Is this as good as a real NEVE!? || Heritage Audio - HA-609a

I really want that thing! Great demo! To my ears it sounds identical. Great demo!

Man the production quality of your videos is really stepping up!

The original seemed to have a wider stereo image, and has a bit of color/smearing in the upper mids. However, the Heritage sounded a bit more dynamic, responsive, and modern and kept more punch, but a bit darker and more center focused in the stereo field. Heritage sounds great!

Thank you so much for that and all of your reviews!

Thanks for the video. It's always good to hear and see a Head-to-Head competition of classic vs modern takes. That aside I use them both. Just a quick addition to anyone's review of these units.The Neve is good for say a group of stems that need that extra Fatness or deep warmth, the vox or digital take that sounds brittle, the kind of track that someone would say it's missing that "umph". The Heritage is good for a good recording in the Hybrid studio (digital/analogue) sense that needs that lift to the clear crispy side, as in if there's already plenty of heft and warmth (yes there can be times where there is too much warm fuzziness, the suffocating kind). The units are by all means a good investment. The Heritage's power supply sucks but the overall versatility juuuust barely beats the Neve, as in the Heritage can be dialed up or down in both crispiness and warmth whereas the Neve can only go so far in the clean razor sharpness [boosting EQ or air-bands]. Maybe a beginner's decent EQ stage would be a pair of Maag EQ4 (Rack version Maag EQ4m) or API 560/API 5500 then it would give the Neve a very good High end rounded sound. That's Just my 2 cents. I have many Billboard tracks that have used either and or just one

The original sounds a bit darker/deeper, but the clone is at least 95% accurate, it sounds very very nice.

The Heritage sounds fantastic! Yes, I've used many a 33609 in my day and they're built very well. Sonically, I think they're close enough. In the context of a mix, they're indistinguishable from each other.

I applaud your comparison- seamlessly A-B’ing back and forth without stops is soooo much better than many videos. They are close-ish, but you can hear the difference, even on my iphone haha. The heritage sounds damn good though- I don’t think I preferred either one for every task. $1800 still ain’t exactly cheap though still.

I think it sounds good. Even though it’s a clone and doesn’t perfectly represent the original, it sounds really good. And as a musician and producer, I’m not trying to replicate a sound as much as get a good sound that fits what I’m doing.

Thank you for a lovely video again!!1

This has really became one of my favrouite channels, excellent reviw dude. I love the clone, i wouldnt be complaining if i had it, but the neve does have a more transparent sound with less harshness in my opinion. I think it is worth the money though.

Just felt in love with the voice of Christine Smith Sometimes Hearts Collide (Epidemic) Thanks Wietse. ;-) HA sounded to compressed and pumping sometimes.

that's some awesome camera work at the beginning

I've watched a lot of your videos over time and I've found them informative, interesting, and entertaining. I don't have any need at all for such a unit in my home studio, but it occurred to me that I'd never subscribed to your channel (as I try to increase the subscribership of my own) - so I did that today. Hope you are doing well where you are. All that said - I think that the Heritage actually sounds "better" to me from the TINY bit of difference that I heard. It also seems that the VU Meters are a bit more responsive than the Neve unit you presented with it. Thanks for the video.

You are right, as a broadcasting engineer, I reallyI don't like the saving costs of the power supply and XLRs. If you are able to shell out 1700, you probably have money enough to pay 2000 if that means a near perfect unit. Sounds killer tho.

When "pushed to the limit", the Neve just shines ... Like with all of things in life, the copy can do so much than comes the original ...

Great review, the Neve seemed to be more "open" sounding in the high end. But the HA-609A sounds clearer, and had more punch.

I liked how the low end bloomed on the Neve. Nice and pillowy.

love the sound of both, love the heritage stuff, am saving for a successor. I notice on the last example of the comparison [on the original] i can hear more 'weight" of lower end harmonics on the kick as it hits, also partially possible to the response of the fast transients (maybe its all that barillium paste they used :P)

I think the Neve glued the sound a little bit smoother, but the Heritage Audio glued it with more air, which I would prefer for some things. Acoustic guitars, vocals and hi frequency drums, for example. The issue with non lockable cables could be fixed with som DIY solutions, but a weird choice of "price saving" imo. I might actually save up to this for bus processing, as it sounded great for a stereo unit with all these features. Hoping to hear how it sounds tweaked.. I have two pulteqs now and feel like those together with this and the great SSL software clones out now could be enough for most of the bus processing. Plus, of course fabfilters everything... Am I wrong, or what more should I look for on a mix bus chain?