Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer

Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer is a unique plug-in that splits the signal into several frequency bands and lets you mix and process them as if they were separate tracks.

Each band proposes controls that can be found on a mixing console, and more: bypass, mute, or solo each band separately to isolate frequencies you want to work on, adjust the gain, the "stereoness" and the position in the stereo field. When manipulating the stereo image, a master mono switch also lets you check mono compatibility.

The plug-in can also operate as a multiband VST Host: you can process each band independently with your favourite VST plug-ins! Up to four plug-ins can be loaded on each band, pre or post-fader. Latency compensation presets management, undo/redo integration, and individual plug-in bypass are included for optimal operation.

The plug-in also proposes unique linking and grouping options thanks to our multi-instance technology. You can link bands together within a single instance or between several instances of the plug-in on different tracks. This lets a simple fader control as many bands on as many tracks as you want. This is particularly useful when adjusting the placement or the balance of several competing tracks.

And as usual with Blue Cat Audio, the plug-in provides comprehensive visual feedback to let you know what's exactly going on: for each channel, monitor the spectrum, the in/out levels and the frequency response.

Thanks to its advanced MIDI and automation input capabilities, when combined with our other plug-ins, Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer is capable of advanced side-chaining features that really unveils its potential. 

Typical applications: Multiband levels correction, multiband VST hosting, spectral enhancement, multiband stereo widening, multiband stereo placement, frequency isolation, EQ, spectrum inspection, mastering, spectrum-based side chain effects, apply audio effects to a selected frequency range, VST plug-in bridge.

Features

• Multiband mixing console: adjust the levels, panning and "stereoness" of each band separately.
• Multiband VST, VST3 and Audio Unit Host: insert third party VST, VST3 and AU plug-ins and process each band independently.
• 30 built-in effects for multiband processing: EQ, filters, pitch & frequency shifter, delays, reverb, modulation effects, compressor, gate, bit crusher, wave shaper and more.
• External side chain support for sub-plug-ins on each band.
• Parameters Mapping: map sub-plug-ins parameters to automate them or use a control surface.
• Flexible Audio routing: connect sub-plug-ins i/o to any audio channel for multi-mono effects or creative side chain.
• Pre and post-fader VST/VST3/AU plug-in inserts, with full latency compensation.
• Up to 7 bands, with crossover filters from 12 to 192 dB/Oct for optimal separation.
• Multiple instances linking: group bands within a single instance or between multiple instances of the plug-in. Modify the spectrum on multiple tracks with a single slider.
• Bypass, mute, solo on every band.
• Mono switch on master for mono compatibility check.
• Dual Mode: independent left and right or mid and side channels control.
• Complete visual feedback with real-time response curves, spectrogram, and levels display for each band.
• Sidechaining made easy: a unique way to perform multi-band side chain compression, ducking, gating and much more.
• No additional latency.​

Blue Cat Audio Standards:

• Available as: Mac-AAX, Mac-AU, Mac-VST, Mac-VST3, Win-AAX, Win-VST, Win-VST3, Win x64-AAX, Win x64-VST, Win x64-VST3.
• Native DSP code for optimal performance.
• Full MIDI control and automation support with silent, zipper-free parameters update, advanced response control and MIDI Learn.
• No CPU load on idle: when the plug-in is fed with silence, the processing smoothly shuts down, to optimize the CPU usage of your Digital Audio Workstation.
• Customizable user interface with transparency management and zoom.
• Automation and MIDI output: record output parameters as automation curves or send MIDI CC messages to other plug-ins for powerful side chain effects.
• Smooth Bypass: activate/deactivate the plug-in with absolutely no noise.
• Undo/Redo.
• Fully-featured integrated presets manager.
• Copy/paste the state of the plug-in between instances using the system clipboard.
• Any sample rate supported.

What's new in MB-7 Mixer 3.5.0

• New macro controls editor to edit plug-in parameters mapping.
• Assign multiple parameters from multiple plug-ins to a single macro control, and adjust the range for each parameter.
• Assign a name to each macro control, that is now displayed in automation lanes in most host applications (may require a session reload in some cases).
• Parameter names for existing sessions will be automatically updated upon load.
• Select macro knobs' appearance among 18 predefined styles.
• Updated dozens of presets with macro parameters.
• New learn modes to quickly assign plug-in parameters.
• Added an option in global & preset input settings to send MIDI events when MIDI-enabled parameters are modified in the plug-in (to update control surfaces accordingly).
• In most plug-in formats, internal audio I/O configuration can now be selected regardless of the configuration defined by the host (you can for example reduce the number of channels to save CPU and process only selected channels).
• Improved performance to load the user interface.
• Improved VST parameter value display in some host applications.
• Added Apple Silicon support for AAX Plug-in Format.
• Mac: installers and plug-ins have been notarized to avoid security warnings on Mac OS Catalina and newer.
• Fixed bypass that did not let MIDI messages go thru for some MIDI plug-ins.
• Fixed some GUI resizing issues with some VST3 plug-ins.
• Fixed an issue with some VST3 plug-ins requiring to click twice on the bypass button to get bypassed.

System Requirements

Windows

• An SSE2-enabled processor (Pentium 4 or newer).
• Windows Vista or newer
• Any VST / VST3 / AAX compatible host software (32 or 64 bit).

Mac OS X

• Intel or M1 processor.
• Mac OS 10.9 or newer.
• Any VST / VST3 / Audio Unit (32/64-bit) / AAX compatible application.