Thistressor

Thistressor is a Distressor‑inspired dynamics processor that combines flexible compression with asymmetric diode saturation. It's designed for situations where you want anything from subtle leveling to heavy "Nuke‑style" gain reduction, with the option to add harmonic colour before and after the compressor.

Core concept
Compression section
Ratio from 1:1 up to 30:1, with standard threshold / attack / release controls and a soft‑knee curve derived from the original FAUST design.
Sidechain & detector
Internal sidechain path with 2nd‑order HPF, HF emphasis shelf and 800 Hz mid‑focus EQ, feeding RMS / Peak / Combined detectors.
Asymmetric diode distortion
Non‑linear model with separate control over drive, saturation and asymmetry, used both pre‑ and post‑compression.
Signal flow
Clean dry path stays unprocessed and is only used for the Mix control.
Wet path: input gain compensation pre‑distortion (30% blend) compression post‑distortion (ratio‑dependent) Mix Output Gain safety limiter.
A dedicated sidechain buffer receives the input (with gain compensation only), then runs through HPF + HF emphasis + mid‑focus EQ before hitting the detector.
This layout allows parallel compression, characterful saturation and sidechain‑shaped behaviour without contaminating the detection path with distortion.

Dynamics & detector behaviour
Detector modes:

• RMS – smoother, level‑based response for vocals, bass, bus work.
• Peak – transient‑sensitive, suitable for drums and limiting.
• Combined – blends RMS and Peak, with more peak influence at higher ratios.
• Soft knee & gain computer.
• Cubic soft knee around the threshold produces a gradual onset of compression instead of a hard corner.

Envelope & Auto Release:

• Attack and release use sample‑rate‑aware exponential smoothing.
• Auto Release adapts the release time based on the current signal and peak content, so high‑energy material can recover faster while sustained material holds longer.

Ratio‑dependent behaviour
At higher ratios the plugin reduces input level (input gain compensation) and increases post‑distortion amount, so pushing the ratio also shifts the character.

Distortion engine
Asymmetric transfer function with separate treatment of positive and negative halves of the waveform, producing a mix of even and odd harmonics.
Controls::

• Drive – level into the non‑linearity.
• Saturation – curvature / softness.
• Asymmetry – difference between positive and negative clipping.

Modes:

• Clean – no added distortion.
• Warm – moderate saturation with emphasis on even harmonics.
• Aggressive – higher drive for stronger colour.
• Hard – additional clipping on top of the diode stage for more extreme effects.

Because the distortion is used both pre‑ and post‑compression (with different blends), it can act as a subtle tone shaper or as a strong character stage.

Special modes:

• Brit Mode – increases the effective ratio by roughly 30%, leaning towards a more forward, console‑style response.
• Nylon Mode – increases the effective ratio by roughly 20% with a softer feel, inspired by high‑ratio "Nuke‑type" behaviour.
• Auto Release – adapts release time to the signal to reduce pumping and make setup quicker.

These switches alter the effective ratio and envelope behaviour rather than swapping in completely different algorithms, so the control set stays consistent.

Parallel, safety & metering
Mix control (0–100%) for parallel compression directly inside the plugin.
Output Gain from ‑20 dB to +20 dB for level matching and gain staging.
Safety limiter clamps the final signal to ±1.0 to avoid digital clipping under heavy settings.
Dedicated gain‑reduction meter with numerical dB readout.

Factory presets
Thistressor includes 20 factory presets, covering::

• Vocals (lead, rap, de‑essing).
• Drums (bus glue, kick, snare, room / parallel smash).
• Bass, acoustic guitar, piano / keys.
• Mix bus / broadcast‑style limiting.
• Creative and genre‑focused setups (rock, EDM pumping, "Nuke"‑style compression, vintage‑style warmth, clean/transparent chains).

Factory presets are write‑protected; user changes can be stored as separate user presets.

Licensing / trial
License validation is handled via a Gumroad key on first launch.
A time‑limited trial mode is available, with automatic mute after expiry and a cooldown system to avoid constant restarts.