Review: Drawmer 1973 from Softube
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Review: Drawmer 1973 from Softube
Softube have a stellar reputation for their recreation of analog hardware in the digital world, BUT – It’s hard to start a review for the Softube Drawmer 1973 without tipping my hat to the original rack unit from Ivor Drawmer! After all, this IS what the Softube Drawmer 1973 is all about – a classic Drawmer endorsed plugin recreation with some nice additional features not found on the hardware unit that makes it even more appealing.
Drawmer 1973 currently sells for $249.00 from Softtube
Thoughts
For some time now, we at SLR have wanted to feature more effect plugins as there are so many great products out there that deserve attention. I think in context to the fact that I always mention my preference for mixing in the room with premium plugins when I write instrument reviews, it is about time that I come to the table with one of those plugins.
Clearly, mixing and mastering plugins are a personal preference and a sometimes highly debated topic. For purposes of my review, I am going to focus on the lineage of the Drawmer 1973 and the Softube Drawmer 1973 only. This review is not intended as a shootout or competitive characteristic debate. The Drawmer 1973 is one of my favorite 3-band compressors and the focus therefore will be on the magnificent job that Softube has done in bringing it to life as a plugin.
Ivor Drawmer has been creating fantastic and highly sought after studio rack equipment for over 35 years now. The Drawmer 1973 is a direct descendant of the 1960, 1968 and S3 models, each improving on the capabilities of its predecessor. The Drawmer 1973 is a 3-band FET “soft knee” compressor. Its can easily maintain the rumbling lows (Big -Low Band Function) and crystalline highs (Air – High Band Function) of your trailer or orchestral scores or you can get surgical with placing drums, vocals, keyboards, guitar or bass in the mix and not lose the “fit” amongst your other instrumentation.
The more you work with it, the more you appreciate the potential for sculpting the sound.
The key here is the split of the three distinct bands (Low, Mid, High) which can be sculpted on an independent basis before it is combined back into the full signal to process the Wet/Dry Mix and Output gain. Each of the three bands has requisite controls for Threshold, Attack, Release and Mute/Bypass. There are Low Frequency and High Frequency Crossover controls and the interface follows very faithfully to the original with a couple of additional features. I am not going to go into detail on the thresholds of each control as there is detailed information posted by both Softube and Drawmer.
The most appealing feature for me here is the Mode control to allow for traditional stereo processing or option for Mid-Side processing.
This functionality opens up a whole realm of possibilities for creating an exceptional stereo widening effect by pushing the center sound elements farther out in the master mix. No matter how you approach using the Drawmer 1973, I recommend that you place a Limiter on the back-end to smooth out the mix. That may seem to be common sense to a seasoned mix/master professional but we have readers of all levels so it is worth reiterating.
The Drawmer 1973, like so much sophisticated studio equipment, can be a bit intimidating at first glance. Softube have addressed that in two ways. There are presets available for a broad variety of uses that take the guess work out of “knob twiddling” or if you want to start smaller, Drawmer 1973 has a little brother, the Softube Drawmer S73 IMP that has a much more compact interface and presets provided for those at a more entry level mastering background. (There is an upgrade path back to
There are presets available for a broad variety of uses that take the guess work out of “knob twiddling” or if you want to start smaller, Drawmer 1973 has a little brother, the Softube Drawmer S73 IMP that has a much more compact interface and presets provided for those at a more entry level mastering background. (There is an upgrade path back to the 1973 offered by Softube)
Softube has lived up to their reputation once again with the recreation of the Drawmer 1973.
I have used it as both a mixing compressor on individual tracks and as a mastering compressor and have been very pleased with the results. The Drawmer can be like waiving your magic wand over the mix if you are comfortable using this type of plugin. I did say at the beginning that this was not a shootout or comparison review, but I would add that I own a large number of compressor plugins and I have been using the Drawmer 1973 as my go-to compressor since I added it to the toolbox. I have to give the Softube Drawmer 1973 the Thumbs Up award from SampleLibraryReview for the rich features and capability. The cost is also a very reasonable 20% of the hardware unit and includes the bonus features.
Facts
Drawmer 1973 is available for a 20 day Free Trial from Softube. The plugin is now distributed as part of the Gobbler platform making it a convenient way to manage all of your plugins including those that may be accessed from other developers who are now using the Gobbler platform. Drawmer 1973 is available for both Windows and Mac as a VST/AAX plugin and requires an iLok account.
Here are some of the key technical highlights:
- • Faithfully modeled from the Drawmer 1973 Analog Rack Unit
- • Fully endorsed by Drawmer (see product video for additional reference)
- • 3-Band FET Compressor
- • Addition of Mid-Side and Side Chain processing not available on the original Rack Unit
- • Includes Drawmer 73 IMP presets plus some additional other
- • Includes the Air feature found on the original
- • Solo band capability
Drawmer 1973 currently sells for $249.00 from Softtube
