Colourful Compression Bundle

Compression is an incredible tool and is essential for producers and audio professionals in every discipline. Give your tracks every shade and colour of characterful compression in this exclusive, time-limited bundle!

Baby Audio Parallel Aggressor processes multiple copies of the same track and blends them together, in this way you can add more punch to a mix — in a more natural-sounding way.

Aberrant DSP ShapeShifter is a one-of-a-kind dynamics remodeler and character compressor that will completely transform the shape of your sounds.

Pulsar Smasher is an unprecedented custom modification of the classic Urei 1176 compressor circuit. And it excels at raw and gritty sounds, calling to mind bands like Vulfpeck, The Whitefield Brothers and The Black Keys.

The Colourful Compression Bundle is exclusive to Plugin Boutique and is available until 30th June 2021.

Baby Audio Parallel Aggressor

Parallel processing plays a fundamental part in getting a “big” mix sound. It's like teamwork: Multiple copies of the same track - each focused on doing one specific job - can achieve more together than a single copy being processed to death on its own.

Parallel Aggressor is based on this simple concept. The plugin splits your audio into three equal parts:

• Dry - Your original signal
• Spank - A heavily compressed duplicate 
• Heat - A heavily saturated duplicate

Work the duplicates hard! Then combine all three signals to squeeze every drop of sonic juice out of your track.

SPANK

Spank offers an addictively punchy compression algorithm, designed to adapt to your audio signal. It begins where Baby Audio's I Heart NY plugin ended, with improvements in sound quality, signal detection, and flexibility.

Style injection buttons: Extra Punch, Extra Smack, Sidechain Filter, Mono.

HEAT

Heat is a warm, analog-modeled, saturation algorithm with an aggressive bite. It is based on Baby Audio's tape saturator from Super VHS, but has been rewritten and optimized for the Parallel Aggressor release.

Style injection buttons: Extra Hot, Tone, HP Filter, LP Filter.

AUTO GAIN

Auto Gain ensures that the combined output of the plugin’s three signals roughly matches the input/dry level. This allows you to experiment with different internal mix balances while keeping a consistent plugin output.

Workflow

• Balance the three parallel signals from the main level mixer.
• Use the Spank and Heat knobs to dial up the firepower of the parallel engines.
• The meters help you set the right amount of Spank and Heat for any audio signal. (Dial the main Spank/Heat knobs until the meters peak right before the orange line).
• The style knobs inject desirable sonic flavors into the parallel engines. Engage many at once. 
• The solo buttons let you monitor each parallel signal individually for fine-tuning purposes.
• Turn on Auto Gain to get a consistent plugin output, roughly matching the input level.
• Output sets the global output level (post-Auto Gain).
• Switch between three different color schemes by clicking the top-left icon.

Learn more about and download the trial version of Parallel Aggressor.

Aberrant DSP ShapeShifter

Dynamics Remodeler / Character Compressor

Inspired by SketchCassette’s NR Comp algorithm, ShapeShifter moulds a blend of multi-band upward and downward compression into a toolbox for adding colour, body, and grit to your sounds. This can take the form of anything from a subtle vibe boost to blown-open, raucous carnage.

Features

• Upward / Downward compression controlled with a common Ratio
• Transients section with Ratio and Threshold controls, allowing for separate control of downward compression
• Upward compression Floor control for taming room sound or unwanted noise
• Flexible envelope shaping through Attack and Release time controls
• Tone adjustment for broad shifts in colour and character
• A wide-ranging Drive control with two models: A (gentle) and B (hard)
• Asymmetry control for attaining harsher, grittier drive textures by way of even-order harmonics
• Dry / Wet mixer for easy parallel processing
• Custom preset system with 64 factory presets, showcasing ShapeShifter’s versatility

Learn more about and download the trial version of ShapeShifter.

Pulsar Audio Smasher

A Faithful Emulation of a Uniquely Modified 1176

The original 1176 compressor hardware offered a selection of four ratios, but studio engineers soon discovered that pressing them all at once led to a distorted, explosive and highly compressed sound. It’s this “All buttons in” or “British” mode that Smasher was painstakingly designed to recreate.

While remaining very close to the original circuitry, the modifications Pulsar have built into Smasher will add definition to transients and make your tone more aggressive. Pulsar love using it to enhance the ambience in drum busses, but there are many more creative uses too. Smasher won’t work on every single track, but where it does, it works magic.

Features

• Topology Preservation Technology: Pulsar's proprietary modelling technology guarantees a perfect emulation of the original 1176’s behaviour. From the saturation of the magnetic flux in the inductors to the precise response of the transistors and the tiny calibration effects, everything is perfectly reproduced.
• Low CPU Consumption: Pulsar have spent ages optimizing Smasher to consume as few system resources as possible while keeping the same complex sonic results. Smasher takes full advantage of modern CPUs to do more with less but also allows oversampling at rates up to 384kHz.
• Parallel Compression: Smasher’s Mix knob lets you blend in the original unprocessed signal. This means that you can really squash the transients with extreme compression, then bring back just a hint of the processed signal to add sustain to a sound without compromising its dynamic qualities.
• Linked Sidechain: On a stereo bus, channels are usually compressed independently to get smoother control of dynamics… but when you’re compressing audio more brutally, it’s essential to keep the stereo image stable. That’s why Smasher uses a single detector to process a stereo track.

Learn more about and download the trial version of Pulsar Audio Smasher.

System Requirements

Baby Audio Parallel Aggressor

Mac

• Platform: Mac OS 10.7 and up
• Plugin formats: VST, VST3, AU, AAX
• DAWs supported: Ableton Live, Cubase, Logic Pro, Nuendo, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Reaper, Reason + more.
• Compatibility: 64-bit only.

Windows

• Platform: PC Windows 7 and up.
• Plugin formats: VST, VST3, AAX
• DAWs supported: Ableton Live, Cubase, Nuendo, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Reaper, Reason + more.
• Compatibility: 64-bit and 32-bit compatible.

Aberrant DSP Shapeshifter

Windows

• Windows 7 or later
• VST3 and AAX
• 64-bit only

Mac

• macOS 10.8 Mountain Lion through macOS 10.15 Catalina
• AU, VST3, and AAX
• 64-bit only

Pulsar Audio Smasher

Windows

• CPU: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / i9 / Xeon or AMD Quad-Core minimum
• Memory: 4 GB RAM, 1 GB free disk space​
• Operating System: Windows 7 with SP1 64 bit / Windows 8.1 64 bit / Windows 10 64 bit​
• GPU: OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU​
• Monitor: Minimum Resolution 1024×768, recommended 1920×1080
• Refresh rate: 60 Hz

Compatible Plugin Formats (32 & 64-bit):

• AAX Native
• VST 2.4
• VST 3

Mac

• CPU: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon
• Memory: 4 GB RAM, 1 GB free disk space​
• Operating System: 10.10 – 10.15
• GPU: OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU​
• Monitor: Minimum Resolution 1024×768, recommended 1920×1080
• Refresh rate: 60 Hz

Compatible Plugin Formats (64-bit only):

• AAX Native
• Audio Unit
• VST 2.4
• VST 3

Activation:

• You need to have an account at ilok.com to be able to use Pulsar software.
• The Mac version of this software is 64-bit only and will not function on 32-bit systems.