Waves Audio Teams with Abbey Road Studios to Unveil REDD Console Plugins

Waves Audio,  a leading provider of audio DSP solutions for professional, broadcast,  and consumer electronics audio markets, has again teamed with London’s  legendaryAbbey Road Studios to introduce the new REDD Console plugins. Abbey Road Studios were at  the epicenter of a seismic shift that rocked the world of music during  the 1960s, and changed the course of popular culture forever. The  Beatles, The Hollies, Pink Floyd and countless other luminaries made  musical history at Abbey Road Studios, trailblazing a revolution that  resonates to this day. And at the heart of it all were REDD consoles,  custom-designed, built by and named after Abbey Road Studios' in-house  Record Engineering Development Department (REDD). Renowned for their  silky smooth EQ curves, extraordinary warmth and lush stereo imagery,  there's something magical about the REDDs that simply sounds like no  other console. Waves meticulously recreated the unique color, character  and tonal complexity of the original desks: the REDD.17 still belonging  to Abbey Road Studios, and the REDD.37 console now owned by Lenny  Kravitz. The result is REDD: an impressive pair of plugins that truly  deliver the enhanced dimension, richness and depth of these coveted  console classics.

Mirek Stiles - Head of Audio Products,  Abbey Road Studios, stated, “Ever since I first heard the word REDD at  Abbey Road Studios almost 13 years ago, to me these consoles have had a  legendary almost mythical aura around them. Most of the original REDD  consoles have been lost over time but by using the few examples left  over and studying the original schematics and design notes from the  archives I believe Waves and Abbey Road have revived an important part  of musical history that will enable producers of all generations to  discover and fall in love with the lost sound of REDD.”

Controls:

• Amp Type determines the type of amplifier (REDD.37-.51 only).
• Channel Select determines the channel configuration.
• Bass Lift controls  the 9 dB low shelf that compensates for low frequency loss caused by  using condenser microphones in a Figure 8 configuration.
• EQ Select toggles  between Classic and Pop EQ types. The Classic treble EQ features a shelf  boost or cut at 10 kHz; Pop EQ is a peak boost centered around 5kHz,  with a shelf cut centered at 10 kHz. Both Pop and Classic settings  feature a continuous 10 dB of boost or cut at 100 Hz. (REDD.37-.51  only).
• Tone High controls high shelf equalization.
• Tone Low controls low shelf equalization.
• Monitor controls the source of the monitor output.
• Spread selects stereo processing mode (Stereo component only).
• Drive controls the  amount of drive added to the signal. Lower values result in a cleaner  sound; higher values result in a more distorted sound.
• Analog controls the level of modeled noise and hum.
• Output controls the output level of the signal.
• VU Meters display output VU readings.

Both REDD.17 and REDD.37-.51 are Native-  and SoundGrid®-compatible and are available at a U.S. MSRP of $349.00,  with a special introductory price of $199.00.

Visit www.waves.com for more information.

REDD Consoles – The Sound That Changed the Course of Music History:

Since its opening in 1931, Abbey Road Studios has been  widely regarded as a bastion of recording excellence and innovation.  EMI's Recording Engineer Development Department was established in 1955  by Abbey Road Studios technical engineer Lenn Page to address the needs  of the then-burgeoning stereophonic format. Within a year, the team's  efforts had led to the production of the REDD.1 console, Abbey Road's  first dedicated stereo mixing system, which consisted of a REDD.8 mixer  and a rack that housed its amplifiers and other components. In 1957, its  successor was created: The REDD.17, designed by Peter Burkowitz of  EMI's German affiliate, was one of the first desks to conform to the  design the industry has come to expect from mixing consoles, with EQ on  each of its eight channels. Like the REDD.1 before it, the REDD.17 was a  mono/stereo board. Later the following year, in response to the growing  popularity of the four-track recording format, the third in the series,  the REDD.37, was unveiled. Both the REDD.17 and REDD.37 were powered  exclusively by legendary Siemens V72 valve amplifiers and, in the case  of the REDD.37, at least 31 of them! The REDD.37 was followed by the  REDD.51, which used newer REDD.47 amps, and offered lower distortion and  more headroom than the V72s. Originally created in 1959, it was not  until 1963 that the .51 found its way to Abbey Road. Four of the .51  desks were ultimately built; by 1968, they were slowly phased out by  EMI's next generation of solid-state eight and sixteen track consoles,  the TG series.