AUDIOTHING Type A
Back in the days of analogue tape, Dolby offered several noise reduction systems to tamp down the hiss. Dolby A used multiband technology to compress the signal before it hit the tape (encode), then expand it again upon playback (decode). By using only the encode stage, though, a magical treblefocused enhancement effect was created – and that’s what Type A emulates. The four bands and direct signal are individually toggled, and a Mix knob controls overall balance. A hidden second panel offers control over attack/release, band levels, noise amount, and more. Yours for €49.
URL www.audiothing.net
Plugin Boutique Radio
Internet radio is a limitless and unpredictable well of sonic inspiration, yielding everything from rare grooves to off-kilter soundbites. Radio streams it right inside your DAW (or outside of it – it’s a plugin and a standalone app). As well as musical content, channels cover sci-fi, comedy, police scanners, paranormal content and more. You can add your own stations, too. The software constantly buffers the last 30 seconds of audio – save a clip, then drag it to your DAW’s timeline for use in your tracks. Naturally, you’ll need to clear copyrighted material if intended for release. Radio is £25.
URL www.pluginboutique.com
Acustica Audio Crimson
According to the Acustica, many believed that their effects sampling technology, Acqua, would never be able to recreate the “creamy” tone and texture of real analogue overdrive. So here’s one for the naysayers: Crimson, the first Acqua overdrive/saturation. The main plugin is a channel strip comprising compressor, preamp and saturation modules; the former two are also included as individual plugins. They say it’ll impress mastering and mixing engineers with its “precise, punchy, clear compression, colourful distortion flavours and ‘Super Saturation’ mode.” Fire it up now for €129.
URL www.acustica-audio.com
SKnote Marconi1
Named after the knob design of the original hardware, Marconi1 is a component-level model of the Neve 1073 preamp and EQ. The featureset is familiar, with gain introducing drive and grit, high-pass for curtailing bass, low shelf and midrange bell for tonal shaping, and a fixed-frequency high shelf for treble tweakery. Every component has been recreated, preserving all the “non-ideal” behaviours that give the real thing its signature sound; but what sets Marconi1 apart are its switchable transformer, inductor and capacitor models, with three options for each. It’s $50.
URL www.sknoteaudio.com