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kgdrum said:
I guess I might have a problem,I have everything mentioned so far in this thread………and so many others 😱
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From one virtual preamp junkie to another... I hear you. Loud and clear.

For anyone curious, here are the various preamp and/or console channel strip emulations that I've really enjoyed using for the past few years:

First place, by a wide margin: NEOLD V76U73 – This is on literally every recording session, every composition/arrangement, and every production I do. Glorious emulation of one of the granddaddies of classic mic amplification, Siemens/Telefunken gold.

A very honorable mention goes to a totally free(!!!) and insanely good plugin by one of the NEOLD developers: Fuse Audio Labs' V72. You might not need to spend a dime, this thing is one of the best virtual preamps out there and it's totally free. More Siemens/Telefunken gold. (Everything else Fuse does is top-tier and a bargain.) Download this before anything else, seriously. I'd be happy with this as my only faux-preamp and it costs zero dollars/euros/pounds. It's nuts.

More good stuff in random order:

Black Rooster VPRE73 – excellent faux-Neve with a very useful shelf EQ and great-sounding color.

Brainworx console channel strips – the N (Neve), SSL (E and G, never used the J but probably good) and Focusrite are all really really nice and often on sale for cheap.

Black Box HG2 – Not a preamp per se but useful for essentially the same things you'd want a virtual preamp for: adding color to a recording that was tracked clean.

Elysia Phil's Cascade – Ditto.

Soundtoys Decapitator – Ditto.

ToneProjects Kelvin – Ditto.

...There are more but I'll stop there. 😬 Let me be the first to say that THIS STUFF IS NOT NECESSARY for making good music, I just really enjoy tweaking effects.
 
proggermusic said:
First place, by a wide margin: NEOLD V76U73 – This is on literally every recording session, every composition/arrangement, and every production I do. Glorious emulation of one of the granddaddies of classic mic amplification, Siemens/Telefunken gold.
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Ive seen the Neold around but never thought to try it Ill give the demo a try out.
 
What I think about first is does this call for a mic preamp, like with vocals, or a line pre with guitar, or bass, or synth.

Of the ITB preamps I have tried, Fuse Audio Labs stands above the rest and they can be had for $13 ea on sale (just missed one). I believe Reimund is also behind the Black Rooster VPRE73. Voxengo Warmifier is also basically what I would classify as a coloring pre-amp although finding it perhaps too subtle. Need to play around with the non-linearities more on multiple tracks and busses to hear how much mojo the sum adds. Fuse has a grouping function exactly for that.

Acustica Audio have many as previously mentioned. They are hit and miss for me. I found the free Black to be a CPU hog, and just uninspiring, so I nixed that series, but I have Cream and Blond specifically for the pre-amps. Still exploring those.

Also have Arturias but they verge into channel strip territory with the added EQs and the 1073 and V76 I find just not as crisp as Fuse. PRE TridA is the best of the Arturias esp. useful for vocals.

Analog Obsession has a few free (patreon) ones that don't speak to me, except I keep PreBox around because it does gritty driven vibe with a dial full of subtle differences. Comes in the Color Bundle with Distox. For grit, all the Fuse ones can be subtle or can be driven, some more than others. Audiority's PRE X7 excels at driving bass into the dirt. Nembrini has an emulation of the Sansamp PSA-1 that I assume goes there as well.

Few more unique channel-strippy ones I have (but still goto Fuse first) - Waves Kramer HLS and Lindell 6X-500 - but clearly I am from the school of too many preamps is never enough. I collected most of these free over the years with deep discounts on the rest & I like to do trials and demos. I will use ios as a cheap "extended trial" as I am doing with Shattered Glass Audio Phoenix. SGA 1566 is another to mention, free for desktop and worth a spin.
 
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Great thread!

@proggermusic & @kidslow s posts made me open an account with Fuse Audio Labs, gonna try these out.

I use Arturia Trident quite a lot, especially on vocals.

Also the Audiority Pre x7 deserves a mention in this thread: https://www.audiority.com/shop/pre-x7/

Also the Brainworx Focusrite console plugin has a good preamp section. I use a hardware Focusrite ISA Two in the studio, and sometimes use the bx plugin on top of it. They sound like a very clean Neve, with less coloring than the vintage ones, but still smooth. Nevertheless, very useful when stacking tracks.

Waves also have a bunch of channel strips with preamps in them, which I use quite often. They are good and quite CPU friendly.

Also the Softube channelstrips r good, but the Tube Tech series has a preamp plugin witch is great.

I also often use the Sonimus console plugins in the function of a preamp, they have Neve, SSL and API flavors, and they are excellent!

They may not be needed, but I find it a lot easier to mix and get a good solid sound when using preamps.
 
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GtrString said:
Great thread!

@proggermusic & @kidslow s posts made me open an account with Fuse Audio Labs, gonna try these out.

I use Arturia Trident quite a lot, especially on vocals.

Also the Audiority Pre x7 deserves a mention in this thread: https://www.audiority.com/shop/pre-x7/

Also the Brainworx Focusrite console plugin has a good preamp section. I use a hardware Focusrite ISA Two in the studio, and sometimes use the bx plugin on top of it. They sound like a very clean Neve, with less coloring than the vintage ones, but still smooth. Nevertheless, very useful when stacking tracks.

Waves also have a bunch of channel strips with preamps in them, which I use quite often. They are good and quite CPU friendly.

Also the Softube channelstrips r good, but the Tube Tech series has a preamp plugin witch is great.

I also often use the Sonimus console plugins in the function of a preamp, they have Neve, SSL and API flavors, and they are excellent!

They may not be needed, but I find it a lot easier to mix and get a good solid sound when using preamps.
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I did name check the Audiority Pre X7, but I can see how it might have got buried. I don't go to it for subtle, but great for dirty low end. Definitely check out the Fuse Audio freebies. The Fuse pres are super simple, but when I went A:B with them against the field, they audibly stood above. I have the Bx Focusrite Console sitting in my transfer portal, so thanks for mentioning that I might pay that transfer fee sooner.
 
What do you peeps think of Slate's Preamps? I used to use the Neve one years ago but sold the licence, only getting it second-hand a month ago again.

It's not magically turning everything better but it's pretty good for my taste- but as a someone who hasn't really been paid attention to any plugin preamps since 2016 or so, I'd be interested to know if it's of any use in 2024!
 
Question for everyone. In real recording theirs always preamps if im not mistaken ran through everything. When recording in the box completely also with vsts, would it make sense to run everything through these preamp plugins as the first plugin in the chain, or is it specific to taste only on specific tracks? Lets just say Drums, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, vsts, and vocals.
Henu said:
What do you peeps think of Slate's Preamps? I used to use the Neve one years ago but sold the licence, only getting it second-hand a month ago again.

It's not magically turning everything better but it's pretty good for my taste- but as a someone who hasn't really been paid attention to any plugin preamps since 2016 or so, I'd be interested to know if it's of any use in 2024!
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This is another one I want to try out.
 
ShanealBullard said:
Question for everyone. In real recording theirs always preamps if im not mistaken ran through everything. When recording in the box completely also with vsts, would it make sense to run everything through these preamp plugins as the first plugin in the chain, or is it specific to taste only on specific tracks? Lets just say Drums, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, vsts, and vocals.
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It honestly doesn't matter all that much. By far the most important thing is that you have an idea of what you want the end result to sound like, and then you just use the tools at your disposal to achieve that end. Those of us who have been doing this for a long time each have our own weird way of having figured all of this out, and my method might horrify another experienced pro! But if the end result is good, the order of your processing plugins doesn't matter much.

If you're tracking a real instrument with a microphone, then yes, the microphone would first be amplified by the preamp. From there, it could just go straight to tape (or ADC) or through more processors: compressors, filters, EQ, etc. If you take a look at an input channel on a Neve, SSL, or API console, for example, you'll see all of these options in a strip for each channel. The signal will go through the amplifier, then filters/compression/EQ, and there are often options to change the order of those controls.

But I see no need to be a purist in the digital realm. We have limitless audio magic available to us. Do whatever you want! :)
 
ShanealBullard said:
Question for everyone. In real recording theirs always preamps if im not mistaken ran through everything. When recording in the box completely also with vsts, would it make sense to run everything through these preamp plugins as the first plugin in the chain, or is it specific to taste only on specific tracks? Lets just say Drums, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, vsts, and vocals.

This is another one I want to try out.
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I think it's easy to overlook that one of the marketing points with most sample libraries is the "boutique/vintage/rare" hardware chain used to capture the samples - preamps included.
 
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