Pulsar Audio Black Friday 2026: 1178, VM-COMP, Vocal Studio and Bundle Prices
Black Friday 2026 · Pulsar Audio
Pulsar Audio builds careful emulations of studio classics: a cousin of the 1176, a variable-bias tube compressor, the GML 8200 EQ, the Neumann W495 and the Binson Echorec. Right now almost all of it is on sale at Plugin Boutique, single plugins from $19 and bundles from $59, until December 7. Here's every price, which bundle actually saves money, and what I'd buy first.
Pulsar Audio at Plugin Boutique now
UP TO 71% OFF
plugins from $19 · bundles from $59 · until Dec 7
Black Friday 2026 is Friday, November 27, and Cyber Monday is November 30. Almost the whole Pulsar Audio catalog was on sale at Plugin Boutique when I checked on November 9, 2026, up to 71% off, until December 7. That covers Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the week after.
Why I care about this brand: an 1176-style FET compressor appears in 34 of the 88 hit-record vocal chains in my Vocal Chain eBible. Pulsar's 1178 models the 1176's later sibling, which Pulsar describes as cleaner and more versatile than the 1176.
Related: Plugin Boutique Black Friday 2026 guide, Black Friday vocal plugin deals, Best plugin bundles for Black Friday.
What Pulsar did last Black Friday
I can't tell you. Plugin Boutique's 2025 Black Friday guide, which is my source for last year's deals in every guide on this site, doesn't list a Pulsar Audio offer, and I'm not going to guess. What I can compare is today's price against the list price, which the table below does for every product.
The Pulsar bundles, and whether they save money
Pulsar Audio bundles at Plugin Boutique, November 9, 2026
| Bundle | Now | List | What's inside | Singles today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vintage Compressors Bundle | $159 | $299 | 1178, VM-COMP, IPA 25 and Smasher | $186 |
| Mastering Bundle | $189 | $449 | MP-EQ, VM-COMP, 8200 and W495 | $196 |
| Analog EQs Bundle | $179 | $399 | MP-EQ, Poseidon, 8200 and W495 | $186 |
| Blue Bundle | $89 | $199 | MP-EQ and VM-COMP | $98 |
| Primavera & Echorec Bundle | $59 | $149 | Primavera and Echorec | $68 |
The last column adds up today's single-plugin prices. During the sale the singles are cut almost as deep as the bundles, so a bundle only pays off if you'd use everything in it.
1. Pulsar Audio Vintage Compressors Bundle — four compressors, four characters
The 1178, VM-COMP, IPA 25 and Smasher: a fast FET, a variable-bias tube compressor, a multi-VCA processor and an all-buttons-in smasher. Between them you can glue a bus, shape transients and add grit. Bought one by one at today's prices, those plugins cost $186, so the bundle saves $27.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $159 $299 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
2. Pulsar Audio Mastering Bundle — a whole analog-style mastering chain
The MP-EQ, VM-COMP, 8200 and W495. Pulsar pitches it as a complete chain: a tube-powered passive EQ, a clean EQ for subtle shaping, a warm three-band EQ and a tube compressor for glue. Bought one by one at today's prices, those plugins cost $196, so the bundle saves $7.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $189 $449 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
3. Pulsar Audio Analog EQs Bundle — four EQs, no compressor
The MP-EQ, Poseidon, 8200 and W495. It swaps VM-COMP for Poseidon, a console EQ model, so it suits people who already have a bus compressor they like. Bought one by one at today's prices, those plugins cost $186, so the bundle saves $7.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $179 $399 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
4. Pulsar Audio Blue Bundle - MP-EQ & VM-COMP — the two-plugin mastering pair
Just MP-EQ and VM-COMP. Pulsar designed MP-EQ to sit next to VM-COMP, and together they make a short mastering chain. Bought one by one at today's prices, those plugins cost $98, so the bundle saves $9.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $89 $199 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
The single Pulsar plugins I'd look at first
5. Pulsar 1178 — the FET compressor for vocals and drums
A model of the 1178, the rare later sibling of the 1176, with a fast, bright character. Pulsar added a full sidechain EQ, an optional saturation stage and an extended attack range, which lets it go from smashing a drum room to gentle contouring on a vocal. Plugin Boutique's page lists Chris Lord-Alge, Bob Clearmountain and Nigel Godrich among the engineers who used the hardware.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $49 $149 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
6. Pulsar Vocal Studio — a vocal chain in one plugin
An all-in-one vocal mixing plugin built around tone and production styles rather than separate processors. It has 11 special effects based on vintage wideners, octave and formant tools, saturation and spectral processing, plus 80+ presets made with professional engineers. Good for a fast starting point; you still need your ears to finish the vocal.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $69 $199 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
7. Pulsar Audio VM-COMP — variable-bias tube glue
An emulation of a modern tube compressor/limiter, built for buses and masters but flexible enough for tracking. It works in left/right or mid/side, and adds a visual sidechain EQ and extended timing ranges over the hardware.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $49 $149 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
8. Pulsar Audio Smasher — 1176 all-buttons-in, on purpose
A model of a modified 1176 in the all-buttons-in British mode: distorted, explosive and heavily compressed. Pulsar uses it for drum-bus ambience. At $19 it's the cheapest way into Pulsar.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $19 $49 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
9. Pulsar Audio Echorec — the Binson disk delay
An emulation of the Binson Echorec 2, the magnetic disk delay heard on records by Pink Floyd, The Shadows and Jimmy Page. Pulsar added real-time motor speed changes and tempo sync to the original design. It's the deepest cut in the sale at 71% off.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $29 $99 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
10. Pulsar 8200 — Massenburg's parametric EQ
A model of the GML 8200 designed by George Massenburg, the inventor of the parametric EQ: all-discrete, Class-A electronics with a tight low end and a clean, detailed top. The surgical one of the Pulsar EQs.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $59 $149 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
11. Pulsar Audio W495 — the mastering-room tone shaper
A three-band model of the Neumann W495. Pulsar says W495 units mastered most vinyl records made from the 1970s to the 1990s. Wide curves you can push hard, plus Auto Gain and per-band mid/side.
Plugin Boutique, Nov 9: $39 $99 · sale ends Dec 7 · See today's price →
Also in the sale: MP-EQ ($49 until December 7), a passive EQ with tubes and transformers in the model; IPA 25 ($69 until December 7), a VCA compressor with Clean, Original, V-Mu and N-Diode modes and a built-in clipper and limiter; Poseidon ($39 until December 7), an EQ modeled on a rare console; and Primavera ($39 until December 7), six spring reverbs in one plugin.
All Pulsar Audio prices at a glance
Pulsar Audio at Plugin Boutique, November 9, 2026
| Product | Now | List | Deal ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulsar Audio Vintage Compressors Bundle | $159 | $299 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Mastering Bundle | $189 | $449 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Analog EQs Bundle | $179 | $399 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Blue Bundle - MP-EQ & VM-COMP | $89 | $199 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Primavera & Echorec Bundle | $59 | $149 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Vocal Studio | $69 | $199 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio IPA 25 | $69 | $149 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar 8200 | $59 | $149 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio VM-COMP | $49 | $149 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar 1178 | $49 | $149 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio MP-EQ | $49 | $149 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Poseidon | $39 | $99 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Primavera | $39 | $99 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio W495 | $39 | $99 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Echorec | $29 | $99 | Dec 7 |
| Pulsar Audio Smasher | $19 | $49 | Dec 7 |
Bundle or singles?
For vocals, I'd buy singles. The 1178 ($49) covers the fast peak compressor slot in a vocal chain, and Smasher ($19) is a fun parallel option for drums. Together that's $68. If you master or mix whole songs, look at the Mastering Bundle or the smaller Blue Bundle: an EQ and a tube compressor is most of a mastering chain. The Vintage Compressors Bundle makes sense only if you'd really use four different compressors.
Buy now or wait?
Buy now if a Pulsar plugin is on your list. The sale runs until December 7, past Black Friday (November 27) and Cyber Monday (November 30), and Plugin Boutique showed the same end date on every Pulsar product, so you don't need to time it around Black Friday. Every paid order also comes with a free gift: on November 9 any paid order could pick UVI's Tape Suite (four tape-effect plugins, $99) or Excite Audio's Evolve Elastic Lite, and orders from $49 could take IK Multimedia's ReSing SE ($39.99) instead.
The 1176-style compressor is in 34 of 88 chains. Here's what goes around it.
The Vocal Chain eBible collects 88 vocal chains from hit records, as the engineers described them to me: every plugin, its settings and the order it sits in. Each chain comes in two versions, one with paid plugins and one with free ones, so you know exactly what is worth buying this week.
Get the Vocal Chain eBible — $48 →FAQ
Does Pulsar Audio have a Black Friday sale?
Yes. On November 9, 2026 Plugin Boutique had almost every Pulsar Audio plugin and bundle on sale, up to 71% off, until December 7, 2026. Plugin Boutique's 2025 Black Friday guide didn't list a Pulsar deal.
Which Pulsar compressor should I buy first?
For vocals and drums, the Pulsar 1178: a fast FET compressor with a sidechain EQ, modeled on the 1176's later sibling. For buses and mastering, VM-COMP, the variable-bias tube compressor. Smasher is the cheap, aggressive one for parallel drums.
What's in the Pulsar Audio Mastering Bundle?
MP-EQ, VM-COMP, 8200 and W495: a passive tube EQ, a variable-bias tube compressor, a clean parametric EQ and a three-band mastering EQ. It was $189 until December 7 at Plugin Boutique on November 9, 2026 (list $449).
Is a Pulsar bundle cheaper than buying the plugins separately?
During the sale, only a little. On November 9, 2026 the four plugins in the Mastering Bundle cost $196 bought one by one, against $189 for the bundle. Buy a bundle only if you'd use everything in it.
Sources & method
Plugin Boutique: Pulsar Audio · Plugin Boutique: Pulsar 1178 · Plugin Boutique: 2025's Black Friday guide
Prices, bundle contents and sale end dates were read from Plugin Boutique product pages on November 9, 2026 (US store, USD). The "Singles today" column adds up those prices. Product details come from the product pages; the chain count comes from the 88 original chains in my Vocal Chain eBible. I will update this page during Black Friday week.
Keep going
— IvanFromRnD
Prices were checked on November 9, 2026 and change often; every link opens the live product page. Affiliate disclosure: Meshplugins.com participates in the Plugin Boutique affiliate program. If you buy through a link on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Meshplugins.com is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with the brands mentioned. Commissions never decide what makes the list.
Who's behind this
Ivan Meshcheriakov · IvanFromRnD
5+ years ago I moved to LA with zero connections and started building from nothing — 14-hour days, meeting people and interning at studios. It took me 5+ years to meet and interview 100+ Grammy-winning engineers — then I turned it all into the Vocal Chain Bible.
Read my full story →