MusicMan

2025-11-03T12:38:59Z

14 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

Yes, my point related to misleading has to do with the perception of these differences are material from a human hearing perspective.

Just because it is visually showing up in a chart doesn't mean you can consciously hear it or that the result isn't pleasing . This I think with levels that low you have to use your ears to say "does this matter to me" which is a different and perhaps more important question.

Tube amplification creates both harmonic and IMD so even high end real world gear would show up on these plugin dr tests, so I think this is where using the results can potentially mislead some one into thinking a tool isn't good enough or doing something unforgivable to audio.

I'm more of a test to see what is going on out of curiosity but then use your ears to determine if you like the results type.

I'd agree with most of that Brian. I often open Plugin Doctor when I hear a difference to see if there's anything obvious. I still remember Dan Worrall's video saying that all digital EQs sound identical (with matching curves), but that's not what I've experienced.

There's something I hear in the Kirchhoff and apQualizr2 that sounds cleaner than the Toneboosters (or ProQ3 for that matter). I noticed it with ProQ3 as soon as I bought it, but couldn't understand why. Kirchhoff sounded better too. What Dan Worrall said makes total sense and he's pretty clued up when it comes to that sort of thing too!

As for tube gear, the consensus still seems to be that the hardware saturation can't be recreated properly in plugins, so there can be different types of qualities between hardware and software that might be coming into play there. But with a digital EQ like Kirchhoff, I'd want it to be capable of surgical and clean rather than getting any harmonic content from it.

I'll happily use vintage emulations regardless of aliasing, THD, or IMD if I like the sound in spite of what Plugin Doctor shows. If I like it, I like it. That's what I'm doing with these ones here, it's just that Plugin Doctor also displays some differences that support what I'm hearing. Now whether they are the reason they sound different to me, or it's something else, I can't say for sure. I'm still leaning towards transient smearing as from what I've read, that sounds the closest to what I can hear, but who knows.

2025-11-03T09:02:42Z

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2025-11-03T04:22:28Z

4 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

Define clean in plugin dr. The program is great for seeing where eq curves and shapes are in a neutral way, but can be very misleading in terms of real world perception of things like distortion, phase shifts, etc.

I think they're referring to these ones.

For harmonics and IMD (Intermodulation Distortion)

Kirchhoff in purple, Toneboosters in Red.

Kirchhoff is completely clean from a THD / IMD perspective. What goes in, comes out, nothing else.

From a technical perspective, these should be pretty reliable from my understanding (limited, I'm no Plugin Doctor expert!).

From a whether it matters / low levels / accumulation / if it sounds good, it is good / etc. that's a different conversation, but from a scientific perspective, it's measurable.

apQualizr2 is also exactly like Kirchhoff in these tests too. IMDKirchhoffEQ.png.c1357b125cdf4dbdeecf078a4542134d.png

2025-11-03T03:56:07Z

10 hours ago, dubdisciple said:

I have the kirchoff and toneboosters is definitely the better value even if kirchoff is a hair better. With that said, I use stock EQ more

At RRP levels Toneboosters smashes Kirchoff on value. But from memory, they don't really discount, whereas if you can stack a voucher, the Kirchoff can be cheaper, which makes it less clear cut.

I already owned it, but I believe it was possible to get it down a lot less the other day.

For example Three-Body Technology Cenozoix Compressor AND Three-Body Technology Trinity Shaper together could be had for around $39 in total with a $25 loyalty voucher, which are pretty common and often given away.

Friday at 12:25 PM

51 minutes ago, audioschmaudio said:

It's been free for a few times. I never installed it though due to the warnings in this thread: https://discuss.cakewalk.com/topic/82064-rhodes-v-pan-plugin-free-at-audioplugin-deals/

Yeah it's definitely been free a few times. I already had it, but not sure if I've got it installed on my current DAW.

Sometimes I just claim them in case it's useful down the track. In this case it may even be if they remove codemeter. I've had that installed on my other system before and it never caused any issues though. Not that I like it or anything, but what it does isn't uncommon for plugins etc. these days. Lots of them are more invasive than they need to be.

Friday at 06:13 AM

3 hours ago, fjz said:

How do you guys like or compare the Kirchhoff and the Toneboosters to the FabFilter Pro Q4 (that I don't see myself ever paying 200 for). I haven't used any of the these eq's as I basically use what comes with my DAW and some of the many IK character ones I have.

I never really liked the sound of ProQ3 which is a bit opposite to most people.. I think it's to do with transient smearing, or something. But I love the workflow. FabFilter nails that. ProQ4 is supposed to be improved, but I still prefer some of the others. I'll still use it and it's a very good overall EQ, but if I didn't get EDU discount, I may have skipped it and stuck with ProQ3. As for stock DAW EQs it depends on the DAW. Frequency 2 in a certain DAW I use is very good.

Thursday at 11:18 PM

5 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

Honestly at that price I think the newish Toneboosters Pro EQ is a better deal. The interface is certainly more pleasing and the sound is great.

Yes, I have the Kirchhoff and it is excellent, but I also find the interface elements to be "too small" even though the overall interface is resizable. It does sound as good as anything out there to me though.

The Toneboosters one is really nice, but I still think Kirchhoff sounds better. Not that it's the only measure, but in their default settings, it's also cleaner in Plugin Doctor.

Another one that really surprised me was apQualizr2 by apulSoft. I picked up the bundle cheaper than either Kirchoff or Pro EQ and it's a really nice clean surgical and creative EQ. Workflow is easy, but it feels a little clunky for some reason.

I really rate it for clean or experimental as it has all sorts of modulation you can use.

Thursday at 04:00 PM

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Thursday at 02:47 AM

Agreed. I haven't even bothered downloading any of the recent ones I claimed yet either. Will save them the additional load.

October 29

Looks like there could be some issues for some people with the Group Buy.

The website / services not being accessible for some, probably due to peak load.

A few concerning ones are slots for free items missing:

Another comment on there:
"I had 30+ slots to use and now they are gone. I really hope they can fix this! I like what I've got so far, but I was hoping to get more."

@Peter - IK Multimedia are you guys aware of these issues?

October 29

14 hours ago, Kirean said:

Bought Collection 5 earlier this year.

Hopefully there'll be a better upgrade offer as $99 is a bit more than I'm willing to splurge on the new three (already have Cherry Audio PS-3300 and SGX-2 will go to waste with my "talent").

Edit: Also found that there's quite a few PS-3X00 emulations for free at https://www.fullbucket.de/music/vst.html

I'm not sure on that price either.. it does seem like diminishing returns compared to the V5 bundle, at least on initial thoughts.

October 28

9 hours ago, Pluto Gabo said:

Thanks for clarifying. So the update to v2 is not an improvement in quality or technology (like Tonex v1 vs v2 captures) but rather about getting the newer products mentioned that were not included in Amplitube v1. Well I now have v2 since I got all those with my freebies. I guess I will use my last freebie to get Hitmaker:Trap samples and complete the whole collection ; )

Welcome Pluto and I would expect an updated version would be AmpliTube 6 or sometimes a small update it might be AmpliTube 5.5 or something.

Those Hitmaker ones weren't great from memory.. Their drums like the Neil Pert Kits I do like though.

But sometimes with these Group Buys you end up running out of choices!

October 27

6 hours ago, Pluto Gabo said:

I have Amplitube 5 but v1. If you upgraded Amplitube since 2023, it will indicate v2 in your products list. More info here:

https://forum.ikmultimedia.com/viewtopic.php?t=33135

So I'm thinking I'll use a freebie to see if I get updated to v2.

That's for Amplitube 5 Max V2 though, so the V2 version is of the Max bundle as opposed to Amplitube itself from my understanding. Sounds like adding the effects from the Max V2 bundle would get you the equivalent of the bundle. Amplitube itself still would be the same version though, so not V2 as there isn't one.

October 27

3 hours ago, Esteban Villanova said:

these are for their player plugin, which is separate from the "main" BFD 3 plugin.

That's what I was thinking too. It's an unusual take on the player version. Most companies have a player and when you have the full version it unlocks all the options from the expansion/sound packs on the main version.

October 27

5 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

For anyone who is a fan of Unfiltered Audio or Glitchmachines style creative sound design/warping.

It's a wonderful tool for that, built to A|A|S' usual high standard of quality.

I'd agree with that! For experimental stuff and really nice warm analog sound it shines even more. Still great for general delay duties too.

October 27

8 hours ago, fjz said:

Great plugin! I really should use it more.

It's easy to dismiss as just another delay plugin, but I do find this one a bit more interesting and it sounds great! I use it a bit, but i don't think of it as often as I should either.

October 27

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