Tone Empire has announced the release of LOC-NESS ($49 introductory price), a multi-mode drum saturator and limiter VST/AU/AAX plugin for PC and Mac.
LOC-NES is a multi-tool designed for processing drums and other percussive instruments, although it can also be used on vocals, bass guitars, synths, and other types of audio. It consists of three main building blocks which include a saturator, a limiter, and a pair of filters. In tandem, the three modules can help shape, enhance, and clean up the processed audio signal while adding punch and increasing the overall loudness.
The user interface is designed in a way which allows quick access to the tone shaping controls, with less focus on advanced tweaking. The two large knobs labeled Crush and Smash control the amount of saturation and limiting applied to the signal, respectively. The user can pick between four different saturation flavors, each resulting in a different tone and distortion character. The limiting module is inspired by the classic Universal Audio 1176 hardware limiter which is known to sound exceptionally well on drums. It has a fixed threshold value, making it possible to apply the required amount of limiting using only the Smash control knob.
Before the audio signal reaches the limiting and saturation modules, the low-cut and high-cut filters are used to remove any unwanted frequency content. This way, the user can pinpoint the section of the signal which should be processed. For example, bass-heavy sounds like kick drums can benefit from saturating only the high-frequency content while keeping the low end clean. Likewise, snares might benefit from added oomph while retaining the smooth top end.
Finally, the mix section can be used to combine the clean and processed signal. The technique known as parallel processing preserves the clarity of the clean signal while adding some of the characteristics of the processed audio. This works very well on compressed drums which will still sound natural, but with more body and punch thanks to the compressed signal which is added to the mix. LOC-NESS also features a phase flip switch for dealing with phasing issues and a trim knob for adjusting the input gain.
LOC-NESS comes with over 150 presets. The presets are organized into different categories such as drum saturation, vocals, bass, etc. The product is available as a 32-bit and 64-bit VST/AU/AAX plugin for compatible digital audio workstations on PC and Mac. Regularly priced at $79, you can grab it for $49 during the launch sale.
More info: LOC-NESS ($49 intro sale, $79 regular price)
