Diamond Lift4 by Acustica Audio & Studio DMI: Masterful Update!
by AcusticaCM   26th July 2023

Congrats! Excited to try this, I never demoed Lift3.

Lift 3 was already good, but limited with old AA tech, and it was a hit or miss depending on the material. But when it was a hit, it was a hit !

We can have great expectations for Lift 4 with hyper tech

Just had a test with it, already leagues above V3 -
the saturation, clipping and compression sounds much more consistent and even, and I can dial in the right sound way quicker thanks to the snappy-er controls.

Lift3 was, as commented above, very much a hit or miss - sounding terrible on some bass-heavy material, especially the clipping.

But with the new update here, I can use the saturation and clipping without the sound falling apart, and the stuff under-the-hood is much more refined; more consistent sounding to where I can use it on every mix!

Acustica's tech seems to be exponentially improving, hardware will be redundant in a few years...

Wow thanks for the update AA! Any hints for the 4 comp modes and 5 clip modes? these would be great to know!

How did y'all use Lift3? A final "polishing" stage?

Is the eq Lift 4 updated?

Sorry for wrong info!
Routing was wrong!

Everything sound and sounding lovely!
Thank you for the update.
All the best,,
JP

Thanks for the free update, love the addition of presets also (hoping more updates and releases have presets).

you sure? Threshold is just waaay lower here.
could still be considered a bug though.

You are right I go -2 in and now I have smal reaction.

Thank you and all the best,,
JP

Good question? AA can you please comment on the EQ section?

I believe they said the eq in lift 4 was updated to make it have less phase issues.

No changes on the EQ are reported. All the updates reported with respect to the previous version are detailed in the 'What's new?' section on the main post.

Thank you.

It’s been one of the only real mysteries so far.

The manual could be a bit more helpful as to uses, expected adjectives or attributes from usage of each section’s “mode” such as air, glue, punch, warmth, forward etc. (compression, Eq shelves, clipper).

It certainly sounds better to me.

Excellent work guys ! This new version sounds so much better than the previous one especially the new hyper clipper! ??

@ AcusticaCM

Thanks for the reply. Quick question; I there any particular reason why the eq section wasn’t updated with the new tech?

100%. There is no much description in the manual for any of the compressor/clipper modes… @ AcusticaCM can you please shed some light?

Over time we will be able to give hints or clues, but as usual, we cannot give indications of the hardware or hw chains modeled.

Fair enough. Can we get at least a broad description of the type of compressor (VCA, FET, etc), attack/release and ratio for each of the 4 modes?

For the clipper modes too please (hard, soft, etc)

There are 4 modes of compression and only 3 diagrams of their ratios in the manual, and no description of the compression or clipping types other than what Luca has said in the past and that the 5th option for clipping is hyper. Drastically under documented. I had to refer to an old Luca video where he talked about the different modes and even then no one mentions the 4th only the first 3.

The continuing mystery of the modes in Lift...

hi @ zaphod and @ LucaPretolesi

first of all thanks for listening to your loyal customers by bringing Lift to the next level.
the hyper compression sounds amazing, it's such a huge improvement from Lift 3 - very punchy and more controlled. the compressor alone is worth the full price imo.
the clipping is very clean, even without oversampling there's no transient smoothing anymore.
amazing job guys!

cheers, L

I don't think the trial for macOS installs correctly.

DIAMONDLIFT4T is the only thing installed -- a directory for the .N2V files. No component or vst3 files installed, no .xml, nothing.

Sorry, I misspoke, there is one other file installed -- DIAMONDLIFT3S2TRL.AUT for authorizing the plugin. But no plugins are actually installed, just the sample directory.

Really wanted to give this a whirl tonight...

This!

Have had Lift3 for a while - but as with others above - have found it tricky to dial in at times.

This update sounds SIGNIFICANTLY improved.

Compression is cleaner and more defined - the different versions are more easily differentiated and have more character to their inbuilt attack and release settings.

The overall sound is more polished and defined. 4x Oversampling is an excellent addition.

The clipping is now much more useful to me....easier to balance and bring in and out.

The GUI is MUCH improved. The meters are cleaner and more reactive - the numerical input is much appreciated.

I have now moved it to a clear spot in my mixbus and mastering chain and it's working wonders on two masters already.

If you haven't tried - and you make modern pop/hip hop/dance (in particular)...then this is a must try.


D

LIFT4 rel a012 / LIFT4-TRIAL rel A001 :

• Oversampling added to clipper mode 5.

This is an absolutely overpriced update. Old piece of software new polished. The compressor isn't on par with other comps on the market. The EQ is a joke an the whole thing is useless.

Ehhhh...

Overpriced update? - The update is free - unlike many other companies. I bought it three years ago and I'm still getting free updates.

The EQ is a variable slope high shelf and low shelf - very handy as a finishing tool to me - if I want a parametric EQ I'll use one.

Useless? I use it quite often.

The great thing about it is they've also made it a non-mandatory plug-in, so you don't even HAVE to buy it.

Crazy, I know.

Some people cannot withstand the urge to make a fool of themselves.