PUSH / plugin 04
the step before your compressor.
spectral compression that fixes what broadband compressors can't reach. settle, tight, or drift. three characters, per-band dynamics.
50 papers. 5 knobs. $29.
in action
see what you're hearing.
PUSH in TIGHT mode on a snare. the spectral display shows per-band gain reduction across 40 ERB bands, with the FOCUS crossover targeting the attack transient.
hover the numbered dots to explore the interface
the characters
three ways to compress.
each character is a complete compression philosophy: different gain computer, different timing, different coloring. switch between them with one click.
SETTLE
cohesion for the mix bus. gentle per-band gain reduction that settles elements together without you hearing it work. the frequency-aware layer before your regular bus compressor.
soft-knee downward compression, slow timing, dual-TC auto-release. per-band independence means the kick and the hats recover at their own pace.
TIGHT
transient control on drums, bass, and percussion. fast attack with per-band release that catches stray peaks without flattening the groove.
medium-knee downward compression with program-dependent ratio that adapts to crest factor. keeps the attack, tames the sustain — one band at a time.
DRIFT
detail recovery. upward per-band compression that lifts room tone, sustain tails, and high-frequency air without pumping up low-frequency mud. no broadband compressor can do this.
dual-threshold upward compression below threshold with fixed noise-floor gate. the quiet stuff comes up, the loud stuff passes through untouched.
under the hood
not another multiband compressor.
traditional multiband compressors split your signal into 4-6 fixed frequency bands, process each with independent compressors, and glue them back together. the crossover points create phase artifacts. the band count is too coarse to match human hearing.
40 psychoacoustic bands
PUSH uses 40 ERB-spaced frequency bands that match the critical bandwidth of your auditory system. compression that follows how you actually perceive loudness across the spectrum.
magnitude-only processing
gain is applied to spectral magnitude only. phase is never touched. no smearing, no comb filtering, no crossover artifacts. just clean, transparent dynamics control.
cepstral gain smoothing
cross-band smoothing via discrete cosine transform prevents musical noise and spectral artifacts. the gain curve stays smooth across neighboring bands.
built on research
gain computation from Giannoulis et al. 2012. ERB scale from Glasberg and Moore 1990. cepstral smoothing from Breithaupt et al. 2007. and 47 more papers behind every decision.
features
what makes PUSH different.
three compression characters
SETTLE for bus cohesion. TIGHT for transient impact. DRIFT for detail recovery. each character produces a fundamentally different sonic result through different gain computers, timing, and coloring.
40 ERB frequency bands
compression mapped to psychoacoustic frequency resolution. not 4 arbitrary crossover points. 40 perceptually-spaced bands that follow how you actually hear.
magnitude-only processing
gain is applied to magnitude only. phase stays untouched. no smearing, no comb filtering, no artifacts. just clean, transparent dynamics.
upward spectral compression
DRIFT brings up ambience, room tone, sustain tails, and high-frequency air without pumping up low-frequency mud. no competing plugin does per-band upward compression.
specifications