesAudio Hyperion eq sonically, is this still the case from your memory? Do you still believe SSL is no better than a plugin? I’m wondering if I should try another eq or look at compression or saturation for “light mastering” out of the box. Would love to hear your opinion. It’d be a great help, thanks in advance.
@MarsC-x if I did say that it's probably some time ago when I was using the UV EQ a lot and had only briefly tested the hyperion. I can't imagine me saying that now after extensively using the hyperion a lot. The UV EQ is nice but it's just too clean and that makes it very comparable to the plugin. If you are liking what you are getting out of the UV EQ continue using it.
@@AudioAnimalsStudioThanks so much for your help it’s invaluable. I may be mistaking you for someone else’s comment, I’ll probably invest in Prometheus EQ down the line, it seems like it would be a realm above most plugins especially with recall.
@BertVollmer-f5m i will try to do a comparison video comparing the two using the same curves. This way you'll hear if there's anything other than a few features you are missing out on.
@BertVollmer-f5m well I can tell you without even doing the comparison video you'll notice a nicer tubier sound. Not necessarily a better sound but a more richer unique sound.
Great. I only have the Wes audio Rhea. But I would happy to replace my actual ssl vca and my violet eq with the Wes audio version. I wonder which eq is better to add first. The pultec style or the parametric. ?
@@atacamabeatsindierecording8406 I find the hyperion is usable. The Prometheus is great to have if you need it. I'd choose the hyperion as it'll be good for everything you want to do. The dione will directly replace the SSL bus comp.
@@AudioAnimalsStudiothanks. Hyperion my next eq. I think the pandora it would be better for me than the Dione as it also a vca. Thanks a lot again. Great this honest review format.
I think the SSL Bus Comp 500 MK3 is an outstanding value for your money and unfortunately I doubt that a Dione can fully replace it when it comes to SSL Bus compression? Or is the Dione much different than the ngBusComp? I have an ngBusComp and it's very different from my SSL Bus Comp.
@BertVollmer-f5m they are different but realistically if you need a bus compressor in over your mix bus you are only going to need one. Having tested the dione against the x rack SSL bus comp the Wes Audio wins for me. The NG bus comp also won every time in testing against the bus plus. I can't imagine the 500 series SSL module being that much better than the other versions.
@@jason.martin I would imagine sales are going through the roof at the moment. I've seen lots of studios swap out 500 series non recallable racks for wes audio racks recently.
@Sance21 I've not had any issues with headroom with any of the Wes Audio units. I have had issues with other 500 series modules. Which is why I've always steered clear of 500 series in mastering.
@zanza_the_rewolverine as someone with 5 ABB 16s and an APB 8. I find both an equal investment. The one thing the APB lacks in comparison is the lack on hands on use. I love the APB but I will always choose Wes audio gear to process the key elements of the mix.
I personaly not a big fan of their non linear encoders.. when you turn it with low speed you need something like 360×3 to make full turn. It pisses me off)), i hope they add an option to switch to linear mode.
@@77advanced this doesn't bother me. Have you felt the encoders on the Pandora? They are detented. Do they feel better to you? As this is how I'd imagine all future units will feel.
@@AudioAnimalsStudiodidn't used pandora yet, i only have dione, rhea, prometheus. I think it is not very hard to add this option for encoders in a firmware. It is breaking that tactile connection with a hardware a little bit for me.
Couldn’t agree more Paul. Wes Audio is king when it comes to digitally recallable hardware and all their units sound amazing.
@@studioneo986 100% agree. I can't find a single bad thing to say about their products.
Totally agree, i have a Titan Rack with the Prometheus and Dione, so lovely and works like a charm and sounds awesome! The recall is incredible and never fails! Cheers
Paul gives the thumbs up, i put it on my gear bucket list
@@owlmuso gets two thumbs up from me. Wouldn't be sat next to 4 racks of the gear if I didn't love it.
@@AudioAnimalsStudio Exactly! You only say good things about things that are good. Its for that reason I have learned so much from you - you have really helped me navigate the analog / digital audio space. Thank you!
@@owlmuso my pleasure. It's always nice to hear you've helped someone. It's very rewarding creating youtube content.
@@AudioAnimalsStudio Absolutely man. I know that producing youtube videos takes a lot of energy, so I always appreciate the substance of your videos.
Also definitely worth mentioning is the headroom. The EQs have a ton!
Thank you for the review. I have the Pandora thanks to you and love it. I have a Wes Audio super carrier 2 but am buying the Titian because I am buying more 500 series. I will move the pandora to it. I had to buy an angled micro usb to plug in the front for now. Oh, the Titan is on sale along with other select Wes Audio gear.
@braxal6983 the titan is the perfect combination for the Wes Audio 500 series gear. 20% off everything at the moment. No better time to get it.
Just added the NG76/Buss and Tube Eq. Just waiting on a NG369 and NG2A😂
@tytansoundlab as funny as that is, it would be a welcomed addition.
Pandora and Rhea been amazing for me in Mastering.
@@joeyf808 can certainly be used in mastering
@@AudioAnimalsStudio I recall the discussion around headroom for 500-series gear, seems like you mainly stick to mixing with the 500-series stuff?
@CT-ho6si yes I only use 500 series for mixing. I wouldn't personally use any 500 series gear in a mastering chain. I've done it before and the lack of headroom is a real issue. Why you'll never see 500 series in any high end mastering chains.
My issue with the 500 series is that I’m getting NG rack units for mono processing because the compressors aren’t dual mono in 500 series
Have you used the Rhea saturation during the mastering stage at all? I mean you have the Carnaby of course, but maybe if you were looking for more of a tube saturation sound, does it hold up? Cheers, Paul!
@tylerbireley26 I like the saturation on the Rhea it's a welcomed addition. I can't say I've tried it in mastering. I tend to use the tube EQ if I want to add anything like that in at the mastering stage.
A piece of gear thats to me kind of slept on is the Gainlabs Audio Governor Optical Compressor wspecially for vocals and full mixes
Thanks always love your reviews keep it coming by the way why don't you have any tegeler gear?
@abuthegreat9371 I honestly don't know. I guess it's more because I haven't been sent any to test out and fall in love with. If I was sent Teglar gear to try out I'm sure I'd end up buying it.
I was looking at 500 series gear for my mix bus. I was thinking 2 RND 542, Hyperion, Dione, and RHEA. All in a cranbourne audio chasis to use ADAT. Would this be a bad move for my mix bus? Also kinda wanted the Spl Big. Can’t decide if imaging or eq is more important for mix bus. Any recommendations ?
@berdeauxlaveau6515 consider this option if you want to use ADAT to connect your rack. Wes audio titan rack with a wes audio calypso converter in it. Then add those 4 modules. Don't add the SPL BIG. Try the plugin first. It's very very close and if you watch any videos of the plugin being pulled apart it's interesting how basic it is.
@ okay I’ll definitely consider it. Makes sense as well to get a titan and have the full recall on all the modules
Thank you for the honest feedback! Do you see any benefits to the 19 inch units over the 500 series options? For example does the Ng Bus Comp have additional features over the 500 series Dione?
@hosedog99 they have similar features. With the NG bus comp you now get feedback and feedforward compression. Which is really good. The main benefit I've always found with using 19inch rack units over 500 series is the amount of additional headroom you have. Feature wise they are similar.
I REALLY wish someone would do a review on the Wes audio calypso converter.
@VersatyleMusicGroup I had one in to test and loved it. Worked incredibly well. Was perfect for a titan rack. Conversion was great. Only reason I didn't keep it was because it wanted more processing modules in my rack and not take up two slots with converters.
If you hold the SC Filter button for a few second this will put the rhea into saturation mode
@@Dan-xw5vw thank you, Wes Audio pointed this out to me and also that this is written into the manual. Knew they’d have have added it as a feature.
Hi Paul , thanks again for your great work. I recently got into analog gears via a titan rack and for what I understand Wes audio brings some much more to the table. Quality, convenience, reliability, options. Really great products . Obviously in a big studio like yours with all the outboard gears that you have, I understand that you don’t use the 500 modules for mastering but I wonder if you did which modules you’d use for mastering principally ?
I don’t plan to buy another titan rack anytime soon because of the space. I have Calypso ,Rhea , Dione and Prometheus and was thinking to add Hyperion in the 2 slots left but I’m tempted to grab Pandora instead and sell Dione to get one more slot … all the best
@MrHidrissa the was i see the Pandora is a multiband dione. It's an upgrade to the dinone. The hyperion will be very good for mastering. I'd use the Rhea as my mastering compressor and the dione or Pandora as my bus comp. Then the EQ as my mastering EQ.
@ thanks a lot Paul! I greatly value your opinion and I thank you for your time. Correct me if I’m wrong but do you think that I should go with the Pandora instead of the Dione and the Hyperion instead of the Prometheus module?
I thought that an analog broad band pultec type eq can be a must have in my hybrid mastering chain and I like the Prometheus so far but I didn’t try the Hyperion.
@MrHidrissa hey can you give a review or detail your experience on the calypso? Any comparison to what other converters they sound close to in your opinion? And how you use it as an interface etc.
@@VersatyleMusicGroup Hey! To be honest, I come from fully in the box and I used to use only the RME ADI 2 Dac Fs that I liked a lot as my monitoring converter . Very transparent and clear. I recently add the titan rack and use the calypso as my converter I’m still using the rme Dac for monitoring and I use a small rme digiface to connect the calypso and the Dac via adat. So far my experience is pretty good in terms of sound quality and outstanding in terms of convenience. With the calypso no need to add for cables to use the modules in the rack and that’s so practical and efficient . I think that the titan with calypso as a converter is a great compact solution and it sounds good. So @audioanimalstudio is definitely more qualified than me to answer this question. As a Wes audio product Calypso has to be on the level of the others and to me it’s a good converter but I can’t tell you that it’s in the level of legendary mastering grade converter. Hope that helps a little bit.
I’ve seen you comment that you preferred the SSL ultraviolet 500 eq over the WesAudio Hyperion eq sonically, is this still the case from your memory? Do you still believe SSL is no better than a plugin?
I’m wondering if I should try another eq or look at compression or saturation for “light mastering” out of the box.
Would love to hear your opinion. It’d be a great help, thanks in advance.
@MarsC-x if I did say that it's probably some time ago when I was using the UV EQ a lot and had only briefly tested the hyperion. I can't imagine me saying that now after extensively using the hyperion a lot. The UV EQ is nice but it's just too clean and that makes it very comparable to the plugin. If you are liking what you are getting out of the UV EQ continue using it.
@@AudioAnimalsStudioThanks so much for your help it’s invaluable. I may be mistaking you for someone else’s comment,
I’ll probably invest in Prometheus EQ down the line, it seems like it would be a realm above most plugins especially with recall.
@@MarsC-x 100% better than the plugin sound. Wes gear actually has a sound to it.
I bought a WES Audio 4 band EQ as a stop gap solution for my master bus as long as I can't afford an ngTubeEQ.
@BertVollmer-f5m i will try to do a comparison video comparing the two using the same curves. This way you'll hear if there's anything other than a few features you are missing out on.
I have both, the hyperion is really great, but got the ngtubeeq 4 weeks ago and it's fucking fantastic. Lots more character obviously (tubes)
@@AudioAnimalsStudio That possible future comparison video would be too late for me, now I already got an ngTubeEQ 😃
@BertVollmer-f5m well I can tell you without even doing the comparison video you'll notice a nicer tubier sound. Not necessarily a better sound but a more richer unique sound.
@@BertVollmer-f5m good choice! 😊 👍
Great. I only have the Wes audio Rhea. But I would happy to replace my actual ssl vca and my violet eq with the Wes audio version. I wonder which eq is better to add first. The pultec style or the parametric. ?
@@atacamabeatsindierecording8406 I find the hyperion is usable. The Prometheus is great to have if you need it. I'd choose the hyperion as it'll be good for everything you want to do. The dione will directly replace the SSL bus comp.
@@AudioAnimalsStudiothanks. Hyperion my next eq. I think the pandora it would be better for me than the Dione as it also a vca. Thanks a lot again. Great this honest review format.
I think the SSL Bus Comp 500 MK3 is an outstanding value for your money and unfortunately I doubt that a Dione can fully replace it when it comes to SSL Bus compression? Or is the Dione much different than the ngBusComp? I have an ngBusComp and it's very different from my SSL Bus Comp.
@@BertVollmer-f5mthanks
@BertVollmer-f5m they are different but realistically if you need a bus compressor in over your mix bus you are only going to need one. Having tested the dione against the x rack SSL bus comp the Wes Audio wins for me. The NG bus comp also won every time in testing against the bus plus. I can't imagine the 500 series SSL module being that much better than the other versions.
Great commentary, love their gear, they must be selling tons of units or at least steady sales. Ill only by from them or others that have recall.
@@jason.martin I would imagine sales are going through the roof at the moment. I've seen lots of studios swap out 500 series non recallable racks for wes audio racks recently.
Does the Wes 500 series have a bit more headroom than other 500 units, in general?
@Sance21 I've not had any issues with headroom with any of the Wes Audio units. I have had issues with other 500 series modules. Which is why I've always steered clear of 500 series in mastering.
I think the Apb 16 is better investment
@zanza_the_rewolverine as someone with 5 ABB 16s and an APB 8. I find both an equal investment. The one thing the APB lacks in comparison is the lack on hands on use. I love the APB but I will always choose Wes audio gear to process the key elements of the mix.
I personaly not a big fan of their non linear encoders.. when you turn it with low speed you need something like 360×3 to make full turn. It pisses me off)), i hope they add an option to switch to linear mode.
@@77advanced this doesn't bother me. Have you felt the encoders on the Pandora? They are detented. Do they feel better to you? As this is how I'd imagine all future units will feel.
@@AudioAnimalsStudiodidn't used pandora yet, i only have dione, rhea, prometheus. I think it is not very hard to add this option for encoders in a firmware. It is breaking that tactile connection with a hardware a little bit for me.
@@77advanced yeah I hear you. This is something you could request from Wes Audio. They listen to users and are very responsive.
Man, you are not good for my wallet 🤣
@steverachmadofficial haha sorry