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Elemental Audio Systems Firium and Eqium Review Version 2.0.2 (update: these plug-ins are no longer available from Elemental, this review is for information only)
Based in Baltimore, Maryland USA, Elemental Audio Systems produce a small but perfectly formed range of high quality plug-ins addressing: compression, limiting, EQ and metering. This review is primarily based on their EQ plug-ins: Firium and Eqium
Firium Firium is a sophisticated linear phase equaliser plug-in with fully customisable and completely transparent equalisation. Offering a large number of editing functions, dual workspaces and spectrum analyser, Firium may also be automated via the host application to morph EQ curves through up to fifty different states. The EQ characteristics of any piece of music may be ‘sampled’ with the resulting automatically generated correction EQ applied to another piece of music for CD track continuity or other creative purposes.
As a mastering EQ, Firium will usually be inserted on the master stereo outputs so the inevitable processing delay (all analytical plug-ins introduce a delay) will not pose a problem. Firium may of course also be used on individual tracks within a mix and as most modern hosts include automatic plug-in delay compensation, the inevitable processing delay will be transparently dealt with. Should manual compensation be necessary, Firium helpfully displays the delay (in samples) in the top right of the main window.
Copy protection is serial number based. You do not have to have your DAW connected to the net to authorise any Elemental Audio plug-ins. I much prefer serial number based copy protection over other more restrictive practices employed by some other companies. All native plug-in formats (Mac RTAS/VST/AU and Win RTAS/VST) are included in the price.
Main window EQ curves may be freely drawn with the mouse in the main spectral display window and edited by clicking and dragging one of fifty control point nodes. Below the main spectral display, a Curve Scale slider reduces or increases the curve’s amplitude whilst the Smooth slider automatically evens out hand drawn curves. The top left A and B buttons access the two independent workspaces where separate EQ curves may be created, stored, edited and compared.
Below the A and B buttons, the Coupling section influences curve construction/editing and determine how adjacent nodes are affected when dragged by the mouse. One of two different geometric curve shapes (Gauss and Geom) is selected by clicking the curve’s graphic representation. The arrow buttons below select between one of four levels for each curve type; coupling may also be switched off.
The extremely useful History slider and associated arrow buttons enable the last 100 edits to curves in either workspace to be viewed step by step. In effect, the history slider combined with the two workspaces could be viewed as a total of 200 memory locations or undo stages.
At bottom left, the Channel Editing And Linking section buttons enable editing of curves either jointly or independently to both left and right channels. When drawing or editing independent left or right channels, the Rev button produces equal but opposite actions in the other channel.
Independent EQ curves applied to left (blue) and right (red) channels
Buttons in the central lower Show section toggle the main spectral window’s graph views. The Input and Output buttons toggle superimposition of the spectrum analyser waveform graphs; see image at top of the page
On the far right, the stereo peak reading meters (with red 0dB clip indicators) register post processing signal levels. Gain may be adjusted by up to ±24dB with the adjacent fader. The window below numerically shows the amount of gain/reduction applied.
Clicking either the Firium name or the Elemental Logo helpfully displays a list of modifier keys; a great aid to making full use of the plug-in without having to refer back to the 66 page PDF manual.
States Next we come to what Elemental call ‘States’. States is a very powerful feature where up to fifty different EQ curves may be stored, accessed and automated through the host. Thumbnails of all fifty states may be viewed in the states overview window; toggled by clicking the top left orange triangle. Individual states numbered from one to fifty may be accessed from both the main and states overview windows by clicking either the arrow buttons or slider located at the top. Double clicking a thumbnail in the states overview window returns the numbered state to the main window for editing.
The Insert (INS) button may be used to insert a new curve in between other states; all states to the right then advance by one. States may also be copied and freely swapped from one position to another. Multiple states are selected by holding the shift key. The Reset (R) button resets individual states: if the shift key is also held then all states are reset. There is no undo for a full 50 states reset.
With two EQ curves inserted in the states window, Fill automatically generates the intermediate curves; a powerful time saving feature and excellent for generating smoothly changing curves over a range of states.
Without a doubt the best part of states is when combined with host automation; states may be seamlessly switched from one to another and subtle or startling effects can be created by sweeping backwards and forwards morphing from one curve to another.
Logic Automation Example In the screen shot below, a severely reduced bandwidth EQ was inserted in state number one, a flat EQ in state number 10 and the fill function used to generate the intermediate curves. The fill function was used four more times across blocks of ten states to automatically generate all the other curves up to state number fifty.
States overview window with Logic automation vector displayed above
Unfortunately, automation nodes in Logic (my chosen host) are displayed in percentages from 0 to 100 so the numbers do not agree with the Firium state numbers. Thankfully it is a simple matter to halve the numbers displayed by Logic to know exactly which Firium state relates to Logic’s nodes.
Match Match is used to sample the spectral characteristics of a source sound and apply it to another (target). Match may be used for: matching the sound of instruments recorded in different locations, matching the spectral characteristics from one track to the next on a CD, imprinting the sonic characteristics of one track (source) to another (target). Match may be used on files with different sample rates up to and including 192kHz.
Yellow trace = source audio. White = target. Blue = correction curve generated by Firium.
Clicking the top left Match button displays the match controls above the main window. Whilst playing back the chosen section of source material, click the Source Learn button to sample the source audio and Firium generates the yellow trace. Then, with the target track playing, click the Target Learn button and Firium will calculate and display the white trace. The blue trace is the automatically generated correction curve that is applied to the target audio and can of course be freely edited further if required.
Conclusion Firium is a totally transparent EQ well suited to mastering and can also obviously be used on individual tracks within a mix too. The facilities to independently EQ left and right channels, and automate changes via the host, are welcome additions to a well conceived plug-in. Match is also extremely useful tool and works superbly well. The Firium/Eqium bundle is a very attractively priced and capable duo. Elemental Audio Systems Firium Version 2.0.2
Pros Transparent sound No phase distortion or smearing Independent left/right channel EQ EQ morphing via host automation Match EQ mode Non restrictive copy protection
Cons None at this price… well, none I can find after more than two years use.
Summary A transparent mastering EQ with superb editing and automation.
Price $169 / £92 / €136 for BOTH Firium and Eqium (either can be purchased separately at a cost of $129 EACH so the bundle at $169 represents extremely good value for money)
There are other exceptionally good value bundle options too, i.e. Firium, Eqium, Neodynium and Finis for a total price of $349 / £198 / €292. That is a real bargain; individually they would cost a total of $576 / £329 / €482.
Neodynium is innovative, highly intuitive and unlike any compressor you’ve ever used. You will love Finis too; it knocks spots off Logic’s Adaptive Limiter. Don’t take my word for it though, download the demos and try them out for yourself.
http://www.elementalaudio.com
Eqium Eqium is an extremely versatile equaliser with virtually unlimited bands, supports sample rates up to 192kHz, and is supplied in both mono and stereo versions. In common with Firium, Eqium also has two separate workspaces designated A and B; filters may also be split into independently adjustable left and right channels.
Filters Clicking on one of the named filter icons in the top left Filters section inserts it into both the main filter graph window and the lower left Filters Created list. Filters may be edited with the sliders and arrows in the central section below, or by mouse in the main graph window. Whilst manipulating with the mouse: the Shift key constrains changes to gain only, Ctrl+Shift [CMD] adjusts frequency only and Ctrl [Option] key restricts changes to bandwidth, Q or slope; dependant on the selected filter type.
It is perhaps worth noting that Eqium uses bandwidth* and not Q to describe a parametric filter’s width. Eqium’s parametric minimum bandwidth of 0.02 equals a Q of 72.13. This is an order of magnitude greater than the parametric plug-in included in Logic version 5.5 (minimum bandwidth of 0.14, expressed in Logic as a Q-Factor value of 10). Eqium’s special harmonic 4 and 8 parametric filters have a minimum bandwidth of 0.005; an incredibly narrow Q of 288.54!
The harmonic 4 and 8 filters are especially useful for removing mains hum or other narrow band constant frequency noises. They may also be used creatively to accentuate specific notes. In the central lower section, (see image below) Eqium provides orange ‘illuminated’ switches to individually enable combinations of fundamental frequency, odd and even harmonics.
In the screen shot below, the five different filters are, from left to right: Hi Pass set to remove frequencies below 29Hz, a Harmonic 4 with a steep -18dB cut centred on 50Hz to remove European mains hum (and decreasing odd and even harmonics at 100, 150 and 200Hz), a Parametric cut of -4dB at 808Hz, a Hi Shelf giving +5dB shelf starting at 3,625Hz and finally a Low Pass rolling of the high frequencies from 17,195Hz. With the Fill button switched on, the filter’s overall response is graphically displayed by the dark blue filled section. The white line is showing the deep narrow cuts of the 50Hz Harmonic 4.
Created Filters Section Individual filters may be activated/deactivated by clicking the white circle in the lower left hand Created Filters list, and deleted from the list by clicking the orange ‘X’. Clicking the small blue and red icons in the ‘C’ column separates a filter into independently adjustable left and right channels. The selected filter is also shown outlined in white in the graphic window. The ‘Fc’ column shows (where appropriate) each filter’s centre frequency and the ‘G’ column gain. The ‘H’ column shows the designated automation handler letter; more on handlers in a moment. The white numbers (5/5) in the lower left indicate both the total number of filters inserted plus the number of the selected filter. Further filters may be added to the list. With more than eight inserted, the two orange triangles at the bottom scroll the list. The list may be sorted in various ways by clicking the headings.
Handler The central lower section labelled Handler, with its adjacent buttons from A to J, is to facilitate simultaneous automation via the host of up to ten individual filters. In the example screen shot above, Eqium has intelligently not associated a handler with the Harmonic 4 filter as it would rarely make sense to automate a mains hum filter. If required, an automation handler can be manually associated by simply clicking on an unused (white) handler letter.
Presets Although supplied with a seemingly small selection of presets, some of them contain several filters ready to be adjusted to suit. For instance, the Channel EQ preset contains: low shelf, high shelf, 3 band parametric and also hi and low pass filters. New presets may of course be saved and loaded via the integral buttons. Loading a preset will erase the one currently held in the active workspace but if the Ctrl [Option] key is held while clicking Load, then the filters in the preset will be added to the filters already in the current workspace.
Output meters On the far right, the stereo peak reading meters (with red 0dB clip indicators) register post processing signal levels. Gain may be adjusted by up to ±24dB with the adjacent linked vertical faders. An orange link button is also provided for independent left and right channel adjustments.
As with Firium, clicking on the plug-in name or the Elemental logo displays the modifier keys list.
Conclusion Eqium is a powerful well designed plug-in with clear interface and excellent host automation implementation. A single instance of Eqium includes every filter combination you could possibly need, and is certainly a lot quicker to use than selecting any one or more of the ten different EQ plug-ins included with Logic version 5.5. Eqium is not only quicker, but if you need to add a low cut, high cut or any other filter you can do so without having to insert yet more plug-ins in the channel strip and lengthening it as a result. Eqium could be the only EQ plug-in you will ever need.
Elemental Audio Systems Eqium Version 2.0.2
Pros Linked and independent left/right channel adjustments Excellent host automation implementation Stereo and mono versions supplied Virtually unlimited bands of EQ Non restrictive copy protection
Cons None at this price… well, none I can find after more than two years use.
Summary A transparent mastering EQ with superb editing and automation.
Price So good I thought it worth repeating: $169 / £92 / €136 for BOTH Firium and Eqium (either can be purchased separately at a cost of $129 EACH so the bundle at $169 represents extremely good value for money)
There are other exceptionally good value bundle options too, i.e. Firium, Eqium, Neodynium and Finis for a total price of $349 / £198 / €292. That is a real bargain; individually they would cost a total of $576 / £329 / €482.
Neodynium is innovative, highly intuitive and unlike any compressor you’ve ever used. You will love Finis too; it knocks spots off Logic’s Adaptive Limiter. Don’t take my word for it though, download the demos and try them out for yourself.
Minimum Hardware Requirements
PC: VST Pentium 3 or higher processor Windows 98/ME/2000/XP VST compatible host application
RTAS Windows XP Pro Tools 6.1 and Digidesign approved system
Mac: Audio Units Power PC G4 or higher processor Mac OS X v10.2 or higher Audio Unit compatible host application
VST Mac OS X Power PC G4 or higher processor Mac OS X v10.2 or higher VST or AudioUnit compatible host application
RTAS Power PC G4 Pro Tools 6 and Digidesign approved system
I must just tell you about one more Elemental plug-in suite: InspectorXL… a collection of five sophisticated metering and analysis plug-ins with a wealth of options and innovative displays. Definitely worth the asking price (currently on special offer).
One further thing… all Elemental Audio System plug-in PDF manuals are extremely well written, easy to follow and very informative; I wish that were true of all manuals!
It probably goes without saying but I will anyway; I do not work for Elemental Audio Systems.
As of May 2006, Elemental Audio products are only available from Roger Nichols Digital, Inc. Exclusive Distributor.RND has relabeled Eqium as “Uniquel-izer” and priced it at $249 and Firium is now “Frequal-izer” and that is also $249. If you want both, you would have to pay $498, not $169 as they were before RND took on the role as “exclusive distributor”.http://www.rogernicholsdigital.com/Products/SearchResult.aspx?categoryid=6
*Converter Screenshot of my Excel spreadsheet for converting Bandwidth to Q/Q to bandwidth.
Available for free download (23kb) This review and spreadsheet ©Tim Rainey 2006 (first published in Greek in the magazine Sound Maker) Shameless plug: Nishikigoi Varieties is a 90 minute visual bonanza of beautiful koi carp…read more
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