Clearmountain’s 8068 from Apogee

[Geoff Grace]

Modeled on Bob Clearmountain’s modded Neve 8068 console, the Clearmountain’s 8068 plugin features 3-band EQ, offering more EQ points than the classic 1073 and an inherently wide and musical response perfect for shaping drums, vocals, and strings. A high-Q mode provides additional precision when needed.

It also features Line and Mic input modes for harmonic saturation. Line mode offers the console’s richness and pleasant harmonic coloration. Switch to Mic mode for aggressive saturation and distortion, even at subtle settings. Push it further for grit, snarl, or even unique lofi artifacts at extreme levels.

Highlights
• The Full Channel Strip: Experience the harmonics, frequency response, and musicality of the Neve 8068, including its fader module.
• Rich, Musical EQ: Perfect for shaping drums, vocals, and strings. A high-Q mode offers additional precision when needed.
• Mic & Line Modes: Choose your level of flavor with a harmonically rich line level mode or add crunch and saturation with mic mode.
• Auto Gain for Mic Mode: Ensures consistent levels, even when pushing the saturation for added texture.

Apogee has released this at full price: $99. (It’s currently available at AudioDeluxe for $89.10 with the SUMMER10 coupon.)





Best,

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

The plugin received a mixed review from Audio Toolshed. He found a couple of bugs; and while he liked the sound, he questioned how original it is compared to other Neve plugins:



If I wind up buying the plugin, it'll be after the bugs are fixed and when it goes on sale. Still, I like the sound and think it's worth consideration. YMMV.

Best,

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

Here’s a more favorable review from Sean Vincent. He loves the sound; but not so much the price, which is twice that of the very similar NoiseAsh Need 31102. He compares the two in the video and then shows the Clearmountain’s Neve 8068 in action.



Best,

Geoff

[progger]

I'm a sucker for a good console channel strip EQ (for no good reason), and I've heard great things about Apogee plugins, particularly their Pultecs. But I recently got the VoostEQ Neve channel for an absurdly low price and it's phenomenal, I definitely can't be paying a hundred bucks for this one, I'm afraid!

It's cool to have an emulation for a later, more modern Neve, though. I tend to prefer Rupert's later designs, like the Focusrite Forte, and the things co-designed with David Rees. My best preamps at the home studio are Phoenix "Ascent," two channels with gyrator EQ, that Rees designed, and they're absolutely delightful.

[Geoff Grace]

I'm a sucker for a good console channel strip EQ (for no good reason), and I've heard great things about Apogee plugins, particularly their Pultecs. But I recently got the VoostEQ Neve channel for an absurdly low price and it's phenomenal, I definitely can't be paying a hundred bucks for this one, I'm afraid!

Wow, you weren't joking, Brian—that VoostEQ Neve channel is being sold at an absurdly low price: $16.90. Nice deal.

Best,

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

Michael White released this very positive review a few hours ago:



It was also good, as always, to watch Mike make adjustments during the mix.

He typically only chooses plugins he likes for his “Plugin of the Week” videos; so if it shows up there, it’s going to be a positive review. Nonetheless, this was especially glowing. (His conclusion words begin at 17:46.)

Best,

Geoff

[progger]

I'm a sucker for a good console channel strip EQ (for no good reason), and I've heard great things about Apogee plugins, particularly their Pultecs. But I recently got the VoostEQ Neve channel for an absurdly low price and it's phenomenal, I definitely can't be paying a hundred bucks for this one, I'm afraid!

Wow, you weren't joking, Brian—that VoostEQ Neve channel is being sold at an absurdly low price: $16.90. Nice deal.

Rabih ("keepitsimple" on VIC) recommended it to me a month ago or so and I just bought it out of curiosity since it was so cheap... but now it's my favorite Neve plugin, by far. My only issue with it is that it's rather huge, it's not nearly as lean/elegant/efficiently-programmed as a lot of my favorite audio processing developers (Valhalla, Brainworx, NEOLD, etc). I don't really understand why an audio processor needs to be, like, 300MB. But it's a DAMN good plugin, sounds fantastic and lots of options for a big range of sound (from "dirty" old Neve to "cleaner" newer Neve, which is my preference).

[Luke]

I'm a sucker for a good console channel strip EQ (for no good reason), and I've heard great things about Apogee plugins, particularly their Pultecs. But I recently got the VoostEQ Neve channel for an absurdly low price and it's phenomenal, I definitely can't be paying a hundred bucks for this one, I'm afraid!

Wow, you weren't joking, Brian—that VoostEQ Neve channel is being sold at an absurdly low price: $16.90. Nice deal.

Rabih ("keepitsimple" on VIC) recommended it to me a month ago or so and I just bought it out of curiosity since it was so cheap... but now it's my favorite Neve plugin, by far. My only issue with it is that it's rather huge, it's not nearly as lean/elegant/efficiently-programmed as a lot of my favorite audio processing developers (Valhalla, Brainworx, NEOLD, etc). I don't really understand why an audio processor needs to be, like, 300MB. But it's a DAMN good plugin, sounds fantastic and lots of options for a big range of sound (from "dirty" old Neve to "cleaner" newer Neve, which is my preference).

Hey, thanks for the tip! I'd heard about this channel strip before in passing, but based on this thread checked it out, bought it sight-unseen (I know!) and am utterly smitten by the versatility, range and beefy sound. Coming from the Lindell 80 I feel like this is a stellar alternative. Just mixed a track with it on all busses and it's quick to dial in, starting in any order one wants.

Funnily enough, as I was downloading it, I too was not enthusiastic about the size. One other criticism is that there is no compressor side-chain. Other than that, "wow," especially for the price.

Edit: Welcome to the board, by the way!

[Piet De Ridder]

(...)I don't really understand why an audio processor needs to be, like, 300MB. But it's a DAMN good plugin, sounds fantastic(...)

Processor plug-ins of a few 100Mb, or more, often have some type of convolution going on, I think, and that requires samples, loads of samples — of pre-amps, transistors, circuits, valves, curves, ... well, anything that defines the sound and behaviour of the unit that’s being emulated — and that adds up. (PulsarModular’s recent tape simulator even includes samples of tape-hiss and the noise generated by the modelled hardware.)

It’s not needed in transparent digital processor plug-ins (like, say, the Fabfilter Pro-Q or Logic’s ChannelEQ), but if you’re going to recreate/model a vintage piece of equipment (analog or early digital) and hope to do it with some accuracy, many people (developers AND users) believe that it still can’t be done without convolution being part of the process. I don’t know. Either way, those 300Mb — a positively ultra-lightweight number to anyone who has ever bought pre-HyperEngine Acustica Audio plugins — might well be the very reason why you can say that it’s a “damn good, fantastic sounding plug-in”.

__

[progger]

Yeah, I hear that about convolution etc – I'm a bit torn on the whole thing, honestly. I really love the lean elegance of, for example, the Valhalla reverbs and Fuse Audio Labs EQ/saturation/comp/color/etc processors. They're insanely elegantly designed, totally efficient and brilliant-sounding. The LiquidSonics reverbs, on the other hand, also sound great, but are so much more cumbersome data-wise. There are certain sounds I can get with 7th Heaven that I can't get with Valhalla Vintage, so it's worth it. But I wouldn't even necessarily call 7H better than Valhalla VintageVerb, just different.

I also remember when 25MB was massive for a game/program, and it would come on a couple dozen floppy disks... how times have changed!

[Geoff Grace]

I also remember when 25MB was massive for a game/program, and it would come on a couple dozen floppy disks... how times have changed!

My first Mac, a Mac Classic, came with an internal 40 MB hard drive. A year or so down the road, I bought a 44 MB SyQuest cartridge and more than doubled my storage. I connected the SyQuest drive to my Mac via a SCSI cable that had to be seated just right to work.

We've come a long way since then.

Best

Geoff