Leapwing Audio CenterOne Stereo Processor
Plug-in
LIFE-SAVER!
Keeping in context with our previous reviews, let's look at
another next-gen plugin that’s not trying to emulate some
hardware counterpart but rather looking to do something
entirely new. This is a plugin that manipulates the phantom
center of a stereo track while keeping the audio panorama
intact.
Leapwing is a company known for its high end, ultra-
transparent plugins. And this one is no exception. Its ability
to manipulate stereo information in a mix is insane. There
are plugins that seem to do this. For example, Centre by
Waves is a popular tool. But this plugin takes it to a new
level.
First off, its got a really nice looking high DPI interface that
is extremely simple and easy to use. While it may seem like
a typical Mid Side processor, the Belgian company claims
to use sophisticated panning and spatial manipulation
algorithms licensed from two French other DSP companies.
Let's get into what this thing actually does. To put it super
simple, you can pop out or push in the phantom center.
While this may be the most used function for most, it is
also important to say that it can be used for so much more.
You can have the plugin split the stereo signal into the
left, (phantom) center and right signals. This allows you to
process differently in a DAW and opens up a whole range
of possibilities (The setup and routing for this feature does
change for every DAW) While one may think a traditional
M/S processor does the same thing, this is quite different.
It's so much smoother and transparent. The Center
Prominence control behaves like a focus control for typical
mixes, sending vocals, soloists and the like forward or back
in the soundstage
without affecting the
bigger picture.
This plugin while
it may not see too
much use in a mix
scenario, it is a life
saver for repair work
and extremely useful
in mastering. One
can apply reverb to
the sides, and EQ the
center only, or use the
band-pass filter to selectively remove center-panned vocals
without taking out center-panned bass at the same time.
Pros
• Unique processing algorithms for extracting LCR data
from a stereo audio stream.
• Ability to emphasize or pull back the center (vocals,
bass, kick) in a stereo mix without affecting overall stereo
panorama.
• Five audio channel outputs for excellent flexibility
splitting out the stereo and LCR audio streams.
• Very high-quality results
Cons
• The CPU usage is on the high side compared to most of
your plug-ins, but it does things you can’t do otherwise!
• 64 bit only if you are stuck at 32 bits!
• Pretty expensive
This plugin is one of those. It offers a slightly new take on
good old fashion saturation and distortion.
Softube Harmonics Analog Saturation Processor
Plug-in
START A FIRE
The world of audio plugins has gotten increasingly huge and
at this point, they all pretty much do the same things with a
few minor differences. Most plugins these days sound clean
and do what you expect them to do. Why review and think
about new plugins then?
It's not about chasing a sound but rather looking for plugins
that offer minor workflow tweaks that help you think
differently when you find yourself in a rut with certain mixes.
First off, it comes with five different modes. Solid state,
Transformer, Tube, Modern, and Master. Each mode adds
very different kinds of colour to your mixes. This allows
you to think of different possible colours for your sources
and also makes the plugin quite versatile. The plugin also
offers something unique- a dynamic control. In most cases
adding saturation will even out dynamics in a source and
that is the intended outcome in most cases as well. But this
plugin responds to the dynamics of the source material and
adds a new dimension to boring old saturation. The thing
with saturation is, while it adds grit and excitement to your
tracks, it can sometimes kill transients leading to a flatter
sound. But this plugin analyses the audio and preserves the
dynamics even with the heavy distortion applied. It comes
with a knob that changes the way the dynamic feature works,
making it more or less dynamically responsive. It's almost
like a compressor/expander that does saturation. There are
high and low cut filters for some fine control along with a very
useful mix knob.
In conclusion, this plugin adds a nice fresh take on saturation
and while the price may be a little steep, it makes up for it by
being extremely versatile.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
39