Stephen Bennett reviews a quintet of Universal Audio plugins…

Universal Audio (UA)’s software/plugin combo UAD has come a long way since the early PCI-based add-on cards that were designed to add some Digital Signal Processing (DSP) grunt to the underpowered computer of the day. Now on version 9.3, the hardware choice available consists of devices with PCIe or Thunderbolt, Firewire and USB connectivity as well as UA’s excellent Apollo interfaces that allow you to use UAD plugins in real time.

The UAD suite under review adds four of what UA call its ‘direct developer’ plugins (which are designed by their direct developer partners), and one from UA themselves. The first of the new quintet is the UAD version of Sonnox’s Oxford Dynamic EQ. This was reviewed in its ‘native’ format in AMI’s September 2017 edition, so have a look there for a more detailed description of its features. I can confirm that it works in precisely the same fashion as the ‘native’ version and sounds identical – as a phase-reversal comparison demonstrated.

One of UA’s claims regarding the accuracy of their emulation is the close working relationship they have with the original manufacturers and having access to their “golden units” and algorithms must pay dividends with those plugins based on digital technology. But when the emulation is a mixture of analogue and digital the situation becomes more complex. Many people like the ‘sound’ of digital processors because of the ‘colour’ imparted by the analogue input and output chain, so to emulate such devices effectively, both sides of the audio coin must be addressed.

The revered AMS RMX16 was an early digital reverb whose processing power seems laughable against that of a typical smartphone. Yet they were used on countless hit records by many respected engineers and represented an excellent use of limited processing power, clever algorithms and high end analogue circuitry. Developed by Mark Crabtree, the original designer, one might expect the emulation to be pretty close to the original. I was never lucky enough to own an AMS unit, but I do have a lot of recordings that were processed by one and still have the original instruments used. Listening back to these the similarities with the original unit are uncanny, the room, plate and nonlinear I used most (hey! It was the ‘80s) capturing the ‘vibe’ of the AMS perfectly.

AMS-Neve throws in presets created by the likes of Steve Levine, but to be honest, the AMS is so simple to use you don’t really need the guiding hands of audio giants to build useful programmes. The 1982 KORG SDD-3000 13-bit Digital Delay was a key component to U2’s guitar sound made famous by The Edge and UA claim that the UAD version is an end-to-end emulation. If you’re after a versatile, yet sonically interesting delay, then you may just have found what you’re looking for. The SDD-3000 features the then- amazing one second delay time and modulation effects, both syncable to the DAW’s tempo.

Add-on DSP hardware is here to stay and UAD are demonstrating that they are still at the top of that particular game"

The Dytronics Cyclosonic Panner is something I’ve never come across before. It’s an emulation of a 1984 vintage analogue modulation and panning processor that features autopanning, ‘3D’ panning and a gate for trigger panning. That’s a lot of panning. Usefully it can also synchronise to the DAW tempo. Comparing the sound to the bog-standard autopan in my DAW makes it apparent that the plugin definitely adds a certain mojo to the sound and when you were one of the few people in the world using the original hardware, it’s sonic idiosyncrasies were probably worth the price of entry. But now everyone with a UAD DSP processer can have one, it’s probably not so cool. However, kudos to Universal Audio for digging out these relatively obscure processors – I would not be without my UAD Cooper Time Cube now.

One of the challenges of reviewing UAD’s plugins is trying to track down the original of the hardware being emulated. Luckily one of my colleagues has an ENGL Savage 120 Amplifier so I was able to do some direct recorded comparisons of the plugin version versus the amplifier itself. We’ve come a long way since I strapped Rockman on to my belt for a simulation of that Delta Blues sound and, if you are turning the volume up to 11, the ‘real thing’ still definitely has the edge – but I’d challenge all but the most geeky listeners to try and distinguish a recording of the ENGL Savage 120 emulation from the amplifier mic’d up in a decent sounding room. You’d ideally need a near-zero latency UAD Apollo interface to use these in real-time, but I managed to record useable guitar parts using my usual interface. Until quantum computing offers a significant increase in real-time audio processing (or doing it in the past – the quantum world is like that) add-on DSP hardware is here to stay and UAD are demonstrating that they are still at the top of that particular game.

Key Features

• Sonnox Oxford Dynamic EQ
• AMS RMX16
• SDD-3000
• Dytronics Cyclosonic Panner
• ENGL Savage 120

RRP: £115 – £249 ($151 – $327)

www.uaudio.com

Stephen Bennett has been involved in music production for over 30 years. Based in Norwich, he splits his time between writing books and articles on music technology, recording and touring, and lecturing at the University of East Anglia.

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Stephen Bennett finds out what makes the company’s latest equaliser plug-in different from the rest.

One of the beautiful things about Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) is the ability they offer to automate almost everything. There’s no longer a need to use blunt-force de-essers and put up with that weird ‘toothless’ effect they almost always create. Instead, volume and EQ automation can be used to drop out plosives and sibilance to millisecond accuracy.

Equalisation is one of the first and most useful tools available to the audio engineer and has developed from simple valve and capacitor filled hardware to a myriad of sophisticated digital plug-ins. So why on earth does the world need a new EQ?

Sonnox have developed an enviable reputation for high-quality plug-ins based on the Sony Oxford consoles (hence the company’s name) so any new processor from them is worth a look and the Oxford Dynamic EQ under review adds some interesting twists to the familiar equaliser paradigm. The new plug-in is a 5-band parametric based on Sonnox’s excellent Oxford R3 EQ, itself designed so that the filter’s Q reduces in width with gain, creating a softer equalisation as the level is increased. Sonnox claims that this allows the EQ to capture some of the ‘mojo’ of the hardware on which it is based. The plug-in uses Sonnox’s standard user interface, so if you’ve had experience of the company’s other programs you’ll be up and running in no time – the software is authorised via an iLok 2 or 3.

The key to the plug-in’s raison d’être is in its name – the EQ can be applied dynamically to different sections of the audio. Like multi-band compressors, the Oxford Dynamic EQ splits the audio into frequency bands that can then be processed individually. Dynamically adjusting the EQ rather than the level, as a compressor does, has some advantages – a parametric EQ can have a more precise frequency adjustment than a compressor and the latter can suffer from static phase shifts at the crossover point. Sonnox claims that the Oxford Dynamic EQ can avoid these issues by utilising the aforementioned variable Q, with the added advantage that frequency bands can be overlapped.

On instancing the plug-in you’re presented with a typical EQ graphical display with gain on the Y axis and frequency on the X. You can set an ‘offset’ and ‘target’ gain for each selected frequency which then creates a constrained gain zone for the EQ to work over. So, for example, if your audio benefits from a boost at 5kHz, but the level occasionally strays into the hot zone, Sonnox’s EQ will let you cool it down. You can solo each band for precise setting of the dynamic EQ – perfect for spotting sibilance – and the EQ can process in stereo, left, right, side or mid only. As you’d expect, the plug-in can work in low and high shelf EQ modes or as a bell curve parametric. EQ parameters can be set by dragging on-screen or more precisely by numerical entry and the display can be zoomed in gain steps of 12 and 20dB.

The Oxford Dynamic EQ under review adds some interesting twists to the familiar equaliser paradigm."

A useful addition is a FFT frequency display that shows the output of the processed signal, which is extremely useful when trying to track down specific annoying frequency glitches or you want to see the overall frequency curve when mixing. The EQ can be controlled by sidechain signals whose filter frequency can be the same as, or independent of, the EQ bands via low, high or band pass filters. Sidechain signals can be solo’d and fed with stereo or independent left, right, mid and side signals. Fine control over how the EQ reacts to the audio are set in the Dynamic controls section itself. Under Detect, the user can select Peak, which reacts to all incoming audio or Onsets, which is specifically designed to cope with sudden changes in level – which is perfect for enhancement or remedial work on percussive sounds or sibilance.

The Trigger section allows the user to determine when the EQ kicks in and can be set to react to audio that is either above or below a defined threshold. When set to Above the EQ is effectively providing downwards compression and upwards expansion and when set to Below, upwards compression and downwards expansion (or gating) of the audio. The Threshold control defines when the processing becomes active and is a 10dB soft-knee type that is dependent on the trigger settings, while the Dynamics control is equivalent to a compressor’s ratio parameter and defines how reactive the band’s gain is and how strongly the EQ responds dynamically to the incoming audio. The Attack setting defines the speed that the EQ settings approaches the target gain, while Release controls how the EQ band recovers from the offset gain.

What this all amounts to is that problem frequencies can be addressed only when they appear above (or below) a set threshold. With a traditional static EQ, the entire channel will be processed even when it’s only a few milliseconds that need correcting – the Oxford Dynamic EQ lets you get all forensic with your audio while the reactive visual display makes it easy to see which frequencies are being affected in real-time. You could, of course, do something similar by laboriously (and tediously) automating multiple static EQs and compressors but, as they say, “time is money”.

Key Features

• 5 bands of the Oxford Type-3 EQ curve
• Ability to overlap all bands fluidly
• Flexible per-band internal/external sidechain controls
• Clear and informative GUI for complex workflows
• Flexible upwards/downwards compression and expansion

 RRP: £200

www.sonnox.com

Stephen Bennetthas been involved in music production for over 30 years. Based in Norwich, he splits his time between writing books and articles on music technology, recording and touring, and lecturing at the University of East Anglia.

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Waves Audio has announced the compatibility of Sonnox plugins with its SoundGrid real-time processing and networking technology.

The new partnership initially involves the Oxford EQ, Oxford Dynamics and Oxford Reverb v3 plugins, with more to follow. They can now be utilised in a live environment using Waves MultiRack or the Waves eMotion LV1 live mixer, or in the studio via Waves SoundGrid Studio and Waves StudioRack.

Registered owners of Native and HDX Generation 5 (G5) licences are able to add the SoundGrid Option for a fee of £15 per plug-in. Owners of previous Sonnox licence Generations will need to upgrade to G5 before being eligible for this upgrade. The new SoundGrid licence can be held on a separate iLok device to your Native/HDX licences.

The idea of this new development is to simplify a workflow by allowing the user to utilise their SoundGrid plug-ins on the road and Native/HDX versions in the studio.

The v3 Oxford updates also provide VST3 support, including external side-chain functionality; GUI enhancements such as high resolution graphics, high DPI/retina display support and overall lager GUI; as well as clarification of licence and installer naming.

Previously, owners of HDX G5 licences also received a Native licence with their purchase. Sonnox says it is continuing to offer this and, for the first time, any new HDX licences now purchased can be used on another iLok device. Both iLok devices must be registered to the same iLok account.

“Waves is happy to offer our users the freedom to practice their craft everywhere and anywhere. By enabling the use of Sonnox plugins alongside Waves plugins through Waves SoundGrid technology, be it in the studio, broadcast or live, Waves has expanded its intent to enable musicians and sound engineers to have the best in flexibility and creative freedom,” said Mick Olesh, Waves EVP sales and marketing.

Giles Farley, Sonnox sales and marketing manager, added: “We’re delighted to now support the SoundGrid platform with our latest v3 releases. Best wishes to our friends at Waves and to our shared customers wanting to add hallmark Sonnox clarity and precision to studio and live performances alike.”

http://www.sonnox.com

http://www.waves.com

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Plug-in developer Sonnox has launched a new site designed to provide helpful information, interesting content, tech-support knowledge and be easy to navigate.

The LEARN section is home to over 150 videos, tips, interviews and articles to help users better understand Sonnox plug-ins and how they can be used.

The site also offers free trials to those who would like to try fully-functional Sonnox plug-ins for 15 days (iLok required); the mySonnox area enables users to check their licences and upgrade them to latest versions; and the e-Store allows multiple plug-ins to be selected with a ‘pick’n’mix’ style pricing structure – the more plug-ins, the greater the discount.

Sonnox senior sales & marketing manager, Nathan Eames commented: “For some time now we’ve been working on this huge update to our website, and we’re delighted to have finally made it public. We believe our users will find the website full of illuminating articles, videos and generally helpful information.”

www.sonnox.com

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Sonnox has introduced Oxford Envolution, a frequency-dependent envelope shaping plug-in designed to radically modify the sound of individual tracks, busses and even master outputs.

According to Sonnox, Envolution boasts comprehensive and independent control of transients and sustain, with ‘Tilt’ or ‘Focus’ controls to choose where in the frequency spectrum the effect is applied. The company says this enables complete manipulation of the audio’s envelope to produce creative and even extreme results.

Transients can be boosted to add presence and punch, or reduced to create perspective, while the sustain section can easily make the ambience around a recording bloom or be cut back for quick and precise gating.

Sonnox senior sales and marketing manager, Nathan Eames, commented: “With such a wide range of potential users in so many audio sectors, from post, music to live sound, we’re excited about the creative possibilities that Envolution will bring. In keeping with all Sonnox designs, we’ve kept three core values in mind throughout the development process of Envolution – ease of use, an intuitive interface and most importantly – a great sound!”

Envolution is available in Native format – AAX Native, Audio Units and VST – at a retail price of $270 and AAX DSP format at an RRP of $435.

You can watch a short overview video of Envolution in action below: 

http://www.sonnox.com

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The award-winning Restore suite of plug-ins from Sonnox has been released in 64-bit format, making it compatible with digital audio workstations such as Pro Tools 11/12, Logic Pro X and other 64-bit DAWs.

Created to facilitate accurate audio restoration, the Sonnox Restore suite includes three plug-ins – Oxford DeNoiser, Oxford DeClicker and Oxford DeBuzzer – designed to enable fast and effective removal or reduction of pops, clicks, crackles, hum, buzzes and background noise.

The following plug-in formats are now supported: AAX Native, RTAS, Audio Units and VST.

“After much development, we’re delighted that Sonnox Restore now supports the AAX format, which we know will make a lot of Pro Tools users happy,” commented senior sales and marketing manager, Nathan Eames.

“Restore has been a staple for restoration work in many post and broadcast facilities worldwide, and used on such major restoration projects as the Sound of Music and Human Highway. We’re pleased to now offer the same high-end software at a new lower price, making it more affordable for all.”

Previously priced at $1,995 (US RRP), Sonnox Restore now retails at $630, but is now being offered at a special price of $449, until 31 October 2015.

http://www.sonnox.com

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Sonnox is handing out free £50 (around $80 USD) discount vouchers to its customers until 24 June.

The vouchers can be used to gain money off any Sonnox plug-in, including the popular Inflator, SuprEsser and Oxford Limiter.

The voucher code, JUNE50, can be used on multiple individual purchases.

For full details on the company’s June voucher offer, including Terms and Conditions, see the website below.

www.sonnox.com/JUNE50

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Sonnox has expanded its team in the UK with the appointment of Giles Farley to the newly created post of international sales manager, responsible for the company’s international reseller channel.

Coming from his most recent post as managing director of Pinewood Group’s Post Production Department from 2010-2014, Farley began his career with Digidesign/Avid in 1993 as international product specialist.

His abiding love of film inspired a 1999 move into post-production, where he helped create a multi-room Pro Tools complex for Shepperton Studios – the facility that centralised audio editorial and mixing services for many major Hollywood studios. 

Following Shepperton’s 2001 merger with Pinewood Studios, Farley helped expand those services (and the studio’s client base) as head of international post production sound. In 2008 he and his colleague, Dennis Weinreich were named co-managing directors of the Pinewood Group’s post production department. Their responsibilities included audio, picture, asset management and restoration services for the Film, TV and Games sectors. When Weinreich left the firm in 2010, Farley was named sole MD.

Commenting on Farley’s appointment, senior sales and marketing manager Nathan Eames said: “Giles Farley has a vast knowledge of the audio post-production ecosystem, from both the technical and the practitioner perspectives. Sonnox plug-ins are finding wider acceptance in TV, feature film and broadcast applications, and we are confident that Giles will be highly effective in further expanding our user base.”

“The experience I’ve gathered in software, music and post-production will be invaluable in helping me grow the Sonnox business and in serving our international reseller network,” Farley added. “The Oxford team is uniformly brilliant, and their enthusiasm for their work is genuinely inspiring. I very much look forward to working with this extraordinary group.”

http://www.sonnox.com/

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Studio and design consultancy White Mark has designed and installed an entire audio complex for Extreme Music’s new headquarters in London.

Extreme Music, the production music arm of Sony ATV, recently made the decision to move premises to accommodate its rapid business growth.

The complex includes a large mastering studio, a mixing studio that can also be used for tracklaying and three self-contained audio editing suites.

“We have been growing at a rapid rate and needed more space to accommodate staff and to provide more audio facilities," said Extreme Music’s senior vice president, Dan Pounder. "Fortunately we were able to take over offices vacated by another Sony company and the move gave us the opportunity to redesign the space so that it exactly suited our workflow. Thanks to the exceptionally high standards employed by both White Mark and BNP Paribas, which handled the design of the non-technical space, we now have a working environment that exceeds our expectations and has the wow factor we were looking for.”

The mastering room is equipped with a Pro Tools system, PMC monitors and a range of processing equipment. There is also a multipurpose room equipped with Universal Audio, Sonnox and TC Electronic processing with PMC monitors for mixing, tracklaying and mastering. The two rooms can work in tandem for larger tracklaying projects, with the mastering room doubling up as a live space. The complex also houses three edit suites of varying sizes, all of which are linked to a common DDP audio server in a separate machine room so that work can easily be transferred between any of the five rooms.

White Mark’s managing director David Bell added: “Although Extreme Music’s new facility required a more traditional approach to studio building to achieve adequate isolation, we were able to incorporate the company’s existing Fast Studio panels into our design for the acoustic treatment of the edit rooms.”

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Audio engineer Ben Findlay selected Avid‘s Venue Profile console for Peter Gabriel’s Back to Front tour, as well as Robert Plant’s 2012 live gigs.

Having started out as a recording engineer at Real World Studios, Findlay is a fan of the Venue Profile’s integration with Pro Tools, and enjoys having the option to bring some of his favourite studio tools into the live space.

“That environment is reflected beautifully in the Venue’s workflow. It’s so logical, incredibly easy to learn, and the ability to save and retrieve settings is really powerful," he said. "I bring my own Pro Tools rig whenever I can and multi track almost every show. I’m also a huge fan of Virtual Soundcheck. In some ways, it provides even more control than a live-sound check environment. It’s extremely powerful and freeing.”

Plug-ins are an increasingly important part of Findlay’s live sound arsenal. “I use Venue’s onboard processing extensively. I also really like the Sonnox Oxford plug-in, as well as the Sonnox Inflator for drums and the mix bass on occasion. On the vocals I tend to use the LA2 emulator quite a bit, as well as Bomb Factory.”

Findlay is also particularly pleased with the number of creative options the console provides. “It’s just so intuitive and powerful. I’m constantly finding new and creative ways to work with it,” he continued.

“Avid continues to set the standard for live sound gear, and our customers put on some of the world’s best performances,” added Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of products and services, Avid. “We are thrilled that Ben has chosen Venue to bring his ideas to life on stage.”

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