Variety Of Sound has released Density mkII, a new version of the Bus Compressor offering smooth and versatile dynamic processing on the stereo bus. It's available for Windows as a VST effect plug-in and it is free.

Density mkII isn't modeled after any specific outboard gear but rather incorporates some proven dynamic shaping approaches from the past, combined in a seamless fashion with some much more modern concepts in audio processing - the best of both worlds.

Density mkII was primarily designed to work in a typical stereo audio group mixing situation or while summing and to glue all things together in an unobtrusive way. Yet it's capable of signal colouring, but in a subtle and pleasant way, and can also perform quite different tasks (i.e. it's very versatile).

At a glance:

• Perform ultra smooth 2-bus compression.
• Master difficult to handle audio dynamics.
• Manage mid/side dynamic processing in a true two channel layout.
• Apply dynamic range adjustments easily.

Plug-in specification:

• Zero latency processing, no phase alterations.
• Performance crucial parts are written in assembler.
• Completely SSE optimized.