VST/AU plug-in instrument/effect round-up: Week 22
A six-pack of tools
There are two fresh takes on our old friend the compressor this week, plus a vocoder, a couple of synths and a six-in-one processing tool that’s designed to help you give your music that professional finish.
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NEXT: Waldorf Lector
Waldorf Lector
At its heart, Lector is a vocoder, but it also appears to be considerably more than that. There’s a multimode filter, three-band EQ and a 16-voice synthesizer, plus effects that include overdrive, distortion, chorus/flanger, delay and reverb. As such, it’s suitable for far more than creating robotic vocals.
Tone2 AkustiX Enhancer
This “one-click solution to make your mix sound professional without knowing about mastering-voodoo” comprises six tools in one interface. There’s Psycho EQ, Ultra Stereo, Phase Enhance, Multiband Exciter, Smart Filter and Stereo Width. Use it for mixing, mastering and signal restoration.
Sound Magic BlueTube Compressor
Inspired by a hand-crafted, vintage tube mastering compressor, this plug-in version promises ultra-low distortion. It sports Fatness and Gain sliders, plus Threshold, Ratio, Attack and Release dials. Peak and Reduction meters give you a visual guide to what’s going on.
Minimal System Instruments Stereo Buss Compressor
Another compressor, this one designed for those times when you want to put the finishing touch to your mix. It’s modelled on the legendary buss compressors of the past and is designed to glue the various elements of your track together, making the whole thing sound bigger and punchier.
Buy or download demo of Minimal System Instruments Stereo Buss Compressor
Hamburg-audio Nuklear
Nuklear is the vessel for ‘pulsar synthesis’, which the developer claims can create previously unheard sounds by disassociating the note pitch from waveform length. There aren’t currently any audio examples to illustrate this method, but you can download a demo and test the theory yourself.
De La Mancha Basic 65
In both look and sound, this monosynth is inspired by the Commodore 64 and its famous SID chip. It builds on said chip’s waveforms by adding an arpeggiator, a modulation envelope and two LFOs. There’s also pulse width modulation, ring modulation and oscillator detune/sync.
Buy or download demo of De La Mancha Basic 65