P42 Climax MOD

P42 Climax is absolutely stunning. It has that rare, luxurious, top-tier sound that instantly makes the source feel more expensive, polished, and alive. The impact is clear and obvious — more depth, weight, presence, and that beautiful high-end analog character without killing the vibe.

Honestly, it feels like a masterpiece. The way it adds richness, dimension, and a premium “finished record” feel is incredible. Very few plugins give this kind of luxury and musical enhancement so effortlessly. Truly one of the best in its class.

What can I say about his plugin. Even calling it a plugin feels weird since it far surpasses almost everything out there for saturation. Great on overheads, drum buss, bass guitar, acoustic guitar... Anything you want to have a little extra mojo. 10 out of 10

These days I hardly ever reach for an EQ, I mostly shape sounds with different types of saturation. P42 is one of the best. Period.

Very good equalizer with lots of options for editing sound and a very good sounding saturation level. The limiter is also very practical. Love it.

Such a great tool for any source or track! This plugin has so many facets; it’s like a Swiss Army knife—it lifts your mix, adds beautiful saturation, gentle limiting, and musical EQ shaping. Just demo it and hear for yourself!

This truly was a game-changer for Pulsar Modular and for good reason! Just turning the different stages on in their default state will make your tracks seem lifeless and dull in comparison. This plugin sounds plush and expensive and is worth every penny! You will go thru a stage where you over-do the high end with the high shelf and Air...Relax, just dial it back...There you go. The saturation is tasty. Yum.

At first glance, it seems to be a simple plugin to add some color. A deeper dive shows quite a bit of versatility, from the choice of having pre or post saturation, selectable Class A or AB amplification, the ability to blend the dry signal, or Mid Side processing. The HP and LP filters are very useful, as is the Limiter. As is the case with many PM plugins, there have been many improvements and free updates. Great plugin!

Air band is very nice

After years of experimenting with tone-shaping, coloration, and saturation plugins, I’d basically stopped trying anything new. There was only one plugin I felt truly stood out—but its outdated GUI, steep price tag, and Pro Tools-only limitation kept it from being a practical choice.
Then my friend Alex posted a review, and that was all the convincing I needed. P42 Climax MOD doesn’t just meet my expectations—it obliterates the competition. It delivers exactly what I’ve been searching for in a plugin, and then some.
The included presets prove it can match—and even surpass—the performance of that older, well-known plugin. On top of that, the thoughtful extra features, impressive CPU efficiency, and ongoing updates have only made it better with time.

Definitely, P42 Climax - this is one of the masterpieces of plugin engineering. So many different sound variations) At the same time, very low processor consumption - you can hang it on each channel for primary sound formation. The second absolute diamond for me is the recently released compressor Sahara. I highly recommend it.

Wonderful saturation and filters. It keeps getting better too with added features. One of my most used plugins.

Insert P42 Climax at the beginning of every track as a pre-amp, LPF, and HPF. Insert P42 Climax in the middle of a track for strong color saturation, or even distortion. Insert P42 Climax at the end of a track for air and shine. Insert P42 on your submixes for cream and glue. Insert P42 on your master bus for the final touch. Then keep inserting it everywhere, because it really is just that good. I never thought a single saturation plug-in could just sound good on everything you try it on, but time makes fools of us all, and P42 Climax makes fools like me sound brilliant in the mix.

You can get some creamy thickness with this one if you wish. One tip I absorbed from one of the videos ist to handle mid and sides separetely by placing two of these units on your track one after the other. This way, you can add some spice wherever you want. Works great.

Got this for bass and low end sculpting but it's found a place on lots of acoustic elements that just need an extra push in the right places.

This might be the ideal first plugin to place on every track.
It offers high-pass and low-pass filters, saturation control, and further tone shaping with two EQ bands and an Air band.
The newly added subtractive EQ feature is a very welcome addition.
The limiter is also excellent.
With all these features and such low CPU usage, the sound quality at this level is truly impressive.

素晴らしいです。
数多あるサチュレーションプラグインは何かこう音が硬くなるイメージのものがほとんどに感じるのですが、P42は瑞々しいサウンドになる感じがします。
あと概要にある「P42を2-Busトラックにインサートすると、ミックスがたちまちオープンになり、ミックスに隠された宝石が露わになります。」この表現大好き

Pulsar Modular never fails to deliver high quality plugins.

I use P42 Climax MOD in every single mix, without fail. It's a top tier pre-amp. The quality of it's distortion exceeds other plugin pre-amps. It coats the entire frequency spectrum without suddenly "clamping-out". So many pre-amps or distortion plugins start audibly distorting as soon as you put the distortion on, or even the plugin itself, or there's a certain percentage where the plugin goes on a thin digital overdrive.. not this one. The drive smoothly increases its tone in a musical and natural way. It's beautiful on vocals for the high-end hi-fi sheen and drive, but also incredible for driving drums to give them the punch and crunch I look for. Incredible plugin!!

An incredible little plugin. I use it with just a touch here and there. I love the B Filter Rev and just a couple of percent on the saturation dialed in to give me what I need. Tons of scope and character.

すごくアナログ感のあるサチュレーターです。
歪みをコントロール出来るフィルターなどが搭載されており、柔らかく色付けしたり、荒々しい歪みを制御できる機能が備わっています。
特にAIRのツマミが高域の聞き苦しい音を上手に制御出来るように作られており、後段で何とかする必要が無いのが良いです。

P42はサチュレーター、P44はクリッパーで、P44にもP42のディストーションが搭載されているのですが、フィルターなどの有無でP42の方が歪みの制御はしやすくなっています。将来的にはP42にもP44より多機能なクリッパーが搭載されるらしいので、迷っている方はP42をおススメします。

The P42 was a key piece I needed in my journey to recreate a analog console in my DAW.

Every track gets a P42 on it to emulate it variable harmonics you would get from the preamp on each channel of your analog console. Combine it with the P455 Sidecar on mixbusses for analog summing and you have the best analog console workflow in a DAW.

What I like:
* Variety of tones: The Climax offers a wide palette of sounds, from subtle warmth and harmonic enhancement to aggressive distortion and overdrive. This makes it versatile for different musical styles and instruments.
* Ease of use: Despite its sonic depth, the interface is relatively straightforward. The main controls are intuitive, making it simple to dial in the desired amount of saturation or distortion.
* Sound quality: The saturation and distortion produced by P42 sound very musical and organic. It doesn't sound harsh or digital, even at higher gain settings.
* CPU friendly: It's surprisingly light on CPU usage, which is ideal for running multiple instances on different tracks.

The P42 Climax MOD entered into my life when I was highly in search of a Motown type DI bass pedal. My search got deeper and deeper and eventually lead me to the P42 Climax MOD. The first thing I thought and felt was, this plugin looks killing!!! I read and read and finally downloaded a demo. I immediately felt like I found it! It had/has the ability to add a quality, depth and detail to any audio I put through it. Or, I could really shape the tone into something downhome and dirty, but in a very natural sounding way. I also love what it gives when I push the input! It's pretty crazy but in the best way! This is one tool that I can't do without.

Beautiful saturation and mojo for anything you put through it. Adds depth and character instantly. Once you get used to the workflow, dialing in the perfect sound is a breeze. Fantastic sound from this plugin

This piece has been a great addition to a lot of tracks I’ve made. I’ve actually steered away from hardware and recalls because of plug-ins like this. This gives me a lot of the same character I’ve been working with when working with analogue gear.

Love this plugin. One of the best saturation plugins in my toolbox. Highly Recommended!

For me, it is a color and character box. My top choice for a saturation plugin is this one.

P42 Climax MOD Not owned this long but it sounds really good!
I look forward to using the Climax in many future productions!
Top Quality plugin/tool I am feeling Pulsar Modular Plugins!

This really is a fantastic sounding plug-in. I work mainly in a hybrid setup but when needs must and I work solely in the box this beauty is permanently used. I haven’t come across anything that comes close. Thanks Pulsar Modular for designing such a great tool.

This is an incredible plugin, it has become my favorite saturation plugin since discovering it.

Superb!

Fantastic! Versatile sound enhancemnet.

I keep trying to get out, but it pulls me back in.

The P42 is an absolute gem. It's the first plugin I open now on drums and I can usually get my drums significantly further than I could before without compression or EQ. The P42 can create density, body, presence, or bite in an incredibly natural sounding way. I don't just use it for drums, I audition the P42 out on almost every important track in my mixes because I know it will likely end up in more than one place, whether on guitars, bass, keys, or vocals.

The EQ on this plugin is pretty powerful and sounds fantastic. The air band is excellent for getting the top end of drums to be open and crisp without being spitty.

The resolution of the dials and buttons feels much more intuitive and useful than other plugins these days, many of which seem to either do nothing at all or everything at once. The P42 can be heavy handed if needed, but it likely won't happen in the bottom half of any dial.

This plugin is not priced cheap, but its sound falls much closer to high end pieces of analog outboard than many other plugins I've used, and is therefore justified. I knew I had to buy the P42 within minutes of trying it, but it's not cheap and didn't have the bread at that moment. I reached out to Pulsar Modular and Ziad got back to me immediately. He was kind enough to renew my trial an extra few weeks so I could finish the record I was working on, and then pay for the full license once I got paid. So they also have great customer service.

My one complaint is that there is no "Undo" button. There is an A/B switch button but I'd like an Undo like most plugins have these days. I mentioned this to Ziad and he said that it's something they hope to implement soon.

Overall, I'd give the P42 a 4.5/5, since the sound and functionality are fantastic, but it lacks an Undo button.

I can feel a definite change. The sound is sophisticated and the rough feel is energetic.

It's been a long time since I've spent this kind a money with such a big smile.

The p42 i use the latest mod version is a very good tool to add some weight and dimension to for instance kickdrums. Lots of plugins add paperweight thin lows to the kickdrum , but this tool feels like hardware. Especially in harder styles music this works really well. the fact you can dial in precisely what you want is great and if it is too much you can easily use the mixknob to get to a more medium setting.
Really this a bit of a secret weapon tool. Recommended.

So I'll get this out of the way first - these plugins are NOT cheap when compared to other plugins that cost less and also sound great. So why pay so much for this plugin? Simple - it sounds FIRE! There's an ineffable quality about it that makes you want to use it on everything. I don't know what algorithmic voodoo Pulsar Modular have got going on but it's legit! Coupled with that, very much appreciate the very substantial updates that have been coming forth, thank you Ziad!

I've had P42 for a few years now and it has only gotten better with the updates.
I'm grateful that Ziad has not rested on his laurels and has continued to improve
P42 making it indispensable to my work whether mixing or mastering. Thank you!

A rather fantastic transformer emulation, tone shaper, saturator, color box, and a lot more. Sounds great, and the fact that it is so light on the CPU is the icing on the cake. Don't sleep on the dual mono mode, either. It will make your ears very happy. Use it anywhere and everywhere. It'll sound awesome!

I just love P42. It is right now on all my channels and busses.
Sometimes I just use the filters.
But often I use more. Beautiful saturation and very nice basic eq. So I need much lesser eq moves later on.

Simplify the best transformer saturation emulation out there. It’s not the cheapest option, but after 2 years I’m still using it on almost every single track. Amazing sounding shelves also!

This plugin is a gem! I have been using Cranesong Phoenix for a very long time for making things sound "better" or "pop out". This one does that and soooo much more. The eq is great for adding bottom, mids, top and air or all of it, depending on how you use it. The drive and saturation is sweet enough at low levels and can go far as well. I haven't used it much as a dirt box yet. I mainly mix and master. The "creative work" is already done. There is no shortage of dirt plugins. This one can do something else, which is simply: making things sound better. The UI takes a bit of getting to know, but it soon gets easy. Use this one, and you won't want 5 other plugins to follow it! This is the better-maker. Less plugins in a chain is always a good thing. It is cheap for what it will do to your mixes. Just buy it!

I especially like the sound of the Neve! The P42 is very usable, it has a smoove saturation and it's the right workhorse for every kind of production. Highly recommended!

Subtle, and expensive , but fantastic!!! It takes sounds from great to even better. Can I live without it? Yes, Do I want to live without it? No thank you!

The P42 is something special, have a nice saturation, it is versatile, you can model it and get the colour of many and different saturators. Plus a transformer emulation, filters, and everything going to the same goal, the correct, warm and cohesive sound.

I love the P42, and many people love it, if you try the P42 you will understand the reason.

Thanks Pulsar Modular

Throughout the past year, P42 Climax has found its way into countless of my projects. It sounds great, uses delightfully little CPU, and can add 'that little something' onto pretty much any sound source with a few clicks. As a saturator, it is easily one of my favourites, and its filters add enough versatility for it to find its place on many tracks regardless of whether the colouration one is after is very subtle or something stronger.

Mind you, while it is relatively versatile, P42 Climax does not offer as many distinct styles of saturation as some of its competitors. So if you're looking for a one-size-fits-all saturator with tapes, fuzzes and various circuit emulations, you may want to look elsewhere. That being said, the one style P42 has, does sound very pleasing to the ear, and often enough I haven't felt the need to use anything else for my saturation needs.

There is also no denying that the plugin's quality is reflected in its pricing, and it is not cheap by any means. Still, if you can make the investment, I'd say it is worth it. But as always, since these things are subjective, I recommend you try the demo first to see if it's a good fit for you.

I have enjoyed using it a lot, and since it is one of the few saturation plugins on the market that can do very subtle saturation very well, I imagine it will be a favourite of mine for many years to come.

Pretty much in every mix. what else is there to say?

trully masterpiece natural saturate!!!
Great for maximizing single instruments ever.

A very nice plugin for in-the-box mixing - P42 Climax MOD gives more strength to the mix without overdoing the mix, helping things feel sound more natural and bringing top professional studio level results.

No plugin out there is as tight and focused at high levels of saturation as P42 MOD (and I've tried all of them and have been doing this at a professional level for decades and also own tons of analog outboard gear).. The fact that it has God-mode analog sounding saturation while still being beyond tight and hyper-focused with such a light CPU hit even running internally at 384 kHz oversampling is beyond insane. Add the proportional eqs & shelves and its just crazy; sculpting and tone shaping every sound in your entire mix with ease before hitting your main eq on each channel its like analog in-the-box heaven. The P42 is an absolute work of art programming-wise and a must own sonically. Any pro sound engineer without P42 MOD is seriously asleep at the wheel.

When I first started hearing about P42 Climax I was reluctant to demo it as I already had just about every other saturator and it was a bit of an investment especially with the Australian Dollar exchange rate. I had seen too many of my previous high end plugin purchases from other vendors lose 90% of their value and become almost unsellable so I took my time evaluating P42 before I bought it. It is reassuring that Pulsar Modular has thought about this aspect as well and has a pricing system where your investment is protected and may actually appreciate.

A lot of hours have gone into developing and perfecting this beauty and it shows. This one plugin goes a long way to getting a great sound and provides excellent saturation, EQ and filtering. The oversampling then takes it to another level. If I was only allowed to use one plugin for mixing and mastering it would be P42 Climax.

Considered as another saturator, P42 quickly became the first plugin in a mixing chain that is capable of HQ saturation, distortion, tone shaping, filtering and stereo-processing. At first, I didn’t want to spend 200+ Euros for a single color box, but every custom chain containing 3 to 6 plugins, almost every time, sounded less existing and polish than P42. Tried to replicate throughout the year without much luck. Essentially, it’s “betterizer” where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. EQ curves sound smooth, saturator always adds new dimension to sound without any breakup. Filters are nice, air eq sometimes can be really helpful. It shines at the beginning of the mixing chain or at the end of it. It can be used on group buses and master chain. What’s even more impressive in exchange for expensive hardware sound, P42 uses almost no CPU! from 0.5% to 1% for one instance on my old Intel Core i3 8100F.

Another PM product I use in every production working on since I got my hand on it. Great stuff, thank you Pulsar Modular!

P42 is one of my most used plugins and sits in my recording template. It is kind of my secret weapon for recording and mixing and gets used on every project.

Pulsar Modular really knows transformer saturation and EQ and it is put to good use here. Based on the old Wolf Box used at Motown Records, I have found it to far exceeds that original purpose. I use it as my main bass guitar amp, a channel strip, saturator, and generally when I need to make something sound better or have a more analog vibe.

It warms up colder soft synths and guitars really well. It is a favorite for the drum bus along with the Abyss compressor. The EQ is voiced very musically (love the B model HPF).

It is really my first call for mixing duties. The GUI is beautiful and Pulsar Modular really give a lot of extra time to voicing their products-it really shows in their musicality.

In 20 years making music I don't remember a plugin that added so much to my tracks. I've never heard something so close to analog (or maybe better) in the digital world. Can't live without it!

It's simple, quick to dial in, has low CPU usage and sounds excellent. One of my most used plugins now, a go-to.

If the pricing were a bit more competitive I would happily recommend it to everyone. But a fantastic plugin nonetheless.

This is one of those plugins that once you start using it, you just can't move on or back to anything else you have ever used, whether it's on independent tracks or across the master buss. The Saturation is so smooth and warm, combined with the ability of being able to tailor Low Pass & Hi Pass filtering, then boosting selected Lo & Hi frequencies to really bring out the best of sounds. You also have the option of adding air to say vocals to bring the sound out even further. I love this plugin!

Using it on every mix and even live on FOH :) Low CPU load, nice filters and EQ and such a smooth saturation. Love it!

THIS (P42) is absolutely one of the TOP 3 plugins in my 1,000+, 30 year collection of plugins.
Sometimes, we can all get some buyer's remorse/regrets after purchasing a product... but THIS P42 is beyond satisfying, even within the sea of VST plugins I already have used (many of which I am very happy with).
P42 does something that can be both heard/felt, and whatever that is, make my music sound/feel much better. :)

I demoed this plugin, looking for a software emulation of my Triad HS-66 line transformers, which are inserted over the 2-buss for all my mixes. For a recent project, I needed to export stems and wanted a plugin solution to match the tonality of the Triad transformers, so I could export all stems in one pass. This plugin sounds so close, it’s quite astonishing. So bravo to you all at Pulsar Modular, for creating such a brilliant-sounding plugin ????????

Great with vocals Motown preset is awesome.

Absolutely incredible sounding and fast to dial in. The fact that the code is so magical that there's next to 0 CPU hit is simply mind boggling. I've got saturators that TRY to do what P42 does in which one instance of them takes 30% CPU hit. P42 is the best saturator on the planet currently bar none.

After using P42 - Pulsar for more than a year, I can absolutely confirm it's the best most natural sounding saturation plugin I've used.

It's my go to plugin for saturation.. The weight it adds to a mix is amazing, but without being harsh..

BUT - when I heard about the MOD additions, I initially didn't think it would be worth it. I haven't typically used the shelf EQ, even though they sound good, I didn't have a place for it.

I did test it though, and I tested it quickly on a client project.
There were some elements that needed just a slight boost to enhance ~700hz.. I'd got a good result with another well known colour EQ plugin... I did quick try with the new MOD proportional EQ and dialled in a much better result, much faster.. So, I bought it on payment of the very next invoice..

Playing around with extreme boost I found it to be altogether pleasing, although not something I'd use in mastering, it would be fantastic for mixing.

So if you are a new user - it's well worth the whole package.

If you are an old user, try the proportional Q.

Want to ask me more about it - go to the contact page on https://steam-mastering.com

Cheers

Allan

Great sounding and, importantly, very quick and easy to use plugin. Excellent for general tone shaping.

This plugin lives on my mix bus and has really added something lovely to my tracks. I was looking for something to bring that analog "aliveness" to my mixes and demo'ed the P42 as well as a few different Pultec and Massive Passive style EQ plugins. The P42 won the shootout and was an instant buy for me. I just use a subtle amount of saturation with the AIR setting activated and set to about 8K and it's fantastic. I haven't even tried this plugin for shaping the tone of individual tracks and busses yet but I'm sure it will be fantastic for that as well. I highly recommend the P42!

It's really rare this days to be so surprised with the sound quality of a plugin...
I own alot of them and it happens often that after a while i replace them with something "new and better"
This is definitely a keeper !
Really special,addictive and useful...
Higly recommended...

Hello, I purchased the P42 Climax and wanted to tell everyone how fantastic it sounds! The P42 Climax plugin is used on my mixes every day and on every mix! Sounds absolutely fantastic!????

Vicente Ramirez

After playing around with the P42 trial for a bit, I first felt that yeah, it sounds good, but it doesn't match the quality of my mastering rig (but I would honestly say the same about most mastering grade hardware units). Then I tried it on all stems on a "not so good mix" during a stem mastering session with a few tweaks here and there and it added so much life to the mix without having to use several different plugins or hardware. So I also tried it a few older stem mastering sessions and when used gently a little bit here and there, it really sounds great in front of my mastering rig. I really can't say that about many plugins.

The ultimate glue. I have a lot of top saturation plugins and this one always comes out top. So simple to use its almost impossible to go wrong with it. Usually hits every channel and master bus.

There's a certain solidity and heft I get when I run material through the P42, which I wasn't able to easily replicate with the other saturators I tried.

P42 is an amazing sounding tone shaper. The saturation knob is a chameleon of harmonic sculptor. The first 10 % blends more 2nd order harmonics while going over gives more 3rd harmonics. If you go over 50% or so it generates further harmonics and can get really toasty. All of this while preserving the original tone. It can be used all over separate channels without sacrificing openness.
Great job Pulsar team!

Initially I was sceptical given the entry price, and therefore hesitated trialling.

After much internal debate I downloaded the trial and began testing. It wasn't long before it became part of my default channel strip and now it's used on many different sources. I find it quick to use and to my ears has improved my mixes.

I'm a hobbyist (1960's born) with very little technical experience but rather rightly or wrongly feel my way around audio production/mixing techniques. I primarily use soft synths, and samples, therefore please try it for yourself and see how it goes for you.

This is very versatile and musical plugin! It gives a subtle but not over-exaggerated texture!

Wow! After 5 minutes of listening with the trial I immediately understood that it is an instant buy, from that moment it is present in every mix.
It has this incredible feature of sounding like a true hardware counterpart that I have never heard in other products so real.
Worth every penny, best buy of 2022 for me to date!

It's a "it makes everything sound better" cheat code.

Really great plugin. I use it on all my projects without fail. I have used many plugins in the past, but none better than this one. What's different about it? It's just so organic. And it keeps evolving. Definitely worth the price.

Love it !!

Excellent plugin! P42 is also a good example how Pulsar Modular refines and enhances their plugins over time with free updates - great support and service.

Perhaps all is said about this one but it's the closest thing to a hardware you can get for a fraction of the price. Minus the hassle of actually owning a hardware gear - maintance, cables, desk/rack space, etc.

I've never heard such an awesome plugin before. Sounds like hardware. Is it hardware???

Love this plugin and love how Pulsar Modular has taken care of its clients by many improvements and a much improved interface with time. It shows they truly care for the quality of what they put out, the customer satisfaction even post-purchase, and that they have a long-term vision for their project.

Hard to state how good this plugin sounds. It adds harmonic sweetness to every track it's used on. And for me, P42 is often an insert on most every track in a mix. From subtle enhancement to outright grit, it warms up all types of instruments and sounds. Vocals really benefit from the added harmonics and soft synths that often sound cold and mechanical, warm right up, getting a more organic feel. It's a funny thing - when used subtly (which is what I most often do), it's hard to point and say "that's the difference." Yet when P42 is disabled, something is clearly missing. This is one of those plugins you just need to get - period! And frankly, the value is tremendous. When I consider the number of tracks I use this on, the cost-per-track is very low. Compared to other plugins that initially cost less but get used far less frequently (not as compelling a sound), their cost-per-track ends up being quiet a bit higher. Do yourself a favor - just buy it! You won't regret it and likely will get addicted to the sound -- as I have.

I won’t lie, I love this plug-in. The character that it brings is unreal. I use it on almost every mix. Highly recommended.

Another winner from Pulsar - I have many saturator plugins and a few analog devices, this is the best plugin for a subtle (or not so subtle) analog saturation and I usually prefer it over my hardware.

While in reality, nothing is perfect, but this plugin certainly comes close. What I like most about it is its versatility. The response the plugin has to different input sources is really inspiring and VERY close to the analog circuits it emulates. My favorite is to use it on bass and on synths. It just adds this weight, depth, and sheen that the sources need to really sit well in your mix. It is a really well done plugin.

Been using it for several months and been loving it.

If you don't spend money on advertising and marketing, where does the price tag come from. Make your product more affordable. Or give the opportunity to buy in installments like LiquidSonics did. A 25% discount is ridiculous given your price tag. Not everyone is ready to give that amount right away.
Great product though!

This is probably the best plug-in I have ever owned! It has the ability to take whatever you have and make it better. It goes on every channel, more often than not, twice. I highly recommend this plug-in.

Added to that, the customer support from Pulsar Modular is astounding. They truly are an example of what any company should be about. Great products with great service. Keep it up!

So simple to use yet the sound quality is excellent. Important part of my mastering chain.

It's amazing.

I've been using the P42 Climax for 4 months now in the studio, and I think it's ended up on every track that's been done. It's a fantastic bit of kit. Very low cpu usage. The new GUI is great. And (for me) what's most important is the sound, and oh boy does this deliver! It's amazing! and sound/tone shaping is just so flexible & easy. I've heard some people say it's expensive. Well it isn't cheap, but then again what top quality items do come in cheap!?!? IMO It's well worth it. It sounds like great hardware to me, and It puts a big smile on my face. You really should check it out.

I'd been searching for the perfect saturation plugin to add some weight in mastering that sounds convincingly analog but has the flexibility of digital.

Even at version 1 P42 was better than anything I had ever tried and from the first moment I tried it in a mastering chain I knew I was going to be using it a lot.

At version 3, the flexibility is all there. Switching in or out filters, a bit of shelf filtering an improved airband and gain compensation.
For mastering I tend to be very gentle and it definitely lets you do that, add just enough seasoning but not destroying the flavour of the mix. There's been a couple of masters where all I've had to do is combine it with one EQ and a limiter and the artists have loved the results.

In mixing it can work in the 'pre-amp' role, making digital synths sound more analog, and even making very linear analog synths sound fatter. I've also used it to really saturate a drum buss, with glorious results. Amazingly it uses so little CPU you can afford to use it everywhere.

Check it out, you won't regret it.

Allan
www.steam-mastering.com

This is about as good as it gets for saturation and more. You can very quickly and simply dial in a great, robust, natural sound. It's incredibly expensive, but I just could not pass it up! It is cpu friendly and worked well enough on my 2 bus to make it worth my while.

Just checked youtube clips for the review and demoed, then realized it's a must-have plugin for hardware users!
Closest emulation to the real hardware gear ever!
Not hyped at all, but it gives the weight and dimension to the track.

I was very skeptical after watching several Youtube reviews and not hearing much improvement in the demo sound. I downloaded the demo of the plugin last week and it really sounds amazing! It just brings a track to life! You notice it especially when you have it on and then bypass it and everything falls flat without it. Detail is kept while adding a really nice saturation! Highly recommend!

Amazing warm smooth full sound. Low cpu, new improved features and gets you a classy result quickly. Awesome plugin!

I became aware of the P42 Climax when I watched a Youtube review that was very negative making fun of the (old) GUI and the relatively high price.... but as soon as they started turning knobs I knew immediately that this plugin is very special. Everything is so musical on it, there are no "bad settings" on this thing. You just turn a few knobs and great magical things are happening right in front of you. So far I use it on every project, it became a very important tool in my toolbox. Great job!

The best-sounding broadband saturator for coloration and crest control! I saw David Gnozzi demoing this and had to demo it for myself. I love the sound and how lightweight this is. Perfect for the "saturate from the bottom" part of my CTZ (Clip-to-Zero) process. This is going on every source track as part of my Track CTZ rack.

After reading so much, i wanted to try it out myself.
Simply gorgeous and musical sounding plugin that feels like no other plugin I've tried so far!

The P42 climax is my go to saturation plugin and I own quite a few, can't believe its thus easy to liven/sweeten things up .

Really great plugin. Improves pretty much any source that I add it to. It can be as simple as just adding an instance, and then increasing the saturation to taste, but there is a surprising amount of depth and flexibility to P42 that becomes apparent the more that you get familiar with it.
Ever since I first started using it, it has been on just about every project that I have worked on, and I can't see that changing any time soon.

Beat making, mixing, mastering, sound designing.. Ses ile ilgili ne yapıyosam P42 orada benimle. İlk defa kullandığım bi software a Hardware gözüyle bakıyorum. P42 yi neye ekliyosam onu güzelleştirmekten başka bişey yapmıyor. Daha ne isteriz ki!

Teşekkürler Pulsar Team!

I love this plug-in, it has helped me get the sound i have been looking for through a DAW.

I really like this plugin. It has something I haven't been able to find in other similar plugins. Hard to describe, but if I put P42 Climax on the mixbus, it gets rid of that digital feel. P42 really sounds analog in its character. I have tried similar products but this is the best yet!

One of the best plugin I ever owned!

Thx so much for it!!

20 years I've been waiting for a plugin to keep its promises in terms of analog sound.
P42 quickly became essential and proudly sits first in my go to folder.
A real gem cut by a goldsmith.

P42 climax works magic on my new mix and mastering

If you would like to experience installing a piece of hardware into your hard drive, give P42 Climax a try.

I was hoping to pull this product to bits, on price, and so I didn't spend more money on "another saturation/colouration tool", well, I can't. This thing is the mutts nuts, I've just taken off all the saturation plugins I was using on my current project, replaced them with the P42 Climax, and I nearly climaxed listening to the sound.
I'm not sure what wizardry the developer is using, but it's truly amazing, in fact, I pressed play and the actual words I used were f**k me. Yes, it's really that good. I took a punt, but this in now my go-to plug.
If you're put off by the price, don't be, it's worth every penny.
Thumbs up here.

Okay, let's get the dirt out of the way:

I have worked with one of the two remaining, living engineers from the original Motown, Bob Olhsson, for over 20 years and have worked with many of the Funk Brothers during that time. The DI/transformers used back then were not the Wolfbox or the Triad's. That is a myth that was perpetuated by Wolfy who made the Wolfbox possibly because he did ac tually one Wolfbox DI to an engineer at Motown, Ron Malo, who was only there for a few short months and took the box with him when he left. But hey, we can all appreciate Wolfy's salesmanship, right? The transformers used at Motown were actually UTC's on all the classic recordings. I'm pretty sure Mike McLean who built all the gear at Motown is still alive too so this can be affirmed. Anyway...

Getting to the Pulsar P42, it's somewhat irrelevant what magic transformer was modeled because it's simply fabulous. Yeah, it's expensive but once you start using it on your recordings you won't want to stop. For instance I had an unruly sax on a recording I was mixing and I tried every saturation/transformer tool I have (which is many) but they were all too rigid, too dirty or not edgy enough and round at the same time for this particular part. Enter P42. BANG! It had just the right heft, didn't mess with the dynamics and was big, bold and round without losing focus. That's what the P42 does. It works great on keyboards, on drums, guitars and yet doesn't lose the transient character of those instruments.

We need to be less focused on chasing "magic" from the past and realize when someone has created something truly new and wonderful even if the past was their template. Trying to sound or play like someone else is not going to make music better but the P42 can. As a side note no-one was ever signed to Motown who sounded like someone else. Ever. And they were the most successful label in music history. Let that sink in.

Try the P42. The designer has created a very, very useful tool for your production toolbox. It doesn't matter what it is based on. You won't be sorry.

I like the P42 Climax. I compared it with other similar plugins. I think the difference is how easy it is to get a great sound with P42. With few adjustments, everything sounds good. Also noteworthy, is the fact that the plugin is CPU-friendly. Is the amount charged fair for these attributes? I think not; but then it's up to each one's pocket. For me, who live in a country with a devalued currency, the acquisition was very difficult.

So apparently there has been some “controversy” with this developer pertaining to his pricing structure and not wanting to bend to the common thread. This type of attitude is very much show cased in not just the P42 Climax, but as well as LunarLander and the sleeper - the P914 FFB. The developer takes the approach of creating professional tools at, a professional price, but a very generous non-crippled demo policy of 40 days.

I’ll keep my review strictly to the P42, pricing controversy aside.

Sound - hearing the evolution of the developer take a hands on approach to modifying the original design from other user reviews put this as a strong contender for daily tracking, channel work, or even on the master. Due to the generous demo period, non crippling audio dropouts or inability to save allowed me to really dig in and hear the alterations of the plugins development based from a lot of positive user feedback. I

Once the ability to remove the HP/LP made me realize this can be a first insert tone shaper that doesn’t coat the sound in harmonics but becomes apart of the sound.

There are many other excellent tonal shaping tools that I own (Kelvin, everything by Fuse, and many others), this can be used on every channel and actually when place as the first insert everything else down the chain generally operates better from a sonics perspective. The tonal shaping qualities really don’t leave much to be desired and can enhance, tame, dampen, or blow up (in a good way) pretty much any type of musical, atonal, rhythmic, or percussive sounds.

The price tag you’d expect something that doesn’t sound like “fake harmonics” or a basic waveshaper, you expect a professional useful tool that you wouldn’t hesitate on using for anything you can throw at it from demos to well funded commercial projects.

Speaking of speech, this is excellent on dialogue and vocals. Overdrive/distortion really either shines or falls apart concerning the human voice, the P42 holds it together.

GUI - Compared to the other product offerings it really doesn’t feel like it fits from a graphical perspective and seems a bit gimmicky.

Personally can’t stand things that take up precious real estate, and on the other token tools that don’t have any form of graphical user interface are just as obtuse. If you look even at the knobs of every other offering (the P914 and LunarLander) they’re beautifully done and compliment each other. Looking at the P42 the GUI in no way shape or form reflects the sound quality. Everything from the fonts, color scheme, the faux transistor graphic, to knobs that have no universal theme of values makes it very difficult to get to the point of initially learning the tool, and in use. I think the developer should stick to the theme and vibe he has going from his other product line (since they’re much better done). Considering the LunarLander’s GUI is awesome and completely conveys the visual aspect to the sonic shaping aspect.

Overall - From a generous demo period, no compromise on the sonic vision, but still takes user feedback seriously, this is a developer to support. Professional tools may come at a professional price, and to the pearl clutchers on price that secretly love the sound but can’t afford it (I know times are tough for some of us), save your pennies or use many other available tools. Because not owning this won’t prevent you from making an amazing sounding production, it’s just that using this makes it a heck of a lot easier.

The first plugin which gives me THAT REAL TRANSFORMER MOJO.
At last!

I never write comments, but now I have to do and I gonna tell you why.
This thing is on another level.
I tried to recreate certain sounds of the P42 with other plugins just for my own justification, not to buy this plugin, cause it ain’t cheap.
It didn’t work out. Now I have to get it.

Coming from the analog world I always missed this kind of sound in the box.
P42 works on any and I mean any source from drums to orchestral legato instruments.
It gives the source what it needs and lets you determine the exact flavour.
Even on the master bus it does wonders.
How did you guys manage this ?!
Of course, there are little improvements to do but the sounds the P42 produces are stellar.
It’s a gamechanger indeed.

Superb sound and flexibility. Now it is on almost all my buses!
I'm delighted with P42.

I've been using P42 all over the mix to hear how it affects the sound - and I like what it does! It just makes most of my audio tracks sound a little bit better with a minimum tweaking. And I really like those filters. It also has a very, very low CPU hit on my Core i9.

Already one of the most used and highest quality saturation / drive tools in my arsenal. Using it a ton on the drum buss as well as bass and midrange percussion. Instant glue and weight while leaving the source material intact (if you want to). Appreciate the extended features like shelves with adjustable frequencies, filters and more. Excellent sound with a very moderate CPU hit, great plugin!

Having heard all the buzz around this new plugin, I had to try it out for myself. Being familiar with high-end hardware preamps myself, this is impressive software. It manages to add size and energy in a musically meaningful way while retaining all the fullness and transient. This continues to impress me as it adds life to anything you put it on. Keep it up!

Such great results with such little CPU. Love to use it in small amounts all over the mix. Loving especially on my drum buss to help liven up those old Roland drum machines.

I downloaded the demo to try it out and I must say that this is unreal, black magic or something, it's the complement I was always looking for, I'm freaking out!

I'm a mastering engineer in Japan.
When I first tried it, I was amazed at the realism of the distortion, which no other plug-ins have.
I suspect that most engineers will not be able to tell the difference between the 1081 preset and the real thing.
I use it in parallel because using it directly in a 2mix is a bit over the top.
Not only the distortion, but also the Air, the shelf, and everything seems to be well done in general.

My request is to be able to switch off the LPF and HPF.

This is for high-resolution delivery.

Thanks for the great work.

Where as when I’ve worked with analog gear somehow, I require less gear and less moves to make me substantially happier without having to fix and come back and fix…
I own something like 1,200 plugins it’s ridiculous I’m not happy yet, right? My goal is to put my tracks through something that sweetens, emboldens, tightens, and brings out an instrument from the get go, making it so much easier and more of a joy to mix. So when I DO boost 2-6k I don’t have to cringe. And… In comes P42.
P42 came ahead in depth, fullness, focus, transient punch and roundness. It does all of the subtle nuances that I adore that just clean things up real nice and tight. It just makes going to work on a mix a joy.

Oh yes! it sounds good! It’s easy to use. Just open a preset as a starting point, tweak it, and voilà!. It could become your “ go to “ enhancer plugin. Low cpu: put it on almost every channel! Perfect for beginners or more advanced users. The only downside is the price. A bit expensive! But personnaly, I’m sold! Bravo !

My writing, recording, and mixing centers around various metal, punk and hardcore styles. I am always trying various ITB 'saturation' tools to help heavy guitar, bass and drums sit better in the mix. After one hour experimenting with P42 on individual guitar and bass tracks, as well as on the drum buss, I have to admit I am kind of blown away by this plugin's ability to very quickly and efficiently help each instrument claim its own space in the mix. Amazing work, Team Pulsar!!

P42 Climax is finally the plugin I have been waiting for a long time. it gives my bass a smoothness and depth that I could not find in any current plugin. Thanks

Just tried the demo. I have Chandler and BAE's pre-amplifiers.
P42 has that quality and is more versatile than them.
I'm going to buy it.

This little magic box is starting to become undisepensable for me. Lively and organic sound and also surprisingly versatile in use . Works great on everything I have tested it on up until now. The bad thing is that this beauty makes a lot of my earlier purchases obsolete. And I also like the GUI; unique and a little quirky but fast as lightning if you really want it to. Learn a few controls and make things sound sweet effortlessly. Have very high hopes for upcoming releases. Thanks.

My colleague called me and was super exited about this plug in. I saw the asking price and I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical. Downloaded the demo tried it out. What can I say? I'm sold. No way I can resist buying this. I own plenty of saturation and "mojo" boxes in hardware and this is the first plug in I've heard that is actually up there with the best them.

This is a big thing in a small package .. it gives a warm/healthy boost to a signal of your choice is just as clever on a full multitimbral track as it is on a kick drum. When this thing starts to distort, the sound just gets thick .. but not loud .. there is no tug of war even when you crank it .. and it will go much farther than you think. It also gives a refreshing clarity to the high end .. if the clouds are your aim.

There are so many ways to distort a signal, so many tube amps that just get a little tepid, and annoyingly loud ... none that i have used are as viable as this one is, right out of the box.

Interesting plugin which I might have completely ignored, mainly because of the high price, the gui and a few strange things surrounding its introduction. But things changed some and after spending time with it, using it is much more useful and fun than than I expected. The very generous demo demo policy and a discount will help me make a decision in the end.

Crave analog distortion, especially germanium and vintage Neve, this plugin reminds me of my Pultec hardware clone plus it has a tiny footprint!

This plugin was an instabuy. It does its own thing, and who am I to get in the way. did I mention that it was an instabuy! DO IT!

This one does not sound like any of the already available tools i have. It imparts some kind of organic sound and it seems alive, in a different way.
Don't be fooled by the few controls, this might be the only tool you need in adition to a good equalizer.

The release of this product got off to a bumpy start in some online music forums. Once the heat died down, I started noticing some very positive comments. I thought, what have I got to lose, it's a 40 day fully functional demo. Within minutes of trying the P42 I was impressed by the sound. It is very organic. It really can offer some subtle analogue sounding magic, brings things to life in a way that isn't that common ITB. I started out with it on the stereo bus. Very nice I thought. Within a few hours I had it all over a mix I'm working on. Drums, bass, e-keys, percussion, guitars, busses, reverb sends. The more the merrier. The good thing is that it has pretty low CPU footprint, so you can use it a lot. The filters and shelves are very smooth and musical. The interaction between the Input and Saturation is great. The honeymoon period is definitely not over. I don't go with the game changer idea, for anything. But the P42 is going to get a lot of use. It's kind of a one stop shop, it can shape sounds very nicely. I simply enjoy using it and what it brings. Good to see the developer has been open to listening to user feedback. I hope it is going to work natively with M1 Macs sooner rather than later. I gave it 4 stars, why? Because, everyone else gave it 5 stars and I don't want the developer to think the P42 is perfect. :-)

Just because I'm not going to pitch you on what a stupendous plugin the P42 is, doesn't mean that it's not. If you try the demo you're ears will tell you that much. What I will tell you is that what has impressed me as much as the plugin, is that the developer is open and willing to listen to feedback and incorporate what he can. Which is no small feat these days. Many companies (particularly higher end ones) put out a product and are iron fisted about it in a take it or leave mentality. I have been very pleasantly surprised at how much feedback the developer has taken in so far and I look forward to what is already an excellent plugin, progressing even further and also to any new products. The old adage "you get what you pay for" has never been truer!

P42 Climax is my choice of in-the-box transformer emulation processing. The results with P42 Climax are warm, clear and present, yet transparent. This is a must have plugin that will make you reconfigure your processing chain. Just like great analog makes everything sound better, so does P42 Climax. Very highly recommended!

Very organic saturation, beautiful hi shelf and low shelf, low cpu, feature proof and a lot of cool updates since the first release. Love it !

Ok.............

Just tried the demo.

It's the bolloc*s...

Now I need to buy this !!!!!!

What amazing colour this ads to my drum bus...!!!

I didn't think i need yet more distortion or coloration plugin BUT... After giving this a try i was very shocked by how unique this plugin is. Great character, great transient retention and bring its own unique energy to whatever you run through this magic box. Big Fan...

I cannot praise this incredible plugin enough!!!! It's like a magic dust of sonic genius!! seriously, you have to hear it to believe. I'm kind of hoping not many people discover it so I have a secret weapon in my audio arsenal that will be at the forefront of everything I produce / mix & master!! Hats off to you Pulsar!

Again ... an expensive buy but due to the quality of the former bought plugins from Pulsar Modular I bought it blindly. Man. It leaves all other simulated line amps in the dust. Can`t tell what happens here. But if you hit the right settings, it`s like someone pulled the curtain from your sound. I formerly just know this from using my original Neve 1073 Hardware. Love it.