Universal Audio To Release Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor & K-Stereo Ambience Recovery Plug-Ins

AES starts tomorrow, but the product announcements have already begun. Today, Universal Audio (UA) announced two new plug-ins for their UAD platform and Apollo interface: the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Plug-In and the Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery Plug-In.

Both plug-ins will be available as part of the upcoming UAD Software v6.3.2 release scheduled for early November.

The Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor as plug-in!

Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Plug-In ($299)

Created by UAD Direct Development partner Brainworx and Shadow Hills Industries founder Peter Reardon, this emulation of the widely-acclaimed Mastering Compressor is said to “expertly temper dynamics and tame transients like no other device on the market.”

The original Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor features a world-class signal path, and controls music dynamics in two stages — first with an Optical section, then with a Discrete (VCA) section. Both sections can be bypassed, providing a variety of compression sounds (Optical, Discrete, and combined).

Like the hardware version, UA reports, the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor plug-in offers selection of three distinct output transformers (Nickel, Iron, and Steel) — taking the signal from “clean” to “colored” and “dirty” — as if selecting from the output stages of three distinct classic analog consoles.

Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Plug-In Features include:

•    Separate Optical and Discrete (VCA) dynamics sections for two-stage serial dynamics control
•    Transformer matrix switches between Nickel, Iron, and Steel output transformers
•    90Hz sidechain filtering for musical compression of low-frequency program material
•    Large, accurate VU meters provide Optical, Discrete, or Output gain views
•    Custom presets created by Shadow Hills founder and designer Peter Reardon

Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery Plug-In ($199)

Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery Plug-In

Created by Universal Audio in collaboration with mastering engineer Bob Katz, the K-Stereo Ambience Recovery plug-in extracts ambient cues from source recordings — allowing users to enhance the stereo depth and imaging of mixes without unnatural artifacts.

According to Universal Audio…

“Designed for critical 2-track mastering or post-production applications, the K-Stereo plug-in offers a “do-no-harm” approach to adding depth and width to busy or narrow-sounding mixes. Using elements of the Haas effect and other psychoacoustic principles, the plug-in transparently enhances existing ambience and early reflections without adding artificial reverb or changing the ratio of center elements to side elements.”

Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery Plug-In features/functions include:

• Perfect for fixing busy or “narrow” mixes at the mastering stage
• 3-band Ambience Filter EQ for further shaping the effect
• Mid/Side gain controls available to adjust the center-to-side balance
• Left/Right Gain controls for final stereo image balancing and leveling
• Custom user presets created by Bob Katz

Both plug-ins will be available via UA’s Online Store.

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