Discover how the new MixWave: CA-286S plugin brings the legendary EF86 tube tone to the digital realm. In this Q&A, the team behind Coil Audio shares their insights on its design, how it pairs with the CA-70S, and why it’s a game-changer for modern mixing.

What are your impressions of the new MixWave: Coil Audio CA-286S plugin? What features stand out most to you?

We are thrilled to have the tone of the CA-286S circuit finally in the digital domain. This one took quite a while to get right but it was well worth the wait and although we probably drove the Dev team crazy, they really crushed it in the end. There really isn’t a proper EF86 tube type emulation out there - or anything that comes even remotely close to it. This is very exciting and we feel this is just as important as the 6J7 in the CA-70S. The secret weapons are finally here!

When it comes to hardware, we generally despise “mix” knobs. They are never implemented correctly on a hardware circuit level and at a great expense of the circuit’s tone integrity. But in the digital realm - that’s not the case. Here it adds a tremendous amount of flexibility to the plugin. We really enjoy the MixWave interface with its global tweaks - it really adds another dimension of voicing the plugin just like the hardware.

How closely does the CA-286S plugin replicate the original hardware unit?

We feel that the CA-286S plugin is almost a bit closer to the hardware than the CA-70S. That said, we’re totally splitting hairs here - but isn’t that what we get paid to do? The expectation that the plugin will replace the hardware unit is a foolish one,(as far as it’s interaction with microphones IRL) but the ability to just initiate several instances across every track in your DAW is gloriously gluttonous. MixWave nailed the Line Level response and You are guaranteed to smile.! The tone and feel are there instantly.

How do you typically use the CA-286S and CA-70S plugins together in your workflow?

The first test performed once we got past a few revisions was to use it in conjunction with the CA-70S plugin. This is a well known method amongst all Coil Audio hardware users who own both circuits. Anything is possible and many different tones are there for you to explore. Many people assume there wouldn’t be a difference which one is first in the chain - but the difference is substantial. The way the 2 circuits “hug each other” is quite different depending on the order, and the saturation onset from one into the other is a serious game changer. We haven’t found any combinations of plugins that work as well or as easily as these do together. Just using one can breathe immediate LIFE into a dull track - using 2 is almost like adding a mastering type polish. For vocals - a standard chain for us is the CA-70S into a great compressor (like the MixWave: Level) and then into a CA-286S. Once the gain staging is set - you won’t need anything else - Promise. This chain is also a stunner for mastering or printing great finished mixes ITB. We spent a lot of time scaling our Input and Output transformers to hit that perfect saturation point in conjunction with modern DAW levels and the plugins mimic this behavior perfectly. Sometimes all you need is great gain staging and a properly built tube circuit (or 2!) and voila!

What are some of your favorite ways to use the CA-286S in a mix?

We will literally spread the 70S, and now the 286S, across EVERY SINGLE TRACK during mix time. Why not? Doing this, even without tweaking the plugin - just in its default state, gives you such a great starting point to mix from. We like to think of the NF (negative feedback) control as a “Front to Back Placement” knob. Which is peculiar as most people only think in Stereo when mixing but this control can take things to a whole new level. Before any EQ is used - we always get the NF control dialed in and the “stage” set. Speaking of EQ, both circuits take it like a boss! Pushing crazy EQ moves “into” them yields some excellent and colorful harmonics. You can also “mine out” some tones of the circuit on the back side of the plugin to emphasize the response of the circuit, yielding more natural sounding tracks that sit well in the mix together. The component level modeling that MixWave does really makes it reactive like the hardware. For the first time ever we can confidently say that a mix could be almost fully accomplished anywhere with simply a laptop and some trusted headphones with these plugins.

Any final thoughts on the CA-286S and its role in the MixWave ecosystem?

We are super stoked to finally bring the Coil “digital” ecosystem into full balance with the addition of the CA-286S with MixWave. The 70 and 286 circuits are our distillations of the history of popular pro audio tube design - the Yin and Yang of timeless tube tone. We think everyone who uses them will get a real taste for what the hardware can do and what properly made tube circuits sound like. Need a dump truck to bust through the wall like hot butter - you have the CA-70S. Need an expensive and refined hifi punchy midrange saturation to impress your friends - now you have the CA-286S.