Abbey Road Plug-ins RS 135

I have had no compatibility issues running this plugin on a Macbook Pro i7 8gb ram, RME FIreface 800 and Logic 9. I have not looked at the manual for the RS 135 as it has only one parameter to alter and it's very easy to hear what it does. One knob is as simple as it gets. Even simpler than some other Abbey Plugins (they have two knobs). The only function can be found right on the face of the GUI.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I have had no crashes with this plugin. As for performance, this is very similar to the other Abbey Road plugins (RS 127 box and rack) as it accomplishes one thing, simple filter/brilliance. This one is actually more limited in the respect that you do not get a Frequency knob to focus the Filter. I am definitely a fan of options so I am generally biased against these simple plugins. Of course I do understand that these are replicas of original equipment and if the original didn't have it, then of course the plugin won't either. I will say this though, even with its limitations, I actually like the sound of this plugin a lot more than the other Brillance pack plugins. Don't get me wrong, those are good too and they all are "one trick ponies" to me, but I really like the Frequency curve on this plugin much more. I used it on a couple of mixes on the master track before mastering and it did a great job and reducing the mud in the mid to low range and just slightly perking up the highs ( I only moved the knob from o to +2db). That I have to admit made me appreciate this plugin a lot more. I have been using this plugin for about a month.

OVERALL OPINION

Again, the frequency curve to my ears is a lot more pleasing and doesn't immediately strike me as "the Beatles Sound." I love the beatles sound but it most certainly doesn't apply to all styles of music. I could see using this particular plugin much more than the other Brillance pack ones. What I don't like about most is my main complaint about these plugins, not only does it only have one (two in the other plugins) knob, but that knob is set to jump + or - 2 db. So if you want 1 or 1.5 db increase, too bad. Again, I know its a replica but it would be a lot nicer to have that control. As for precision and quality of sound, I never used the real one but this can come in handy on the final mix or as quick fix for drum overheads. I have used BBE products to obtain a similar effect and I prefer those (especially the hardware) because they have a few more options and better control. I would probably not buy the brillance package again because I didn't care for the other two plugins as much. This one is decent, but I would rather use the money on a BBE sonic Maximizer rack.

The Abbey Road Plug-ins RS 135 is a really simple, filter plug-in that is part of the Abbey Road Plug-ins Brilliance Pack. This comes along with two other plug-ins in this bundle - the RS 127 Rack and the RS 127 Box, both of which are similar sort of filter plug-ins. This one is probably the simplest of the bunch, however. As far as getting the plug-in up and running is concerned, I wasn't involved in the process since I don't own this plug-in pack and have only used these plug-ins at the studio where I'm working. I can however speak about the extreme ease of use you're getting with this plug-in and the full bundle. This is just a one band filter that is fixed at 8 K. So while you're not really getting any control, this is really meant for adding a bit of high end brilliance to your sound. A manual is surely not necessary...

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

We're running the Abbey Road Plug-ins RS 135 and the full Brilliance Pack at the studio where I work on a few different Pro Tools HD systems. Running it on this system isn't a good judge of how much processing power plug-ins will take up, as they can handle pretty much anything since they're HD systems. However, I'd definitely be surprised if many users had problems running this plug-in since it's such a simple one.

OVERALL OPINION

Although limited in what it can do, the Abbey Road Plug-ins RS 135 is great for adding a little bit of brightness to your sound. It's a really warm sounding plug-in, which is really the main reason I like using this for boosting at 8 K rather than using a more traditional parametric or graphic EQ. I love using this on guitars mostly, but even for vocals if I feel the timbre could use a little bit of high end color. This and the other plug-ins in the brilliance pack are great for both mixing and mastering, so definitely check them out if you're looking to add some new high quality plug-ins to your DAW.