changelog
every update. always free.
KERN plugins improve over time. no upgrade fees. no paid tiers. you buy once, you get every update forever.
colour-coded correlation curve
the correlation curve now changes colour as it crosses zone boundaries: mint where your mix is mono-safe, amber where it drifts into caution, red where phase cancellation starts showing up. same palette as the zone labels on the display, so you can spot the trouble region at a glance instead of reading the grid lines.
bar chart display mode
a new opt-in bar chart view for the correlation display. right-click the display and pick "display mode → bars" to switch from the smoothed curve to 40 individual ERB-band rectangles. easier to spot a single problem frequency because each band is its own block, coloured by the same mint / amber / red zone system. flip back to curve any time. your choice saves with the DAW session.
CHECK now names the frequency
the message under the correlation display used to say generic things like "low-frequency phase cancellation detected." it now names the actual problem frequency. you'll see things like "phase cancel around 80 hz. often an out-of-phase kick and bass relationship." snapped to the musical landmarks producers actually EQ around, so you know exactly where to look in your session.
teaches as you mix
every state has three message variants that rotate as you iterate on your mix. the same kind of phase problem will show you a different common cause each time you re-enter the state — wide sub, out-of-phase kick layer, stereo reverb on the low end. over a session you learn three different ways the same problem tends to happen. no tooltips. no manual. just shows up in the same place, in the same voice, with new context.
knows bass matters more than highs
bass phase cancel is catastrophic. high-frequency phase cancel is usually inaudible because binaural localization breaks down above 2 kHz. CHECK now encodes that: the bass region uses tight thresholds, the high region uses loose ones. wide cymbals and stereo air stay safe. broken bass gets flagged hard. no more crying wolf on a stereo hi-hat.
frequency-dependent spectrum smoothing
the spectrum display now smooths bass bins about three times slower than treble, matching how your ears actually integrate sound across the critical-band scale (Glasberg & Moore 1990). the low end stays calm and readable, the highs track transients responsively. one less visual distraction when you're trying to read what the plugin is doing.
peak hold ghost line
a gentle trace that holds briefly above the main curve after the signal stops, decays at 3 dB/sec. useful for catching momentary peaks without freezing the whole analyzer. rendered as a solid trace in the same style Voxengo SPAN and FabFilter use — no dashes, no clutter, invisible on sustained content and clearly visible when a peak is actually being held.
transient flash overlay
the spectrum curve briefly brightens during drum hits, vocal consonants, and other percussive onsets. grounded in the half-wave rectified spectral flux technique from onset detection research (Bello et al. 2005). baseline-subtracted so sustained music doesn't trigger it — only real transients pulse the glow.
AUTO loudness matching
new AUTO toggle in the mode bar. uses K-weighted loudness matching (ITU-R BS.1770) to compensate for volume changes from processing. makes A/B comparisons fair. your ears compare the effect, not the volume.
redesigned EQ interaction
hover over any EQ node to see inline controls: a clickable enable dot and a type badge (BELL / LS / HS) for the outer bands. double-click any node to toggle it on/off. right-click menu still works as a fallback.
refreshed UI
cabinet grotesk typeface, warm-tinted neutrals, redesigned arc knobs, subtle background grain texture, spectral display glow, and animated toggle button borders. every plugin now shares a cohesive visual identity.
editable EQ values
double-click any EQ node label to type exact frequency, gain, and Q values. supports "2.5k", "+3.0 dB", and "Q 0.7" formats. enter commits, escape cancels.
improved inline EQ controls
the enable dot and type badge no longer disappear when moving the mouse toward them. hover zones expanded for reliable clickability on all screen sizes.
DAW compatibility
added stereo bus layout validation to SMOOTH, WARM, WIDE, and CHECK. prevents potential issues in DAWs that probe unusual bus configurations.
styled popup menus
right-click menus for presets, EQ routing, and display options now use the dark KERN theme instead of native OS styling.
CPU meter
smoothed CPU readout with consistent single-digit display. no longer flickers between values.
band limiting
two draggable handles on the spectral display let you restrict suppression to a specific frequency range. everything outside the range passes through untouched. useful for targeting a problem region without affecting the rest of the spectrum.
smoother automation
mix and delta mode now use per-sample smoothing (~5ms). automating the mix knob or toggling delta no longer produces clicks or discontinuities.
CPU optimization
conditional processing skips for cepstral smoothing, group delay analysis, and masking gate computation when not needed. lower CPU on typical settings.
band limiting
two draggable handles on the spectral display restrict saturation to a frequency range. uses a Linkwitz-Riley 4th-order crossover for clean band splits. low and high frequencies pass through unprocessed.
BODY knob improvement
BODY now adds a proportional drive boost into the waveshaper alongside the spectral emphasis. the result is audibly thicker low-mids, not just a subtle spectral shift.
cleaner saturation
soft ADAA blending eliminates crackle at signal zero crossings. per-sample drive smoothing removes zipper artifacts during drive changes. endpoint smoothing extended to all three characters. delta mode now correctly excludes bypassed frequency bands.
HAAS mode rewrite
Haas mode now creates real perceived width from any source, including mono. uses a smoothed per-sample delay with linear interpolation on the right channel. the FOCUS knob high-passes the widening signal so bass stays centered.
draggable FOCUS handle
the FOCUS frequency is now draggable directly on the spectral display. grab the handle and slide it to set where bass mono-summing begins. syncs with the FOCUS knob.
DEPTH and stereo refinements
DEPTH now audibly controls widening intensity across all modes. stereo injection capped to prevent L/R panning artifacts at extreme settings. width at 0% now fully bypasses all processing for clean A/B.
$59 KERN Bundle
all three plugins for $59. one license key unlocks SMOOTH, WARM, and WIDE. same permanent license, same forever updates.
bypass button + resizable GUI
all plugins now have a power button for true bypass with 10ms crossfade. drag the corner to resize between 75% and 150%. your size preference is saved with the DAW session.
bug fixes
fixed: delta signal no longer audible at Depth=0%. fixed: bypass click artifact eliminated (improved state management). fixed: GUI size persistence (scale no longer resets on DAW reload). fixed: delta, bypass, and stereo mode now persist across preset changes.
improvements
improved: sensitivity curve precision at max SENS with conservative depth. added: double-click outer EQ nodes to toggle bell/shelf mode (shift+double-click to enable/disable). added: enable/disable option in right-click menu. added: factory presets now include shelf mode examples.
bug fixes
fixed: GUI size persistence (scale no longer resets on DAW reload). fixed: bypass click artifact eliminated (improved state management). fixed: delta signal silent at Drive=0%. fixed: delta, bypass, and stereo mode now persist across preset changes.
improvements
added: double-click outer EQ nodes to toggle bell/shelf mode (shift+double-click to enable/disable). added: enable/disable option in right-click menu. added: shelf mode in Cassette Glow, Master Tape, Vocal Silk, Sub Tape presets.
bug fixes
fixed: GUI size persistence (scale no longer resets on DAW reload). fixed: delta, bypass, and stereo mode now persist across preset changes.
improvements
added: double-click outer EQ nodes to toggle bell/shelf mode (shift+double-click to enable/disable). added: enable/disable option in right-click menu. added: shelf mode in Bass Tight, Full Spectrum, Mastering Glue presets.
fixes and improvements
fixed: GUI size persistence. fixed: bypass persists across preset changes. improved: score messaging when mono-safe (education note about 60-80% being ideal).
smart ZOOM
the ZOOM knob now automatically focuses on the frequency region with the worst mono compatibility. turn it up and the display narrows to show you where the problem is. uses peak hold data for stability. mousewheel zooms further from there.
peak hold options
peak hold moved to the right-click menu with four options: Off, 3 seconds, 10 seconds, and Infinite. infinite hold captures the worst moment across an entire section.
display options
three Y-axis scale modes via right-click: -1/+1, -0.5/+1, and 0/+1. new Invert Display toggle for measurement conventions that put cancellation on top. feedback: William Warin-Dhavernas.
mousewheel frequency zoom
scroll over the display to zoom into any frequency range. double-click to reset. now correctly respects the FOCUS range when resetting. feedback: DJ Felicius, Mathieu.
tighter volume matching
auto-compensation moved earlier in the signal chain for more accurate loudness measurement. TAPE within +0.4 dB, TUBE within +0.6 dB at default settings. feedback: Julius Dreisig.
HF clarity improvement
recalibrated high-frequency compensation and TAPE head loss simulation. more air, less dullness at the top end.
reduced low-end buildup
tuned XFMR and TAPE drive shaping to reduce muddiness in the low mids. tighter low end without losing warmth.
SENS knob label
renamed "SELECT" to "SENS" for clarity. controls how aggressively the suppression targets resonances. same parameter, clearer name. feedback: Julius Dreisig, Rasmus Gregersen.
mode toggle redesign
RESONANCE and TRANSIENT buttons updated to match the visual style across all KERN plugins. subtle tint fill with accent border, consistent sizing.
L/R solo buttons
hear the left or right channel separately to verify widening balance. two toggle buttons in the mode bar next to the mode selector. mutually exclusive. feedback: Edizon.
low-drive volume fix
fixed a volume drop at low drive settings. the spectral pre-gain stage was attenuating all frequency bins even when the waveshaper was near bypass. pre-gain now blends toward unity as drive approaches zero. feedback: elxsound (beta tester).
preset dropdown with section headers
the preset dropdown now groups presets by category with section headers. SMOOTH groups by source type (vocal, drums, bass, synth, guitar, mix, mastering, M/S). WARM groups by character (tape, tube, transformer, M/S). WIDE groups by mode (stereo, Haas, M/S). makes it faster to find the right starting point.
shelf mode for outermost bands
the lowest and highest EQ nodes (bands 0 and 3) can now switch from parametric bell to shelving via right-click > shape > shelf. band 0 becomes a low shelf, band 3 becomes a high shelf. the Q knob controls how steep the transition is. applies to SMOOTH sensitivity nodes, WARM sensitivity nodes, and WIDE width shaper. feedback: MichalHo (Elektronauts).
spectral display +12 dB
the spectral display grid now shows a +12 dB line and label. previously the grid only labeled 0, -20, and -40 dB even though the internal mapping supported +12.
Baker ADAA (antiderivative anti-aliasing)
2nd-order antiderivative anti-aliasing using Baker's closed-form Chebyshev antiderivatives. replaces 4x oversampling with ADAA + 2x oversampling for ~52 dB alias rejection at lower CPU cost. based on Baker & Bennett (JAES 2025).
signal-dependent dynamic nonlinearity
the waveshaper now "breathes" like real hardware. an envelope follower modulates harmonic coefficients based on signal history. transients stay clean while sustained notes build richer harmonics. each character has distinct warmup behavior: tape magnetizes slowly, tube shifts bias at medium speed, transformer saturates fast.
transfer function endpoint smoothing
reduces Chebyshev T7 oscillation at domain boundaries for cleaner tape saturation at high drive settings.
adaptive oversampling
oversampling adapts to your sample rate: 2x at ≤96 kHz, bypassed at >96 kHz. CPU savings at high sample rates with no loss in quality.
performance improvements
Apple Accelerate vectorization for peak detection, RMS measurement, drive scaling, and mix blending. block-processed IIR filters for K-weight, HF comp, tonal shaping, and tone EQ. 63 automated tests (418 assertions).
spectral saturation engine
5-stage processing pipeline: STFT pre-gain, drive computer, Chebyshev waveshaper, post-processing, auto-compensation. 7th-order Chebyshev polynomial waveshaping via Clenshaw recurrence with 4x oversampling.
three analog characters
tape, tube, and transformer: each with per-character asymmetric soft clippers. program-dependent drive modulation via envelope follower. click-free character crossfade (~10ms).
core engine
K-weighted auto-compensation (ITU-R BS.1770). HF compensation for oversampler rolloff. zipper-free parameter smoothing. real-time spectral display with 4 draggable EQ nodes. 34 factory presets.
perceptual salience weighting
suppression depth is now weighted by perceptual salience. resonances in the 2–5 kHz range (where human hearing is most sensitive) get full treatment, while sub-bass and ultra-high frequencies receive gentler suppression. the result: SMOOTH's default setting immediately focuses on the frequencies that matter most to listeners. zero CPU cost (pre-computed curve).
chirp group delay transient refinement
the transient gate now uses group delay analysis to distinguish genuine transients (drum hits, pick attacks) from tonal modulations (vibrato, tremolo). vibrato no longer causes the gate to incorrectly reduce suppression. guitar picks and key attacks still punch through naturally. no competing resonance suppressor uses this technique.
asymmetric masking gate
the psychoacoustic masking gate now uses asymmetric spreading slopes that match how human hearing actually works. low-frequency content masks higher frequencies more effectively (upward masking), while high-to-low masking is steeper. the result: even more transparent processing on dense mixes with strong bass content.
core engine
5-stage spectral processing pipeline with 40 psychoacoustic ERB bands, spectral reassignment for sub-bin precision, ZDF envelope detection, auto-compensation, Apple Accelerate vectorization. 4 parametric sensitivity nodes with M/S routing. INTENSE mode. Catmull-Rom spectral display. 32 presets. 98 automated tests (26,743 assertions).
join the producers who believe mixing is a craft.
1,700+ producers learning how sound actually works. mixing tips, DSP deep-dives, and new plugin drops.
you're on the list.
no spam. just release announcements. unsubscribe anytime.