Published 12/1/09
A trip down memory lane
Plug-in developers McDowell Signal Processing (McDSP) have launched three new plug-ins for Pro Tools. The 4020 EQ, 4030 Compressor and 4040 Limiter will be bundled in the Retro Pack, which developers say will give users the “ultimate vintage audio vibe” in their DAW rigs. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty:
The 4020 EQ has four semi-parametric filter bands — meaning you can change the centre frequency and gain, but not the bandwidth — plus adjustable high- and low-pass filters. There are input and output level controls and meters, and phase-reverse switches for each side of the stereo signal.
As with many of McDSP’s plug-ins, all three products in the Retro range use proprietary algorithms to “eliminate” digital clipping and instead emulate the saturation and subtle distortion of analogue hardware. We’ll have to wait for the SOS review to see whether they stand up to the claim!
Plug-in developers McDowell Signal Processing (McDSP) have launched three new plug-ins for Pro Tools. The 4020 EQ, 4030 Compressor and 4040 Limiter will be bundled in the Retro Pack, which developers say will give users the “ultimate vintage audio vibe” in their DAW rigs. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty:The 4020 EQ has four semi-parametric filter bands — meaning you can change the centre frequency and gain, but not the bandwidth — plus adjustable high- and low-pass filters. There are input and output level controls and meters, and phase-reverse switches for each side of the stereo signal.
The 4030 Compressor has controls for threshold, ratio, attack, release and make-up gain, and there’s a mix control for blending between the compressed and uncompressed signals. An external side-chain can be selected to trigger the virtual compressor’s detector circuit, and a ‘listen’ button allows for the signal feeding the side-chain to be soloed.
The 4040 Limiter is controlled with just two parameters: ceiling and gain, but it seems there’s quite a bit of automatic processing going on behind the scenes. McDSP describe the 4040 as a “look-ahead brick-wall limiter” that applies “several subjective treatments” to give a vintage sound.
As with many of McDSP’s plug-ins, all three products in the Retro range use proprietary algorithms to “eliminate” digital clipping and instead emulate the saturation and subtle distortion of analogue hardware. We’ll have to wait for the SOS review to see whether they stand up to the claim!
The Retro Series will be available in two formats: Native (RTAS and Audio Suite) and HD (TDM, RTAS and Audio Suite), costing $495 and $995 respectively — £324 and £652 in the UK at the time of writing.
