Just racked mine today. I seriously feel guilty using it.
It gets things sounding that much better that easy. No idea how I lived without it.

I really can't imagine anyone not liking this .

i have both, and was using the karacter 500 on the mix bus. That's until I got the HG-2 which is another level .

Hi guys! I just wanted to pop in and let you know that we're giving away the HG-2 plugin for free to every HG-2 owner. It also applies to new sales through the end of July but if you purchased a new HG-2 at any point, the plugin is yours.

Here is the link to details.
Plugin giveaway — Black Box Analog Design

As a mixer, the first time we fired up the fully working prototype, I had serious thoughts about just burying the product and keeping it for myself. I don't think that would have made Robert very happy and it would have been the most expensive piece of gear known to man so it got to see the light of day

There's no obligation for talented gear designers to also be outstanding human beings, but it sure is welcome!

The HG-2 is doing a lovely job of brightening and enlivening some dull rock mixes here this week.

Wow, thanks for the kind words!

The HG-2 has been a success beyond what we ever expected when we set out on this crazy path so we wanted to say thank you and make sure everyone that has been a part of that also has the plugin.

I also should mention that this is only possible because of the generosity of Plugin Alliance. Those guys have been awesome and were under no obligation to work with us to do this but they did. Great vibes all around!

I'm glad to hear the HG-2 is putting in some work for you!

Still loving it here. I did a private pack of chromatic sub kick/ 808 booms through it and it was beautiful. Retained all the proper low end but had a lovely, dusty, fuzz up top.

well , thank God for that !

made my day. amazing gesture.

Glad to hear it!

Awesome!

I was looking for a saturation plugin for a long time. Just yesterday I got the BW HG2 and all I can say it is incredible!
Going in at around -13 dB FS, it behaves really well...

The meters on my unit don't quite match its sonic quality. Each channel appears to be constructed in three sections which are not exactly aligned or consistently illuminated. I've attached a photo below.

Also, very occasionally the left or right end of the logo flickers as though a connection is loose. I worry for its longevity.

Has anyone observed similar defects? They are minor but I was anticipating a bit more precision at this price.

my meters look fine. same with the logo thing. You should contact them, they're really nice guys, I'm sure you'll figure it out.

i'm sure that's an easy fix. meters on mine look fine.

That's odd and I'm sorry your unit is doing that! The meters are constructed in three sections and slight variations in manufacturing (the led bars, not the meters) does mean that occasionally they are slightly out of alignment but any variation should be small enough that it isn't noticeable at all. It's unusual that yours would be out of alignment and even more unusual that the illumination wouldn't be consistent. The only solution is to swap out the meter unfortunately.

In terms of the logo flickering occasionally, the LEDs are all attached to the PCB in parallel so flickering isn't a sign of any loose connection. Like all parts, even LEDs have a certain number of failures and we actually lose and replace a few here and there during our multi-day burn in. Any that are going to fail usually do within the first day but on occasion, it is possible for them to fail later. Luckily, swapping them out is an easy fix. We had one batch of LEDs a few runs ago that had a strangely high failure rate so we switched suppliers and burned the units in longer but it's possible that your unit was from that run.

Neither of the LED issues affect the functionality of the unit or suggest any kind of potential for failure later so no need to worry there but we are of course happy to fix them for you.

Drop us a line and let us know what works for you.

Also, don't forget that we're giving away the HG-2 plugin to all HG-2 hardware owners!

I'm in the UK, is there any way to swap these out without shipping the unit across the pond? Could it be done by a producer with a soldering iron and a steady hand or should it be done by a proper tech?

Absolutely. The meter plugs in with a harness connector so no soldering or desoldering needed at all. Getting to it does require popping out the circuit board that holds the tubes you see through the front panel but it's also connected with harnesses so it only requires a few screws. From there it's 4 screws that hold in the meter.

This board is also where the logo LEDs are so you could swap out the flickering LEDs at the same time.

I'll have to check with the shop to see if we have a new spare meter. If not I can certainly have an extra made on the next run. Drop me an email and we will figure out details. [email protected] or [email protected]

Sounds dangerous! Couldn’t someone get electrocuted touching a tube circuit that hasnt had time to discharge?

Servicing should always be done by a qualified person and with the proper precautions taken.

The gear should always be given sufficient time to drain the caps and should be checked with a multi meter to confirm. I also suggest wearing a pair of surgical gloves which will insulate you from being shocked.

Hey Guys,

Got some questions about the HG-2.

I was using ST Decapitator for the last year or so for only 1 reason: making my tracks sounds good on small speakers also.

No I recently start using Blackbox HG-2 and damn it sounds so nice on my masters. Very nice and subtle boost makes your mix just pops out of his shel and comes to live ... I love it!

I was using decapitator on every single track. Does or can the HG-2 on the master alone replace the decapitator?

Thanks!

Okay, the HG-2 hardware is finally here.

I was very curious
. how the hardware would sound compared to the
plugin
. and how the Michelangelo/HG-2 (HW) combination would work together.

. HG-2 plugin
. HG-2 Hardware
and
HG-2 (HW) + Hendyamps Michelangelo Combination.

On this particular program material, I think the plug-in would be my choice in a mastering situation based on the loss of transient response vs the hardware. This program is loaded with fast notes.

It also seemed like too much low end was added with the hardware and more could have been cut with the MA. EQ may not be the right thing anyway since a lot of the low end bloom is likely generated harmonics from the Pentode setting.
It seems like the MA added to the transient softening a bit but I didn't spend much time on that track, was more interested in the plug vs hw.
I'm wondering how the plug and hardware would compare if matched by ear rather than matched settings.
In a perfect world, matched settings would be exactly that, but it never seems to be the case, so it's revealing to hear the differences in the matched settings.

The hardware and the plug-in tracks need to be level matched, the hardware is louder by a db or 2.
Thanks for running this comparo, it's useful.

Yea I'd redo the test, the hardware is more saturated/distorted than the plugin.
Other than that, how do they feel/sound when working with them on a mix?

thanks for listening. it was just a quick test during my first 30 pleasure-minutes with the hg2 (i received it today).
the plugin worked sometimes in parallel (20-30%), but I could never use it in series.
It didn't sound that interesting in series, I always thought.

But after using the hardware only 2-3 hours now, I can say the hardware
is quite what I expected to be. It reacts more organically even to more aggressive
settings, it does not change the image, does not damage the sound too "soon" and
sounds more open etc...

when i find some free time again, i will upload more results with matched level etc...

Nice. My exact impression with other plugin vs hardware tests i've done. The real analog thing just sounds more "expensive" and reacts more natural to various incoming signals.

I'm purely curious as to what sorts of levels people are running in these comparisons. If running hardware at a "natural" nominal level of ~0VU @+4dBu, is the software being run equally, which would be akin to @-22 to -18dBFS?
(as many of these plugins have internal cal levels, in VU meter mode it'd look fairly conservative, rather than trying to max out in PPM mode, as some inexperienced users may be inclined to do).

---

It should be done this way indeed. And I really started to enjoy more that plugin when I considerably lowered the input level (-16 dbfs or so) I was feeding it, otherwise some unusable distortion was present.

Agree. Both the plugin and the hardware work better with lower input levels.