Black Box Analog Design HG-2MS

Meet Your mix buss’ best friend
Celebrated mix engineers like Dave Pensado, Bob Horn, and Jack Douglas rely on the sweet tubes and creamy-sounding transformers of the Black Box HG-2 to help their mixes sound louder, bigger and punchier at the same peak level. Now, the HG-2 MS version offers mid-side processing,  advanced filters and more for even greater sonic refinement.

“MS” in more ways than one
The HG-2 MS is a Mid/Side version of the acclaimed HG-2. But it’s more than that. It also includes dedicated Mono mixing and Stereo buss versions, and now delivers More Saturation options and a wider variety of colors than ever before thanks to its new filter section. Select from highpass, lowpass, bandpass and bandstop filters to tailor your saturation separately for each channel.

Sweeten your audio in mono, stereo or mid-side modes
For the first time, process your audio with the rich, brilliant sound of the Black Box using mid-side processing for more sophisticated control over your sound. Saturate the sides, while keeping the center clean and punchy, or use more edgy odd-order saturation on the side and more warm even-order saturation on the center—or vice versa.

Paint Your Tracks with a Whole Palette of Tube Colors
HG-2 emulates four different vacuum tube stages combined in series and parallel circuits to color your mix and individual tracks with a wide range of rich and varied harmonics. Separate gain controls for emulated 6U8A pentode and triode tubes are placed in series between buttery virtual transformers warming the plugin’s input and output.
 
Dial in the perfect blend of pentode and triode tube sweetness
...then adjust the Density control to drive both tubes harder without changing their relative balance or the plugin’s output level, adding more girth and mass. The Calibration menu emulates the effect of an internal trim adjustment in the original hardware unit, instantly modifying the HG-2’s high-frequency response to produce Dark, Normal or Bright coloration.
 
Sprinkle, punch and tube softness
An added Air knob lets you control how much high-frequency fairy dust you sprinkle on vocal tracks, string instruments, piano and full mixes. Turning down the Mix control adds back dry signal at the plugin’s output, combining HG-2’s beautiful tube softness and luster with your mix’s perfectly preserved detail and punch.

• The MS version of the Black Box offers Mid-Side, Mono/Stereo and More Saturation options 

• TMT — Brainworx patent-registered “Tolerance Modeling Technology” (US Patent No. 10,725,727)

• Additional digital-only controls like Input Gain, Density, Calibration, Air and Mix

• Separate gain controls for virtual 6U8A pentode and triode tubes 

• Parallel Saturation circuit selects one of two modeled 12AX7 tubes—one voiced more aggressively than the other

• Saturation Frequency selector to add generated 12AX7 harmonics

• Calibration menu to mimic internal trim adjustment 

• Variable Density control to boost gain equally for virtual pentode and triode tubes

• Variable Air control to add silvery sparkle and sweetness above 10 kHz

• Added Mix control to adjust wet/dry balance

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  Josh Gudwin

  5x Latin Grammy Awards, 3x Grammy Awards

  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… Read More

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  Michael Brauer

  7 Grammy Awards (Coldplay, John Mayer, The Rolling Stones)

  I love that you can really dig into the different parameters of width and tone to achieve pretty much anything your creativity desires.

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  Heba Kadry

  Mastering Engineer (Slowdive, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Deerhunter)

  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… Read More

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  Marc Urselli

  3 Grammy Awards (U2, Elton John, Foo Fighters)

  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.

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  Koen Heldens

  Mixing Engineer (XXXTentacion, Trippie Redd, Swae Lee)

  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!

• saturation

  ★★★★★

  by Trackformers

  October 2, 2022
  Probably the best saturator Ive ever used. I try it constantly on different stuff and more often than not it works magic. If u can afford it, GET IT!

• HG-2MS is a Monster

  ★★★★★

  by MrNiceGuy

  September 26, 2022
  The Dream Tube Machine
  I like using it on vocals, it adds a nice saturation. It's magic on the mix bus but sounds great in your master bus as well. The interface is easy on the eyes and looks… Read More

• It's a must have saturation tool

  ★★★★★

  by digiNiX

  September 8, 2022
  The best saturation plugin I've ever used. No more words. Fantastic!

• HG-2MS

  ★★★★★

  by Kwal

  July 8, 2022
  An INCREDIBLY powerful and colorful tool that I use on nearly everything to give it a touch of saturation. Being able to adjust M/S saturation and onboard TMT make this a staple in my projects.

• Sounds great

  ★★★★★

  by MS

  May 27, 2022
  Really like this version on the mix buss or in mastering. Gives that extra "something" without smearing the mix.

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX DSP, AAX Native, AU, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 12 down to macOS 10.11
Windows 11 down to Windows 8

Mac
Intel, or Apple Silicon (except for AAX) architecture

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM