KVR Audio

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:24 am

Eddie TX wrote:All who run Nebula should at least check out the video demo that Tim has on his site. You may be amazed.

I bought this (no-brainer price, as usual for Tim's stuff) and it's now my go-to for 1176-style compression. Closest thing to a real '76 that I've heard ITB, and that includes any of the UAD collection. Quite the achievement for Nebula, I'd say ... before Tim's latest efforts, no compressors in Nebula-land had struck my fancy. Great work, TimP!

Oh Eddie, I love your posts. You got me hooked on the AOM collection that I probably wouldn't have checked out if it weren't for your suggestions.

I have the Gemini 1176 Nebula program so I am curious to see how this compares. Have you tried that one? Curious to know how this one is different than other Nebula libraries. But if you're that sold on this limiter, I'm sure it must be that dang good.

So.... A couple of follow-up questions. Did you customize the xml settings or is this comp effective with stock settings? The reason I ask is because if I adjust the latency settings, the cpu hit then becomes unreasonable for a single plug on Nebula. Plus I worry about using Nebula's optimized compressor settings might make some of the other programs not work as they were intended.

Oh and does it actual have meters with the real GUI? That's incredible if that's the case! Like a real algorithmic compressor instead of a bland library host.

Cheers,

AC

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:38 am

AC buddy, the video Tim made is pretty good at showing the sound you get from this library. I made NO changes to my existing Nebula setup, and got great results. Can't say that I've tried the Gemini, though ... if you end up getting Tim's, I'd be interested to hear how you think they compare.

As for the GUI, there's no special skin or anything with this library. The one in the vid is from here:

http://stash.reaper.fm/browse.php?q=4VU&x=0&y=0

The GR indication in the GUI window seems to be pretty accurate, but really the compression action is so responsive that I find it isn't really necessary to see a meter for it.

If this library ever serves as the basis for a new Acqua VST with a real GUI and everything, it may rock the plugin world.

Cheers,
Eddie

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 10:57 pm

Eddie TX wrote:AC buddy, the video Tim made is pretty good at showing the sound you get from this library. I made NO changes to my existing Nebula setup, and got great results. Can't say that I've tried the Gemini, though ... if you end up getting Tim's, I'd be interested to hear how you think they compare.

As for the GUI, there's no special skin or anything with this library. The one in the vid is from here:

http://stash.reaper.fm/browse.php?q=4VU&x=0&y=0

The GR indication in the GUI window seems to be pretty accurate, but really the compression action is so responsive that I find it isn't really necessary to see a meter for it.

If this library ever serves as the basis for a new Acqua VST with a real GUI and everything, it may rock the plugin world.

Cheers,
Eddie

Hi Eddie,

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. Sorry for not getting back sooner. It took me a while to get my system up and running properly. By the way, the new version requied a reinstall to the new version of Nebula.

To start off, I've got my new go-to 1176-style compressor

. Also picked up the ADR Compex (gosh... that's fantastic for drums as good as any of the dbx-style plugins) and that rocks too.

Versus the Gemini, the Gemini is way more colored (a bit darker and edgy sounding), but doesn't seem to as fast or controllable of an attack. In order to get the Gemini to work properly, they recommend using two instances (one for the color and one for the behavior) and then you need to play with the XML settings for optimal behavior. It just didn't seem to have the fast and heavy attack with the stock settings and I never bothered to "mod it".

Versus the Gemini, the U76 is a lot more transparent in terms of overall effect on tone even at flat settings. But when it comes to compression, this is BY FAR the best 1176-style in the box experience I've ever had. I own almost all of them out there (stripbus, stillwell very nice, Native Instruments VC76, IK Black HORNET FAT FET) and have experienced others between the Softube and Steinberg comps. No real experience with UAD or the FXExpansion DCAM.

It just really grabs the whole signal and clamps down on it. The other software plugins seem like they are compressing behind a wall or something....more like a cutesey effect but with some bad artifacts added like aliasing, cheap distortion, or making the signal or narrowing the stereo image. Not so with this one....

Also, thanks for the link for Nebula skin. That one is awesome for compressors. As a personal preference, I like the worfklow of twisting knobs on a compressor until it feels right versus moving a cursor up and down on a vertical bar. It's also nice to see metering with compressor but with this program, it's not as necessary because you aren't hitting the threshold by raising the input but rather using a set gain reduction value. The only thing about this program I wish I could change is the CPU, which is HUGE... I guess I'll have to get used to various forms of printing (freezing/rendering/offline processing etc...).

Oh and I have a feeling you might know more. But I know for sure now that there is an Acqua 1176 plugin in the works for Nebula. It's going to be called "The Black Comp". Basically, it's supposed to have the older kinks from the original Nebula compressors rooted out and Cupwise will be developing it. I imagine it won't be quite the same as Tim's release. But that is a good thing I think because we'll have a couple of versions. Tim's compressor I think is on the clean side while I'm guessing Cupwise's might end up being more colored/dirty at extreme settings.

Here's the link:

http://www.acustica-audio.com/phpBB3/vi ... 56&t=28340

Again, I have no regrets buying this fantastic comp and will second Eddie's opinion. I think everyone that owns Nebula should go out and get this.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. But as you can see I am pumped. Because I can almost replace any of my algo comps with Nebula, which is much closer in sound and behavior to hardware now. Still diggin' that Masssey CT5 for an algo but I think my other algos are about to be retired soon. Thanks again for your suggestions.

Cheers,

AC

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 11:06 pm

double post

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 5:12 pm

AC, glad to hear you like that U76 library, and thanks for the comparison with Gemini's 1176. As for the upcoming Black Comp, I have no other info other than what you posted here, but it'll be interesting to see how it measures up. It's hard to imagine the U76 being bettered significantly, though.

If you're also interested in Nebula EQ libraries, be sure to check Tim's ELC24 and Silk EQ. You won't go wrong with either, but I've used the ELC24 more. Both are among my very favorite EQs.

Hoping not to sound like a fanboy, but TimP has done amazing work with his Nebula products, in my view taking the whole platform to another level. The fact that he makes his stuff so affordable is mind-boggling.

Cheers,
Eddie

andiw · Post by **andiw** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 10:34 am

Another praise for the U76 here.

Thanks to Tim for such a great piece of software for such a low price!

Timp_Nebula · Post by **Timp_Nebula** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 10:13 pm

Thank for the comments guys!

To answer about the transparency of this comp. the hardware was basically completely flat in terms of frequency response. This was maybe because it was a modern interpretation. Also I used a 15k input impedance on setup. In some cases using a 600ohm setting could cause a frequency issue with modern gear. We fully checked and serviced before sampling( I'm very lucky that I work along side an amazing analog engineer, eq's are even made here!)
When you sometimes you hear about a la2a being warm, I sometimes wonder in part how much this is due to a 600ohm input impedance mixing with modern gear. Of course there are other reasons that add up.

About price. I do try to keep prices low as I try to imagine what I may get back long term,in fact the more I sell the cheaper I can make it for everyone, this is a fair way of doing it IMO.

To me the price is not a reflection of the quality. After my first release I went into some long testing. Using music we had spent a few weeks doing multiple loop back passes till I got something which We felt was not deteriorating the signal as much as before, I feel the convertor quality is only part of the bigger picture, imo. On sampling results it appears that the low end remains tight like it should while still capturing some of that smoothness that can be found in analog.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:45 pm

.. and in case anybody is in doubt. Check out these simple audio examples (48kHz 16bit wav).

Original drum loop

8 to 1 smack!

4 to 1, hard driven, subtle peak kill

I mean.. to me, that just "sounds like hardware". The word I'd use to describe the compression action and the sound is "effortless".. a word that suits quite a few high quality nebula programs. There's a sort of "spongyness" missing. Hard to describe.. but that's how I feel about it.

Cheers!
bManic

kylen · Post by **kylen** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 12:29 am

Right On Tim!!!
Your Complex & U76 (among your others) seriously smoke.

Timp_Nebula · Post by **Timp_Nebula** » Sat Nov 01, 2014 6:27 pm

Also a hardware vs u76 comparison made by a customer on this page

I've added a new eq to the slider on my front page!

Timp_Nebula · Post by **Timp_Nebula** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:08 pm

Low introductory price, only £13!!!!

Vintage Gyrator eq Tight eq with a sheen. Rebuilt by Raw State. This set sound's different from other neb eq's.

Dynamically sampled and programmed, Only a few library’s are created this way. Comes with 4 native sample rates, super tight sampling.

44.1
48
88.2
96
High pass is 40, 70,120,210 hz

Low band 60,80,110,160,240

Mid band 700,1000,2000,2800 hz

High band 3, 4 ,6 ,8,12 khz

Get it here-

http://www.timpetherick.co.uk/downloads ... gyrator-eq

Tapehead · Post by **Tapehead** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:17 pm

I’m the first one to reply to your message in this particular thread, to your last message! I hope there is an early Christmas gift for me. 

Timp_Nebula · Post by **Timp_Nebula** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:30 pm

Are we talking tape by any chance?

Tapehead · Post by **Tapehead** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:01 pm

Timp_Nebula wrote:Are we talking tape by any chance?

Do you mean TDR Tape? I got it and immensely grateful for that!

Well….this is my very cheeky ploy to compensate for my tardiness at the Nebula forum…I’m still biting my elbows.

Timp_Nebula · Post by **Timp_Nebula** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:36 pm

Maybe I didn't understand your initial Comment. As your name is tapehead-

I thought you possibly hint as to when I was going to sample that j37. The most legendary tape machine!

Tim Petherick Nebula releases