M Media Audio have released Fifth Order, available as a FREE download.
Fifth Order is a free dual-channel Class A tube preamp with a little grease under its fingernails and no intention of explaining where it was last night. You get the whole plugin: two channels, proper gain and tone controls, an always-on coloring stage, and twenty factory presets.
No trial period. No activation. No audio interruption just as the chorus starts working. M Media Ausio appear to have made a business decision without a responsible adult present.
Load Factory Uncalibrated, push the Input, and let Auto-Level keep loudness honest while you listen for what the circuit is actually doing. Louder has been passing itself off as better for years.
Each channel gives you Input, Output, Bass, and Treble, all adjustable from −12 to +12 dB. Set the drive, shape the low and high shelves, and put the output where it belongs. Four knobs per side. Everything out in the open. You can spend your afternoon making records instead of excavating a menu for the control you actually need.
Link ties both channels to identical settings when you want them working together – turn it off and each channel runs completely independently.
Underneath all that respectable labeling sits an always-on coloring stage, quietly rounding the edges of whatever passes through. There’s no switch to engage and no secret handshake to learn. That little bit of grease is part of the preamp’s personality. We considered teaching it manners. The results were disappointing.
Auto-Level compares input and output RMS and compensates for level changes as you adjust the preamp, helping you hear the character without letting extra loudness win the argument.
Twenty factory presets take you from the flat control settings of Factory Uncalibrated into increasingly opinionated territory. Plead the Fifth, Felony Headroom, and Five Counts of Saturation are all real starting points built from the actual controls. The names are deeply unserious. The settings have work to do.
Fifth Order is available to PC, Mac and Linux users (VST3 and AU).
For more information on and to download Fifth Order, click here:
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