New Music Gear Monday: United Plugins Unichannel Plugin
There are plenty of vintage style channel strips now available – so many that it seems like just about every possible console has now been emulated. But what if you want to mix sections of a channel strip together? That means that you have to use multiple channel strips on that track, which may carry a high processor power price. United Plugins has a solution with Unichannel though, as it allows you to mix and match processor sections as needed.
3 In 1
Unichannel basically has 3 types emulations – British, US and German. These are not specific emulations of a particular console so much as a sound of an era. For instance, the US EQ has the look and feel of an early API, but the compressor is more like an early 50’s tube compressor, according to the designer Boris Carloff.
The plugin is divided into 3 different sections – Preamp, EQ and Compressor. The Preamp section has an Input, Output, and Mojo control, and its doesn’t change regardless of the type that’s chosen (BR, US or GE).
The EQ is interesting in that the 3 band British setting looks more like it comes from an old EMI console than a Neve. The US EQ looks distinctly API, yet it has 7 bands, and the German has just a simple 3 band (one is a frequency selectable Presence control).
The Compressor section is rather consistent with its controls, with Input, Output, and Dry/Wet controls along with an On/Off switch on the top. The bottom half has Attack, Release and Sidechain, with the British selection add a Threshold and Ratio control as well. Not only does the look change with each selection, but the analog style VU meter changes as well.
And Each One Is Different
Most intriguing is the VARM II technology that’s built in. This process emulates the slightly different sonic behaviors that different channels of a console display because of component tolerances. What this means is that every time you insert a new instance of Unichannel on a track it will sound a slight bit different, just like on real analog consoles.
Unichannel is currently on sale for just $40 instead of its normal $180, but that price is only good until November 30th. Yes, it runs on macOS 10.10 or higher and Windows 8 or 10 (64 bit) in VST, VST3, AU and AAX formats.
You can find out more here, or watch the video below for more details.
