Request: 33609 audio samples (pleeease?)

Well, the one thing I probably should have done is bounce the mixdown of the drumkit without the bus compression so you could a/b that instead. For you that would probably have been more useful.

If I can find the session (did this like a year ago) and find time I'll try to do that and you can hear some of what the 33609 does. (come to think of it, I think one of the files in the first folder you looked is just that.... "Drumkit_A"/B/C are either no compression, real Neve or UAD... you can check those out...)

I'll also check later what the order was and PM you. But my personal opinion is that the UAD is very close. It's to the point where many people won't be able to nail down if and what the difference is consistently. So in my opinion the UAD is a great buy if you're looking to do medium amounts of compression (haven't pushed it yet).

To describe the sound (futile, I know) I'd say that the Neve 33609 gives the source a "tighter" sound, a more "punchy" sound. There's a limiter along with the compressor on it, so you can actually also tweak the attack with it quite successfully. I also find that along with giving you a bit less of the absolute low end, it'll give the source more "presence", so it's great for treating things you want to stand out in a mix. (Incidentally I feel the same about the 1073 type pre's).

What the Neve is not is "silky-smooth", "open" and "transparent". I also wouldn't call it "warm".

Anyways, that's my take on it.... Now I'll go looking for those notes....

[quote author="mattiasNYC"]I'll also check later what the order was and PM you. But my personal opinion is that the UAD is very close. It's to the point where many people won't be able to nail down if and what the difference is consistently. So in my opinion the UAD is a great buy if you're looking to do medium amounts of compression (haven't pushed it yet).

To describe the sound (futile, I know) I'd say that the Neve 33609 gives the source a "tighter" sound, a more "punchy" sound. There's a limiter along with the compressor on it, so you can actually also tweak the attack with it quite successfully. I also find that along with giving you a bit less of the absolute low end, it'll give the source more "presence", so it's great for treating things you want to stand out in a mix. (Incidentally I feel the same about the 1073 type pre's).

What the Neve is not is "silky-smooth", "open" and "transparent". I also wouldn't call it "warm".

Anyways, that's my take on it.... Now I'll go looking for those notes....[/quote]

ya thanks. all in all that's the impression i was getting. very unlike a la2a/1176/ssl. very unusually focused and almost dark/harsh. i think it must be rock solid on bass drum and snare, though, huh? how versatile do you find it in general? where do you generally use it? i've heard of people using it on mix buses instead of ssl's. certainly drum buses. could be aggressive i suppose.

hmmm. the thought is growing on me.

I love it on everything, though it may not be suitable on everything in context of the music. As I mentioned, anything that needs to be up front in the mix can definitely benefit from the Neve, especially with the Neve EQ's.

For stuff like kick drum I sometimes parallel compress. The compressed track pretty much as is, with the "original" signal getting a bit of a low end boost, and then blend the two (since I feel that at least my Neve's take some of the lows off).

I think the SSL is tight too (I have an original FX G384), but in a different way, and they absolutely react differently. Overall, I think they both can be pretty aggressive, but that the SSL perhaps can have a bit smoother high-end (here we go again with shitty adjectives...). Different flavours, definitely.

On the mix bus it's a bit more complicated I think. It really depends on what type of sound you're looking for. I've used it on full mixes, and sometimes it works great. But sometimes the SSL sounds better. And sometimes it's not even the sound itself, but the way it works, the type and range of control that makes the difference. I've had albums where the Neve did really well on some tracks, but not on others, because of the attack/release times being what they are. In those cases the SSL ended up sounding better.

Lastly, and not that you asked, I'd say that if you're looking to invest time and money into something that will add to your work, you may actually be better off buying a UAD-2 bundle, which will give you the 33609, 1073 and 88RS. It's actually a really great value. With the money you save, you could probably build something to complement that instead, like a Neve pre.

astly, and not that you asked, I'd say that if you're looking to invest time and money into something that will add to your work, you may actually be better off buying a UAD-2 bundle, which will give you the 33609, 1073 and 88RS. It's actually a really great value. With the money you save, you could probably build something to complement that instead, like a Neve pre.

Click to expand...

I absolutly agree.

About the the Neve drum compression, it's pretty hard to say which one is compressed with the UAD or the hardware... even more without hearing the dry original. In any case, one is tighter and more precise in the high frequency, sound seems being more "hard shaped", whereas the other one sounds smoother in the high, compression sound a bit more natural in the attack but also more "cloudy" in the low end. In any case thoses words are very subjectives.

It seems that the attack time and maybe the ratio are not exactly the same, or that the compression "curve" is slightly different between both.. I don't know, I say maybe stupid things ... do you hear the same ? :roll:

I'm pretty sure I say much more stupid things than you! :grin:

Anyways, I have a real hard time hearing a difference consistently. And that's really the main point, that it's easy enough to think that one hears a difference, but it's hard to point out what it is and then be consistent with it.

Basically, when I played this to other people, including engineers, drummers and other musicians, they all felt they could hear a difference, but they couldn't nail down even the right sequence. So if they felt that (for example) #1 had more highs, and called that one "A", they'd later say the same about #5, even though that one was "B" (the other compressor) - meaning they really couldn't hear the difference consistently.

Lastly though, I didn't try squeezing the crap out of stuff. It's entirely possible that the real and the software neve have very different characteristics when pushed hard.

Oh, and one more thing; there's variation between all hardware analog units within the same series too. So putting up 3 different Neve's all set the same will likely also yield different results. So the real issue is if the software sounds "good enough" to be useful - or in this case - if one likes the sound of "vintage Neve compression".....

yeah.. I understand what you say.

.. this is why I can't tell you the sequence precisely !! :green:
It is very hard, even hearing with closed eyes so as to not be influenced by the waveform of the sound. I'll try to find a sequence..

[quote author="mattiasNYC"]
Lastly, and not that you asked, I'd say that if you're looking to invest time and money into something that will add to your work, you may actually be better off buying a UAD-2 bundle, which will give you the 33609, 1073 and 88RS. It's actually a really great value. With the money you save, you could probably build something to complement that instead, like a Neve pre.[/quote]

To be honest, the whole reason I'm here is I feel generally unsatisfied with digital emulations. I've found for years now that while they can sound decent one track at time, they rarely excite me in the context of a mix, when you stack 5-10 tracks with that plug. I'm tired of the brittle sound/feel. It's just a personal preference, but I'd rather spend a little extra and have hardware I'll truly enjoy rather than software that's 'passable'.

Projects I'm looking at:

comp - 1176, la2a, g-ssl, (33609?)
eq - dual pultec, dual sontec
reverb - diy 3'x4' plate and spring reverb (I'll post pics when the time comes)

If I could afford it I would pick up some analog synths as well (neptune, omega 8). Again, it's just personal preference. Digital can sound good imo. But analog can still sound better.

But I really don't want to get into the whole big 'hw vs. sw' debate. It's just an individuual thing I think, and at this point, I'd very much like some analog. It's just now deciding 'what' and 'how much' ... :thumb:

audiovisceral, I second that. I bought UAD-1s to get that sound and they never worked for me. All my DIY stuff is so much better, it's not even funny.

any word on what the uad vs. hardware test sequence was or drums a vs b vs c?

:guinness:

.......after over 25 years of work in many control rooms with all the best electronics audio tools..., my question is:
WHAT YOU ESPECT FROM 33609?
COLOR SOUND?
33609 no give color to sound it is is very clean
for a compressor with nice colored sound (aka harmonic saturation/distorsion) you have to get Api , manley ,millennia with twin topology path, (tube tech is clean) , La2a , Neve 2254 with x81 output drive........,

anyway 33609 is a supergood but not the best Limiter compressonow in the
place.......
hope this help you
ha an ice cargo beers

:shock: