Hiya - I a general question about analogue vs digital plugins. Im wondering about the advantages and disadvantages of analogue in digital tracks. Im not sure im able to hear the difference for example of putting analogue eq on a master chain as opposed to digital one.
So my question probably relates to how to refine my ear than the theory..
Hi. I would advise to Google "analogue vs digital plugins".
Should be massive amounts of information available.
Cheers
Thanks @renegadeseven I did have a look but it didn't help - I'm referring more specifically to digital software that simulates analogue hardware.
I will give an example that highlights my question better maybe. So on a master chain I use digital reverb to cut or reduce some frequencies and then after that on the master chain I want to add EQ to lift certain frequencies. I think on Robs mixing fundamentals course the suggestion was to use an analogue EQ at this point to enhance some frequencies.
I'm not sure I can really hear the character that analogue devices bring to the table, so am leaning more towards digital devices that give better (sense of) control.
Hope that makes better sense 
I have used analogue emulation plug-ins and believe they give some sense of hardware sound quality but the difference will be subjective (in a sense). However, their is various degree's of sound character with analogue emulations.
The following is an article that gives relevant information on the topic and provides a nice deep dive into the subject:
https://producerhive.com/ask-the-hive/how-do-analog-plugin-emulations-work/
Have fun making music! 
EQ and Compression plugs are one way of achieving this, but any quality 'vintage' plugs can also emulate analogue processing. A few examples would be.... Moogerfooger pedals - very effective in applying analogue warmth whilst adding delays, phasers, filtering and so on. You'll hear the difference easily with effects like this, as they add quite a lot of extra 'fatness' to the sound, so are quite different from using Live's factory delay (the regular one, not so much Echo, which has some analogue features of its own), phaser and filter (again, the clean or regular one, as the analogue modelled ones are also pretty good!).
Soundtoys have some great effects for adding analogue touches too, with Radiator being a good example - it's just a step up from Live's saturator basically, although that does have a few different modes. Arturia's Coldfire is a great distortion effect as well, which can do the whole range of distortion - it has some subtle modes as well as full-on ones, for bulking up sounds. This is what analogue emulation plugs do essentially; they make thin, digital signals sound bigger and fatter. As such, you often need to EQ them after applying so you get rid of frequencies you don't need, like sub bass that a lot of them will add.
So yes, vintage EQs and compressors may be harder to hear in the analogue department, but almost always add nice improvements to a mix, especially as they stack up (you'll hear a lot of our tutors say it's better to have a combined result of an effects chain rather than expecting 1 or 2 plugs to do everything!). If you want more obvious effects though, you can try some of the suggestions above and stick to Live's factory effects for EQ and compression.
Wow thanks @renegadeseven and @Robjones. Lots to reflect on there just watched your plugin boutique stream as well rob and can hear what you mean.
I guess theres infinite options that can be looked at and im also thinking to put effects on parallel and taking adding things like saturation to certain frequencies to create a nuanced sound
Cheers folks - enjoy..
I love using Waves plugins - and quite often they have an 'analog' button. I love pressing it but never really knew what the difference was or whether I could hear it! A friend eventually told me that it essentially just added some noise/tape hiss. Overall, it definitely warms up your music. Some plugins like the arturia stuff also add voltage randomisation ie a slight wobble in the sound to emulate the variation of voltage that happens with real currents! I have say arturia stuff is the best analog emulations ive ever heard!
https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/cs-80v/overview For example, this is just fantastic! Best sounding VST i've ever used
If you're using Ableton's EQ8, its in analog mode by default. It's the yellow button on the right side of the device. CPU processing power has caught up to where it is very much accurately recreating analog circuits with clever programming digitally. Sometimes you just want to capture the vibe of the 70s and 80s but don't wanna try to hunt down beat up gear that costs butt loads more money than it should when you can just use an emulation of it? The only point of owning physical hardware in this day and age is the fun it brings to the sesh.
Hmmmmmmm....... Bzzzzzzz...... Tssssssssssssssssssss...... Shshshshshshshshsh.......
"Nope, I still hear it," me listening in the production room.
"Well, I've rewired ALL power, swapped cards, replaced 8 strips, and all I can say is... you're going to have to DEAL WITH IT!" screams the engineer.
"Is the board plugged into the UPS?" lightbulb goes off above my head.
"Well, the board would HAVE to be plugged into the... DAMMIT!! OF ALL THE STUPID..." engineer screaming about making stupid mistakes.
It always makes me laugh that we have pluggins now to ADD the little audio gremlins that we were always bitching about to the engineer to fix in the analogue era... just sayin'
😂
Hilarious @betterledproductions
I spent a few nights going through my eq plugins trying to replicte the same changes and making notes of the differences. Really felt the benefits in starting to understand the differences between them, such as saturation they introduce. Hopefully these sorts of exercises help in developing the ear and learn how to pinpoint what to use (when and why)
One day I will try the same with other types of effects...
