Acustica Audio FIRE The Pan. Add New Dimension to Your Mixes.

[Acustica Community]

Processing audio has never been easier thanks to FIRE, the new series of single-knob plug-ins from Acustica.
This series aims to create an ‘easy-to-use’ product line that encompasses Acustica’s top-quality alongside a very intuitive use with just a few simple clicks!

After a careful design phase, Acustica sampled and recreated an impressive number of both analog and digital (2D and 3D) panner emulations with the aim of creating one of the best and most comprehensive panner plug-ins currently on the market giving you more depth and definition in the stereo field effortlessly.







Panning is an essential part of any mix. Spreading your tracks across the stereo field is the best way to ensure every element of your mix is ​​in the right space.

Fire The Pan brings together five different panning categories, with over 60 emulations of analog and digital (2D and 3D) panners.

Give in to this new FIRE entry and change how you think about stereo imaging. You will definitely want it in your toolset.


Fire The Pan | Overview





Main features

• A single-knob plug-in capable of changing the overall stereo imagery in no time at all.
• Over 60 emulations of both analog and digital (2D and 3D) panners.
• Output Level and Multifunction (Elevation - Distance - Mix) sliders.
• One-click output volume compensation.
• Low CPU consumption.
• Low latency.
• Resizable interface*



Types of panning modes included




Super-performing hybrid emulations by Acustica.

• Traditional (2D Analog panning) present in consoles, which only allows controlling the level differences between left-right channels.

• 3D panning (3D Analog) introduces two new parameters compared to traditional 2D panners, the horizontal and the elevation angles, positioning the source at the desired angle by distributing the signal of the ambisonic components with different gain.
Using this technology and sampling a third-order ambisonic microphone we have derived many analog 3D panner emulations. In order to obtain an even more accurate and satisfactory result, it was necessary to resort to the sophisticated binaural recording techniques and our own measurements in a controlled environment by sampling a dummy head of a well-known German company.

• Traditional stereo digital panning (2D Digital), commonly based on ‘pan law’ (which introduces a 3dB level drop at the center to prevent the 6 dB gain that occurs when summing the left and right channels in a mono situation) and ‘equal power panning law’ algorithm (which means that whatever the position of the pan pot, you always get the same total signal power, at least assuming it is mono input. This category includes emulations based on logarithmic or ‘equal power’ panning law algorithms by Acustica, by sampling several panners of the main DAWs and other tools that have become market standards.

• MID-SIDE stereo analog and digital panning (2D MS) comprises the same panning emulations of 2D Analog and Digital categories that act on the MID or SIDE components.



Controls





Compensation + These mutually exclusive buttons set four different output volume gains (0 dB, +3 dB, +4.5 dB, +6 dB) by increasing the output volume level with a single click, practically deleting the different volume adjustment (Pan Law) set by default in the emulations (where it is specified).

Multi-function slider The behavior of this slider changes depending on the selected emulation.

- Elevation / Altitude (Φ): The elevation angle (used interchangeably with altitude angle) of the audio source. Universally denoted by the letter of the Greek alphabet ϕ that represents one of the fundamental parameters in discriminating the origin of the sound source.
Its range goes from 0° and increases approaching the zenith ϑ (ϑ = 90° on the horizontal plane) in the Analog 3D modes.

- Distance: In this mode, the slider can add depth to the audio source.

- Mix: The Mix control allows the panning given by the behavior of a dummy head in a controlled environment (slider at minimum) to be mixed with the hybrid behavior of the same emulation fused with a 2D digital model of pan low (slider at maximum).


NOTE:
-This slider is only displayed when a 3D Analog emulation mode is activated.
-The behavior of this slider changes from ‘Elevation’ to a ‘Mix’* control when ‘KU100 PU 6’ emulation is selected.


Pan knob This controls the overall pan position. It changes the position of the sound source between two points (start and end point) by acting on a single parameter, the azimuth angle.
This displacement angle, on the horizontal axis, has a total amplitude that depends on the pan emulation (analog/digital - 2D/3D) selected, which can be 45° for some models, and 90° for others. The labels around the knob change according to the model selected and its azimuth angle (All Digital emulations have 45° of amplitude, otherwise all Analog emulations have 90°)

Out This slider controls the global output level, ranging from -12dB to +12dB.





Mode menu Choose from 66 different panning modes divided into 5 categories (2D ANALOG – 3D ANALOG –2D DIGITAL 2D – 3D DIGITAL – 2D MS).


Size drop-down menu

Choose between 3 magnification values (1x - 1.5x - 2x) from the top left ▼SIZE drop-down menu.
*Once the desired size has been selected, the plugin must be removed and re-loaded in order to apply the changes. This action affects the currently selected plugin. New instances of the same plugin will open with this magnification.


Technical information

• Plug-in Format(s): VST2, VST3, AU, AAX
• System Requirements
• Available sample rates: 44.1 - 48 - 88.2 - 96 kHz
• Windows 10 compatible
• M1 macOS Monterey compatible



Price and availability

List price: €49 Buy Now


The product is at an introductory period for the first four weeks after release or until the first official version is released; this implies that the product may receive improvements, changes, or fixes available through Aquarius Desktop updates during that time.


How to install the free 30-day trial



Fire The Pan user's manual


FIRE SERIES web page: https://www.acustica-audio.com/pages/sp ... ire-series

FIRE THE PAN web page: https://www.acustica-audio.com/store/pr ... firethepan

[Teksonik]

by sampling a dummy head of a well-known German company.

Daniel Haver ?


Anyway "sampled panner" seems like such a ridiculous concept that one is tempted to label it....

Snake Oil.png

[Acustica Community]

by sampling a dummy head of a well-known German company.

Daniel Haver ?


Anyway "sampled panner" seems like such a ridiculous concept that one is tempted to label it....



Snake Oil.png

We prefer coconut oil for our pans but thank you.
In addition to the sampled panners, there are some very interesting algorithmic style emulations, mid-side, and distance-based panners to name a few.

Bon appetit!

[plexuss]

by sampling a dummy head of a well-known German company.

Daniel Haver ?
Anyway "sampled panner" seems like such a ridiculous concept that one is tempted to label it....
Snake Oil.png

Initially I thought so too. However, an analogue pan is not going to 100% accurate. Most pan circuits are somewhat complex as well, using some active circuitry. I would expect that panning comparisons between gear would be ultra-subtle, but, they may not be. So, in the end this seems like an interesting idea. Proof will be in the demo experience with the trial.

[Teksonik]

I tried the demo. It pans left and right but most of the options made my source audio sound worse....much worse. Muddy and muted.

So I uninstalled....after realizing there is no uninstall method other than to manually find and delete the files.

I'm sure there are those who think that attaching the word "analog" to something automatically makes it magic but a sample based panner just makes no sense to me and I was not impressed....at all.

YMMV.....

[jamcat]

Nah

[plexuss]

That's cool. Some people can hear subtle details and some, like Teksonic, can't. You can only work with what you can hear so if you can't hear the subtlies you can't work with them.

Too bad it sounds bad to you. It will be interesting to hear what others say about it.

On my mac, I can uninstall AA trials using Aquarius. I guess another YMMV point. But maybe you are missing the uninstall feature in the app.

[jamcat]

This is a solution in search of a problem.

[plexuss]

This is a solution in search of a problem.

As are all plugins...

what is going on? are these bots posting on KVR?

[jamcat]

This is a solution in search of a problem.

As are all plugins...

If that were true, we wouldn't be here. And yet, here we are!
The "shortcomings" of digital panning, on the other hand, is not a problem anyone knew existed before Acustica Audio told us about this one weird trick.

what is going on? are these bots posting on KVR?

"Russians" !!!

[Teksonik]

That's cool. Some people can hear subtle details and some, like Teksonic, can't. You can only work with what you can hear so if you can't hear the subtlies you can't work with them.

There was nothing subtle about the way it made my source audio sound horrible.

Some people think they hear subtle differences when all they are doing is falling for the placebo effect and the "Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome".

Looks like you've formed your opinion before even trying the plugin.

[Teksonik]

On my mac, I can uninstall AA trials using Aquarius. I guess another YMMV point. But maybe you are missing the uninstall feature in the app.

If it's there it's well hidden. I see the option to install a plugin (that's already installed) but no option to uninstall. Maybe I'm just missing it but I got tired of looking and manually deleted the files since there wasn't even an entry in Windows 10 Apps to uninstall.

Acustica.png

Acustica2.png

I installed the trial again... I don't see any way to uninstall but the install button is there even though it's already installed. The trash can icon is just for purging the "stage area".

To be fair I've testing the plugin again. Same result. It simply makes my source audio sound worse. I would not use the plugin if it were free.

[plexuss]

That's cool. Some people can hear subtle details and some, like Teksonic, can't. You can only work with what you can hear so if you can't hear the subtlies you can't work with them.

There was nothing subtle about the way it made my source audio sound horrible.

Some people think they hear subtle differences when all they are doing is falling for the placebo effect and the "Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome".

Looks like you've formed your opinion before even trying the plugin.

PANNING
I have no opinion on this plugin, as I haven't tried it. I was speaking more generally to the idea that labelling something as "analogue" inspires the idea of "audio magic". There is no magic. Analogue always will fk up the signal to some degree. Whether it sounds good or not is a personal choice. Specically, even though pan is, on the surface, a simple parameter, in the analogue domain it can be fairly electronically complex and this might impart some audible character that a simple digital panner may not. But it's speculation on my part.

PLACEBO
As for the placebo effect - agreed. However it's the responsibility, and competency, of the audio engineer to be able to determine what has a pleasing effect vs no effect vs not having a pleasing effect. And, not everyone can hear everything a given engineer can hear. There-in lies the basis for YMMV and ongoing online flame wars.

UNINSTALL
AA's Aquarius is a shtball of design. I even re-designed it for them using mockups to show how it could better be organized, but of course they ignored me, like they usually do with customers. To uninstall, you have to go into "Update", find the product and there is an "Uninstall" option there. Also remember to click the garbage icon in the upper right of the UI to delete any install files that were downloaded otherwise those files will sit there taking up drive space.

[dionenoid]

Demoed. And uninstalled (you have to use the updates page for this).

Sounds awful. I cannot understand how something that ruins your signal so bad can be sold like this.

[plexuss]

Alright... I installed the demo and used it to pan some percussions sounds over a drum loop. Also to pan some vocals over said drum loop. I didn't notice anything horrible. Then I auditioned it using vocals but with the output sent to mono so I could better hear any effect of panning. So far I am only hearing minimal changes to the source audio, when panning. I haven't broken out the Intense Listening Session protocols yet, just doing a quick audition. I am not hearing any major issues.

Perhaps those of you who seemed to immediately hear something bad could point us in the right direction? What specifically were you hearing that sounded bad? I'd like to identifiy these issues too.