Pulsar Modular releases P42 Climax- Line Amp
by p900   10th September 2021

hi M2E, great to see you back again! thanks for the tip. I'll try that out. Can you post a link? the google machine had its own notion of what i meant)

I think P900'S take on mixhead does the lufs thing but also adds the tape goo. kinda unreal. if I could combine all these superior musical components with console 1's perfectly utilitarian workflow I could finally stop spamming the forum and go back to work for another 10 years before i toddle off to the unknowable beyond.

edit: oops, almost forgot the now-obligatory clips. I miss the MDN club!

Ah ok get it! The preset is called SG - the one, it’s the one that turns the interface gold.

Thank you!

I’m listening to these on my AirPods on the way to school. I wish this was present a few days ago as I’m feeling a little bit of regret now.
TMIE, they both sound good, yet I can feel a little more presence in the P565. Like, if I close my eyes, the MH track sounds like I’m listening to music on a pair of earbuds. The 565 track, led me to experience the music as if I was standing on a stage, and the music was all around me.

don't worry brother, there's always something new or different or better around the corner (unless you're spending money you know should be spent somewhere else, then, as one dad to another, please stop!)

I demoed P565 a few years back and mostly just stared, hypnotized, at the interface for 40 days and 40 nights. This preset is more a testament to P900's creative thought-process, matched with a tune that called for a slinky vibe. There's a slow, subtle modulation that creates that live, standing on a stage feel. It would not work for everything. Mixhead is more forgiving.

The main thing is to focus on the performance itself. One of the greatest soliloquy's in cinematic history started from these words in the script:

"I've known adventures, seen places you people will never see, I've been Offworld and back… frontiers! I've stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching stars fight on the shoulder of Orion... I've felt wind in my hair, riding test boats off the black galaxies and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear. I've seen it, felt it...!"

No amount of movie magic could mitigate the clumsy word-salad of that writing!

but in the right actor's hands, supported by the visuals and the music, it becomes deeply moving art:

https://youtu.be/9hDo80ddn4Q

Hey Rumpledforeskin, here is the link.

Make Believe Studios MixHead

That’s true brother. There’s always something though I believe I’m done for the time being. Used up my last plugin savings on the MH at that deal I told you about and I’m flat broke. Lolz. We got another son coming in 4 months so all resources are going to that. Family first. ������

I feel the same way bro. It took me almost a year to understand Sweet Spot’s GUI and I’m still struggling with Siren. Ziad is a genius in how he interprets sound and brings it to life. A real director on the stage. As beautiful though in what Siren can achieve, I’m sure it takes a good craftsman to know when and where to use the right tools for a specific task. The way you used it on that track was just amazing. It really brought it to life. Since I don’t own Siren; I need to figure out a way to use MH with something else to create the same effect. Tonight, I’ll experiment.

Wow. I’ve probably seen Blade Runner several times when I was younger. But just watching that clip again was surreal. Hits me completely different now that I’m older. It was so emotional.

Sometimes it’s good to be wiser. You see more. You learn more. You feel more. In a way that truly matters.

Edit: Rutger definitely killed it.

Learning the in and out of an audio equipment makes it an extension to your creative thinking. To do so, and there are no shortcuts here; you need to invest time with the tool.
My plugin mixing tool box is less than 15 plugins.

Should the new bottom delay/flanger should be on for this preset?
There are many new things at the bottom part of this new version. Some more presets using these new features of 565 would be great.

True that, Ziad. True that.

Just two weeks ago, I uninstalled and hid a bunch of plugins that I have not been using in a while. I wanted to be able to build more focus and understanding on what I do use often. I don’t believe I’m even close to 40 though. I need to be more disciplined. Another thing to add to the To-do list today.

May I ask, out of the curiosity that’s deafening me, which 15 plugins are currently part of your daily workflow?

Thanks for the files. There is more going on in the Siren test. It sounds more exiting. Goes to 11. Not that you always want that.

In this case, change the % of Tape, currently 100 all the way to 0%. You can also turn this circuit off.
You can turn off REGEN.
You can also turn off OS or switch to Vintage.
You can lower the DRIVE.

Yes, I can, but only because I have a license. :D ♥️

Attached is the P565 Preset: The One

To get more towards the emulation, you would lower further the Tape %. The higher the % the mushier the transients, the lower the % the clearer the transients.

Tape on Siren?
Is this a new feature in version 2.4.9 ?

I just got to try the MH SG The One preset on the P565. I tried to level match as best as I could but I'm not that great at it. My ears are still in training.

Take a listen.

What do you think?

My preset is more open and wide.
To make it more tight:
Increase the BIAS
Turn off the Delay Circuit
Change OS to VINTG

I just tried this Ziad.

VINTG had a nice feel to it and I liked the BIAS at around 0.6db.

With the DC turned off it was punchier than the MH.

Damn! Why'd you have to go and make Siren so good?

Loving it. I am not a huge fan of Machine Head/MixHead to be honest, but this preset tweaked to taste is more useful to me. I was happy to switch from MH to Head like 20 years ago. MH was always "dirty/grainy" sounding to me. But it was the first of its kind...

mixhead is a stealth loudenator disguised as a fugly '90's waveshaper
as a pure loudenator, it seems unfair to the broader capabilities of p565 to try and pigeonhole it that way.
But it is surprisingly doable.

there's a neat utility plug called "gain match" by letimix that can allow you to hear the delta of anything you run through it. It is much easier to try and match 2 different devices when you are only listening to the pure effect they are having on the track. You can hear the compressor working in the Mixhead that holds onto the signal, whereas P565 is only shaving the transients. But, in fact, using the tranformer-coupled output and the bias knob without any drive at all, I could easily beat Mixhead in stealthyish loudness. What's strange though is I found the OS in any flavor to make the cymbals "swirl". It sounds like it is an iir filter? that extends down into the 8k region that my ears are still cognizant of. Preferred it off. I uploaded a preset if anyone wants to experiment more. Just dial in "Main Out" set screw to control the overall amount of lufs fluffing.

Looking at this as a pure exercise to match something in an ad hoc fashion makes p565 much less intimidating than it was when I was just considering if it was useful to my work flow. Being chief cook and bottle washer at RF inc. my synapses are already flying in a million different directions.
This is why it was love at first sight and listen with p455. The vibe it adds is baked in as it would be with hardware, and the primary spice rack is all in one place and easily digestible, like peanut butter on a Scooby snack.

I want my tools to generally be single-purpose and utilitarian so when the musicians who still have functioning ears lean in and say "uh, that sounds like ass, dude", I don't need to wade through 100 tracks to figure out where things went off the rails. I can bypass an entire row of plugs across all tracks in a single click. or quick-link a rotary and dial it all back.

Anyways, take care gang, and thanks P900 for the second look. Holding out for your DeLorean Tape Recorder, but more things to consider!


btw: thanks for the link M2E, it was actually the fruity loops clipper i was looking for, but got it now. And seeing it spelled out in its full glory in your salutation makes me smh -- my son and I were deep into the single-malt when we came up with that one Rumple out

edit: added proper .p565 preset. should note that I don't mean to take anything away from P900's methodology or advice. His tools are like photoshop in an era of instagram filters.

Here's a P565 preset somewhere between Tape Delish and The One that I've been liking.

Same basic principles for modifying it apply as Ziad laid out for those two.

Could you please share that as a p565preset instead of an VSTpreset?

oops! fixed! thanks! Cheers

Did you try increasing the Saturation dial on P42/P44 and compensate with the Main Out dial. My preset is a start that simply needs the user to dial the saturation to taste.

Attached is the Crane Gold Iri. You can try it against the Phoenix with Process=22
Again, if you want less or more, use the Saturation knob (P42/P44) and compensate with the Main Out.
You can drive more or less saturation of the signal into the Input Transformer by changing the Input Knob (Use Shift to auto compensate against the Out knob).

Thank you so much!
With the stereo switch off, it´s getting incredibly close to my favourite settings.
You saved me a good bit of money that I can invest in P15 Umami now

I know you don't do it by force, you do it because you feel like it, but I damn love this preset thing! It feels so special. It's like a great service : ) Just kidding, thank you so much for this. I just wanted to say it and thanks to everyone who contributed with presets or with their knowledge. I got emotional for such a moment, than I left immediately :D

Your extra work on additional presets and other random offerings is truly a cool bonus for your customers. Thank you!

If it was for customers, I would not go the extra mile; but for comradery and glory, I do.

...and as a cult leader I do feel like it's your responsibility to demonstrate a divine preference placed on your ears and auditory discernment. I hope I am not being presumptuous in making such a bold suggestion.

you are the man! thanks

Thanks very much for these Ziad.
I own 42 and 44, so no bias here.
I'm liking the 44 one a bit more, I think its Ooomph and Poomph working a bit more magic than the Lo Shelf.