Amazingly, 2016 marks two decades since Soundtoys founder Ken Bogdanowicz left Eventide to develop his own range of software processors. In that time, many of the Soundtoys effects have become classics in their own right, and plug-ins such as EchoBoy are still widely used by the world’s top mix engineers some 15 years after its release. To celebrate, as well as throwing a lavish party at United Recorders in LA, the company have made their latest plug-in available for free — but you’ll have to be quick to snap it up.
Sie-Q is Soundtoys’ first equaliser, and like many of their products, is an accurate emulation of a somewhat obscure hardware original. The inspiration, in this case, is the EQ from the Siemens Sitral mixing console, an early transistor-based design that was built to uncompromising standards and which was way ahead of its time when introduced in the late ’50s. Like many of the most revered EQs, it has a relatively limited set of features, offering fixed-frequency high and low shelving bands and a mid band with six frequency options. Soundtoys promise that their emulation faithfully captures the Sitral’s effortless, smooth sound, and Sie-Q goes beyond the original by making the boost/cut controls fully variable rather than switched, and adding a subtle but effective Drive control.
Sie-Q is available for free, in all major native plug-in formats, until October 13th; after that, it will retail at $129. Get your skates on!
