Acustica Audio Erin mastering suite recreates luxury UK tube gear
Acustica Audio got their sampling-happy hands on yet another specimen of obscure, sought after audio gear. The new Erin mastering suite captures three all-tube hardware processors – a 5-band stereo EQ, a stereo compressor/limiter, and a mid-range EQ. The original hardware is the work of a revered equipment designer in the area of high-end hi-fi.
Interestingly, Erin also introduces a new Acustica Audio technology called Ultragain. It’s a method of mapping all gain values in all frequency bands “extremely” accurately, adding to the realism that the developer is known for.
Erin Stereo Tube EQ
The first module in the suite is an ‘esoteric’ 5-band parametric equalizer familiar to mastering facilities. It’s a costly unit that only high-tier studios can really afford. Both EQ channels have five bands, hi-shelf and low-shelf filters with gain and fixed Q controls. There are also three boost/cut filters with adjustable center frequency. The tube preamp and each band can be bypassed from the dedicated controls.
Erin Mid EQ
This three-band equalizer homes in on frequencies between 200Hz and 5kHz. The original unit is made in the UK and resembles the fine-aged Pultec tube EQ design. In addition to the bands, a preamp stage and Mid/Side – Left/Right controls offer additional frequency adjustment options.
Erin Comp
The final module is a stereo tube compressor/limiter based on a UK-made mono unit. As a matter of fact, none other than David Gilmour owns two of these units for his Astoria recording studio. The original equipment is designed to limit or compress the signal with minimal interference below the threshold. Standard Attack and Release controls aside, the compressor feature specially optimized knee behavior for the attack/decay envelope and a transparent dynamics processing section.
Price and availability
Between June 17 – 24, Erin is on sale for EUR 62, down from EUR 179. The plug-ins are available in all the usual formats for Windows and Mac computers. They are authorised and installed through Acustica’s custom Aquarius plug-in manager. A free registration is required.
More information
This might also interest you
