Shattered Glass Audio have released Eclipse, available with intro pricing.
- Desktop – $24.99, increasing to $54.99
- iOS – $17.99, increasing to $24.99
Eclipse is a faithful digital simulation of five circuits, which have a push-pull topology. Each circuit derives its unique sonic character from a different active element:
- 6L6 beam tetrode – Power tube commonly found in US audio power amplifiers in class AB push-pull configuration.
- EL84 pentode – Power tube found in many European audio equipment, gainer than the usual pentode, operated in push-pull class AB configuration for maximum power output.
- A pair of complementary N- and P- MOS transistors found in CD4007
- 2N5457 and BF244B JFET transistors in mu-amplifier/SRPP/totem pole amplifier configuration found in some boutique guitar gear, including Shattered Glass Audio.
Eclipse allows you to change two key parameters of a push-pull circuit, bias and feedback.
Changing the bias allows you to explore different saturation/distortion characteristics of each circuit.
Feedback, sonically speaking, reduces non-linear effects of the circuit and makes the output “cleaner” by bringing a fraction of the output signal back to the input and combining it with the input signal. This has
an effect of delaying the onset of overdrive and making that delayed overdrive harsher.
To achieve the most authentic analog sound, each circuit is simulated in real time using Shattered Glass Audio’s state-of-the-art circuit simulator. Signal is 4x oversampled to eliminate aliasing.
Use Eclipse to add warmth to a track, as a saturation compressor, or to add “dirt” with tube or transistor overdrive.
Eclipse is a saturation effect and should be used as such. It can be used to deliver anything from subtle saturation to ripping distortion. Eclipse can also be used in tandem with a preamp simulation plug-in, such as our own Phoenix 2, a speaker cabinet emulation plug-in to create a full amp.
At low input signal levels Eclipse can be made to simulate a clean power amp. When operated in such conditions Eclipse can be used to enrich the original sound by adding “warmth” (additional harmonics) to it. The
effect of adding warmth to the original sound is a direct consequence of the nonlinear nature of active elements be they tubes, MOS or JFET transistors.
At higher signal strengths and/or higher DRIVE settings Eclipse simulates an overdriven circuit. Because of the clipping when driven into overdrive, Eclipse can be used as a saturation compressor/limiter.
Analog-circuit simulators, the most well-known of which is SPICE, have been in use by engineers for decades. At the most basic level, circuit simulators take the circuit schematic, input signals, and simulation parameters as inputs and return voltages and optionally currents as outputs.
To do that, circuit simulators turn the schematic into a set of differential equations that needs to be solved at each time step during transient analysis. If the circuit contains non-linear components (e.g. vacuum tubes, transistors, etc.) resulting set of non-linear differential equations needs to be solved iteratively at each time step during transient analysis. The circuit simulation provides the most accurate simulation of analog circuits at the expense of heavy CPU usage.
At the heart of the Eclipse’s circuit simulation is the Shattered Glass Audio’s high-performance circuit simulator. Shattered Glass Audio have created a circuit simulator using the same principles that SPICE is built on and optimized it for real time analysis.
As a result of using circuit simulation Eclipse delivers sound that possesses the genuine analog warmth and dynamics associated with the analog audio gear.
Features include:
- Authentic analog sound through real-time high-performance circuit simulation.
- Two vacuum tube push-pull configurations (fronted by long-tailed phase splitter using 12AX7 triodes) featuring 6L6 and EL84 power tubes.
- A complementary N- and P- MOS transistors in push-pull configuration
- Two mu-amplifiers featuring JFET transistors 2N5457 and BF244B
- Variable bias and feedback for each circuit for different saturation “flavors”
- AGC and parallel processing
- Automatic 4x oversampling
Watch the demo video HERE.
Eclipse is available to MacOS and iOS users (VST3, AU, AAX and AUv3).
For more information on Eclipse, click here:
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