But as others have noted, they're not perfect re-creations. This isn't to say that they don't sound good. There are no two ways around this it's different.Įven running multiple outputs into my Neve summing mixer doesn't make the plugs sound like the real thing. I like the plugs, but sit in front of an SSL, and it's a different experience than inserting even the best of the plugins. I have the Waves plugs, the URS emulations, and others, including Softube. I've worked with real SSL consoles, as well as Neve and API, many times. I haven't used these, I've only read about them, but it seems like an interesting idea for a studio that is committed to a thick vintage sound and/or is willing to invest in more than one set of (expensive) converters, and already has a bunch of clean mic pre/eq channels that they want to keep using (as in an SSL, Harrison, or D & R console or the like). I haven't done enough comparing yet to make a specific statement about how close.Īnother approach that might start catching on is the "colored converter", like the UA 2192 and the Burl stuff. But if I run out of those channels I can use my clean preamps (Sytek) and character plug ins to get pretty close.
However, I have a small number of vintage mic preamps with great transformers in them, and I prefer to use those. The MH mixer allows you to drop in "character" plugs in the channels.
I have a Metric Halo LIO-8 which includes their software mixer and plugins that you can use before or after the ones in your DAW.