Acustica Audio once again release emulation of extremely rare equipment. This time the model is so little known that there are only two prototypes of the PP10 – this is the name of the original of this equalizer (by the way, PP stands for Pure Precision). Markbass built it in 2006 with Italian sound engineer Rodolfo “Foffo” Bianchi, but they ultimately never released it as a final product. The reason was too expensive production. Acustica Audio has once again introduced a new unique audio processing plug-in based on original samples to faithfully recreate the character of an analog device.
The equalizer offers ten bands, each with 19 selectable frequencies. The increase and decrease is possible up to 16 dB, the rotary control takes care of the quality of the filter. Values for this range from 0.3 to 6 – this should provide an extremely narrow bandwidth with which to edit frequencies with surgical precision.
Representatives of Acustica Audio themselves use the term “esoteric” in the description and specifically mean linearity in terms of frequency response and phase, with which this equalizer probably works. This precision should be especially noticeable when you turn off unwanted frequency frequencies. The manufacturer says that the Maize EQ is great for mastering, but when mixing it really shines.
— See also: Mäag Audio PREQ2: dual mic preamp with equalizer —
While admiring the original, there are some new features in the plugin version. One of them is Control-Link (left and right channels work simultaneously). A mid-side mode (M/S) has also been integrated, and there are indicators for input and output. Bands can be activated and deactivated individually. There are two modes for switching preamps: Solid-State and Vacuum-Tube. In the same section there is an oversampling option.
Acustica Audio Maize works on macOS and Windows as VST2, VST3, AU and AAX. A free demo and PDF user manual can be downloaded from the product page.
More details can be found on the official website: Acustica Audio.
