Analog Obsession released the Rare “BPB Edition” passive equalizer plugin with a new oversampling feature and macOS Big Sur compatibility.
Rare is a passive equalizer plugin inspired by the classic Pultec hardware. Unlike the hardware, though, Analog Obsession’s design features an optional pre-EQ gain stage. You can use it to saturate the signal before it hits the EQ circuit.
See also: All Analog Obsession VST Plugins Are Now FREE (Donationware)The brand new “BPB Edition” of Rare comes with an oversampling feature. Click the Analog Obsession logo to engage internal oversampling (the logo will turn red). This will remove the aliasing artifacts at the cost of a somewhat higher CPU hit.
Taking a closer look at the user interface, Rare offers two EQ frequency bands, with separate Boost and Attenuation controls in each section. The user can fine-tune the target frequency range and the bandwidth. The plugin also features an output gain knob, a bypass switch, and a frequency range control for the Attenuation knob.
Click the Analog Obsession logo to engage oversampling.
In early 2020, Analog Obsession re-released all of their plugins as donationware on Patreon. You can download Analog Obsession’s entire plugin range for free and support the developer with an optional donation.
Analog Obsession’s plugins (KONSOL, TREQ, MPReq, and others) were recently updated with Big Sur and M1 chip support on macOS. Also, most of their plugins now come with an oversampling feature. Because of their continuous work on developing freeware plugins, BPB selected Analog Obsession as the most improved developer in 2020.
If you’re not sure which plugins to download first, you can start with Rare and the recently released BritBundle collection. We also featured Analog Obsession’s previously released BUSTERse and LALA plugins. And if you like saturation plugins, don’t forget to download our BPB Saturator freebie.
Rare is available in VST, VST3, and AU plugin formats for digital audio workstation software on PC and Mac. Only 64-bit plugin hosts are supported.
Download: Rare “BPB Edition” (12.4 MB download size, 64-bit VST/VST3/AU plugin format for Windows & macOS)
More info: Analog Obsession (Patreon)
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57 Comments
Aris
onTake a look at this!
https://www.callybeat.com/plugins/hum808
Jon B
onAlready like the original Rare (and Rare SE) plug-in and the added feature of this sounds very nice! Thanks Tomi and Tunca!
Tomislav Zlatic
onCheers! The latest version adds some cool features, too.
PureFire
onThanks so much Tomislav, BPB & Analog Obsession, this is excellent news & the plug-in look great & i guess it will sound great too.
I really like all other Analog Obsession’s plug-ins, awesome.
This is very much appreciated 😊
Tomislav Zlatic
onYou’re welcome, have fun using the plugin!
PureFire
onThanks again Tomislav & Analog Obsession.
This EQ sounds really awesome. I tried it out last night through my headphones on some drums & i was very impressed with how warm in the low end it sounds & how crisp in the hi end i could set it to
This is a very powerful tool & i look forward to using it on other sounds.
Thanks again. 💙 BPB
Chris
onThere’s been some time since the disaster of Tunca’s (Analog Obsession) original website being attack and some plugin installations being deemed unsafe to install. Has his plugins been deemed safe now? I don’t want to beat a dead horse, I just want to check. I’ve scanned his files with Norton and so far so good.
Jurv
onWhats with the haters in the comments?
MRG
onThe horse is dead. And while the plugin is Rare, the meat is not under-cooked. Enjoy your lasagna.
Don’t hesitate to use services like virustotal.com, to have multiple results from different virus scanners and decide for yourself.
Tomislav Zlatic
onMy advice is always to use your own judgment (and favorite AV software) before installing anything on your computer. That said, in my experience, AO plugins are safe to use.
Gareth K
onWindows Defender detected a trojan in this plugin exe. Quite concerning as to what Analogue Obsession is really up to?
D0gma
onreally you need to understand how firewalls and antivirus works. the file is safe.
Tomislav Zlatic
onEXE installers are sometimes detected as malware by Windows Defender. You can download the ZIP version of the installer instead, and manually extract the plugin files to your hard drive.
Gareth K
onWindows Defender detected a trojan in this plugin exe. Quite concerning as to what Analogue Obsession is really up to?
Trojan:Win32/Wacatac.B!ml
Gery Zenz
ondownload the zip file. it’s just a VST3 file without installer.
B P
onHad too many issues in the past with Analog Obsession plugins not working as advertised or just not working at all. Crashes and bugs galore. I don’t know how smart it was for BPB partnering with them given their shady (at best) reputation.
Johannes Mazur
onI don’t know when you gave AO a try the last time. He has improved a LOT! The current plugins are incredibly good. The cooperation was a smart decision, more and more people “discover” AO as a true alternative to paid plugins.
I was a very early customer of Tunca from AO and yes, there had been issues. Since he went to Patreon his plugins became serious challengers for payware.
Even “SoundonSound” included his Pultec in their comprehensive test. And to be recognized by SoS is kind of an honour.
I’ve been doing audio engineering for quite some time now and I remember two big names from the 32bit era that were associated with free quality plugins: Herbert Goldberg aka Bootsy aka Variety of Sound and Antress. Antress was like hit or miss but that mysterious guy behind “Antress” made some seriously good plugins. (e.g. Fire Chainer and Seventh Heaven)
Herbert got active again, currently, gathering information about trends in the modern plugin world…but I’m afraid he’ll be having a hard time finding back to his glory because Tunca from Analog Obsession seems to have taken over. He is on the right path!
Origin Makers
onIf (Variety of Sounds) Hebert can port all his old Plugins into 64bit that will make a great deal by itself…
Arak
onHahaha, what a load of gossip. Let me join!
I’m certain that if Herbert decides to take up audio development again, his products will be equal or better than any current freeware analog emulation offering.
In fact his 10 years old plugins still compete perfectly fine with latest UAD and Pulsar Audio products, except for his reverb, which never convinced me to begin with (Orilriver Reverb, Voxengo Oldskool, Signaldust and Dragonfly Reverbs are much better).
Regarding Analog Obsession: while I trust your word that he has improved a lot in sound quality and stability, as recently as this week I read a comment by someone on GS complaining that a sudden bust sound created by a bug in one of AO plugins almost pierced his eardrums – certainly not desirable!
Johannes Mazur
onI respect Herbert a lot, I really do! He was a true pioneer.
And so I won’t say his new plugins wouldn’t be equal. Of course, they definitely will be. To say they will be better… I don’t know. I think nowadays it is just a matter of taste, more than a matter of quality. AO’s TUBA has such a nice, warm saturation that it is not about quality when I try it on a drum group. It rather is like “Does this sort of saturation do the job I’m after? Or do I like the sound of XYZ in this case better?”
I have pretty much all important Plugin Alliance stuff. But I tend to reach for the TREQ by AO because I know it gives me that silky high end. For sub bass boosts I take the MusEQ by Elysia, and crank the resonance of the highpass filter. If you know what each plugin is great at it isn’t a matter of “better” anymore. Pretty much as one would work with hardware.
Thanks for trusting my word. I can confirm that there are some AO plugins that have issues (Not many, though!). However, Tunca is like a bee. He flies around fixing things. Updates are available regularly. Lately, I experienced an increasing hum with RAREse, which never had happened before. I’m pretty sure he’ll sort that out. Now that bpb and AO published their RARE version I don’t need that update of RAREse that urgently. I just tried the bpb-RARE and I love it even more. It sounds really massive.
Tomislav Zlatic
onI’m seeing constant improvement from AO, both in terms of plugin quality and the way in which they distribute the plugins. Last year, they moved everything to Patreon and the users can download the plugins for free, with optional donations. I respect that, so I wanted to support the developer by letting more BPB readers know about their work. Hence the collab.
Danil Filippenok
onI ask you all to try this plugin first before you slander. He’s incredible! I have not seen a better emulation, even when looking at the paid plugins. Thank you for such a great plugin !!
Arak
onCan you compare with best free Pultec, PTEQx by Ignite Amps, please?
Johannes Mazur
onShall I make a demo video?
I could upload the link here.
Arak
onYes, that would be magnificent!
Johannes Mazur
onOkay, rolling… :-)
Johannes Mazur
onOkay, here it is.
This video was made without any preparation, keep that in mind. The mix is far from being finished but for the sake of demo-ing the plugins…so what.
The difference was very audible, and I didn’t even engage pre-gain – which makes the sound of RARE even fuller.
Listen for yourself :-)
https://youtu.be/ZqMpyVJRTBE
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks for the clip!
heavymetalmixer
onPasting the same comment I made in the video:
There’s something about PTEq-X I discovered yesterday while comparing it to Rare BPB: You can actually make it sound warmer and fatter following the “analog logic”, AKA overloading it.
1) Set Oversampling 2X.
2) Rise the Input knob by a few dBs (I recommend 3 dBs as a startup point), and decrease the Output knob by the same amount. The more Input, the fatter the plugin sounds.
Note: This “overload” also compresses transients, but then again, rare BPB does as well.
Johannes Mazur
onWow. I just compared them. PTEQx sounds harsh and thin in comparison. RARE is a monster of warmth and fatness.😎
Arak
onCan you make a video? Also including free Coffee Pun by Acoustica Audio?
Johannes Mazur
onSorry, I don’t have Acustica Audio plugins. I once had Nebula, but that must have been years ago. I know, they are pretty good, you acutally can’t go wrong with them.
Johannes Mazur
onSorry, I don’t have Acustica Audio plugins. I once had Nebula, but that must have been years ago. I know, they are pretty good, you acutally can’t go wrong with them. The link should be posted soon, it must be approved by the admin here. Guess, because it contains the YT-link. Please watch in HD and with good headphones.
Johannes Mazur
onTomislav, do you know if that new GUI was Tunca’s own work or did he coop with a new GUI-designer? It looks similar to the old one but there definitely is a different signature to it. Even though Tunca’s own GUIs aren’t bad, this new one is even better!
Tomislav Zlatic
onAs far as I know, the GUI is Tunca’s own work (but it’s best to ask him directly).
Johannes Mazur
onTUNCA, if you read that:
Please, please re-issue the German Broadcast EQs!!!
heavymetalmixer
onWhich EQs are those?
Johannes Mazur
onThey were among his very first plugins. With his improved abilities today they would be awesome:
-the Neumann PEV
-the TAB W395a
-the Siemens W295b
Especially the Siemens had a wonderful high end. It actually got famous for this alone. I owned 2 hardware cassettes and sold them long ago. Now I miss them.
There is a w295b plugin, made by Soundtoys, and even if it sounds good…I can’t stand its toy-ish GUI. One should think it is the sound that matters but I just can’t get over it.
heavymetalmixer
onBtw, Fuse Audio Labs has the RS-W2395C EQ. What do you think about that one?
https://fuseaudiolabs.de/#/pages/product?id=300965965
Origin Makers
onI still use Variety of Sounds plugin in my projects. Happy to have Reaper supporting 32 bit and even Direct x plugins… I’ve been using less of Analog Obsession just bcoz of the CPU hit … But he has improved a lot… His BritChannel is my goto Eq for vocals… There is no complaints like Trojan and Malware… As far as sound quality is concerned he is top notch … He is right up there with all the paid plugins… If he can optimize his CPU consumption like Variety of Sounds he’ll be the best, paid or not…
Noob Ears
onHow does this sound in comparison to Coffee the Pun by Acoustica audio? Anybody?
Contramacros
onDefinitely more creative and versatile. I used Coffee for metal guitars, they do turn silkish but just that, with Rare I also get some subtle saturation out of nowhere and that’s awesome.
LostKafka
onI have no problems with AO plugins! They Sound realy good and problems were fixed fast and solid. Lets talk about the big namens… Ik multimedia, waves and even PA. I have reported bugs for a lot of plugins. Were they solved… No! AO is a one man show. Not a big company. And he does a good Job in sound quality and fixing issues! THX a lot for this very good sounding EQ!
Mike B
onThis looks really good. I will definitely try it out sometime. I have AO’s “Loaded” channel strip and I enjoy using it on vocals. It provides a good workflow for me.
On a side note, IK Multimedia is giving away its Soldano SLO-100 amp sim and a cab for Amplitube.
Michal Ochedowski
onMIKE B thanks for letting us know about IK Multimedia offer!
Origin Makers
onMeanwhile Analog Obsession has updated his KONSOL plugin… Very Low CPU hit… Better GUI… U can straight away use it on all tracks and Buses to get the “MIX Glue”.. Straight Competitor to Waves NLS… Way to go AO..
Tomislav Zlatic
onYeah, that’s a great offer from IK! An article on BPB is coming soon. :)
Johannes Mazur
onThanks for the heads-up!
DaxMannoo
onEmeğiniz için çok teşekkür ederim. Bu gerçekten ihtiyacım olan bir şeydi.
DaxMannoo
onThank You Very Much For Your Labor. This Was Something I Really Needed.
les pieces
onThanks for this. I’m already loving this Rare eq.
I’ve tried to download AO’s other plug ins, but nothing works, it simply download files (vst, component or vst3 files) with no installation package… Ableton can’t recognize those files…
LostKafka
onOk… Im an ableton user without problems in live 9, live 10 and live 11. The vst is vst64 bit and vst3 is not usable for live 9 and below. You have to move the vst64 and/or the vst3 in a special plugin folder. If you havent set individual folders it will be the default folders. You can see and set the path in your live preferences.
champ
on¿How to make an aax plugin, does anybody know?
Georgia James
onLove the new interface and features. However, would it be possible to add an option to scale the UI down ~50%? It’s absolutely gigantic on my laptop to the point of being unusable
Juan Tesino
onCould someone send this to Tunca(AO dev), please? Unfortunately I can’t be patreon yet, but I wanted to inform you of this problem with this wonderful plugin:
“Hi, first of all thanks for all the plugins, they are amazing. I have tried various pultec emulations (free and paid) and your plugin beats them all! I just wanted to report that since “bpb” version 6.0 and 6.1, I have noticed that the “Atten Sel” knob affects the signal regardless of whether the “Atten” knob is at 0. You can do the test by putting a drum loop that has a lot of high frequencies and if you change between 5, 10 or 20 of the “Atten Sel” the high frequencies are affected even though you have the “Atten” knob at 0. I have tried a previous version that I had of your plugin and this before it did not happen.”
H. Thomas
onAfter critical evaluation, Rare SE it the best version; more functionality, depth, and best overall CPU usage. In my opinion, Rare SE is the best Pulteq EQ Emulation in plugin form; even considered against Softube and UAD. Better get this one before it disappears!!!!!!
Tomislav Zlatic
onThat’s interesting! I haven’t compared virtual Pultecs, but it’s good to hear that Rare SE is a good performer!