New Music Gear Monday: United Plugins FireCobra Enhancer Plugin

Track enhancer plugins are all the rage these days and most of them do a great job of making a track or mix sound more alive. A new enhancer with a different approach is the FireCobra from United Plugins, which features a very unique user interface.

The FireCobra is a fairly simple plugin with an eye catching analog-style interface that makes you wonder why more plugin companies don’t adopt a similar approach. It looks like something that you’d be using on your desktop and, as a result, looks pretty darn easy to use.

The whole idea of FireCobra is to give your track a more analog sound by introducing non-linear characteristics commonly found in analog hardware. There are 3 rotary-style parameter controls that do that – Intensify, Smack and Analogize.

The Parameter Controls

Intensify is an advanced dynamics processor designed to make the overall sound tighter. It can be disabled by setting the control to zero in order to save CPU power.

Smack is a harmonic distortion generator, which provides an easy way to make the audio sound dirtier and more audible in the mix. Like Intensify, it’s disabled by setting its level to the minimum value.

Analogize controls the amount of classic analogue saturation that’s added to the signal. It’s not defeated when placed at minimum since United Plugins feels that most signals can benefit from a little of what the algorithm has to offer.

There’s also a Linear Phase switch to minimize phase alteration of the signal, but it does cause a bit of latency to be induced into the signal (no problem on most DAWs). There’s also an Oversampling control that ranges from 2x, 4x and 8x, but it also induces latency and eats up more CPU. Finally, a large Dry/Wet control and Input and Output fader controls complete the package.

Availability And Price

United Plugins FireCobra is available for Mac and PC and in VST, VST3, AAX, and AU formats in 64 bit. There’s an introductory 40% off price of $96USD, and a free 15 day trial period. Find out more on its United Plugins web page, and hear a demo of what it can do below.

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