Waves CLA 1176 vs Real 1176 Clones (Shoot-ouuuutt!!!)

While I love the movement, character and the workflow of the analogue units, I think the Waves bundle is amazing. To be honest, for the price, I would buy that CLA pack over and over and over again.

I think the REAL difference would come from using these on drums. If I get a chance I'll try to get some clips up of using it on kick and snare for you guys. It's always the attack that the plug-ins struggle with, and having that sort of weighty, glued release.
 
Cool test! The waves version seems to push the bass a bit more forward in the low mids, and also in both cases sounds a bit darker to me. The clones seems to bring in more high mid presence or the waves versions make the tracks a bit dull. kinda hard to say without hearing the original uncompressed versions. Personally I prefer the waves on bass and the clone on vox. However, it sounds like the vox are a bit louder in the clone-version.
 
nuclearass said:
Cool test! The waves version seems to push the bass a bit more forward in the low mids, and also in both cases sounds a bit darker to me. The clones seems to bring in more high mid presence or the waves versions make the tracks a bit dull. kinda hard to say without hearing the original uncompressed versions. Personally I prefer the waves on bass and the clone on vox. However, it sounds like the vox are a bit louder in the clone-version.
Click to expand...

I agree with you there. I think it's partly because I mixed these tracks into the plug-ins, not the clones. So they are dialed specifically for the software. As a result the bass seems to sit better and clearer.

I tried to level match as closely as audibly possible, but I guess I may have missed the mark slightly.
 
Excellent post. Thanks so much for sharing! I definitely prefer the sound of the outboard gear, but I agree that the convenience and more sterile sound of Waves is useful in many situations.

I'm a big fan of their SSL bundle, as I know you are as well.
 
thanks for doing this!

i prefered the clones, especially on the vocals. the waves one sounded flat and lifeless, whereas the hardware one gave it some soul, warmth, and character. especially noticable during the "it never seems to change" part. nice vocalist, btw!
however, on bass i actually prefered the waves one. the clones once again add character and warmth, but the waves one sounds more aggressive, which seems to fit in better with the track...i guess.

just out of curiosity, do you have any la2a/3a clones on the way too?
 
I don't have any on the way for myself, but the guy who built the clones for me is planning an LA-2A build for himself. I would've thrown in a request, but I only ever use LA-2A on stereo sources, so a mono would be useless to me.

One thing we are talking about though are some Pultecs or Sontecs.
 
i guess a manley massive passive clone would seriously kick ass, too...

after all this compressor talk it should be interesting to see how digital eq's stack up against hardware ones.
 
Well most clones are made for units no longer in production. Less legal ramifications that way. Making one of the Massive Passive would make Manley fairly unhappy I imagine.

One thing I never got about 1176s... their 'correct' use on direct drums. I mean yeah I get it, using them in parallel compression scenarios or to annihilate your room mics is great and all. BUT if you want to throw it on a kick and snare, to enhance the punch... I mean, what do you really gain from letting through 800 microseconds of attack? That's just a virtual 'pop' at the start of the transient. I'd love to use the Rev D on drums, but I don't want to confine it to parallel duties that you don't hear so much. I'd rather get a snare crackin' or something.
 
how would the fab filter pro c stand up to wavs cla?

ive been using psp old timer alot but i got a demo of the fab filter and noticed the psp old timer was sucking alot of bottom end from my kicks, im mostly looking for a compressor 1176 style for overheads on my drum tracks.

i was trying out a demo of Softube FET compressor and that just plain doesnt work in Logic 5.5 and i cant be arsed changing platforms as i know logic 5.5 inside out and dont want to go through the whole learning curve again, plus i cant afford to change at the moment.

anyways im just wondering how these stand up to the wavs cla basically,
as far as ive read review wise wavs cla is the best, its just a tad over my budget :erk:

as far as the tests go i prefer the wavs on the bass tracks, any chance of a shootout on overheads?
 
Ermz, mind telling us what pcb you worked with?
I'm currently eyeballing the kits on www.hairballaudio.com and can get them assembled no problem. Which revision are you preferring at the moment?
If I do get a 1176 kit, I'll be allowing for the possibility of stereo linking it to a second DIY 1176.
Found any great sources on an LA-2A? Seems that they're quite an expensive build. Also, now that you've got your clones, will you be relegating the plugs to stereo compression only or will the plugs still see extensive use?
I'd defo be interested in a DIY Pultec EQP-1A too so I'm interested to hear your opinions, cheers!
 
I got some assorted parts from Hairball, including the 4 transformers, VU meters and some other misc stuff you can't get elsewhere. The PCBs were by Mnats though. I think he hangs out on prodigy pro. Well printed and designed, and to boot he just lives a few suburbs across from me.

Preferring Revision A currently without a doubt. It'll likely be hitting all my lead vox with the Millennia from now on.

Haven't looked into LA-2A much. I'm not big on the idea of having to maintain tube gear. It's bad enough with amps, the last thing I need is my outboard slowly drifting on me.

The plugs will still see all sorts of use. I think this has proven that they are very decent contenders. I'll still use them for parallel drums, drum room, overheads and perhaps some other stuff here or there. Will have to work out whether it's best to keep the plug-in on bass guitar or the actual Rev D. If I manage to free up the Rev D I can use it on drums, which might be very cool in itself.
 
Cheers Ermz! When ordering the 1176 kit you can get the Mnats pcb included which is nice!
I'd be interested to hear a comparison of your clones on drums only, just so we can hear the differences in the revisions.
 
I'll see if I can make that happen sometime soon! The main problem is that I use staged compression on my individual samples, so it's usually pretty darned compressed once it hits the main drum tracks, and I only take off like 1 to 3dB, if that.

So Hairball are including the Mnats pcb? That's awesome.

Honestly I'd love more Rev As, but I wouldn't know what to use them on effectively. They absolutely shine on lead vox, just as CLA advocates, but I think it may be more useful to do a stereo comp for backing vox (la-2a style) or a stereo drum bus comp... OR what would be absolutely perfect right now is some DBX 160VU or SSL style mono compression for kick and snare.

I think making a Rev A and Rev D was a decent move, because you get two slightly different characters and I'm sure each will find its place eventually.
 
So the CLA package is in reality way overpriced and beaten hands down by clone hardware ;) Thats something to strike off the gas list! :D
 
Ermz said:
One thing I never got about 1176s... their 'correct' use on direct drums. I mean yeah I get it, using them in parallel compression scenarios or to annihilate your room mics is great and all. BUT if you want to throw it on a kick and snare, to enhance the punch... I mean, what do you really gain from letting through 800 microseconds of attack? That's just a virtual 'pop' at the start of the transient. I'd love to use the Rev D on drums, but I don't want to confine it to parallel duties that you don't hear so much. I'd rather get a snare crackin' or something.
Click to expand...

"A more known trick is to push all four-ratio
buttons in at once (often called British Mode, four-button trick, or nuke
mode ). The ratio is then set somewhere in between 12:1 and 20:1 and
the bias points change all over the circuit. The initial transients are passed
through even on fast attack setting, thus resulting in a punchy attack, that is
instantly followed by a sucking of volume, both time slopes react then really
aggressive and snappy and result in crunchy distorted sounds"
(found on the web)
 
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