Does the plugin with the vintage hardware styling really sound better?
In this video I’m comparing different compressors, with a twist.
Can you hear the difference? Leave a comment!
What we see can greatly influence what we hear. This can have a serious impact on our mixes. Hardware and software companies can use this to trick us.
More info on the McGurk effect
Comments
11 responses to “Compressor Shootout – Can You Trust Your Ears?”
I had to rewind the 1st example a few times as I didn’t hear much of a difference and I thought I was missing something.
I have caught myself changing plugin settings thinking I’m making a difference when in fact the plugin was on another muted track. Now I’m always looking at what track I have selected before I start making changes.
Good video!
This is exactly why I use Reapers plug-ins. There is not much difference and if there is, its minuet and not worth the price. And if I do use others on occasion. Its always freeware. I have tried out other paid Demo VST’s. Never got me hooked.. Lets take Waves for example. Their Compressors did not impress me one bit. It looked cool as heck. But was complicated to use and I could not hear a bit of difference when Compared to Reapers free plug-ins. Same goes with DAW’s I laugh at the fools that pay out the nose for “Blow Tools” and “Mix Crap”. When Reaper can do so much more, and for such a small price! Oh, did I mention I love Reaper?
All 4 sounded exactly the same to me and I was listening to my calibrated mixing/mastering monitors. I was thinking “Wow, either those are some lousy samples, those compressors sound EXACTLY the same or the audio from YouTube isn’t makin’ the trip.”
I’ve actually found that the plugins that come with Reaper are amazingly good but you have to know how to manipulate them properly.
Kudos to you for publishing such great “how to” vids…
Hai john good psychologie on how the brain is tricked ..first impression on my shitty tablet speakers was …it sounds the same but as you were talking stared to use my brain more instead of beliefing my ears …so coud follow the mcgurk effect in action…good tip to keep in mind when making sounds ore mixing ..1 more thing i used sins i had heard of it..is closing your eyes ore dont look at your tracks when working on sound ore mix from time to time..more ore less for the same reason i gess ..thnks for the mcgurk effect had not heard of it till now
Grtz from Holland
This is fascinating. I could hear a difference in both comparisons, pretty much what you described – the first sounded warmer and richer, whereas the second sounded cleaner, thinner and lighter, although the “difference” was admittedly slight. First time through, this perception had to have been because of the appearance of the plugins, even though I wasn’t paying much attention to the GUIs.
I thought I could still detect the difference without the GUIs, presumably because my brain had already been primed by the first listening.
I guess this demonstrates what I’ve heard people say, that you should never look at the DAW while working unless you have to.
Also kind of an effect of confirmation bias; once you said “air”, it was like my ears tuned in to the hihats in a different way, so I heard what I was expecting to hear, i.e., more hi end/air. Very interesting… and a little depressing…!
Plays to the (false?) notion that the paid for plugin must be better than the native or free ones. I couldn’t hear a difference in your example, but like one of the comments your YouTube channel I assumed my earbuds lacked the ability to reproduce such detail. Although just last week I was playing with a demo of the Black 76 and found myself wanting to shell out the money for it because I believed it was sounding better….and the knobs turned so smoothly…which of course improves the sound too.
well fwiw I love the Black76 reviewed it here back in 2012
http://audiogeekzine.com/2012/02/review-t-racks-black-76-and-white-2a/
If I do use outside plugins it’s always freeware and I only use them if they make an obvious, drastic difference first time I use it, otherwise reaper plugins are so satisfactory. So I couldn’t really hear the differences because of iPad speakers but I wanted to see what the video was about and am totally guilty of this phenomenon, when it happens I stop and give myself a break from ‘hearing’ instead of listening…awesome video and important.
totally heard a difference. ha
I couldn’t hear a difference but started to doubt myself when you started to describe the differences! I began to think I had lousy hearing.
And yes I’ve done some great EQ on a bypassed equalizer!
Glad I stick to REAPER / free plugins now ;^)