Plugin Alliance has announced a brand new emulation based on one-off analog hardware harvesting novel circuitry and authentic NOS (New Old Stock) components from the 1930s, which was exclusively designed for the plugin.
BIG AL from Neold is a dual-stage tube saturator that offers a broad palette sound flavors flowing from the interactive network within its transformer-coupled pre and power amp.
BIG AL aims to deliver harmonic saturation that will always sound organic, musical, and bold.
BIG AL’s frequency conditioning begins right in the EF9 preamp stage. Indeed, it is a filter freak at heart — hence the Low control being implemented as a Baxandall filter that allows for adjusting saturation intensity by around 100Hz in (optional) combination with boosting or cutting the bass at the same time. The High control is an additional EQ band placed in front of the preamp tube; its peaking filter boosts or cuts high-frequency content around 10kHz — essential for provoking or taming BIG AL’s potentially aggressive treble!
The straightforward user interface is spiced up with a jumper matrix, allowing access to BIG AL’s core circuitry: E (Emphasis Shift), B (Bass Compensator), and V (Voltage Sag) provide powerful options with which to make complex changes to the distortion profile on the fly by simply inserting or pulling out a few (virtual) plugs. An AL4 power pentode and its output transformer act as the finishing spice, driven hot by the preamp stage.
Neold BIG AL is available in VST/VST3, AU and AAX formats, priced $149.99 USD until March 4th, 2021 (MSRP $199 USD). Use voucher code BIG-AL-INTRO-12999 to get the price down to $129.99 USD during the promotion.
The plugin is also included in Plugin Alliance’s Mix & Master Bundle and Mega Bundle at no extra cost.
