SUBMASS / plugin inspired by LittleLabs VOG (bass resonance tool) by DSPTone

[DspTone]

SubMass is designed to solve the ultimate mixing challenge: achieving a massive, powerful bass response that remains perfectly tight, clean, and focused. In standard mixing, boosting low-end with a traditional equalizer often introduces unwanted sub-bass mud, robs your mix of headroom, and creates a flabby, uncontrolled low-end.

Boosting low-end with a traditional EQ introduces unwanted sub-bass mud, robs your mix of headroom, and creates a flabby, uncontrolled low-end
SubMass fixes this by using a specialized, interactive filtering circuit. It creates a tight, resonant volume peak right at your chosen target frequency while simultaneously executing an aggressive high-pass cutoff immediately below it.
WHAT IT FIX: Weak low-end, Muddy mixes, Monitoring translation, Inconsistent sustain



SUBMASS by DSPTone

SubMass fixes this by using a specialized, interactive filtering circuit. It creates a tight, resonant volume peak right at your chosen target frequency while simultaneously executing an aggressive high-pass cutoff immediately below it.

Immediate psychoacoustic illusion of weight, punch, and authority
that translates perfectly to any speaker system, without adding unnecessary sub-bass clutter.

Unlike tools that use subharmonic synthesizers or artificial harmonic distortion, SubMass FX achieved its massive low-end purely through a precision-engineered, resonant solid-state filtering

Making your bass instruments feel larger, more focused, and mix-ready.
A simple low-shelf & EQ bell is static...
But SubMass is dynamic in perception, it reinforces what is already there.
Whether you struggle with a thin DI bass or an 808 that needs “chest feel,” SubMass delivers analog-style low-end control in a clean digital form

WHAT IT CAN DO
- Kick Drums (Acoustic & Electronic): Adds incredible chest-thumping punch to 808s, 909s, and rock kick drums.
- Bass Guitars & Synths: Locks down the fluctuating low-end of a bass performance, giving it a consistent, steady foundation.
- Voiceover & Male Vocals: Restores proximity effect to thin, poorly recorded microphones, giving vocals a deep, cinematic authority.
- Tom-Toms: Tightens floor toms, accentuating their deep resonance while filtering out muddy bleed from the rest of the drum kit


https://dsptone.com/submass

Reg. Price $18
Limited-time offer intro price: $13.5 (25% off) / up to 15 June

[metalifuxx]

So you’re selling the old Pultec EQ low end trick that most wily veterans around these parts know about already that you can do with any number of freeware Pultec eq emulations ?

I’m not knocking your hustle and im sure it works, but is there anything special that it does that a freeware pultec wouldn’t do? If you added a mono-izing bass centering sub frequencies below a certain frequency it may be of value but nothing two different freeware plugins can’t already do.

[DspTone]

metalifuxx,
Thanks for the feedback! I completely understand why you’d think that at first glance - both the Pultec trick and the VOG architecture are designed to beef up the low end while preventing mud. However, from a DSP and circuit physics perspective, they are actually doing two entirely different things to the audio signal

SubMass (and the Little Labs VOG hardware it’s inspired by) fundamentally different from a Pultec emulation
At first, you may know about licensed LittleLabs VOG plugin by UAD and his price?


- Different filtering: The classic Pultec low-end trick uses an overlapping shelving boost and a shelving cut. This creates a broad, gentle low-frequency hump with a wide mid-bass scoop right above it. SubMass is a resonant HPF. Instead of a broad shelf, it creates a razor-sharp, narrow-Q peak at the cutoff frequency while aggressively lopping off everything below it.
- Phase vs Resonance: A Pultec is a passive EQ network that shifts phase broadly across the low-mid spectrum. SubMass uses a sharp resonance peak to manipulate the actual envelope and "ring" of a specific fundamental frequency.
- Sub-bass protection vs sub-bass Boost: When you do the Pultec trick at 60 Hz, you are still boosting sub-frequencies below 60 Hz. When you use SubMass at 60 Hz, filter completely eliminates the muddy, sub-low rumble (20-40 Hz) that eats up your mix headroom.
It provides an incredibly tight, hyper-focused "thump" that a Pultec cannot reproduce

The value of SubMass is speed, workflow, and optimized curves. It groups the amplitude, Q-factor, and frequency cutoff into a unified, musical workflow. You can grab one or two knobs, sweep it by ear, and instantly tune a kick or bass to the key of the song without fighting overlapping plugins or checking an analyzer

I really appreciate your suggestion about a mono-izing / bass-centering feature for the sub-frequencies! That was been idea at start to realize, but I think save it more at original VOG device possibilities. But.. UAD already do this. And we try at near time to add this feature as near utility update, because you ask about what we think time-ago. Thank you for this.

If you'd like to put it to the test, try a quick shootout between SubMass and your favorite Pultec on a muddy kick drum or an 808. You'll notice immediately that SubMass keeps the sub-lows drastically tighter and more focused

[damstraversaz]

I agree, the results are very different from using a Pultec EQ. I just bought it.
The mono-sizing/bass-centering feature could be very useful.

[Spin Boyz]

VOG adds low end but seems to make my kick and sub cloudy. It’s like it’s killing the transients. Submass sounds cleaner and still adds that low end like VOG

[DspTone]

Hello, we are back

SUBMASS 1.0.5 update:
https://dsptone.com/submass/

Add MONO:
Low-End Mono Summing (20-350 Hz). Sum frequencies below 350 Hz to a rock solid mono signal, while maintaining surgical stereo width on your mid and high frequencies wide.

Internal phase inversion corrects the inherent phase-shift caused by the 12dB/octave crossover.
This keeps your low end focused and phase-coherent.

SubMass_short.png

Update Wide SubMass105.png

[DspTone]

Next update is here

SubMass v. 1.0.7:
– Updated filter algorithms
– Performance improvements (Improved CPU usage).
– Presets updated for backward compatibility with Mono parameter

https://dsptone.com/submass/

Last 2 days $13.5 intro offer (reg. price $18)

SubMass v107_banner.png

[jamcat]

At first, you may know about licensed LittleLabs VOG plugin by UAD and his price?

Doesn't Bark Of Dog do the same thing for free?

[DspTone]

Doesn't Bark Of Dog do the same thing for free?

Hello, Jamcat.
This is a good question. Both are designed to enhance the low-end, like an original VOG module.

SubMass is built on a two-stage low-end sculpting engine.

It starts with Pre-Shaper stage, to give your low frequencies a more intentional, foundational shape before anything else happens. You get these handy Center Frequency modes (Flat / 100 / 200 / 400 Hz) that aren't just presets like in VOG. But actually adjust the character of that pre-shaper.
For example, hitting 400Hz doesn't just move a frequency, it helps clean up potential muddiness in the upper bass while building up the deep lows. It's about getting that perfect groundwork laid.

After that pre-shaping, then comes the focused punch. And here start to work main Frequency and Amplitude controls as resonant 'sweet spot' for your kick or bass – getting that definitive punch and clarity that cuts through.

This combination of a pre-shaper first, followed by a precise resonant boost, gives SubMass a really distinct feel and sound. We make this to deliver a powerful, defined low end that's warm, clear, and sits perfectly in the mix. Still based on VOG standard techniques but doing it deeper.

So while both plugins (include VOG) enhance the low end, SubMass gives you a different kind of low-end impact.

We already talk upper about Pultec-style boost-attenuation, that you can find in a Bark of Dog as option (they sum VOG and Pulteq techniques).
But we make two-stage processing of low-end sculpting, and SubMass not sound the same as Bark of God, or Voice Of god, but still present VOG possibilities, deeper.

[Jonathan Shepherd]

Looking nice, this one. What's the copy protection?