Product of the Week: Acustica Audio Lace

Lace, the most recent plug-in from Italy-based developer Acustica Audio (to not be confused with the California-based Acoustica, makers of Mixcraft), is a collection of limiters modeled from a collection of {hardware} and software program models, which the corporate can’t establish instantly for authorized causes. However, a bit of digging round on-line reveals that Lace options fashions of limiters from corporations like Weiss, Manley and Neve.

The fashions are solely a part of the story, nevertheless. Lace additionally presents far more adjustability than most limiters.

When you put in Lace (VST/VST3/AAX/AU), you get a number of totally different variations to select from. You can load both a Standard or ZL (Zero Latency) occasion. The ZL variations are designed for monitoring and use extra CPU. The Standard variations are finest for mixing. For both sort, you additionally select the look of the GUI between Acustica’s silver 3D mode or the extra darkish and fashionable Flat mode.

Lace makes use of a multistage limiting strategy, which presents tender clipping, tender compression, exhausting compression (“true limiting”), and peak cease limiting (“clipping”). You can management which processes are utilized and apply particular ones to totally different components of the sign.

The plug-in options 4 fundamental limiting modes, every with totally different behaviors. In Disto Mode, the sign passes by way of a limiter and a clipper. Acustica says it emulates analog limiters and provides loudness whereas maintaining the fabric sounding pure.

Smooth Mode provides a tender compressor firstly of the chain, adopted by the limiter and peak cease. According to Acustica, this mode, primarily based on “Brick Wall 2” know-how, “protects delicate sound particulars from extreme compression but additionally emphasizes the presence and readability of transients, leading to a balanced sound with wealthy dynamics and detailed presence.”

Natural Mode additionally makes use of Brick Wall 2 know-how, but it surely contains assault occasions from particular {hardware} limiters and is designed to meticulously management transients. You also can manually alter Attack and Release occasions with management knobs.

The remaining mode, Clean, presents clear processing and a excessive stage of transient management. Users can select between Stereo and Mid-Side processing, and change within the Sidechain Filter to regulate the frequency vary going to the detector.

Several choices could be individually switched out and in of the circuit, together with a True Peak limiter, Dithering, Lookahead, and 2x, 4x, 8x and 16x Oversampling.

Lace options a big color-coded show and separate Gain Reduction, Peak and RMS meters. Also included are numerical readouts exhibiting the exercise of the separate Peak Stop, Hard and Soft limiters. You can simply change the metering between RMS and LUFS.

Other key options embrace:

Four listening modes, Delta, Left-Right, Mid and Side
Resizable GUI
Five Preamp emulations for including saturation.
Attack and Release Hold controls
Model choice menu for selecting particular emulations
Adjustable Knee
Dry/Wet Mix management

Lace is accessible from the Acustica Audio web site for an introductory worth of $96, which is able to rise to its common worth of $205 on March 25.

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March 9, 2024 at 05:24AM