Alus Audio

Simple but effective. This is not a gain levelling plugin, it's not a dynamic processor. It measures your audio peaks in real time and sets the highest peak to -18dbfs (much like how normalization works), which is perfect for analog emulations. Takes seconds to apply, and auto corrects no matter how much louder you push the signal. The plugin has a 'relearn' button in case you need to reset the algorithm, which is usually only necessary when the audio going into it is quieter than the original signal.

Perfect tool that is not over-complicated. Get's to work as soon as you load it up. Now I don't find myself wasting time gain matching.

Edit: 4 star improved to 5 star! Shortly after writing this review, Alus updated the plugin to include LUFs calculation on par with another very popular free meter. Kudos.

True peak, RMS and LUFS all in one place. Doesn't overcomplicate things. Worth grabbing to see if you reach for it.

A decent 303 emulation that is on par with lots of contemporary 303's on the market. Sounds very close to the proprietary 303 filter but has it's own flavour. This synth may have some improvements to be made to the UI, and some features to be added for quality of life, but it sounds great. Will bump to 5 stars if it receives those upgrades and can improve. Seems to be getting quite popular amongst Japanese DTM producers! And the best bit, it's free, what do you have to lose.

14 amp simulations modelled accurately with no fluff. Dry/Wet, EQ controls and stereo switch. It pretty much does everything an amp needs to do. Sounds clean, sounds great on guitars. Makes a real beefy square waveform, so perfect for loudness chasers that want a signal which is fat and rich but not too obviously digital. Plenty of different flavours and characters you can get for your tone. Best plugin if you want something light on the CPU that can give you those tonalities without anything else in the way.

This is where Alus plugins really begin to shine. The best thing about this plugin is the ability to select Odd/Even harmonics, which I have been desiring in a plugin for a long time (there is only a few that aren't what I am looking for). AND being able to preserve transients for drums while making drastic clipping and saturation... makes it a top choice contender out of all the clipping plugins out there. Throw in 16x oversampling to boot, with saturation controls as well as drive, all while being able to parallel process with the latency matched dry/wet mix knob makes it a force to be reckoned with. Just to be sure, this clipper has 5 modes; Hard, Soft, Tube, Tape, Vintage. So, it really is a well thought out complete set of features that makes it stand out. You ever think about these features that you needed one time? Well now here they are, in one plugin.

Out of 2500 plugins tested, with many clippers and distortions, this one could be my favourite clipper, only time will tell.

Yet another SSL clone? Think again. It's more than that, maybe one of the best on the market. After doing a complete shootout with a variety of material (drums, vocals, full mixes etc), with almost every SSL analog on the market, I have something to say. There is the compression curves and there is the feature set.

I'm going to try keep the comparisons to a minimum. The algorithm itself is on par with Nebula's Tim Petherick SSL G bus compressor (without the analog modelling THD harmonics); within 95%+ accuracy. It does not minorly alter the quality or tone of the signal like every other SSL (including the sought-after UAD SSL G bus comp).

For the feature set, we have to take a look: Oversampling of 16x, console G/G+/E emulations, Delta switch, sidechain filter LP -and- high pass (wow!), linear phase, THD control, saturation switch with Odd/Even harmonic selector (if you saw from my review of Alus Audio's Clipnosis, you will know how much this option means to me). With a dry/wet knob to make that magic parallel processing happen.

Awesome plugin, awesome SSL emulation, one of the best on the market? Quite possibly so, you need to try or just add this to your collection, it might just replace everything.

Another golden plugin by Alus Audio. Just a compressor you say? By now you probably read my review of the Clipnosis and SuperGLUE plugins, you will know straight away that the Odd/Even harmonic selector is much appreciated, especially in a compressor plugin (with saturator engaged). 16x oversampling right off the bat. COMPulsion comes with several compression profiles very well known for their place in the audio world (Modern, VCA, Fet, Opto, Vari-MU). Peak or RMS detection types is very interesting. And that LP/HP sidechain filter is unique and very useful.

What stands out to me with this plugin is the ability to nail surgical sidechain with the fastest attack/release times on the market. It's almost worth gatekeeping. Alas, I think the developer deserves some sales for this unit. So the truth is out now.

This feature set in a single plugin makes it a very worthy contender for all the top multi-purpose compressors out there. I think its 100% worth adding to your collection and may potentially replace several plugins in your projects.

The most important thing about any stereo widening plugin is the preservation of the mono image. SIDEhustle nails it in spades.

A 100hz filter keeps the low end in-tact from the get go, very conscientious for beginners too who would not know about keeping the sub in mono. For pros, it saves time, slap this plugin on and proceed with the mix. Less time thinking, saves brain power elsewhere for decisions that really matter.

The stereoize feature turns a mono signal into a stereo one in a very mono-compatible way that is super wide and sounds pleasant to the ear. The width controls can further widen the newly created stereo effect even further.

This is yet another Alus Audio plugin that has the potential to replace all other stereo width plugins. Without a shadow of a doubt.