SoundMagic Neo Preamp Review

What is Sound Magic Neo Preamp?

Neo Preamp is a virtual preamp plugin designed to emulate the warm, characterful sound of vintage hardware preamps, while maintaining modern performance efficiency. In this SoundMagic Neo Preamp review, we’ll find out if it’s suited to musicians and producers looking for analog warmth and saturation.

Key Features:

• Internal processing at 64-bit double-precision floating point for high quality
• Low CPU usage with fast response time
• Six dedicated controls for shaping preamp behavior
• Two selectable clipping types for different tonal styles
• Classic boost and cut functions

Introduction:

Neo Preamp is reminiscent of a vintage channel strip which not only boosts or cuts the audio signal, but also adds “stuff” to it. Many of us remember special pieces of vintage gear that would add a certain color to recordings.

That is exactly what Neo Preamp was created to do. By modeling several famous vintage units, both for Neo Dynamic and Neo Preamp, Sound Magic has created something special that seems to be working well for them.

What is the “something”?

That elusive “something” was the catalyst for the development of Neo Preamp. SoundMagic even purport to have cloned the on-board EQs of those vintage units, incorporating special-shaped Baxandall EQs into Neo Preamp. As a result, when you tweak the plugin’s low or high bands, you add even more colour to your sound.

Well, that’s what SoundMagic claims, but is it true?

I don’t own a vintage SSL, Neve, or Harrison preamp to make direct comparisons with. I have fairly keen ears though, and I really dig the sound of this plug-in. I am particularly fond of what it can do for lackluster vocal tracks.

I’ve been doing this whole engineering bit for a long time now (almost 40 years). I started playing with my father’s old Phillips 4-track reel-to-reel recorder when I was 14. North Star running shoes were “in” back then, and Adidas wasn’t ‘retro’; it just was. 😉

This nifty plug-in really does put an honest-to-goodness vintage, analog vibe into your mix. At least, in my opinion it does.

The resultant, subtle analog-ish saturation and colour that Neo Preamp puts on your pristine digital recording is very pleasant. You won’t notice any harsh, grainy sounds, or over-exaggerated distortion.

Visuals:

The GUI design will annoy some, but will bring a grin to the faces of others. I’m mostly in the grinning camp. The plug-in is a nice size (almost 800px wide, by 600px high) and fits nicely on high-res monitors. However, the lettering and buttons do have a bit of a ‘synthedit’ appearance.

The photo-realistic interface is well-detailed and is very nicely complimented by the dynamically changing “glow” of the virtual tubes. It can actually be fun to watch, but might also be a bit distracting.

As you drive the input signal up, the tubes glow a darker shade of orange. The sliders and knobs are clearly marked and are sized comfortably. The overall look is very 3D-ish and photo-realistic. I like it – it’s a unique take on the concept.

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Price:

€49/$64 (USD)

4 out of 5 Stars

:: Pros

• Cool concept – overall, I really dig it.
• Vintage-like old skool audio character.
• Built in Baxandall EQ Filters

::Cons

• Like all the other Sound Magic plugins I’ve reviewed, I consider the asking price to be somewhat steep.
• Some GUI elements suffer from a less-than-pro appearance – a bit too synthedit looking for my tastes.

Visit the Sound Magic website. NeoVST.com

Intellectual Copyright – 2013 – All rights Reserved. This review may not be copied or reproduced in whole, nor in part, without express written permission from the author.