Full Description
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The amplifier
Mr. Hector is an exact 1:1 replica of a powerful 100W, two-channel, high-gain amplifier. The primary design goal was to develop an amp that provides users with sufficient gain directly from the amplifier. The original head features a highly recognizable structure, consisting of four 6L6WGC / 5881 tubes, four 12AX7 preamp tubes, and a pair of 5C3S tubes in the power supply. This unique combination results in exceptional distortion saturation, making it an ideal choice for rock music as well as the most intense metal genres that demand a responsive and aggressive sound.
Intuitive user-interface
The design of Mr Hector was to present a real amp-like experience in a plug-in format which can be treated like a real amplifier with real pedals, microphones and cabinets all with the convenience of digital format. It can be used in the same intuitive way with four distinct modules which represent the four different parts of your signal chain; the stomp section, amp, cabinet and FX modules.
The main panel of the interface presents a few key options before you dive into each module and tweak your tone. An input mode with stereo and mono inputs can be used with single or double-tracked guitar recordings in your DAW. An onboard Input control lets you tailor the amount of input gain to match the output of your guitar pickups to ensure no unwanted clipping happens internally within the plug-in. A simple one-knob Gate control ranges from 0 - 80dB threshold to mute noise in between performing - perfect for heavy metal high-gain guitar tones.
Additionally, you will find a fast and efficient built-in tuner and an Output level knob to ensure the perfect level into your DAW and that you're always playing in key.
Stomp your way to perfect tone
The Stomp section contains three pedals simulating some of the most commonly-used pedals in high-gain guitar tonal shaping. These are located before the amplifier in the signal chain, adding saturation, sustain and additional bite to your guitar tone. Here, you'll find an emulation of the ubiquitous green TS-style overdrive. Boasting plenty of level, bite and sustain this is ideal for shaping the low-end response of your guitar before the heavy distortion character of the amp. Next, the Tone Shaper is a single-knob transient enhancer based on a proprietary design from AuroraDSP. This is ideal for adding back brightness and bite to guitars with a muddier tone. Lastly, the Unified Pre-Amplifier pedal is an indistinguishable pedal that's received praise in the 7 and 8-string guitar community for its clear headroom and crunching tone. Dedicated low and high-frequency controls make it easy to shape your sound.
Uncompromising amplifier emulation
Being a 1:1 replica, everything you see on the original hardware amplifier is present in the Mr. Hector plug-in. The two channels have been immaculately recreated, complete with an EQ section, channel selection switch, three-band EQ, midrange switch, bright switches and input selection. Offering a wide range of tonal variety, the EQ when combined with the independent bright switches for both clean and lead channels and midrange switch lets you fine-tune the response of your amplifier to fit the genre and mix you're working with.
Where Mr. Hector differs from most other conventional amplifier designs is the Diode/Tube button. This swaps the simulated power supply from 5C3S tubes to solid-state power. Using the traditional Tube mode provides a more spongey, compressed feel while the Diode position provides more headroom and a faster dynamic response. Either of these is suitable for most applications, though Tube can be used for a looser rock feel whilst Diode can be used for ultra-aggressive metal.
Fine-tune your speaker
The most underrated aspect of your tonal shaping, the cabinet section of Mr. Hector plays a critical role in the overall amplifier tone. Here, you can switch between two different speakers, a 3x12 and 2x12. Each has been captured using state-of-the-art impulse response technology in ultra-high 192kHz sampling resolution.
As you'd expect to find in any professional studio, the cabinet section includes a range of microphones, ranging from classic dynamics, vintage condensers and warm and round ribbon microphones. Each microphone can be used on any individual speaker and repositioned around the microphone cone to blend together sounds for a tone that's uniquely yours! For more experienced producers and engineers, you can even load your own impulse and blend with the onboard sounds.
Studio-quality effects
Where would guitar sounds be without hardware and processing to add the final touches? AuroraDSP has packed in the essentials you would use in any normal session to ensure you never need to leave the plug-in to create a tone. Hardware studio processing such as a 10-band US-style graphic EQ and hardware limiter with multi-band low-end let you fine-tune the dynamics and frequency response of your tone, whilst beautifully-modelled stereo ping-pong delay and algorithmic reverb add dimension and space for leads or ambient textures.
Features
- 1:1 official recreation of a 100W two-channel versatile amplifier
- Pedal section with three pre-boost pedals that sit before the amplifier
- Green overdrive pedal which emulates classic TS design
- Red Transient Shaper pedal sharpens the string attack and brightens your guitar
- Integrated preamplifier boosting pedal with a huge amount of volume output
- Onboard FX rack with studio-quality processing and effects
- 10-band graphic EQ with low and high-pass filters to shape the output of your signal
- Limiter effect helps control low-end resonance and dynamic peaks
- Ping-pong stereo delay with tempo sync
- Widely varied reverb pedal can go from compact rooms to endless sustain
- Studio-captured impulse responses based on Laboga cabinets with multiple microphone and speaker options
- Includes fast, accurate and simple tuner
- Mono/Stereo inputs for use with double-tracked guitar recordings
- Comes loaded with artist presets from well-known producers including Chernobyl Studios and Kristian Kohle
- Includes standalone application to use outside of a DAW
Specifications
- Operating system:
- Mac: macOS 10.11 or higher
- Windows: Windows 7 or higher
- Processor:
- Mac: Intel Prozessor or Apple Silicon
- Windows: Intel i3 or AMD A8
- RAM: 4GB
- Product code: 1401-1002