Acustica Audio Brown: 4 plug-ins worth of old US broadcast gear Acustica Audio works overtime to build a museum-like virtual collection of obscure vintage gear. Their proprietary hardware sampling method nails the sound while the user interfaces are graphically rich and authentic. The developer’s latest release is Brown, a suite emulating 20-century US military equipment that eventually ended up in recording studios. This is extremely rare studio technology that’s served in recording classics from Capitol Records, A&M Records, and Motown. Brown is a pretty special release and, in prime Acustica tradition, it’s available at an introductory price for four weeks. Acustica Audio Brown Brown consists of four individual plug-ins in “normal” and “zero-latency” variants, the latter designed for tracking voices and instruments. The first is Brown EQ, which takes on three equalizers from 60s to 80s era mixers and outboard. EQ Model 444 is a semi-parametric 4-band EQ with high- and low-pass filters that saw use in the film industry. The inductor-based EQ Model 312 features three bands and a discrete OpAmp design. EQ Model 511 has two bands with both transistor- and inductor-based equalizers. The sound is based on a reissue of the original hardware. Next is the Brown Compressor which mimics a dual-mono tube unit built for AM radio broadcasting by the US Army in the 1940s and 1950s. Three modes await you here. COMP1 is an improved version of the original compressor, COMP2 retains the authentic sound, and COMP3 is a “Frankenstein compressor” of sorts that Acustica felt they just had to sample. Third is the Brown Preamp plug-in which offers a variety of preamp emulations – 24 line amps, 24 mic preamps, and 12 custom preamps. The final plug-in is the Brown Channel Strip which brings together all three preamp, EQ, and compressor plug-ins in one window. Nothing injects vibe and color in modern mixes quite like rare gear from the formative days of audio engineering. So consider getting your hands on the demo version to try for yourself. Acustica Audio Brown Channel Strip Acustica Audio Brown – Price and availability Until July 21, Acustica Audio Brown is being sold for EUR 149, down from EUR 229. The plug-ins run under macOS 10.14 or later and Windows 10 or later in VST, AU and AAX 64-bit formats. A demo version and a PDF user manual can also be downloaded. Acustica’s Aquarius software handles installation and licensing. Additionally, Acustica is having a summer sale with discounts on all its Acqua plug-ins reaching up to 80%. That’s a chance to have some mighty (albeit CPU hungry) plug-ins sorted! The summer sale ends June 27, 2021. |
