AudioMedia - November 2008 - (Page 26)

Abbey Road studios has a certain reputation to uphold, so will its brilliance Pack live up to expectations? AlAn bRAncH decides to find out. o studio comes with more history and fame than Abbey Road. The studio earned its reputation not just for the influential records recorded therein, but also for its unique sound, which was made possible by the clever in-house EMI engineers of the time, building custom mixers and EQ racks for the studio. New from the Abbey Road plug-in series is the Brilliance Pack plug-ins, complementing the existing TG 12413 Limiter and TG Mastering Pack series. The Brilliance Pack features three plug-ins, RS127 Rack, RS127 Box, and the RS135, based on the original external EQ units that were made to supplement the existing REDD Console, which was cooking all the recordings way back then. n interface) as its popularity grew, so you could add them together for extra boost. Since the original boxes had identical internal circuits, why are there two plug-in versions? In the making of the plug-ins they realised that the interfacing transformer used to make the older hardware compatible with modern consoles was having a marked impact on the audio. So, the grey rack version is modelled on the original, whilst the green has the transformer effect added for that post ’s vibe. The third plug-in is the RS135, another Box unit made with a fixed 8kHz to cover the missing frequencies between the 5khz found on the REDD desk and RS127’s 1kHz. I used the Audio Unit version, available in TDM/LE ABBEY ROAD plug-ins BRilliAnCE pACK RS127 Rack, RS127 Box, & RS135 The RS127 comes in two flavours: a no-frills grey colour version, representing the rack unit that was produced for the studio itself, and a lovely retro green version that represents the units produced after it became so popular that portable units were made that could be taken from studio to studio. I can just imagine the in-house fights over them as they were pinched to add a touch of magical brightness to a mix or mastering session. Remember, they had little in the way of the processors we have now, and these boxes were made to fill in the frequencies not selectable on the mixing desks then. These Presence or Brilliance boxes, as they were known, were first made for the studio rack (the grey interface), then a second portable Box unit (the green and VST for Mac and Windows, and requiring the iLok Smart Key. The first thing I noticed when dialling up the RS127 grey rack plug-in was how it offered an instantly pleasurable sound – I don’t think I’ve ever come across an EQ so nice, or a plug-in I instantly liked. There isn’t much to operate here, just three fixed EQ points, 2.7, 3. 5, and 1kHz, with a gain control of +/- 1dB in 2dB steps. But what’s apparent straight away is the character of the EQ curves – the sweetness of the extra high end gain added little or no harshness, but added the elusive ‘air’ you so often want to breathe into a vocal or a guitar. When cutting, it helped reduce a brittle digital sound we had in a mix, so it works both ways, and as there is only limited frequency choice it either works or doesn’t. > THE REVIEWER ALAN BRANCH is a freelance engineer/producer and ex-member of the On U Sound Crew. His long list of credits include Jamiroquai, Beverley Knight, M People, Simply Red, Depeche Mode, Shed 7, Sinead O’ Connor, Bjork, and Sade. 26 AUDIO MEDIA nOvEMbEr 2008 http://www.nagraaudio.com http://www.nagraaudio.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - November 2008

AudioMedia - November 2008 Contents Recording News Post News Broadcast News Geofocus: Italy What's Up UK AES Review For the Record Studio Snapshot: Aquarium Abbey Road Plug-ins Brilliance Pack Neumann TLM67 Mercenary Audio KM-69 IZ Technology ADA Final Cut Special: Bond TC Powercore 6000 EP Productions Nagra VI Product Sampler: Location Tools Video Guide AMSR News Shure KSM9 Big Beach Boutique 4

AudioMedia - November 2008

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