Tag Archives: empirical Labs

Empirical Labs releases Rev 3 of AROUSOR

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Empirical Labs releases Rev 3 of AROUSOR™ as ultimate evolution of flagship compressor plug-in with more Distressor-based tones “The plug-in is a game changer ITB; I have, for a very long time, been a fan of the Distresser on snare, and now I have that again.”


“The plug-in is a game changer ITB; I have, for a very long time, been a fan of the Distresser on snare, and now I have that again.” 
– GRAMMY® Award-nominated record producer, engineer, and mixer Jacquire King, 2021


LAKE HIAWATHA, NJ, USA: Empirical Labs Inc. (ELI) is proud to announce availability of AROUSOR™Rev 3 — the ultimate evolution of its flagship compressor plug-in, introducing more tones based on its Distressor hardware counterpart, itself one of the best-selling high-end compressors of all time as the product that started it all for the professional audio signal processing equipment designer and manufacturer/plug-ins producer, with the addition of two Opto (A and B) compression modes, as well as two additional (6:5:1 and 7:1) ratios for even more dynamic possibilities, available for free to existing owners of AROUSOR™ as the update they have been waiting for — as of March 30…

Being borne out of ELI founder Dave Derr’s love of classic compressors like the 1176, LA-2A, and Gain Brain (amongst others), the Distressor incorporates his favourite sonic characteristics of outstanding outboard originally released way back when with other unique and interesting features that have made it a staple for audio engineers all over the world as one of the best-selling high-end compressors of all-time. It is inevitable that such a popular product would one day receive the plug-in treatment, taking the soul of the company’s professional audio signal processing equipment hardware and applying it to the wonderful world of ITB (in the box) workflow within a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), albeit AROUSOR™ is the only native Distressor plug-in produced by ELI itself. As a new and improved (EL8-X) version of the Distressor increased its tonality with the addition of new features, so AROUSOR™Rev 3 — the ultimate evolution of ELI’s flagship compressor plug-in — introduces more tones based on its Distressor hardware counterpart.

Kicking off with two Opto (A and B) compression modes based on the time constants of a classic and a modern LA-2A compressor that many existing owners of AROUSOR™ have been waiting for — it is, after all, a much-loved Distressor feature, noteworthy new additions to AROUSOR™Rev 3 also include a SOFT CLIPPING expert (e) panel — allows for introducing more second harmonic distortion and an ability to place the compressor input before or after the soft clipping circuit; a Listen mode — to hear what frequencies are affecting the DETECTOR SIDECHAIN EQ’s compression detector; additional 6:5:1 and 7:1 ratios (accessible by enabling ALT mode in the RATIO section) — for even more dynamic possibilities; and an enlargeable GUI (Graphical User Interface) — to double its original size for more comfortable onscreen editing.

ELI’s classic knee compression with proprietary high-resolution detector modelling remains at the heart of everything AROUSOR™Rev 3 does so well, with 12 unique compression ratios, including the famous brick wall — RIVET mode in AROUSOR™-speak — for maximum gain reduction. Remaining features well worth highlighting here are an adjustable broadband SOFT CLIPPING control — for introducing warm saturation; a unique AtMod ATTACK MODIFICATION control — to change the shape of the initial attack; an advanced high-pass/band-pass DETECTOR SIDECHAIN EQ — for fine-tuning compression detector response; and Mix knob with (e panel-enabled) Dry Level Trim — for parallel compression.

As the update existing owners have been waiting for, AROUSOR™Rev 3 has brought the legendary tone of ELI’s analogue hardware into the digital realm with even more possibilities as an ITB game-changer… just ask Jacquire King, whose work with the likes of James Bay, Kings of Leon, and Shania Twain has received 30-plus GRAMMY® Award nominations to date! 


AROUSOR™ Rev 3 is available for purchase as an AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-supporting 64-bit effect plug-in for macOS (10.7 or higher) and AAX-, VST2-, and VST3-supporting 64-bit effect plug-in for Windows (7 or higher) for a time-limited introductory promo price of $129.00 USD for the first 10 days — rising thereafter to an MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) of $199.00 USD — directly from ELI here: https://www.empiricallabs.com/product/arousor/

A fully-functional, 15-day trial of AROUSOR™ Rev 3 is available to download from here: https://www.empiricallabs.com/downloads/

An iLok account is required for activating both the demo and full versions of AROUSOR™ Rev 3 via iLok Cloud or using an iLok 2 or iLok 3 USB dongle. (Pleasenote that ELI’s BIG FrEQ EQ plug-in — partially extrapolated from its much-loved Lil FreQ hardware EQ — is now also iLok Cloud compatible in its latest update.) For more in-depth information, please visit ELI’s dedicated AROUSOR™ webpage here: https://www.empiricallabs.com/product/arousor/ 

BIG Freq plug-in available from empirical labs

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Empirical Labs announces availability of its BIG FrEQTMplug-in, partially extrapolated from its Lil FrEQ hardware


LAKE HIAWATHA, NJ, USA: having hitherto made available an earlier version for prerelease, professional audio signal processing equipment designer and manufacturer/plug-ins producer Empirical Labs Inc. (ELI) is proud to announce availability of BIG FrEQ 1.0 — the full release version of its first EQ plug-in, partially extrapolated from its much-loved Lil FreQ hardware EQ (that takes a somewhat unusual approach to the task at hand by combining most of the sound-sculpting tools an engineer needs into a compact single rack space box), but expanded upon in terms of available sections and features — as of October 14…
With no fewer than 12 powerful sections of processing to its appropriate appellation, BIG FrEQ should single-handedly handle all tonal and spectral-shaping needs for single tracks, as well as busses, including use as a versatile mastering tool. As always, ELI itself strives to bring new functionality and creative twists to plug-in EQs with its first such release, having labored long and hard over making it easy to learn and plain fun to use.
But best of all, BIG FrEQ is immensely useful, obviously, offering the ability to create modern ‘flat-top’ EQ curves with an analog workflow and added controls for more tone-shaping possibilities than a typical EQ plug-in. Put it this way: each of the six parametric bands has an additional SLOPE control that allows for flattening out the EQ shape and grabbing more frequencies equally, while switching on the focus (F) function lets users fine tune frequency adjustment — centring the selected frequency and reducing the range of the FREQ (frequency) knob — to hear exactly what frequencies are being affected with the simultaneously switchable solo (S) buttons available on each parametric band. Elsewhere, each parametric section’s GAIN knob can be expanded from ±15dB to ±30dB with the range (R) button, while parametric section settings can uniquely be copied and pasted from one to another for quickly moving and duplicating bands, facilitating faster operation. On top of that, the unique FINISHER section adds warmth to any track with organic saturation and provides for up to 8x oversampling (tested up to 768 kHz operation).
Other features are also well worth highlighting: Hi Pass and Lo Pass filters with adjustable Q and selectable filter orders from 6dB to 96dB (per octave); Lo Shelf — smooth bass boost or cut, centered around 120 Hz — and complimentary Hi Shelf controls; WIDTH slider — controls bandwidth or, inversely, Q; and master PHASE switch — inverts the phase of the audio.
Additionally, a modern spectral display shows cumulative EQ shape as well as colored individual bands, while the built-in preset management system (with proprietary preset format for cross-DAW preset access), smooth automation of all parameters, available direct entry for all parameters (by double-clicking on any parameter to type in a value), un-linkable stereo version for dual mono operation, and an ability to bypass any section (to monitor changes and free up processing) rounds out BIG FrEQ’s fattened features.
Following in the footsteps of ArouserTM— ELI’s first foray into the software arena as the only Distressor-derived compressor plug-in, produced by the creators of the award-winning hardware Distressor itself, BIG FrEQ is another fine example of how the professional audio signal processing equipment designer and manufacturer/plug-ins producer brings the quality of its hardware to its software products and continues to offer things that cannot be done in the hardware realm to in-the-box mixing. Making room in any plug-in collection for BIG FrEQ is to see and hear what it can do when single-handedly handling all tonal and spectral shaping needs for single tracks, as well as busses, including use as a versatile mastering tool. 

BIG FrEQ is available for purchase as an AAX-, AU-, and VST3-supporting 64-bit effect plug-in for macOS (10.7 or higher) and AAX- and VST3-supporting 64-bit effect plug-in for Windows (7 or higher) for a time-limited introductory promo price of $129.00 USD for the first 30 days — rising thereafter to an MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) of $149.00 USD — directly from ELI’s online Shop here: https://store.empiricallabs.com/big-freq-p/bf1-rtl.htm

A fully-functional, 15-day trial of BIG FrEQ is available to download from here: https://www.empiricallabs.com/downloads/
An iLok 2 or iLok 3 USB dongle is required for activating both the demo and full versions of BIG FrEQ.
For more in-depth information, please visit ELI’s dedicated BIG FrEQ webpage here: https://www.empiricallabs.com/big-freq/