Hi,

What do you IKM/UAD/Softube/fill in make,... owners of 1176 emulations think of Stillwell's Rocket nowadays? Would you still happily use it if you'd lose your (more expensive) emu, or would you look for other solutions?

I still didn't buy any of those 1176's, just used The Rocket in demo mode... I'm waiting for a company to make a great emulation that's at least as good as the most recent offerings from the big names... but don't like to spend 120$ or more, nor do I want to install entire plugin collection installer stuff... (IKM although missed a mega 5 plugin deal for 100$ because of it (feel a little regret for this))

Which one is the closest to the real one isn't my biggest concern, rather if it sounds in the same vain as the real one... but more in the way of imparting texture and a pleasing character. Like we saw in plugin development of the most recent years, things got up in level a bit more quality wise... so, who is still reaching for this one? I'm just curious about it, since it got a lot of praise a few good years ago...

Thanks, Benny

The GUI bummed me out hard. It made it tough for me to sorta shoot it out correctly. This coupled with the fact I own the CLA76, the VMR 76, and two RevA clones just didn't make it worth the hassle. Other Stillwell plugs are great though!

I have many of the newer emulations and I still use the Rocket all the time - mostly on kick and/or snare. I guess I got used to the GUI early on (years ago that is) - but I agree it is unusual.

The Rocket will never get old in the vibe and tone it brings! truly love it tbh!

Its still frequently used by me. Its tone is sweet and the character is very unique.

Still using it all the time.

I'm using it any time I need something wrangled into submission.

I find the look of the GUI nice but unpractical, the sound very nice.
It looks like I'm not alone, it makes me think it is worth to keep using it while in the meantime I keep waiting for an up to date, and unbeatable offer.

I have the Softube FET, NI CLA76, but prefer the Sillwell Rocket all day! Forget about what sounds most like the original, and just decide which one sounds the best. I've never even used a real 1176. To my ears, its pretty easy, or maybe the Rocket just has a larger sweet spot. The Softube has its own character that can be useful, amd I do use it. The CLA76, not so much.

Please pay for a plugin you use regularly. Stillwell and many others are very small operations. Its a treat that they offer such usable demos and they should be rewarded for doing so. We need to keep developers like that in business.

I also prefer Major Tom to the NI VC160. The rest of their plugins are no slouch at all either. I use the Schwa Schope every day for oscilloscope duties.

[QUOTE=EDGEK8D;11321323]

Please pay for a plugin you use regularly. Stillwell and many others are very small operations. Its a treat that they offer such usable demos and they should be rewarded for doing so. We need to keep developers like that in business.



I totally agree! I was still on the fence whether or not to go for it. I played around with it and I like it, maybe that should make my dicision already... although I try not to build op a big plugin list with double featured plugins.
A few other budget friendly companies released a lot of great stuff recently that I bought, and I'm very happy with... I was thinking The rocket should be a little outdated by now, but I think I have to reconsider this because of the uniqueness of it, and just pay for the license and be done with it.
I must point out that I don't like piracy, and I don't own a single pirated plugin... just saying...

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

The Rocket is still a great plug, and it's crazy cheap.

I've got a number of other 1176 emulations, but the ones I turn to are Softube's FET and The Rocket.

I have four hardware 1176s and the waves 76 stuff and I still use the rocket. Ugly gui yeah but what it does to bass and drums makes see past it.

It's one of my most used comps. Love it..

Has anyone who uses both compared to the UAD (updated) 1176?

I have UAD 1176 legacy and the Rocket. Prefer Rocket on kick and UAD on snare (when that's the sound I need). But Rocket is way more flexible to my ears. UAD 1176 only does one thing - "Squish".

I still like using The Rocket. Not so good as a bus compressor but good on individual sounds, always with it's internal oversampling (decadence button) enabled.

Still use Rocket all the time; it's a secret weapon!

I think of the Rocket more like a Distressor than 1176, very versatile compressor, I also have the UA 1176, Waves1176 and IK and still use the rocket on many things specially kick, snare and bass, it's a very fast compressor.

Put the "Impetus" control at 97% while using Rocket on bass guitar for instant hairy goodness.

I'll try that bought the Rocket when it first came out and loved it...

Love the Rocket. Don't use it that much. Drowning in quality comps.

Tend to use it more on the insert than the bus. For drums that need a bit more 'rocking', or bass that need a bit more 'in your face' or just plain level matching - it's pretty good for that too.

The interface is a bit fiddly, but does the job. It's fun if nothing else and a bit different. I tend to use it for non-critical stuff, just when I'm knocking about. I also like Major Tom, but tend to just use that via the Rea-JS setup. I really need to spend the cash for the full version with the proper gui. I'd probably buy that before something like Bombardier.

In fact, coz of its quick attack time it's real good for catching peaks and using as a kind of pseudo-limiter on individual tracks, hence it being particularly good for real bass guitar. I've got some of my own presets I made up that suit my sloppy playing.

Love the Stillwell and Schwa stuff. Just re-discovering them through the Rea-JS framework.

Aww, you guys are making us blush...at 2 in the morning. Nothing like a little thread necromancy to make my day.

Thank you for this...
The 1176 emulations were one of the temptations luring me to enter the money pit of UAD (and I am still tempted, after testing a friends UAD jacked into my studio for a day).

I love that 1176 drum crush, but wanted an even faster attack than these emulations (and presumably the hardware) provide. In parallel, I like to remove _all_ attack from the drum(s), so the main drum channel is the "attack" channel and the parallel bus is the "compress" channel. With the UAD-1176 (and Waves CLA-76, which I own), a pop transient attack still remained on the snare and some kicks even at fastest attack setting.

The Rocket is able to achieve that feat, removing all attack from the drums when so desired. Does it sound like an 1176? I don't know, not having ever used a real 1176. Of course it does not claim to be any kind of exact emulation, but it is clearly inspired the 1176, even with "all buttons in" mode.

I do appreciate the additional features on the Rocket also: parallel (wet/dry) control, separate impetus (harmonic distortion?) control, etc...and I actually love the look of the Rocket.

Still that silly part of my mind that craves the elusive illusion of "authenticity" wants the UAD 1176...even though that's an emulation...so presumably if I had it, I would then crave a hardware UAD 1176...and then a UREI...and then...help

Stillwellians, you deserve the praise, as you've greated a thing of beauty at a "The Nice Price" (as the stickers on vinyl records used to say)...(actually multiple Things of Beauty and Usefulness across your plugin line).

Are you able to share to what extent the inner Rocket fuel is faithful to the 1176? Or is it a hybrid of many different hardware design ideas?

UAD of course heavily markets their "end-to-end" circuit emulations, and again that desire for "the real thing" (as if) is awakened by such talk. But an emulation is still an emulation, and I have nothing against also variations and improvements upon a design.

We don't really do circuit emulation, per se...it's more like treating it as a black box and looking at the exterior characteristics - how fast can it respond? what features does it have? What do the distortion characteristics look like? So, I guess you could call it device modeling in a way, but it's from the outside looking at it from a distance for a first draft. After that, it's just a lot of hard work and listening...pretty much everything is hand-tuned "by ear" until it's the way we want it.

I don't know how typical that is for other developers, but it's worked for us so far... It's not rocket science, it's just hard work and careful listening.

If I had the gear and the time and the mad rocket-science skillz to do it the way UA does it, except native...dunno, I might do it that way. Then again, I might keep doing it my way, only faster and better.

As an example that doesn't get as much love from the outside world as The Rocket (but WE love it, yesss, Preciousss, we doessss...), that demonstrates how we roll, Major Tom was developed almost entirely from a description of how the variable attack and release worked on a particular hardware unit. I had a few points on a curve and literally played around with curve fitting in Excel for hours to get a starting point for the formulas that describe those points, then started tweaking internal parameters by ear once I had a working prototype. I thought it turned out pretty darned well, although it got left in the shade by The Rocket when it came out. Bombardier and 1973 are much the same way...take an idea, look at it from the outside and see what the essential features are, then make it as good as we can, while making it our own at the same time.

Thanks for asking...

Thank you...very helpful clarification. This way is equally valid, of course; a different goal in mind.

...and it is "rocket science" (at least in the case of The Rocket)...

Thank you again. Great and musical tools.

P.S. To Stillwell...a modest suggestion: To avoid unjustified criticisms from some corners that your plugins are not "accurate" emulations, you might wish to pre-empt such loose talk in the plugin descriptions, by emphasizing that these are not intended to exactly emulate, but rather do their own thing perhaps inspired by select hardware. That is, make clear that the "inaccuracy" is a feature, not a bug!

The Rocket is a beast, nuff said.

I've been a fan of the Rocket for a while, but recently I decided that I needed to take the plunge and buy a WA76.
Almost clicked the buy button but before doing so I downloaded some WA76 demo files from the Zen Pro Clipilator in order to do a shoot out and, much to my surprise, I was able to match the demos (to my satisfaction) using Rocket. The WA76 sounded great, but not better to my ears.
Saved me $500... For now at least.

I picked up a WA76 a few months back for tracking bass and vocals and, apart from being great at clamping down on things during tracking, just passing things through its signal path imparts coloration that I rather like. It's almost like a mild form of excitation...vocals seem to get a little bit of extra high-mid "sheen" that makes them more forward and present in the mix in a way that doesn't sound harsh to me like exciters or EQ boosts sometimes can.

The Rocket is something I really need to get around to trying, though. My WA76 is just for tracking and I have other sources that originate inside the computer (sampled drum kits, etc.) to try it out on. People have been speaking highly of The Rocket for years. And it has to be said...it has one of the most beautifully eccentric plugin GUI's ever...it looks like a control panel from a steampunk time travel device. If it was hardware, Thomas Dolby would have to have one.