The best of both worlds

 Hold on… my audio interface already has preamps. Why do I need a preamp plugin? 

You’re right! Your audio interface uses its preamps to boost incoming signals to usable levels for recording and mixing.

In the digital age, the preamps included on audio interfaces tend to be highly transparent, amplifying the signal without adding “color”, a sort of tonal flavor that subtly changes the sound.

In the 60s and 70s, a period many consider to be the “golden age” of the recording studio, the preamps within their bespoke mixing consoles - like the Trident A range - were pioneering technology. Mix engineers found that, due to their analog components, the preamps would add a certain character to the audio, which gave each desk, and consequently each studio, a particular “sound”. As engineers became experts with these consoles, they would use the preamps as part of their creative process; pushing them hard to create harmonically rich analog distortion, for example.

Now, thanks to the digital audio revolution and the power of modern computers, you can enjoy the best of both worlds. The Arturia TridA-Pre lets you add the iconic tone of the elite, rare, virtually unobtainable preamps found in the studios that created some of the biggest hits of all time.

Adding that “je ne sais quoi”

It’s difficult to let new producers and mix engineers know just how important the subtle sound-shaping power of preamps are, we’re talking about something understated. It’s not a flashy synth or an extreme audio-mangling plug-in.

At their core, all of our preamp plugins provide 2 main benefits:

A link to the past

There’s something quite magical about hearing classic songs. If you let your mind drift, you’re transported to a totally different time: different fashion, different politics, different tastes, different lives. If you want to evoke the feeling of the 70s or 80s, when the Trident A Range console was used on practically every chart hit, TridA-Pre makes it easy. Added to individual tracks in your song, you can add that toasty, harmonic, saturated sound that typified the era.

Mixing confidence

Load up TridA-Pre as an “insert” effect on channel, dial in an appropriate preset, and most of the hard work has been taken care of. You’ll now be mixing with the sound of a classic analog console, with the parameters set up by a top sound designer. Now you’re free to get creative, safe in the knowledge that you have half a century of legendary pro audio heritage supporting you.

That’s what we think, anyway. How you decide to use TridA-Pre is up to you. You may just love the way the EQ sounds, and use it as your go-to plugin for sound shaping. We are providing the paint, but you make the art.

Cracking the code

The channel strips found in the Trident A Range consoles are considered to be gold dust, available only to the finest producers and engineers at the peak of their careers.

We have built our reputation by recreating history’s best, most coveted keyboards and synths as software instruments. What better way to carry on this legacy than by bringing the most sought-after studio hardware right to your DAW? Although it would have been quite simple to just create a plugin that sounded similar to the famous Trident A Range channel strip, we didn’t want to give you an approximation of the sound. We wanted to create a virtual replica of the hardware so you could enjoy all the subtle nuances that made the original the go-to choice for the biggest producers and engineers of the last 50 years.

Finding a Trident A Range console was no simple feat - only 13 were ever created, after all - and our search led us to Denmark’s capital city, Copenhagen, and to Sweet Silence North. The musical residence of Grammy award-winning producer Flemming Rasmussen, whose critically acclaimed work with metal acts like Metallica, Morbid Angel, Blind Guardian, and Ensiferum hinged on the use of his Trident A Range console. To create TridA-Pre, we analyzed channel 3 of his 1976 mixing console, creating a sophisticated model, right down to the level of individual components. 

Through the passion and skill of our developers, we are able to bring you the elusive ‘secret ingredient’ behind so many incredible hits as a software plugin. It’s official: we are living in the future.