Acustica Audio Nickel 2023

Nickel is a "Made in the USA" suite consisting of four different plugins that include emulations of rare units from the late 1960s to the present day. It pays homage to the genius of Bill Putnam, one of the greatest audio engineers in history, and a true pioneer in the pro audio industry.

Nickel Comp

The centerpiece of this suite is perfectly encapsulated by the Nickel Comp (or compressor) plugin, which faithfully emulated the behavior of two different “revisions” (H - LN) of one of the most recognizable compressors of all time. The original piece of hardware, a rare 1960s and 70s piece of gear made in the USA, has become a staple of essentially all major recording studios worldwide, and is one of the most commonly used pieces of gear in the entire pro audio industry.

It has been used to sculpt the sound of countless records for artists ranging from Guns ‘n’ Roses to Bruce Springsteen; from The Killers to Joe Cocker; and many others. The Nickel Comp plugin faithfully recreated the experience of the original compressor in the digital realm.

Nickel EQs

In addition to the Nickel Comp, this suite includes 2 EQs:

• A stereo parametric EQ with 4 fully parametric bands, plus HP and LP filters for each channel.
• A dual-mono EQ derived from the stereo EQ version

Each of the two channels includes low, low-mid, high-mid, and high band sections — each with variable frequency, cut/boost, and bandwidth controls — as well as low pass and high pass filters.

Nickel Pre

The Nickel Pre plugin precisely emulates all 8 discrete mic and line preamp channels of a premium precision microphone preamplifier unit, complete with custom input stage transformers. It was the first analog product to break from its manufacturer’s vintage roots by offering a modernized, ultra-high-fidelity tool designed to provide maximum sonic versatility, while maintaining the warm euphonics that the company was known for.

The plugin has been organized in different banks, which contain a total of 20 different preamp emulations, including EQs and compressor preamp stages; a fixed frequency high-pass filter (100Hz, 6dB/octave); a phase reverse button; oversampling buttons that allow you to change the oversampling rate (8x or 16x) in order to improve the quality of the audio processing.