NEOLD BIG AL

Unique Harmonics
BIG AL is a dual-stage tube saturator that offers a broad palette of marvelous sound flavors flowing from the interactive network within its transformer-coupled pre and power amp. Based on completely novel circuitry and authentic NOS components from the 1930s, the one-off analog hardware has been exclusively designed for this plugin.

Filter Freak
BIG AL's frequency conditioning begins right in the EF9 preamp stage. The Low control is implemented as a Baxandall filter which allows adjusting saturation intensity around 100Hz in optional combination with boosting or cutting the bass at the same time.

The High control is an additional EQ band placed in front of the preamp tube. Its peaking filter boosts or cuts high-frequency content around 10kHz which is essential for inciting or taming BIG AL's treble aggression potential.

Onboard Mods
A jumper matrix grants access to BIG AL's core circuitry: Emphasis Shift, Bass Compensator and Voltage Sag provide powerful options for making complex changes to the distortion profile on the fly by inserting or pulling a few simple plugs.

The finishing spice is added by the AL4 power pentode and its output transformer, driven hot by the preamp stage. The result? A truly gorgeous kind of harmonic saturation that will always sound organic, musical, and bold.

FREE Presets

George Seara Presets

• Tube saturator built around vintage components from the radio era
• Uses pre and power tubes to generate sound coloration (‘The Power Saturator’)
• Emulation based on a one-off hardware created exclusively for this plugin
• Straight forward user interface spiced up with three jumpers for in-depth onboard mods
• Very musical and analog sounding saturation and filters

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  George Seara

  Mixing & Recording Engineer (Shawn Mendes, James Bay, Drake, Sting)

  Love this, Guys! It’s quick, easy, and intuitive, and best of all is that it sounds KILLER!! On drums, bass, guitars, synths, and samples, this is such a great tool to add glorious harmonic… Read More

• 

  Greg Wells

  Grammy-winning producer, mixer, songwriter (Taylor Swift, Adele, Pharrell Williams, Kid Cudi)

  Big Al is gorgeous! I love using it subtly across the mix or individual elements.

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  Brian Malouf

  Producer and Mixer (Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder)

  It’s also one of those boxes that improves the sound of the instrument by just instantiating it. The transients, with just a little drive and high-end eq, were immediately beautiful - still… Read More

• 

  Darrell Thorp

  9 Grammy Awards (Foo Fighters, Beck, Radiohead, Paul McCartney)

  Great fun in a small box. I love the analog sound and the depth, and the added ability to add harmonic distortion.

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  Daniel Wyatt

  Multi-platinum Audio Engineer (Curtis Mayfield, Mos Def, Sugar Ray, The Roots)

  PA is back with another never-been-seen before beauty from the past - and we are going way back here - to the 1930s! Big Al is not a Chicago gangster, but a powerhouse saturator/clipper with heavy… Read More

• Secret weapon!

  ★★★★★

  by sobrinN

  July 13, 2023
  I love to distort sub basses with this, simply dial back the mix and have an awesome distorted bass, usually works great with sine waves!

• Excellent and unique!!

  ★★★★☆

  by George G

  May 3, 2023
  As a Neold plugin, it holds a spot in my heart!! It's not as amazing as the Neold compressors but still, it's a unique and very useful tool to have. I particularly like the "emphasis" button, it can… Read More

• Big Al

  ★★★★★

  by Mgm

  March 13, 2023
  Outstanding. Possibly one of the most underrated plugins.

• YOU CAN LITERALLY PUT THIS ON EVERYTHING

  ★★★★★

  by Buck Down

  September 30, 2022
  this may be one of the best steals on this entire site. My studio template now has this on EVERY channel. Simply put, it breathes 3 dimensional life into anything you try it on.
  A real… Read More

• Aliasing?

  ★★★★☆

  by Kampa

  August 31, 2022
  Love this to bits but surprised there's no oversampling option followed by a Nyquist filter... hope they add that in a next update so there's no aliasing.

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 14 down to macOS 11
Windows 11 down to Windows 10

Mac
Intel or Apple Silicon architecture

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM