Olive is the fourth Acqua plug-in in our new Boutique Collection. A collaborative effort with Craig Patterson and Clark Hagan allowed us to rescue and restore the only Olive 2000 console that exists today so you can enjoy the magic of a rare and legendary desk that has been lost in time for decades.
The story behind the Olive console
In 1969, Wayne Jones had a unique vision that would have changed the industry. Mixing consoles were usually custom-made at the time, combining individual elements such as faders, equalizers, and compressors upon customer request.
In the 60s, a U.S. company introduced the concept of strip modularization to make it easier to build consoles with different numbers of inputs. Other companies soon followed.
Among them, Olive Electrodynamics, a Canadian company founded in 1971 by Wayne Jones, produced semi-modular consoles which included all the features offered by outboard gear until then.
The Olive was the first console to include what we know today as a standardized channel strip, including all common functions with every channel, rather than a haphazard custom design. It was also the first console to have automation. We might as well say that every mixing desk since, and every digital audio workstation, has copied these core concepts from The Olive.
Only two slightly different consoles are known to have been built and were sold to two prestigious studios in Toronto and the U.S.
Unfortunately, the famed American studio closed its doors in 1985 due to a severe fire.
The Resurrection
The console was massive and heavy, and it took time and strength to move it out of the warehouse. Bulldozers were used to transport its frame and various sections.
Once we had cleaned all the pieces and reassembled them, the real work began.
We meticulously connected every wire and tested every button, ensuring everything worked perfectly.
The excitement grew as we realized we were bringing back to life something truly unique and legendary in a plug-in suite form, enhancing its performance with our proprietary technology.
It was like watching a phoenix rise from the ashes.
The Olive mixing console was way ahead of its time when it was designed in the early '70s...
...today, after 50 years after its inception, Olive has finally come of age!
What you get
Olive combines emulations derived from the extremely rare Olive 2000 mixing console, built in the 1970s by the well-known Olive Electrodynamics, a Canadian company founded in 1971 by Wayne Jones, who built them to order for studios worldwide.
The Olive suite includes four different plug-ins: a 4-Band EQ, a discrete VCA-style dynamic processor, a VCA expander, and a preamp module.
• Olive EQ - A vintage 4-Band equalizer - low and high shelf, plus two mid bells and high and lowpass filters, plus a pre-amp stage.
Each of the four independent sections for the EQ - low, high, and two identical mid-ranges - offers 12 frequencies.
Olive EQ GUI
• Olive Pre - A vintage pre-amp section including 4 Line and 4 Mic pre-amps. Thanks to our Hyper tech, today we are able to emulate the phase, harmonic distortion, and frequency response of their corresponding circuits with more precision than ever before.
Olive Pre GUI
• Olive Comp - An original VCA-based compressor/limiter, plus a pre-amp stage. Its sonic character is distinguished by its rapid and neutral response, creating a vivid, punchy, and highly musical sound.
Olive Compressor GUI
• Olive Exp - A VCA expander, plus a pre-amp stage. To maintain adherence to the original Olive mixing console, we decided to include for the first time in a full suite of Acqua plug-ins a VCA expander, aware that the original console had one. Therefore we felt it was only right to pay homage to this fascinating module in terms of design and sound.
Olive Expander GUI
NOTE: Please keep in mind that for each plug-in in the Olive suite, we recommend that you calibrate your input levels to: -18dBFS = 0dBu.
This way, you will avoid unwanted distortion or unpredictable behavior due to excessive input levels.
Additionally, each plug-in included in the Olive suite comes in a 'standard' version and an alternative 'ZL*' version, which operates at *zero latency and is thus suitable for use when tracking (at the cost of extra processing resources).
We recommend reading the Olive user's manual to get the most out of this new plug-in suite.
The sound
The Olive has an open and natural sound, striking a balance between clinical neutrality and warmth. It provides a sense of space and openness to the original signal.
Between 1971 and 1974, artists like Rick Derringer, Joe Walsh, Chicago, Elton John, and April Wine used the Olive console for various albums and singles.
Acustica Audio Olive | Plug-in walkthrough
About Acustica Audio's Hyper technology
Thanks to our new Hyper and Hyper2 technology, we can now deliver even more realistic and convincing compression, saturation, filters, and preamp signals in the digital domain by emulating the sound of analog recording equipment with lower CPU consumption and improved stability.
Technical information:
• Supported formats: VST2, VST3, AAX, and AU.
• Available sample rates: 44.1 - 48 - 88.2 - 96 kHz.
• Windows 10 and 11 compatible.
• macOS 10.15, 11, and 12 compatible.
• Intel, AMD, and Silicon M computer compatible.
• AAX Silicon Native.
Price and availability
Olive introductory price: €99 | 38% OFF until May 24, 2023 (reg. price €159)* Get it here!
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.
Try our FREE 30-Day Trial
Note: Olive trial version includes 44.1 - 48 - 88.2 - 96 kHz sample rates.
Please remember that trials expire 30 days after authorization, and we strongly recommend not using trial products in commercial sessions or any important project.
Olive user's manual
Olive webpage: https://www.acustica-audio.com/shop/products/OLIVE
What are you guys smoking over at AA??