Manley Ecliptic from Plugin Alliance is more than just another equalizer. It combines four-band parallel EQ, transformer saturation, harmonic drive, mid/side processing, and stereo imaging tools into a single plugin.
In this video, I take a closer look at Manley Ecliptic, explore its main features, and put it to work on a master bus to hear what it can do.
Watch the video below:
Four-Band Parallel EQ
Manley Ecliptic features four EQ bands: Low, Contour, Mid, and High. Unlike a traditional EQ where bands operate in series, these bands operate in parallel.
Each band includes frequency, gain, and bandwidth controls. The Low, Mid, and High bands can also switch between boost and cut, while the Contour band provides additional midrange boosting.
One of the more interesting features is the independent Mid/Side processing available on every band. This lets you apply equalization to the center of the stereo image, the sides, or a combination of both.
The Offset control takes things further by allowing different frequencies to be processed in the middle and sides.
Transformer Saturation and Harmonic Drive
The plugin also includes an input transformer stage controlled by the Xformer knob. Increasing this setting drives the transformer harder, adding analog-style saturation to the signal.
The Drive section provides additional harmonic saturation, while the Tilt control determines which part of the frequency spectrum gets saturated first.
You can emphasize the low frequencies or push the upper mids and highs into saturation, depending on the sound you’re after.
Stereo Imaging and Monitoring
Beyond EQ and saturation, Ecliptic includes several tools for managing stereo information.
The Mono control brings the low frequencies into mono, while Width lets you narrow or widen the stereo image.
There are also three monitoring options:
- Solo Mid: Listen only to the center of the stereo image.
- Solo Side: Isolate the stereo sides.
- Delta: Hear the difference created by the processing.
These options make it easier to understand exactly what the plugin is doing to your audio.
Brainworx TMT and Visual Display
Ecliptic also includes Brainworx Tolerance Modeling Technology (TMT), providing 20 modeled analog channels with individual component variations.
The expandable display section includes a live spectrum analyzer, separate mid and side EQ curves, input and output meters, stereo balance, and correlation monitoring.
Additional features include Auto Gain, oversampling up to 16x, and five A/B comparison states.
Putting Manley Ecliptic to the Test
For the demonstration, I load Ecliptic onto a master bus and experiment with its EQ bands, boost and cut settings, mid/side processing, frequency offset, and transformer saturation.
I push some of the settings to extremes to make the differences easier to hear and see.
Manley Ecliptic brings together several different processing tools in one interface, making it an interesting option for anyone looking for more control over equalization, saturation, and stereo imaging.
For additional technical specifications and sound demonstrations, visit Plugin Alliance.
Plugin: Manley Ecliptic
Developer: Plugin Alliance
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