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Metric Halo MB Howies179 4.1.17

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Metric Halo MB Howies179 4.1.17
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MB Howies179 is a compressor/limiter plugin from Metric Halo and Make Believe Studios, built as a direct capture of mastering engineer Howie Weinberg's personal pair of NTP 179-120 hardware units. It adds smoothness, weight, and analog glue to mixes and masters, with recallable settings, mono/stereo flexibility, and cross-platform presets not possible with the original fixed hardware pair.

Features

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Metric Halo MB Howies179 4.1.17 Overview

MB Howies179 is a compressor/limiter plugin developed by Metric Halo in collaboration with Make Believe Studios and legendary mastering engineer Howie Weinberg, built as a direct capture of Weinberg's own personal pair of NTP 179-120 hardware units. Available as an AU, VST2, VST3, and AAX plugin for macOS and Windows, MB Howies179 requires Mac OS X 10.10 or newer and runs on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. Version 4.1.17 is the current release, distributed through Metric Halo's official mhsecure.com storefront. What sets MB Howies179 apart from a typical "vintage-inspired" compressor plugin is that it isn't modeled on the general 179-120 design at all — it's a faithful capture of Weinberg's specific, personal pair, the very units he's leaned on throughout a 40-plus-year mastering career that includes 20 Grammy wins and 76 Grammy nominations across more than 2,000 mastering projects. The original NTP 179-120 was built in 1975 for the first Neumann mastering consoles and became a fixture at Masterdisk, used by both Weinberg and Bob Ludwig on countless records through the 1980s and 1990s; genuine working units are now exceptionally rare. Rather than the fixed, non-recallable stereo hardware pair, the plugin adds recallable settings, flexible mono or stereo deployment, and an adjustable UI size, while a +DSP version offers zero-latency processing directly on Metric Halo's 3D audio interfaces.

Key Features

Faithful Capture of Weinberg's Personal Units Rather than a generic emulation of the 179-120 design, MB Howies179 directly models the dynamics response, boxtone, and distortion characteristics of Howie Weinberg's own specific hardware pair. Analog Saturation & Glue Applies the smoothness, weight, and characteristic "glue" that made the original hardware a go-to choice for mastering full mixes and unifying disparate elements. Recallable, Flexible Deployment Unlike the original fixed stereo hardware pair, the plugin offers fully recallable settings and can be used in mono or stereo configurations rather than being locked to a stereo bus. Streamlined, Purpose-Built UI A small set of controls, refined based on Weinberg's own zeroed-in range of settings from decades of mastering work, keeps the plugin easy to use without a complex menu structure. Adjustable UI Size The plugin interface can be resized to suit different monitor setups and workflow preferences. MH Preset Manager Provides cross-platform preset management, letting saved settings move consistently between macOS and Windows installations. Zero-Latency +DSP Option A +DSP version of the plugin runs with zero latency directly on Metric Halo's 3D Audio Interfaces, included with that hardware for real-time tracking and monitoring use. iLok-Based Licensing Uses iLok.com account licensing with two included activations, supporting installation on a machine, a physical iLok dongle, or the iLok Cloud for portability.

Extensions Details

Release Date2026-01-01
File Size52.4 MB
Version4.1.17
DeveloperMetric Halo
PublisherMetric Halo
LanguagesEnglish
LicenseFree

System Requirements

Minimum
OSmacOS
ProcessorApple Silicon
GPUIntegrated
Recommended
OSmacOS
ProcessorApple Silicon
GPUIntegrated

How to Use Metric Halo MB Howies179 4.1.17

Set up or sign in to your iLok.com account, since licensing requires iLok, whether on your machine, a dongle, or the iLok Cloud. Download and install the AU, VST2, VST3, or AAX plugin, then authorize your license through iLok License Manager. Open your DAW and load MB Howies179 on a track, mix bus, or master bus. Start with the plugin's default settings, referencing Weinberg's own recommended range as a starting point. Adjust the compressor's controls to dial in the desired amount of glue, weight, and analog saturation for your material. Use in either mono or stereo configuration depending on whether you're processing an individual track or a full mix. Save custom settings using the MH Preset Manager for consistent recall across sessions and platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions