After installing the TDM/Native (TDM/VST/AU/RTAS/Venue) version into my Pro Tools rig, I was immediately transformed by its sound, operation and look (same aubergine color as the original) to fond memories of sessions I engineered at Hollywood's famed Cherokee Studios back in the day. They had had four Trident consoles.

Like the original channel strip, the Softube A-Range channel has a four-band EQ with small faders instead of knobs for +/-15dB boost/cut. The high (8, 10, 12, 15kHz) and low frequency (50, 80, 100, 150Hz) bands are shelving filters that sound wonderful on all sources. The two, fixed Q mid-range EQ sections are bell-shaped with 3, 5, 7, and 9kHz for the high mid section and 250Hz, 500Hz, 1k and 2kHz for the low mid section.

Also like the original, there are both a low pass filter with 15, 12, and 9kHz frequency choices and a high pass with 25, 50, and 100Hz positions.

The key to the Trident A-Range's sound is that when any of the bands are "wound up" or just a hot levels pass through them, the sound gets more "colorful" and "musical". The sound broadens out and stays fat even with big treble boosts and never sounds harsh.

I used the Trident A-Range plug-in just as I did years ago: on everything. You can make a deliberately aggressive statement out of any source--the complete opposite aesthetic from clear, clean and beautiful. If you want clean and less "hair", Softube has thought to put two extra controls (not on the original hardware) called Saturation and Output. With Saturation reduced or off, you'll get an increase in 'virtual headroom' for a more "hi-fi" sound. This one feature makes the Trident A-Range a unique EQ amongst all equalizers--software or hardware.