Lemur Audio ESTER TUBE EqualizerESTER is a two-channel programme equalizer drawn from a hand-built vacuum tube unit — the kind of equalizer that never fixes a sound so much as it decides one. It has no analyser, no curve display and no surgical band, because the original had none: what it has is five broad, deeply musical sections, each with a rotary frequency selector over its own gain control. The two low sections are separate on purpose. LOW CUT and LOW BOOST are independent, and using them together in the same region — lifting the bottom while trimming just above it — is one of the classic moves this design is loved for. MID CUT starts wide and grows narrower the deeper you take it, so a small amount clears a whole region and a large amount tucks out one thing. HIGH BOOST carries its own bandwidth control (HF Q), and HIGH CUT tames the very top the way the hardware's output stage does. In front of all of it stands the part that makes it a valve equalizer rather than a set of filters: a tube stage, driven by the INPUT TRIM knob, that faithfully reproduces both tubes the original was historically built with — the 6072A it opens on, and the 6N1P. It stands in front of the equalizer, like a preamp, so the drive you set and the curve you shape never pull on each other. Push it and the sound gains density, harmonic weight and the gentle rounding a real valve gives you. Switch it off with SAT and ESTER is a clean, linear equalizer. And both channels are genuinely independent: LINK them for one dual-mono unit, unlink them to treat left and right separately, or switch the whole plug-in to M/S and equalize the centre and the sides apart from one another. At a glance Five EQ Sections LOW CUT, LOW BOOST, MID CUT, HIGH BOOST and HIGH CUT — per channel, each a frequency selector above its own gain control. Boost and Cut, Separately The low bands are independent, so you can lift and trim the same region at once — the move this design is famous for. Exact Recalls The frequencies land on the values engraved on the faceplate, so a setting you love comes back exactly — session after session, on every mix. Level Held While You Work AGCreads the curve you have built and compensates for it, so the loudness stays where it was and you hear the tone you changed rather than the level. Undo and redo sit beside it for the move you would rather take back. Two Tubes, One Valve Stage Both tubes the original was historically built with, 6072A and 6N1P, faithfully reproduced in front of the EQ — driven by one INPUT TRIM knob, with a lamp that shows it working. True Stereo & Mid/Side Two fully independent channels with their own VOLUME trim. LINK them, split them, or switch the whole unit to Mid/Side. YourColour The faceplate's hue is a continuous slider in the panel. Set it anywhere you like — it changes the look and nothing else, and it is saved with that instance in your project. Read More