【New Free VST!】New Golden Age Pre-73 DLX Mk II Preamp & Channel Strip VST! Pyrite by Signal Perspective

  

Signal Perspective releases Pyrite, a preamp emulation plugin of Golden Age Project Pre-73 DLX Mk II with additional EQ and compressor and now available for free. 

Previously, a friend bought a Golden Age Pre-73 DLX Mk II and let me try it with test signals. I went home and started modeling it as a fun exercise. However, it turned out to be less interesting than expected, and the unit was incredibly linear within its normal operating range (at least with the impedances I tested; the transformer barely saturated at inaudible frequencies, and the amplifier saturated only at very high levels). Therefore, my model was practically useless, except for the low-cut and air filters.

To make the plugin more useful, I decided to create a plugin with some additional features. Specifically, I added a compressor (a very unconventional one, not based on any specific model) and a bass boost EQ, and changed the step controls to continuous controls.

The result is "Pyrite," a preamp emulation with EQ and compression features. It's particularly effective for drum sounds, but can be used on other types of tracks as well.

[Image of Pyrite plugin user interface]

To use it effectively, you need to understand the topology of the processors (which differs from what the interface suggests):

Transformer -> Saturation -> Compression -> EQing -> Output trimming

The transformer can be used to saturate the very low frequencies, and also acts as a high-pass filter at the input stage. Saturation can be set to soft or hard knee, and two knobs allow you to adjust the modeling of the original hardware. There's also a "Blend" control to mix back in the unsaturated signal. The dynamics processor is a soft-knee compressor that focuses on bringing out quieter parts rather than suppressing peaks (at least with the Amount knob set to a moderate value). It sounds somewhat similar to a parallel compression algorithm. The EQ faithfully reproduces the low-cut and high-pass filters of the original unit, but with a wider and more continuous frequency range.  It also includes a low-end boost filter that models the (linear) operation of the bass boost function on the EMI REDD console.

Features

Regarding functionality, the most notable features are:

192kHz/64-bit internal oversampling

Adjustable transformer

Analog-emulated saturation

Unique compression algorithm

High-pass, high-shelf, and low-shelf EQ

You can download here.

Pyrite