1176 hardware versus plugins

[maartenl945]

I recently compared my Warm Audio 1176 clone against a couple of plugin emulations of the original hardware and made a video about it on my YouTube channel.
What are your experiences when comparing this well known compressor hardware against software based emulations these days ? Clear difference or all very usable ?

Regards,
Maarten

 

[CrowsofFritz]

I have the KT-76. Very clean. I don’t hear any color going on. Just a fast compressor. When I’ve dealt with 76 plugins, there seemed to be some coloration going on, but only minor.

 

[CoolCat]

I'd like the link to the compressor comparison you did, if its completed.

 

[maartenl945]

I'd like the link to the compressor comparison you did, if its completed.

Hi @CoolCat yes the video is completed. This forum doesn't like it when you post links to your own videos though so that is why I didn't include it in the post. The link to my YouTube channel is in the signature (only visible on desktop), or else you can search for "Lanewood Studios" on YouTube. It is my latest video!

 

[maartenl945]

I have the KT-76. Very clean. I don’t hear any color going on. Just a fast compressor. When I’ve dealt with 76 plugins, there seemed to be some coloration going on, but only minor.

I do hear some coloration on my 1176 hardware as well, but that is part of the 1176 vibe and I like it !

 

[TalismanRich]

Listening to the bass, the first thing I would have been doing with the UAD plugin was trying to get rid of the speaker buzz! I thought it was seriously bad. The WA and Pultech samples weren't so noisy. If that's what people call "coloration", then I'll have mine in black and white.

On the drum samples, I could hear the background pumping, I guess with a bunch of other instruments, that wouldn't be obvious, but anyplace where the drum was soloed, it would bug me.

On the vocals, there seemed to be some type of hash or haze which was accentuated with the compressors. Again, the UAD seemed the worst. Maybe it's Youtube that is causing some distortion. Maybe I'll download the track tomorrow if I get a chance.

 

[maartenl945]

Listening to the bass, the first thing I would have been doing with the UAD plugin was trying to get rid of the speaker buzz! I thought it was seriously bad. The WA and Pultech samples weren't so noisy. If that's what people call "coloration", then I'll have mine in black and white.

On the drum samples, I could hear the background pumping, I guess with a bunch of other instruments, that wouldn't be obvious, but anyplace where the drum was soloed, it would bug me.

On the vocals, there seemed to be some type of hash or haze which was accentuated with the compressors. Again, the UAD seemed the worst. Maybe it's Youtube that is causing some distortion. Maybe I'll download the track tomorrow if I get a chance.

Thanks for listening!
On the bass it is not actually speaker buzz but rather the compressor creating this buzz mostly by having such a short release. And the test was to hear the difference in how they create this buzz. And yes, the UAD seems to create it more obviously. And yes, it’s definitely depending on the music whether this type of “hair” is appropriate. If ever . Also see

On the drums the background definitely gets brought up more/less on the various compressors. And the compressor settings are exaggerated a bit to more clearly hear the difference. In a real mix it might be too much indeed.

As for the haze on the vocal, I didn’t really experience it as such but will need to have another listen in the studio. Maybe it’s just the heavy compression and significant reduction in the dynamics ?

 

[CoolCat]

marrten..
I think its a well done set of video collections. 5 stars on that.
The audio was also done well enough to hear subtle differences (in comparison to the masses of horrific audio comparisons where it sounds like a cheap video camcorder from 1993 in a bad room...) 5 stars on that..

very interesting. The no compression sounds fine. imo. 1176...

the Hardware on the vocal seemed to have a little more clarity in the solo-samples under a microscope.
the plug-in's were very similar but we gearheads like doing this to follow that path to get to the best sound.
the plug-in thing, beaten to death , is they offer a close 2nd place in the race, but they offer 1st place in being cheap,
being able to slap one on UNLIMITED channels, and the SAVE AS custom settings.....so the plug-ins severely beat the hardware, except for the subtle clarity I hear. anyway...money no object...Id do the WARM for that 5% clarity or go No Compression and do it later.

now going to the Bass , I dont know just about anything works for me. Ive had that $80 DOD 825R someone said was as good as his LA610 for bass and it really was a good sounding piece of cheap "home recording"...DIY gear but then a JDI and interface pre sounds good etc...a $185 RNC ...
a lot of comps sound good.
1176 samples all sounded workable....one bass. getting that fuzz box sound I can get out of plugs and more, probably wouldnt buy a Hardware for that trick.

Drums, Im super weak on this but my ears would hear the snare whack, in solo mode better with some comp. In the full mix I dont know..
I have nothing to say except you got me motivated a bit to start a drum room...get some mics and a few old mattress's ...
thanks!

Im kind of doing a similar comparison to my KT2A, and my Line6 Gearbox/Podfarm 2A plugin......and Im kind of getting the same vibe thought.
Like is the hardware needed when only doing a 2db comp on vocal?
Is it adding noise to the track by having more components in the loop?
Will I remember the settings on the hardware as its constantly changed?
Im not recording to cassette tape anymore, so that empty space in the DAW doesnt have tape hiss needing to be recorded over...

but the hardware is real and looking at cartoon versions all day doesnt have the same vibe as the metal chasis with cool VU meters moving(I hope they keep moving) and cables and plugs and fun gearhead hobby stuff a person enjoys versus simulation....

but then looking at my bloated paypal account, plugins and Free PodFamr/Gearbox stuff sounds as good as I make the effort with, and is FREE.
my Klanghelm Compressor Set was what $29? and my Limiter No6 was mastering, comp for Free.

1176 Hardware vs Plugin.... you ask Clear Difference or All very Usable.....I'd go with All Very Useable....but..... lol

 

[Papanate]

I recently compared my Warm Audio 1176 clone against a couple of plugin emulations of the original hardware and made a video about it on my YouTube channel.
What are your experiences when comparing this well known compressor hardware against software based emulations these days ? Clear difference or all very usable ?

You didn't use the same settings - so a comparison is kind of moot. But - your Warm Audio (and the way you set it) was splashy compared to the others.

 

[maartenl945]

You didn't use the same settings - so a comparison is kind of moot. But - your Warm Audio (and the way you set it) was splashy compared to the others.

In the other plugin versus hardware tests I did I noticed that the plugins and hardware controls often required different settings to get to a similar sound. So they sounded vastly different when using the same settings, but they could be made to sound much more similar when adjusting the settings.
In this particular test I didn't go overboard trying to match them exactly by adjusting the settings but I did do a bit of tuning yes. Still very similar settings though.

 

[maartenl945]

marrten..
I think its a well done set of video collections. 5 stars on that.
The audio was also done well enough to hear subtle differences (in comparison to the masses of horrific audio comparisons where it sounds like a cheap video camcorder from 1993 in a bad room...) 5 stars on that..

very interesting. The no compression sounds fine. imo. 1176...

the Hardware on the vocal seemed to have a little more clarity in the solo-samples under a microscope.
the plug-in's were very similar but we gearheads like doing this to follow that path to get to the best sound.
the plug-in thing, beaten to death , is they offer a close 2nd place in the race, but they offer 1st place in being cheap,
being able to slap one on UNLIMITED channels, and the SAVE AS custom settings.....so the plug-ins severely beat the hardware, except for the subtle clarity I hear. anyway...money no object...Id do the WARM for that 5% clarity or go No Compression and do it later.

now going to the Bass , I dont know just about anything works for me. Ive had that $80 DOD 825R someone said was as good as his LA610 for bass and it really was a good sounding piece of cheap "home recording"...DIY gear but then a JDI and interface pre sounds good etc...a $185 RNC ...
a lot of comps sound good.
1176 samples all sounded workable....one bass. getting that fuzz box sound I can get out of plugs and more, probably wouldnt buy a Hardware for that trick.

Drums, Im super weak on this but my ears would hear the snare whack, in solo mode better with some comp. In the full mix I dont know..
I have nothing to say except you got me motivated a bit to start a drum room...get some mics and a few old mattress's ...
thanks!

Im kind of doing a similar comparison to my KT2A, and my Line6 Gearbox/Podfarm 2A plugin......and Im kind of getting the same vibe thought.
Like is the hardware needed when only doing a 2db comp on vocal?
Is it adding noise to the track by having more components in the loop?
Will I remember the settings on the hardware as its constantly changed?
Im not recording to cassette tape anymore, so that empty space in the DAW doesnt have tape hiss needing to be recorded over...

but the hardware is real and looking at cartoon versions all day doesnt have the same vibe as the metal chasis with cool VU meters moving(I hope they keep moving) and cables and plugs and fun gearhead hobby stuff a person enjoys versus simulation....

but then looking at my bloated paypal account, plugins and Free PodFamr/Gearbox stuff sounds as good as I make the effort with, and is FREE.
my Klanghelm Compressor Set was what $29? and my Limiter No6 was mastering, comp for Free.

1176 Hardware vs Plugin.... you ask Clear Difference or All very Usable.....I'd go with All Very Useable....but..... lol

Thanks for your comments and detailed observations. And yes the hardware still has a bit of an edge sometimes but the plugins are coming very close and are much more convenient for the reasons that you mentioned. And yes I agree, they're all very usable .

PS: I really like the Klanghelm MJUC compressor. Probably my favourite plugin compressor which I always use on the lead vocal in every mix.