Pulsar Audio’s latest plug-in provides a faithful emulation of the EQ section of Trident’s renowned A-Range console, an incredibly rare beast that helped shape the sound of iconic tracks from the likes of David Bowie, Queen and Elton John. Poseidon promises to capture the sound and character of the original circuitry while making it more intuitive to use and packing in some helpful modern features.
The A-Range’s four-band EQ section is widely praised for its musicality, employing a pair of inductor-based mid band peak filters alongside high- and low-frequency shelf filters. It’s visually distinctive, too, due to the use of faders rather than potentiometers for each band’s level controls.
Pulsar Audio say that although its sound is highly sought after, the unusual curves and band interactions of the original design can make it somewhat tricky to use, and that they’ve implemented a detailed display curve that helps to provide a clearer understanding of how each control shapes the sound. As well as offering visual feedback, the curve can also be interacted with in the way you’d expect of a modern EQ plug-in.
Poseidon also includes a number of other changes that help to make the plug-in more versatile, including opting for continuously variable frequency controls rather than the fixed options provided by the original design. They’ve also extended their frequency ranges, something which was limited in the hardware design due to the size of inductors that would have been required.
A Mid-Side option has been added, along with a Gain Scale knob and an Auto-Gain feature that keeps the output level consistent with the input. Alongside its EQ capabilities, the plug-in also offers a range of built-in saturation options. There’s an emulation of the original unit’s preamp circuitry, as well as a pair of output transformer options that introduce some additional low-end harmonics.
Compatibility
Poseidon is supported on PCs running Windows 7 and above, and Macs running macOS 10.8 or higher. VST, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available. An iLok account is required for authorisation.
Pricing & Availability
Poseidon is available now, and is currently (10 September 2024) being offered at an introductory price of €59, reduced from its full cost of €99.
