PRIME PREAMPS Price: $249
1073-PRE
Who isn’t up for another Neve 1073 emulation in their plug-in menu? Before getting to the EQ, the preamp itself is instantly impressive with its two
CONTACT CMI Music & Audio: (03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au
transformer options. Try increasing the Input Gain to add some magic. 1073-Pre does beautiful things on a drum bus or vocal, particularly in the lows, while subtly adding presence and compression to glue tracks together and make them pop. The EQ section has a high and low shelf, a continuously sweepable mid band (as opposed to the hardware which is stepped), and a fourposition high pass filter. Small tweaks are very perceptible and perfect for adding a touch of flavour to a mix or individual track. Unlike many other EQs, I like that you can turn down the high shelf without a track getting muddy or losing focus. It’s a safe bet that this plug will make any well-recorded track sound better. TRIDA-PRE
Not that looks should matter but the purple GUI of Arturia’s Trident Audio A Range preamp clone is exquisite. The tone is bold and works wonders on vocals. The four-band EQ is presented via faders, with high and low shelves and two mid curves. High-pass and low-pass filters are engaged with push buttons set at different frequencies. The curves feel gentle and musical and I especially liked the meaty sound of the low shelf which kept its clarity when boosted. The break-up of the TridA-Pre has a real sense of
PROS Filters offer extreme flexibility M/S and L/R options on preamps Very musical tone all round
CONS None
analogue hardware. Try pushing the preamp gain all the way up on a bass guitar for a buzzy edge. Like the other two preamp plugs, this too has M/S processing which gives you a fresh way of mixing the stereo spread on drum overheads, a BVs bus, stereo keyboard, even over the whole mix. V76-PRE
The V76-Pre is by far the most old-school looking plug-in of the bunch, thanks to the ‘I need a screwdriver’ Input Gain knobs and sunken vertical EQ dials. The Telefunken tube preamp emulation adds a pleasant low-mid warmth to synths and other harmonically rich instruments. It gets proper gnarly when pushed. The two-band high and low shelves (marked by bass and treble clefs) are about the most inoffensive and musical an EQ can get. A treble boost on acoustic guitar opened up a lovely airiness that wasn’t harsh in the slightest. And while the bass curve doesn’t punch like the TridAPre’s equivalent, it still adds fullness and weight in a transparent fashion. Filter points are at 80Hz and 300Hz, or click the dial one step further to 80Hz+300Hz and combine the two.
SUMMARY Arturia’s Pres & Filters bundle truly lives up to its name — they’re all plug-ins you’ll actually use, regularly. Electronic music creators will gravitate to the filters while recording and mix engineers will probably appreciate the preamp emulations more.
NEED TO KNOW
There’s a certain appeal in running ‘cold’ and ‘sterile’ DAW tracks through bits of analogue gear to ‘warm them up’. The next best thing — when taking tracks on a physical trip out of and back into the digital domain is impractical — is to throw a harmonics-inducing plug-in across those tracks. Arturia’s trio of preamp emulations mimic three classic channel strips and does a wonderful job curing your digital woes with analogue mojo. All three plug-ins have a few things in common, the first of which is a pair of VU meters to get you thinking and seeing analogue. The plug-in’s DNA is really showcased through its breakup characteristics. An Input Gain knob lets you drive the preamp stage from subtle warmth to the border of mayhem, while an Output knob keeps your levels in check. A minimal equaliser section models the original hardware. Then as a beneficial value-add, all three plugs let you process stereo tracks either L/R or M/S (the latter of which turns the equaliser, input gain, and output controls to middle and side, respectively). Better yet, they’re all relatively low on CPU usage.
AT 65