Lowtide Glue

Lowtide Glue is a bus compressor built around three distinct compression personalities that go far beyond a simple tone switch. Each character reshapes the saturation curve, voicing filters, and envelope timing of the compressor — so Warm, Clean, and Punch aren't just different flavours, they're fundamentally different tools suited to different material and different moments in a session.

The signal chain starts with a fully linked stereo envelope detector — a single gain-reduction decision applied to both channels simultaneously, preventing the image shifts that happen when a compressor reacts asymmetrically to the stereo field. A sidechain high-pass filter (the Low-End Anchor) removes kick and bass energy from the detection circuit, so the compressor responds to the midrange content you actually want to control rather than pumping on every kick hit. Automatic makeup gain compensates for compression depth on the fly, and Output Trim gives you a final ±12 dB of adjustment on top.

Every parameter runs through per-sample smoothing, so automating any control — including switching between Warm, Clean, and Punch mid-session — produces no zipper noise or audible stepping. A dual-layer meter (RMS and peak simultaneously on both input and output) and a live gain-reduction display make dialling in the right amount of compression immediate and visual:

• Three compression characters - Warm combines a gentle low-mid density boost at 250 Hz with a high-frequency softening shelf at 8 kHz, plus asymmetric tube-style even-harmonic saturation — the combination that gives bus compression its classic "weight." Clean is flat and transparent with no voicing filters or saturation, the default starting point for modern pop, R&B, and sessions where the compressor should be felt but never heard. Punch adds a presence shelf at 4 kHz to push transients and attack forward, uses a faster envelope by default, and drives a more aggressive FET-style saturation that adds odd and even harmonics for a transistor-flavoured bite.
• Amount & Speed — two knobs, full control - Amount sets compression depth by driving threshold down and ratio up together — turn right for more glue with no second-guessing the interaction between two separate controls. Speed blends from fast to slow attack and release times, covering everything from punchy snap to smooth, breathing compression in a single sweep. Each character also modifies the envelope timing on top of Speed: Warm runs slower for a more relaxed feel, Punch runs faster to let transients through before the compressor grabs.
• Low-End Anchor sidechain HPF - A high-pass filter on the sidechain detection circuit that removes kick and bass energy from the compressor's decision-making. Turn it up to progressively exclude more low end — at higher settings the kick and sub pass through freely while the compressor responds to the midrange content above.
• Automatic makeup gain - Makeup gain is calculated automatically from the compressor's actual static transfer function as you turn Amount, so the output level stays consistent when comparing compressed to bypassed. Output Trim provides a final ±12 dB of manual adjustment on top for fine-tuning or loudness matching across different material.
• Linked stereo envelope detector - A single envelope tracks the combined stereo signal and applies identical gain reduction to both channels. Prevents the stereo image from shifting when the compressor reacts to a loud element on one side — essential for mix bus and drum bus use.
• Parallel dry/wet Mix slider - Blend the compressed signal against the unprocessed dry signal directly inside the plugin. Instant parallel compression without any additional routing — works equally well as a serial insert on a bus or blended lower for subtle texture and cohesion.
• Dual-layer RMS and peak metering - Simultaneous RMS (the energy you hear) and peak (instantaneous level) on both input and output — one meter, both readings. A live gain-reduction display shows exactly how hard the compressor is working, with no audio thread overhead.
• 2x oversampling at standard sample rates - At 44.1 and 48 kHz, the saturation processing runs at 2x the session sample rate using a low-latency polyphase IIR anti-aliasing filter, keeping alias products well out of the audible band. At 88.2 kHz and above, oversampling is automatically bypassed — no unnecessary latency at high sample rates.
• Factory presets & user preset saving - Factory presets cover common use cases from subtle mix bus glue to heavy parallel compression on drums. Save, load, and delete your own presets — all parameters restore correctly with your session. Preset file I/O runs on a background thread so the UI never freezes during a load on network-redirected drives.