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

I noticed one thing with all the big brands out there, that budget brands tend to have a hard time emulating: Neve, Pultec, SSL, UA etc... They all have 1 thing in common ; High end control
Some like to call it smoothness, etc ... But it's just that, everything around 5khz to 16khz gets a complete makeover and stays inside the frame !
It's not that you don't hear it, it is there, but it sounds good.
While if you try to reproduce this with a pluggins or a cheaper unit:
it will either sound too dull, or too harsh !

Can we get a review on the

heritage ha81a Channel Strip

I would bet my life that all these guys saying it's darker or brighter or has more mids would of 100 percent of believed this was a real 609 if you would of never even told them you were running it through a heritage audio unit 😂and just showed them the picture of the neve .. the comments would of went like " it's so smooth on the top end " "

My ears hear more dimension/“3D” depth with the Neve along with more detail in the upper mid frequencies. Heritage sounds really great but I absolutely prefer the Neve here.

wow it sounds amazing on the electronic track. It's definietley not quite as silky smooth as the neve, but that's what i like about it

Judging from this demo, I prefered the warmer/vintage sound of the Neve on everything except the last song. So I agree with others that said the Heritage would be good for modern music. However, I think with some EQ from something like Harrison Mixbus or other console EQ emulations, you can get the Heritage to sound closer to the Neve (even though it's not the exact variant that was cloned in this shootout).

Sounds like the Neve is "broke in" or what not and has a softer sound.....or maybe its just in my head

good editing...Flashy!

Would be amazing if you could do a Noiseash NEED review :)

The difference is really noticeable with the first audio sample

Looks like you’re really not interested by this unit 😄

clone sounds punchier

I thought the Heritage was a bit snappier, Neve a bit more gluey maybe? But both, only tiny differences, barely noticeable...I'm not even sure if I'm actually imagining it.

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 ...

I noticed a little more midrange in the
Hieratite Audio

Awesome brief review. It’s sad they use the soft step pots. I mean, warm audio doesn’t; they use really great stiff loud click type.

for me the original creates that sense of space in the midrange and thump in the low end that makes you feel like you can really crank up the volume without it sounding annoying. Might want some brightening after the fact but personally that's the place I'd rather start.

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.

on the last track the release was not set the same

They doesnt sound similar at all, that low end compression on original is from different universe. Also Heritage little bit f..cked up the stereoimage.

the attack feeeeeeels slower on the Heritage but is it? the real boy has that spitty VCA thing that you only get from a 33609, but the heritage is cleaner and more open if that makes sense. Neve more character, Heritage more versatile. flip a coin

They do not sound the same at all. The original metal knob version is much cleaner

No comparison for me. Neve sounds a lot smoother and has more body and room. With my eyes closed I immediately always picked the Neve as much better sounding. But it is a matter of taste and what you listen with, I guess…

not the same XD

Heritage definitely sounds punchier and "more modern" while the original Neve sounds very buttery and glued together! Thanks for doing this comparison!

Neve more (slightly) weight typical classic Neve smooth Highs rounded off transients Neve warmer punch...again ever so slightly... Heritage NOT harsh highs but clearer(slightly) more transparent cleaner punch slightly and a hair more modern sounding. Listening on a 60 inch Sony TV with built in stereo speakers on purpose. In my humble opinion, one is not better than the other, just slightly different to the point, if you cant get what you want out of either of these used for the same purpose it's 'not the gear...it's the ear'. My 2 cents

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

where can I find the second song?

Surprised you didn’t moan about usability

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.

Neve sounds natural and has more sustain, release is much more natural.

Too close to call

Vintage sounds better but clone is close enough, like 85% last test reveals a bit more, maybe slightly bit more lows on vintage

Heritage audio is a great company. Keep in mind with the “cheaper” connections and buttons also comes quick and cheap repairability in the event they do break, which honestly is probably unlikely unless you’re sloppy and smashing the buttons and unplugging and plugging it in with zero care.
You can’t beat a good vintage Neve though.

Heritage Audio is a great company.

preferred the clone....

Who’s song was the female singer? I liked it

Ciao!
In my studio the difference is more than 95%. The first impression is that the clone has much more "forward" sound, which is not a bad thing. I can say is sounds more "modern". 
The fast transient on the vintage are smoother. It sounds a bit darker but deeper an wider.
For my taste the original neve sounds more "musical". On the second track the way it glues vox and piano is really magical... And I can't hear the same thing on the clone version...

just my point of view !
:-*

Neve wins. I think that sound from the transformers is excellent. A bit holed like tube gear. It reminds me the Manley Elop but a lot more nice, because the Elop sounds a bit too holed.

The bite on the original is noticeable though heritage has a nice smoothing sound. They sound very similar.

I hear stereo issues with the Heritage, and a perfect image with the 33609. As someone mentioned before, the Heritage performs "better" on quick transients, but do we need this? As far as overall sound goes, I will definitely not sell my 33609/JD for the clone. Yeah, it's a clone.

Only had to listen for 10 seconds to hear the quality difference. Mid range in Neve kills the other....unfortunately.

I feel they got the tonality pretty close to nearly identical
But the transience part gets me, it's a too big "feeling" difference