Hi everyone
Good morning / good evening everyone
Everyone who gets into the audio hobby dreams of one thing
the perfect performance for their own taste, whether from gear or headphones ..
I’ve been chasing this dream for 10 years
and I got to a point where I can say I’ve reached 95% of what I want
But what did it cost ????
Hundreds of tests
dozens of devices
hundreds of headphones
cables, I don’t even know how many
money that would depress me if I added it up 😖
over 10 years of my life
How it started :
A little while ago I asked AI to find me reliable sources for some fine details of a project I’m planning to start ,
which is : building a piece with no active circuits / no external power needed , that lets me adjust the sound signature the way that suits me. It’s a very looooong and dizzying topic and I won’t bore you with it
Bottom line, I started collecting the parts I need to build a first version of this project
each value targets a specific job
While I was searching, the AI told me there’s a device that does something close to what I’m building, but more advanced, more professional and more complex ..
OK, what’s the device called ?
It came up with : SPL Vitalizer Mk3-T
I sat reading about it, and the deeper I went the more it impressed me ..
The device is fully analog = no digital processing at all … ahaaaa, here I stood up in respect for this company. This is the only way I see as right for adjusting sound ..
OK, let’s get to the details of the device itself :
So what exactly is this device ?
It’s :
a processor that rearranges the soundstage itself ,
and cuts down the overlap between sounds so every sound gets its own space more clearly.
Low frequencies / the bass :
you want it deeper, heavier and clearer without covering the details, or you want it warmer or more controlled, and you control how much
And the human voice gets more stable and bigger, like it has a real presence in front of you .
As for the soundstage :
you can make it expand, get bigger and deeper
the separation between instruments, you control how much
and the decay of sounds, you control that too, whether you want it fast or natural
you want the finest and smallest note or echo to show, or you push it into the background .
You control whether you want the vocals forward, recessed or balanced
Resolution and clarity : control them as you need, raise them or lower them however you like
In other words .. you’ll control the soundstage almost completely
and to put it another way : it’s like it removes the mask/barrier between you and the song and lets you hear the song the way YOU like it .
Through it I was able to remove something like the layer that veils the recording and reshape it very, VERY precisely to my taste
My experience :
When I saw the videos I’ll share with you in a bit, I went crazy ..
is it possible something can do this
I looked the device up to see the price ..
found it for 1200 euros …
Link to the device on the company’s site :
https://spl.audio/en/spl-produkt/vitalizer-mk3-t/
The price isn’t cheap
and it’s actually aimed at studios
but after what I heard there’s no way I can get it out of my head
why shouldn’t it go into any user’s system, even a hobbyist’s ?
While searching I found out the company released an add-on (a plugin )
that emulates the actual device ..
with the same name as the device : SPL Vitalizer Mk3-T – and it has more features than the device itself .
I said OK, this is what will decide for me whether I buy the device or not, after I try it
( even though I hate digital sound processing) but I said there’s no harm in trying ..
I searched and found some sites selling it for 150$
and digging deeper I got to a site called Plugin Alliance
selling it for 59$ .. and the best part, it gives you a 14 day trial (fully unlocked version), after that you can buy it if you want ..
Here’s the link :
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/products/vitalizer-mk3-t
And when the free trial is close to ending, say two days left
go back to the site and pick the monthly subscription for the bundle : CORE
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/products/core?variant=52067903013128&selling_plan=690351702280
and you’ll get an extra 30 days of trial for free .. for 200 plugins included in the offer / and in a bit I’ll talk about 2 more I’m interested in trying and explain what they do ..
And you can cancel the subscription a day before it ends so they don’t charge you anything ..
Back to our topic
Like I said a bit ago, this is a plugin
meaning you need a program to run it for you
In my case I’m on MacOS
and I bought one of the strongest programs made for audio, which is :
Audio Hijack
https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/
And here’s a screenshot of it from my computer
And for Windows users
I asked AI for you and this is its answer :
And here are the links to the programs, all of them free :
VB-Audio Matrix
https://vb-audio.com/Matrix/
Kushview Element
https://kushview.net/element/download/
First test :
I spent a few hours testing and tweaking, and all my tests were based on the guide the company published
because every knob has its own function and effect, but at the same time they’re all linked together .. so dealing with it at first gets you confused
but you’ll learn it fast
and I made it easier for you, in a bit I’ll give you a basic explanation of it, simple and clear, so even if you have no experience you’ll know what to do ..
The result :
I’ll say it without any exaggeration
this is the biggest leap I’ve had since I got into this hobby
after the first test, 8 days before writing this article, I tried going back to normal, meaning listening without using it
and honestly I can’t accept going back ..
and this is me, someone who hates digital processing
This has never happened to me and I never even imagined it could happen
I won’t talk about or try to describe everything because it was a huge jump in every direction ..
I’ll just say it’s a complete jump in listening
I’ll sum it up for you in one sentence :
imagine all the recordings you’ve heard were dead
this plugin is like it brought them back to life
Note : what I’m hearing now comes from a software add-on (plugin)
emulating the SPL Vitalizer Mk3-T = meaning fully digital work …
while the actual device processes the signal inside a real analog path + it has tubes built into it ,
and honestly that makes me really excited to find out what level the sound could reach with the actual device .
And based on several reviews and comparisons some owners did, they preferred the actual device over the plugin by a small margin, especially in the stage and the 3D feel .
OK ,,
my words might not get the picture across to you properly
watch these two videos and I’m sure you’ll understand everything I said ..
and the best part, both of them give you an actual test of some of the things the device can do
The first :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUClOg0tnFs
I recommend watching it first
because the test he did is clearer than any other test I’ve seen
and the device’s power to affect the sound is something I’ve never seen before in my life
The second :
one of the best explanations I’ve seen
and it talks about the device’s functions in a clear, uncomplicated way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8jIuKYxz4I
He also does a test at the end of the video .. but it’s not as clear as the first test
The third :
a comparison between the device and the plugin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5-TKsAElTs
And here’s the owner talking about the story of the device
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBniZcofPqE
Here we get to how to use it, based on the company’s own tips and what I did
I asked AI to simplify it and format it, and it came out like this :
Up above I talked about two models included in the monthly subscription that I’m interested in trying
The first :
SPL TwinTube
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/products/twintube
A plugin that emulates the effect of tubes on the sound.
It adds warmth, density and fullness, and it can also add presence and clarity in a smooth way, without the effect being like boosting the treble directly.
Simply put: you use it if you feel the sound is dry or thin and you want it richer, warmer and more lively.
The second :
SPL BiG
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/products/spl-big
A plugin made for enlarging the soundstage and giving it more width and depth.
It can make sounds seem wider, closer or farther inside the stage, without feeling like you’re just turning up the volume or changing the frequencies.
Its main benefit is that it gives a bigger sense of space and size of the elements, while keeping the image between left and right holding together.
What’s great about the effect of the SPL Vitalizer Mk3-T plugin
I tried it on my three main headphones :
Lily Audio Genesis One
ALLEN Ribbon
NAN7
and I didn’t need to change anything in the settings I made
and this is a main advantage over traditional EQ
because this plugin or device lets you control the whole stage, so you can use it on any headphone, even if they’re different in tuning, without it messing anything up for you ..
Unlike EQ, which is limited to changing the response of a certain frequency or frequencies ,, and every headphone needs its own EQ ,, and its eternal problem is if you fix one thing it messes up something else, and that’s one of the reasons I stay away from it ..
And here we’ve reached the end of this article ..
A final word
I’ve stepped into a world that’s completely unknown to me
I really wish anyone who has experience with this device would share it with us, and I’d be very grateful
Regards ..
Naif
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