Sonimus Burnley 73 Review
So a few weeks ago Our Friends over as sonimus.com sent us a copy of the Burnley 73 plugin to review.
Naturally I was very excited to give this a go since I have heard great things about this particular plugin. I started out by doing some research and reading up on what some people found where the most unique things about this 1073 emulation vs other ones. one of the biggest things was when I found out about the way the unit changes its frequency curve depending on the line and mic gain you set it to. Now most people will think duh its because you are adding saturation and stuff it will change its response which is half true. Yes you do get a change in frequency response because of added harmonics but if the signal is not loud enough to hit the unit to the point of clipping internally the saturation can be subtle. (I noticed this with low level signals that I gained up with the mic gain) I would not get a huge distortion from signals that where not inherently loud but I did notice a nice change in the sound and the way the eq’s curves seemed to change. after doing some analyzing I was able to see how with the changing of the line or mic gain I could get a huge amount of different curves and tone shaping abilities.
The next part and probably the most important part of this plugin I wanted to focus on was its eq section. The reward of the way this eq was designed was immediate, Right off the bat I noticed that I was able to do very drastic tone shaping without ruining the sound and found that because of the revelation of being able to use the gain knob to change the overall curve and response of the unit I was able to get a wide variety of sounds and tones.
One huge thing I find a problem with emulations of classic analog gear is that they often have a huge CPU hit. That is exactly where this plugin was really surprising. the eq sounded great the saturation was fantastic and the overall ease of use and versatility with the variable frequency response was amazing. but the fact that this plugin could do all of that without hitting my CPU hard like other emulations I have was astounding. Overall this was a fantastic plugin and a great deal of fun to play with and learn to use. that does not by any way make this plugins perfect there are always little things anyone would want in this new digital age. a way to do MS processing would be even better. a way to maybe re size the GUI would be a huge bonus (but that is due to me being blind.) And maybe adding this to a channel strip like plugin emulating the actual channel strip of a classic NEVE console.
Overall this plugin was a amazing tool and now sits on my top emulations list. over all I would give this plugin a strong 4.5 out of 5
Key features include.
Unit changes its frequency curve depending on the line and mic gain
Line or mic gain changes allow you to get a huge amount of different curves and tone shaping abilities
Saturation sound natural and very much like the real thing
CPU hit is very good for a plugin that does such a good job emulating a classic peace of gear
Stable and usable in almost every DAW on the market
EQ filter curves are very natural and smooth
Zero latency
Ways it can be improved
A way to re size the small GUI
Adding MS Capabilities
Incorporating this into a channel strip like plugin for a true using the console feel and workflow
