United Plugins Quick AG: Perfect acoustic guitar sound in-the-box?
Getting acoustic stringed instruments to sound right when recorded can be difficult, according to the developers of a new plug-in called Quick AG. Choosing mics and positioning, dialing in EQ and compression, setting levels… Quick AG is a plug-in gives you an all-in-one toolkit for mixing acoustic instruments, such as guitar, ukulele, and mandolin.
United Plugins – Quick AG
At first sight, the plug-in looks quite cluttered. But on closer inspection, the colour-coded interface turns out to be laid out quite logically. So finding your way around the various sections and will probably be quick, unless you are completely new to music production.
First in the chain is a variable compressor which emulates FET, Vari-Mu and Clean-style compression. Following is a guitar-optimized EQ with Low-Cut, Body, De-harsh, and Spark knobs – no hunting around for sweet-spot frequencies, then. Next is an “Xtra” processor with Transient, Doubler, and Width controls – adding that welcome bit of presence, weight and wideness to the instrument. Finally, a three-way reverb (Plate, Hall, Room) with Dry/Wet and Length controls helps finish off the sound with ambiance.
Laid out like this, the plug-in is approachable by novice producers as well as ones with a bit more experience. Veteran mixers will no doubt have their tried-and-tested signal chains already set up in their DAW, and probably little need for this type of plug-in. But for beginners, there are presets for various instruments to get started with what the developers consider ‘ideal’ settings.
All in all, I really like the concept and the detailed, realistic user interface. This plug-in makes a lot of things easy, which is hard to say of most typical studio effects. Adding a bit of analog colour, livening up a dry acoustic track, brightening a guitar with old strings – I can see plenty of use cases here if you are looking to quickly touch-up an acoustic performance.
Price and availability
Until the end of August, Quick AG is on sale for EUR 19, down from EUR 99. A free demo is available for download, too. The plug-in is available in VST, AU, and AAX formats for Windows and Mac computers.
More information
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