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Software » Windows
Acustica Audio Ruby 2 2023-R2R screenshot
Team R2R | 28 Nov 2023 | 243.5MB
Ruby 2 faithfully replicates the boutique VT-5 vacuum-tube equalizer built by D.W. Fearn.

D.W. Fearn VT-5 in Your DAW

Ruby is a faithful representation of the D.W. Fearn’s highly sought-after vacuum tube equalizer VT-5, and is officially endorsed by Fearn himself. The original hardware equalizer uses passive LC circuitry with class-A triode vacuum tube stages for the input and output. The input transformer is made by Jensen, and the output stage utilizes the same custom Jensen transformer that is used on the VT-1/VT-2 mic preamps.

The preamp stage dynamically recreates the pass-through sonic coloration of the original hardware unit, which includes the harmonic distortion behavior of the hardware, the inherent phase shift, and the frequency response deviations. When the preamp is switched off, the plugin offers a cleaner and more linear sonic character than the original version.



Gain staging into the plugin behaves similarly to hitting the original unit at different input levels, which is why Ruby comes with an "input trim" control. This allows for one-knob internal gain control by means of hidden linked input and output gain stages.

A witch says,

Library is completely decrypted, decompressed, DRM related bloat removed, and built to the clean one.


Why there are no options to set library path?




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comments

  Resident 27.05.2022 37 678
+2358
This was the first Acustica plugin that gave me the "wow" moment 3-4 yrs ago.
Until then, i never heard an EQ that could sound like this, natural and quite "boostable", lively and transparent.
The honeymoon phase wore off eventually.
I still believe it to be a good plugin, just not as magical as i originally thought. Originally i was in love.
These days PA makes EQ's as good as this, at much less CPU cost.
I sold Ruby some time ago cos the CPU hit was too high.

Ruby has its pros and cons.
The high shelf is really nice. Quite sweet.
The low end is tight, almost has a "rubbery" sound.
Good for pop, jazz, latin, live recorded stuff.
I wouldn't use the low shelf to beef up a rock kick or something though.
But would i use it to fill out a pop kick? Oh yeah.
The preamp can sound kind of good at first, but really it puts a "hifi veil" over the sound. It's not bad, but i prefer it off / clean.
Overall it's a good EQ, it can make stuff sound more exciting. When you hit bypass it can sound less lively and you miss the EQ being on.
But it's high CPU, and can sound overly hi-fi sometimes.
Acustica back then was obsessed with a hi-fi interpretation of EQ's, rather than a natural sound.
Still, if you accept it for what it is, and you internalize its sound in your mind, it's a useful tool in the toolbox.

Think of Ruby as a "sweeter Pultec"
  Banned 28.11.2023 5
0
I'm new to some concepts of audio, what do you mean by "overly hi-fi"? Genuinely asking, I've read this in other places. Why is it bad?
  Member 23.11.2021 183
+74
Sometimes one wants a more vintage and traditional sound instead of a high definition and crystal clear result. Think of a Tarantino movie vs a James Cameron movie. Or a watercolor painting vs digital art. It's hard to explain
  Resident 29.11.2020 29 3025
+3074
could be too much clarity on the high end. clarity is important but too much of it sometimes can be painful to the ear and fatiguing. the opposite of it being lofi stuff thats mostly have high end rolls off and darker sounding.
  Member 2.07.2022 3 166
+114
Guys. Does it work with nebula 4 ?
  Member 12.01.2021 1 83
+9
These aren't Nebula libraries. You need the Framework R2R, on Windows. I think the trial versions are downloaded from the Acustica Audio.
  Member 2.07.2022 3 166
+114
I know its not nebula lib`s. I mean does framework and nebula works parallel
  Resident 29.11.2020 29 3025
+3074
really good question. nobody talked about this just yet. I'm curious too.
  Member 15.02.2023 27 250
+821
yes i have both and its working
  Member 4.05.2021 500
+249
the Comment has been Removed
  Resident 1.01.2021 276
+129
the Comment has been Removed
  Member 3.12.2019 140
+61
the Comment has been Removed
  Member 18.06.2023 28
+7
the Comment has been Removed
  Moderator 21.01.2012 2361 16056
+161381
Off topic / trolling comments cleared
  Resident 27.08.2023 18 153
+482
aint no way Acustica Audio wants you to spend $257 on a simple EQ 😂. when compared with any other hardware emulations it kinda sounds the same. For example, it is very hard to tell the difference between Ruby 2 and Master EQ 432.

If you want to bring color and life or "analog" feel to your sound try Spectre by Wavesfacory
  Resident 29.11.2020 29 3025
+3074
most of the time when you can't hear it's either :

1) you don't know what to listen to
2) you ear isn't trained enough to hear it
3) your monitoring system is bad but you don't know what is bad and what is good
4) you are not using the tool correctly, not running it optimally and applying it correctly
5) the track is already processed enough anything you do will just make it worse

your statements are all contradicting each other and you are slowly revealing where you are right now skill-wise, knowledge-wise and judgement-wise. as example

1) it's close to useless complaining about a GUI resize function on a plugin that is 10 years old, that particular problem isnt even there to begin with back at the day it was released. With that much hate you have for AA product you should already aware those mf didn't really bother to update.

2) you don't even understand why it takes few seconds before each of move on the knob will do its thing, it's convolution based plugin. A world class convolution reverb like Liquidsonics Seventh Heaven also take a few seconds before it can load the next preset. Does that make it a shit plugin ? That's just how the technology used works and pushing it quicker will put a spike on a CPU, so the developer slow it down intentionally. All convolution based everything works that way.

3) most of mastering grade plugins are made to be subtle and it takes years and years of ear trainings and never ending effort for one to be able to listen that small amount of changes in audio. You on the other hand, can't even hear a massive smiley EQ that is close to 6db boost on both end of frequency spectrum. If one can't even hear 6db of changes in any frequency range, all their opinion in audio is as good as my grandma's.

4) it takes 3 years of hard work for one to truly hear the dynamic change in audio and maybe 5 to be able to begin to understand how compression works in mastering. At first you are hearing the changes in audio, the difference between processed and unprocessed audio where you suppose to hear something else. For someone that doesn't even understand the topology of a compressor, and its relation to the gain reduction behavior, I'd say you only been making beats for less than a year. If you've been doing it longer, you are too slow and really bad at this. Either way, there is no way in hell you can properly judge a mastering grade plugin accurately right. You can have your opinion, but it's far from the reality so don't waste your time on it just yet, maybe in a few years.

5) even Wavesfactory wont believe you if you said their plugin Spectre brings "analog feel", it's a good plugin alright but it's just casually spamming saturation on parallel with different pattern and shapes. Saturation makes everything brighter, louder. Everything brighter and louder feels better even when there are not. That's one thing that every hardware maker, designer want to avoid for a mastering grade equipment. Loudness matching saturated vs unprocessed signal is just stupid for so many reasons. Please think of at least one.

6) by definition in audio, color, life and "analog feel" are not the same thing. saturation alone can't do them all, it's a complex matter nobody knows, but can only die trying. Every single good saturation plugin is the best in the world the moment you discovered it until they are not. It seems like you havent discovered 100 more saturation plugins that do it better than Spectre. Good luck.

7) nobody cares about how much instances of Omnisphere. 80% of mastering engineer dont even know what that is. Nobody runs 2 instances of mastering channel strip either. It's irrelevant.

8) one two seconds for the settings to change doesn't matter for mastering engineer that's been sitting idly for 30 minutes deciding whether it should be 0.5db boost or 1db boost on the low end. That's just how "productivity" and "workflow" works for them.

9) it's okay to be wrong and learn, that's part of the process but it's not okay to be wrong every 5 minutes for two weeks straight while pretending to be expert at something you dont even understand the fundamental of it. that's not gonna help you in any way. you already developing too slow

10) I'm not an expert. just a noob and still learning, now just taking one for team. nobody can be an expert in a place where Luca Protelesi is lurking around looking for plugins. so stop trying to pretend to be one. we all know you aren't. you failed every single attempt and the comment section suppose to be filled with informative or funny comment. yours aint any. :(
  Resident 18.09.2013 3 125
+355
the Comment has been Removed
  Resident 22.08.2013 55 287
+1653
11) Always post audio examples to prove a point, dont take any ones word when they say they can or cant hear a difference - or they say they like something.. some mastering guys squashes the hell out of music and it sounds like shit. Still ppl lile it. But..
12) 99% of our listeners dont care what was used or not to make a good track.. the listener dont hear a difference between eqs. they listen on tv or phone speakers. Or crappy inears or headphones. I care for myself, but its the music that counts in the end.

A turd track cant be fixad by any mixing or mastering... Ive tried so many times on both my own shit and others😀 ... and I do have a professionally acousticly treated studio and top notch speakers.. but im not an expert either. Nor a pro. Just 25 years of making music...still trying to learn new things.
  Member 4.09.2020 348
+123
11) The plugins could actually be a true ripoff, and just an impulse response, not even an impressive algorithm, a static "death mask" of a hardware EQ.
Said plugin could be tarted up with a skeuomorphic gui, and slapped with a price tag of several hundred euros

AA is laughing all the way to the bank, while you try desperately to explain "guys you have to understand what you are listening to, this is quality, after 5 years you can hear the subtle difference in my AB tests"

Well its not such a difference in real life is it, its more of a cork-sniffing exercise. As if you need a simple passive eq from the 60s in a modern DAW lol, try open a free digital stock EQ same effect and saturate afterwards, same thing
  Member 5.04.2022 48
+9
the Comment has been Removed
  Member 23.07.2021 93
+42
Everyone has the right to express his opinion, but i think your repetitive and consistently negative input on Acustica stuff went from being constructive to destructive and is becoming irrelevant here since R2R wizards gave the opportunity for everyone to try these plugins and without sacrificing disk space. Plus if you care to share your monitoring and room setup ? Im not trying to be a smart ass just genuinely asking
  Member 6.05.2019 222
+84
So DW Fearn is wrong and you (?) are right. Cool story.
  Member 26.11.2023 253
+50
Bro, damn let's pretend that you didn't said that Spectre gives a analog feel and compared it to this type of EQ. Spectre is dope as hell but nobody needs to be a genius to know that both are different animals. Really makes no sense.
  Member 11.02.2014 2 178
+188
sadly unusable in 48khz ... anyone knows why R2R does not give us the 48khz files?
  Member 14.12.2020 1 238
+436
Because R2R is unlocking trial versions which mostly come with 44.1 and 96KHz Impulse responses only (which not the case for commercial releases) , if we want 48 and 88.2 someone with legit AA plugins must provide IRs so we can repack, not R2R responsibility
  Member 14.12.2020 1 238
+436
FYI: Ruby is 44.1 and 96KHz only (no 48K, no 88.2KHz)
  Resident 3.01.2016 2 897
+309
I have always been curious about Ruby my favourite Acustica Audio is Lime 2 based on Tom Elmhirst console and Lava microphone modeller. Do you really need heavy cpu mastering eqs now Relab has launched the Maselec mastering eq plugin, Which hardware users say is very closed to the hardware version.
  Member 26.12.2015 135
+35
Ruby has its pros and cons.
The high shelf is really nice. Quite sweet.
The low end is tight, almost has a "rubbery" sound.
Good for pop, jazz, latin, live recorded stuff.
I wouldn't use the low shelf to beef up a rock kick or something though.
But would i use it to fill out a pop kick? Oh yeah.
The preamp can sound kind of good at first, but really it puts a "hifi veil" over the sound. It's not bad, but i prefer it off / clean.
Overall it's a good EQ, it can make stuff sound more exciting. When you hit bypass it can sound less lively and you miss the EQ being on.
But it's high CPU, and can sound overly hi-fi sometimes.
Acustica back then was obsessed with a hi-fi interpretation of EQ's, rather than a natural sound.
Still, if you accept it for what it is, and you internalize its sound in your mind, it's a useful tool in the toolbox.

I agree with you on everything
  Member 26.12.2015 135
+35

I agree with you a million percent. I even wrote him a very long ppost. Greetings
  Member 11.11.2020 6 106
+406
Interesting, I have been waiting to be able to test it for a long time, it is certain that it has an interesting slightly color, on the other hand the fact of having an overall Q on all the bands disturbs me, the high shelf is very good it shines without flicker too brightly. I personally don't like preamplification

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