Back in the early 1960s, Abbey Road's in-house technicians produced the RS127. This unprepossessing rackmounted grey box gave the studio engineers control over additional frequencies not found on the EMI Redd mixing console of the time; namely 2.7, 3.5 and 10kHz, with a cut or boost of 10dB either way.
Known as the Presence or Brilliance box, it proved so popular that a free-standing version - painted in a utilitarian Abbey Road green - was produced, so that the unit could be easily moved anywhere within the Abbey Road complex. It also meant that multiple boxes could be used in series to shape a particular frequency curve, perhaps dipping one frequency to make room to boost another.
Subsequently, an additional Brilliance box was introduced - the RS135 - which was modified to work at 8kHz, complementing the three available frequencies on the RS127 nicely. Abbey Road engineers now had a decent level of control over four crucial frequencies in which a great deal of a recording's upper register energy, air, presence, sheen and general fairy dust congregated.
Fast forward to 2008 and Abbey Road Plug-ins has released the Brilliance Pack, software incarnations of both the RS127 Rack and Box units, and the RS135. Developed from the original EMI schematics in conjunction with Swedish software developers Softube, the Brilliance Pack replicates the operation and response curves of their 1960s forefathers, and can be used on mono, stereo or multichannel tracks.
These are passive EQs, similar in approach to the evergreen Pultec EQ, presenting a set of frequencies that can be adjusted by set amounts of stepped gain or reduction, fixed at 2dB. As such, they won't be for everyone, nor will they replace a more traditional full-frequency shelving EQ, but they are very, very nice additions to any plug-in collection.
The two RS127s differ in that the green Box version replicates the effect of an RS127 being passed through an EMI transformer, which exaggerates the EQ curves, adding a subtly different flavour. With the RS135 dovetailing nicely in between the RS127's settings, you've got exactly the same tools as the white-coated operatives of Abbey Road.
These aren't just treble controls. They open a signal up, breathing a little of that elusive air in to it and reviving a lacklustre high end without getting horribly fizzy. You can also successfully tame brittle digital edges, using the cut capability of the RS127. Their simplicity is part of the appeal: no more than two knobs, delivering a smooth, warm, natural treatment of the source material. Great results come fast and easy.
We really liked the Brilliance Pack and seductively authentic vintage results are easily obtainable. The effect is impressively transparent, even at extreme boost settings. An iLok is required, which some users will rage against, and each plug-in's controls proved occasionally sluggish and unresponsive (although CPU load on a MacBook 2.4GHz was minimal). They're also pretty big, visually, with a fair amount of extraneous eye-candy, so they occupy a degree of screen space inversely proportionate to the number of knobs.
However, the Brilliance Pack undeniably succeeds in its stated aim of getting you mighty close to that crisp, sparkling, expansive, Abbey Road 1960s sound and at a fair price, too. Now all we need is impulse responses from Studio 2 and the Abbey Road echo chamber.
Verdict
Needs PowerPC G4 or Intel processor + Mac OS X 10.4 + 128MB Ram + iLok key (and spare USB port)
Author: Jonathan Wilson
MacUser Online