Industry Reviews
Josh Gudwin
This new Black Box HG-2MS is a welcomed upgrade with its new flexibility. The additions like TMT, Density, Mono Maker, Stereo Width, calibration, MS capabilities, and selected frequency saturation, this plugin checks all the boxes for me. It’s my new go-to for acoustic guitars, percussion, drum loops and has been used on the last 20 mixes I’ve done (not gonna name drop).
Michael Brauer
I love that you can really dig into the different parameters of width and tone to achieve pretty much anything your creativity desires.
Heba Kadry
The moment I heard about the Black Box harmonic saturation unit in M/S mode, I was on board! It’s not something you see very often with saturation units; a depth in subtleties which I’ve long sought after. Saturation plugins are usually extremely heavy-handed or too basic, where the first click is barely doing anything, and the next click is just too extreme, particularly for mastering applications. The Black Box M/S is perfect for riding those subtleties. The extremely fine controls make it a joy to experiment with and really elevate the dimensionality of a track; especially things like the saturation filter shape & frequency selection options, mid/side vs. stereo, and the general tonal calibration of the plugin is a game-changer. I’m seriously blown away. I can really fine-tune the tone and the harmonic depth to such a high degree. This plugin is staying in my toolbox for a long time.
Marc Urselli
I like how subtle but present the Black Box MS is, I love the extra grit, warmth, and saturation you can achieve and I've been trying it on different instruments and on the mix bus.
Koen Heldens
I love the new M/S function! You can add subtle width to a mix or source without it becoming a phase issue or collapse issue when summing to mono. Very nice!
Maria Elisa Ayerbe
I am literally using it on EVERY mix. The new saturation options, the filters, calibration, etc... great choices! It sounds great.
David Kalmusky
Character for days on Vocals, Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keys… well, Everything!
Mike Exeter
I have been enjoying the new Black Box. It is a wonderful enhancement to the original and very much more versatile with the sidechain filtering.
MACK
One of my favorite things to do with saturation units like the HG-2 MS is to just lightly lick the source so that it brings up an overall sheen rather than a distorted crunch, more like a harmonic EQ for a touch of sparkle rather than full-on audible distortion which is perfect for stuff like vintage breakbeats, drum machines, or the entire track. But then if I also want to dress my analog synths, bass, or uke in full-robe character clothes, the Black Box brings the whole closet to the concert.
Greg Wurth
I really love the added features, such as the eq tweaks you can make on the saturation as well as the mastering features on the bottom. The Mono Maker is super important as well as the ability to do MS makes this familiar plugin something entirely new. I love it!