Harrison consoles were a big part of the sound of the 70s and 80s, helping shape the sound of everyone from Michael Jackson to ABBA to Kenny Rodgers and so many more music legends. The company’s most popular console back then was the 32C, which was renowned for it sound and musical EQ section. SSL, which acquired Harrison last year, has now released a new channel strip plugin based around the 32C, but with some extra features, called the 32Classic.
The 32Classic is basically an EQ with a gate and compressor, along with a drive section that emulates the sound of the original 32C input transformer and circuit. The top panel has an Input control, polarity switch, and a Drive control with In/Out button and VU-style meter. Beside it on the right is an Output control with another VU-style meter.
The Gate Section
The Gate section features a Threshold fader with a ladder-style level indicator, and a Depth control with an amount indicator to start. Then there’s the Attack and Release controls, and sidechain section with a Frequency control, In/Out and Listen button. An Expander button then activates the Hysteresis and Hold controls in that mode. It’s a pretty full-featured gate, although gates are used less and less these days in favor of automation and clip gain.
It’s A Compressor
Next to that is a Compressor section that also features a Threshold fader with a ladder-style level indicator, and a Ratio control with a gain reduction indicator. It also has Attack, Release and makeup Gain controls, but also has an Emphasis control which adjusts the frequencies that will activate the compressor, from 100Hz on the left to 12kHz on the right. There are also 3 Modes – Level, which has a low compression ratio, the normal Comp, and a Limit mode with a high ratio.
And The Famous EQ
Finally comes the famous 32C EQ section, with 4 bands of proportional EQ. In other words, the Q (bandwidth) gets narrower the more gain or attenuation you supply. The high and low bands of the EQ can also be switched from a shelf to a bell curve. The famous Harrison LFP and HPF filters are also included, which can be switched in separately from the EQ. Finally, on the bottom of the plugin you’re able to change the routing of the 3 sections as needed.
The Harrison 32Classic plugin normally sells for $299.99, but is currently on sale for just $49. You can find out more here, or watch the video below.
