GVST has released GMulti v1.0, a free three-band compressor and stereo enhancer VST plug-ins for Windows.

First, the signal is split at user-defined frequencies into three bands. Each of these bands can then be compressed independently and have its stereo width altered before being mixed back together.

The compression of each band is specified in the usual manner with threshold, ratio, attack and release controls.

The GUI contains gain-reduction meters for each band, which have a resolution of 1dB per bar. There is also a before/after waveform display, which can display any of the three bands. The waveform display features a zoom control, which allows the display to be scaled for optimum viewing.

The stereo enhancement works by amplifying or diminishing the stereo information in each band. If you set a Width parameter to 0% then the associated band is collapsed to mono, which is often desirable for the bass band.

The Mix parameter allows the pre-compression signal to be mixed back into the output signal. You can use this to restore some of the dynamics of the original signal.