RECORDING November 2024 - 64

REVIEW
MCAudioLab LUNA
An analog foreground and background manipulator
REVIEW BY PAUL VNUK JR.
B
ased in Warsaw, Poland, MCAudioLab offers a line of hand-built,
boutique analog preamps and processors with distinct looks and styling.
The most intriguing device is LUNA, an analog ambient processor
designed to alter and enhance the foreground and background of your tracks.
Not Your Typical Mid-Side
Scenario
Mid-Side (M/S) recording and processing
has become quite popular, especially
in mixing and mastering. Signals are split
into mono/center and side/stereo content
that can be independently processed, and
often, the sides are widened.
Most commonly done digitally in the
box with plugins, there are a few analog
M/S specialty boxes, but hardware units
mostly focus on the M/S encoding and
decoding task alone.
Typically, when widening the sound, an
algorithmic process stretches and moves
the side signals beyond the perceived stereo
sound stage-like stretching a rubber
band or pulling an image on silly putty.
Like any process that shifts, bends and
stretches the audio, artifacts can occur
when pushed too far.
This is not how LUNA works. It's not a
" stretch it wider " box. Instead, LUNA adjusts
the tone, placement and relationship
of the foreground (mono/center) and
background (sides/depth) of your audio
to increase the perception of its 3-D image.
While that may sound like semantics,
it's actually a very different thing.
Blue, Silver and Glowing
The all-analog, DSP-free LUNA is
64 RECORDING November 2024
housed in a 2-U 19 " metal enclosure
with a brushed silver appearance behind
a translucent blue Plexiglass panel and
a blue backlit nameplate. It features a
healthy selection of toggle switches, LEDs
and smooth pots. All parameters and controls
are marked in a stylized black font.
Around Back
On the rear are Stereo/Left and Right
balanced XLR I/O (each with a grounding
switch), 1
/4
I/O and dedicated 1
" TRS send-return insert
/4
" TRS M/S outs.
There is also a 3-prong IEC power socket.
Incoming
LUNA comprises four sections: Input, MidSide,
Enhance and Output. The toggle-based
input section handles the basic routing options
of LUNA. There is a Hard Bypass plus
Mid-Side Cut switches (which let you hear
each element individually). There are Mid
and Side insert switches with metering should
you wish to add additional external processors
into the mix. Finally, you can select
whether the incoming signal is a Stereo/Left
and Right signal or a Mid-Side signal.
Mid-Side
Incoming stereo and raw two-channel
M/S signals are converted into Mid and Side
audio components. Each gets an individual
passive Input control (0 to ∞dB of attenuation)
followed by an active Trim knob (+/6dB).
The passive input allows you to pull
down loud incoming audio, while the Trim
control lets you balance and blend your
center and side signals to add or decrease
your audio's perceived width and image. If
we stopped here, LUNA would be similar to
many basic M/S processors on the market.
Enhance It
The Enhance section is what sets LUNA
apart. You will find controls labeled Mono
and Depth with settings of Off to Max. As
you engage each control, you will hear
an increase in the level of each section,
but rather than simply being louder, it's
more of a subtle analog presence.
Next, Mono and Depth each have a
3-band fixed EQ (Bass, Mid and High)
with +/-10dB of boost or cut. This lets you
shape the sound of your material's Mono
(foreground) and Depth (background), so
they sit tonally just right in the mix.
Back Out
The output section offers a master Output,
Left-Right balance control, and a
3-stage stereo signal LED. All three are
vital components, as cuts, boosts and enhancements
made elsewhere will affect
the final output levels.
SWAP
The final control on LUNA is SWAP, or
" Share With Analog Processor. " While it
sounds cryptic, this is a parallel blend/
mix control for the Enhance section. The
Mid-Side level settings remain independent
and unaffected by SWAP.
Digging In
As an all-analog box, LUNA imparts
a subtle presence just by running a signal
through it with all of its processes bypassed.
Even there it can be handy for makeup gain
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