Being a big Duende devotee since they came out, I am thrilled to now use these professional and sophisticated processors natively in my Pro Tools 9 HD rig. Like the originals, all the Duende plugs offer superior precision with advanced feature sets but most importantly, they have the legendary tonal characteristics of the SSL console's equalizers, gates, and compressors.

My most-used Duende plug-ins are the basis for the whole collection--they are both modelled after the two SSL console classics: the EQ & Dynamics Channel and the much sought-after Stereo Bus Compressor. But I also never failed to use both the mastering-grade X-EQ and X-Comp plug-ins because they sound and work better and unlike any other plug-in(s) I own.

X-EQ is a ten-band equalizer with a built-in spectrum analyzer for checking the frequency spectrum of any sound while X-Comp is a highly configurable compressor/limiter with advanced side chain processing. I use both these plug-ins on every mix because they can be set to process individual tracks in any style you want. You can set them to be subtle, smooth and "high fidelity" sounding all the way to very colourful and distinctive and even rough sounding with a few mouse clicks and drags.

Duende Native also has two more specifically designed processors: Drumstrip and Vocalstrip. As their names imply, these processors make short work of drum and vocal tracks and will replace chains of several plug-ins normally required for the same job. The newest plug-in to the Duende family is X-Verb, a reverb with a unique parameter set that sounds like a very good hardware reverb.

All Duende Native Plug-ins are available for a free, fully functional initial 30-day demo. Duende Native plug-ins are available to purchase individually from the SSL web store or as bundles: Duende Native Essentials with EQ & Dynamics Channel and Stereo Bus Compressor and the Duende Native Studio Pack that includes EQ & Dynamics Channel, Stereo Bus Compressor, Drumstrip, Vocalstrip, X-EQ and X-Comp.