#jmgsound

United Plugins announces availability of JMG Sound Expanse 3D psychoacoustic processing-based plug-in promoting super-massive-sounding music-making

United Plugins is proud to announce availability of Expanse 3D — the latest plug-in from founding partner JMG Sound, this time taking advantage of the latest developments in psychoacoustic processing, promoting super-massive-sounding music-making by effectively exploding tracks in three different dimensions to make them sound deeper, wider, and bigger — as of May 5… It is widely accepted, flat-earthers notwithstanding, that the world is not flat — after all, the idea of a spherical Earth was first floated around by ancient Ionian Greek philosopher Pythagoras around 500 BC and validated by ancient Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle a couple of centuries later, so why settle for flat-sounding music-making when fast-forwarding millennia to today’s DAW-driven production world? Which was exactly the thinking behind Expanse 3D, the latest plug-in from United Plugins founding partner JMG Sound, specialising in making use of complex audio processing techniques but balancing them with easy-to-use controls, as established in its previous products, Hyperspace, Transmutator, and Orbitron. Or, quite literally putting it into words, WIDTH, DEPTH, and HEIGHT (with two, three, and four associated algorithmic modes to respectively choose from), as well as the self-explanatory IN (controls the input gain with a range of -24dB to +24dB) and OUT (controls the output gain with a range of -24dB to +24dB), in the case of Expanse 3D, which applies a liberal dusting of psychoacoustic magic to achieve the three-dimensional feel focused in its appropriate appellation using a combination of analogue-type saturation, spectral phase offsetting, re-synthesis, intricate delay networks, and more, making it a perfect candidate for mixing, mastering, and sound design — duly helping to glue sounds together while creating contrast and definition between sounds in a mix.

WIDTH is an advanced spectral phase processor for creating extended width while remaining natural and transparent. Tight bass is achieved by reducing stereo from the sub while widening progressively up to higher frequencies. Furthermore, it is fully mono compatible while preserving position focus, and can generate stereo from mono. This time there are two modes to choose from — Normal and Alternate, albeit both work in much the same way but with different frequency points, and each mode has a normal and an inverted implementation. In essence, grouping elements in a mix might be better served by sharing the same mode. More commonly, different modes can be used when wishing to separate elements — such as guitar and piano, for example — so that they will not share the same frequency offsets.

DEPTH — a complex algorithm of delay networks with channel and phase processing — enhances the perception of depth and adds space. Speaking of which, this can be used to add dynamic contrast between separate sounds and glue multiple elements together for a more cohesive mix. Modes available here have different delay times in the algorithm — namely, Normal, which will work best on the majority of sounds as a default; Tight, which uses shorter delays, so will work better for percussive sounds, such as drums; and Deep, which uses larger delays resulting in a deep effect better suited to sounds with a soft attack, such as pads.

HEIGHT helps make sounds larger than life by extending out the highs and low end. Expanse 3D generates additional harmonics to deliver deeper bass and brighter treble — unlike traditional EQ that boosts existing frequencies. Furthermore, it greatly improves the perception of low frequencies on speakers less able to produce them while adding controlled power and punch to larger systems. Any audio exhibiting little low- or high-frequency content may be relatively unaffected by HEIGHT; however, this can be compensated for by extending the range of the processor with the associated Ext. Lo+Hi algorithmic mode; it stands to reason, therefore, that Ext. Lo assists audio with little bass and Ext. Hi assists audio with little treble, while — for the most part — Normal will be the best choice, especially for full mixes.

Those three dimension enhancers each implement finely-tuned saturation in their processing. By being modelled on analogue distortion, all nuances such as harmonic distribution, dynamic consistency, and non-linear randomness are captured to add beautifully rich and warm colour, assisted by anti-aliasing algorithms. All Expanse 3D processes are applied to the appropriate frequency ranges using high-quality filters causing zero phase shift with no latency, making them suitable for mastering.

Indeed, impact and energy can be greatly improved when mastering using Expanse 3D, with up to 8x oversampling providing the highest quality saturation to add analogue colour, while the additional harmonics help add clarity. As a result, the whole mix gently becomes more cohesive as the parts share a common space, all of which can be perfectly balanced while retaining the original loudness using the right-click-menu-accessed Auto gain function that measures the loudness of the input and adjusts the output to match — useful for avoiding the ‘louder sounds better’ dilemma.

Defining tracks is at Expanse 3D’s core, of course, creating contrast between musical elements by positioning them in the three-dimensional space, whether widening two sounds with one inverted to separate them, creating dynamic depth between deep and shallow sounds, or brightening sounds to make them stand out from the crowd — all helping to further define the individuality of each part that makes up a complete-, dynamic-, and full-sounding mix. Thanks to the intelligent way all JMG Sound plug-ins manage bypassing while also compensating for latency to ensure that bypass states are perfectly in sync with each other, there is no need to worry about clicks or harmful noises when Expanse 3D’s bypass parameters are automated. And just like its Hyperspace, Transmutator, and Orbitron siblings, Expanse 3D also intelligently detects whether it makes sense to perform processing at all by temporarily turning on sleep mode if no processing is required, reducing CPU (Central Processing Unit) usage to almost nothing, so saving valuable computing resources for other processes.

Promoting massive-sounding music-making with easy-to-use controls through to CPU saving... Expanse 3D does it all (and more) — with a little help from the latest developments in psychoacoustic processing. Put it this way: working with Expanse 3D on any DAW-driven production is an intelligent musical move in itself! JMG Sound’s Expanse 3D is available to purchase for a time-limited introductory promo price of only €29.00 EUR until May 31, 2021 — rising thereafter to its regular price of €99.00 EUR — as an AAX-, AU-, VST-, and VST3-compatible plug-in (using internal 64-bit audio processing capable of handling any sample rate) directly from United Plugins here: https://unitedplugins.com/Expanse3D/ (A 15-day, fully-functional trial version for macOS 10.10 and newer and Windows 8/10 can be downloaded for free from here: https://unitedplugins.com/download/)

Note that no iLok, dongle, or internet access is required for Expanse 3D activation. (All United Plugins software uses license files for activation and owners can freely use purchased software on all their computers as long as they are the user.)

See and hear Expanse 3D in action in United Plugins’ illuminating introductory video here:https://youtu.be/r2caGauuYsI 

United Plugins is proud to announce availability of Orbitron

United Plugins is proud to announce availability of Orbitron — offering four selectable effects and a central mix modulator that blends between them in different ways as the latest plug-in to beautifully balance complex audio processing techniques with easy-to-use controls from founding partner JMG Sound, thought up and brought into being by company namesake Jason Gibbins, a professional sound designer and ghost producer par excellence 

Some see simple modulation as being boring. But imagine if it were possible to smoothly crossfade between four modulation effects so that they would sound completely different or blend the four effects together to create something unique? No need to imagine anymore! Only Orbitron offers such an approach, thanks to four selectable effects and a central mix modulator that blends between them in various ways.

As a multi-modulation tool that can creatively breathe life into instruments with subtle organic variations, fatten up synth sounds with rich evolving unisons, or create out of this world rhythmical spinning resonances for complete creative chaos, each of Orbitron’s four effects sections can be set to one of 12 modes: Chaos Vortex — a multi-band spinning effect, based on the Doppler effect, which is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source (with Spin setting offsetting the speeds for the bands, while Radius offsets the distances for the bands); Cosmic Chorus — a creative four-voice chorus with delay and feedback for each voice (with Disperse setting creating randomisation in the delay times, while Inject increases feedback levels, focusing more on higher frequencies); Future Flanger — a creative flanger with delay and feedback (with Scream setting increasing the feedback level for the flanged voices, while Stasis increases the delay time and decreases the modulation range, reducing resonance); Infinite Combs — a series of modulated comb filters that create the Shepard tone effect, which creates the auditory illusion of a tone that seems to continually ascend or descend in pitch yet which ultimately gets no higher or lower (with Range setting controlling the minimum and maximum frequency of the combs, while Pattern selects the direction of movement, with variations in feedback inverted combs); Kinetic Resonator — a filter with resonant peaks and modulating frequencies inside a feedback loop (with Feedback setting controlling the feedback level, while Type selects the filter type); Liquid Filter — a morphable HP (high-pass)/LP (low-pass) filter with sweeping cutoffs (with Resonance setting controlling the amount of resonance relative to the frequency — negative values having the opposite effect, while Morph distributes the modulation range between HP and LP, where a blend of both is essentially band-pass); Phat Phaser — a modern phaser that oscillates between 200Hz and 2kHz (with Complexity setting selecting the number of delay lines used, while Talk controls the feedback levels — negative values having the feedback polarity reversed); Rotary Speaker — a simulated vintage rotary speaker cabinet (with Ratio setting offsetting the speaker distances from each other, while Fast multiplies the speed to emulate the classic fast rotary sound); Space Time — a multi-band and multi-tap array of modulated delay lines (with Metalize setting controlling the level of a complex feedback network, while Diffract skews the delay values, changing the sound character); Super Chorus — a modern, clean, and tight chorus (with Voices setting selecting the number of voices used in the algorithm, while Tone focuses the voices to higher or lower frequencies); Tape Flanger — a classic analogue tape flanger (with Saturate setting adding tape distortion focusing more on lower frequencies, while Double mixes in a 50%-faster second flanger with increased delay times); and Vintage Chorus — a classic two-voice chorus with a rich, fat sound (with Analog setting creating random variations in each voice, while Warm adds saturation to the voices and reduces some high frequencies).

And as if all that was not enough to be getting on with, modulation-wise, the central (mix modulator) section of Orbitron contains controls for blending between the selected four effects. Taking centre stage in the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is a circular ‘planet’ displaying a spinning dot to show the mix position of the four selected effects — effectively orbiting through each effect’s ‘gravitational field’, in other words — which can be set to one of four modes: Sync — spins in time with the host DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) at a set number of bars; Free — spins at a constant (non-synced) speed; Random — modulates the mix position with smooth, random movement; and Manual — a static mix of the four effects, enabling users to drag the dot to the perfect sweet spot. Additional associated controls comprise: Range — controls the depth of the mix modulator, whereby the higher the value the more audible difference there will be when passing by each quadrant; Bars — selects the Sync speed for the mix modulator measured in bars, whereby a value of 4 means that it takes four bars for the dot to make a complete circle; Speed — controls the rate of the mix modulator, whereby the higher the value the faster the dot will spin; Feed — controls the amount of circular feedback courtesy of JMG Sound’s unique circular feedback system feeding the signal from the previous effect into the input of the next effect, round and round again; and Size — controls the delay sizes for the feedback loops, the latter allowing users to add anything from short metallic resonances to lush, evolving reverb.

Orbitron, of course, comes complete with an abundance of presets creatively crafted by professional producers and sound designers with which users can quickly get going — no need to panic about getting to grips with the complex audio processing techniques involved, despite them being beautifully balanced with those easy-to-use controls that are duly delivered in abundance themselves. Those professionally-programmed presets are also conveniently categorised into the following groups: Solo — only uses one effects section, so is much more CPU (Central Processing Unit) efficient as it completely disables the three other effects and also the mix modulator system; Multi — uses all four effects sections that are of similar type (so, for example, a combination of four different chorus types would make for a rich and varied-sounding chorus yet would still, in essence, be a chorus), therefore these presets are grouped by effect type while taking advantage of the mix modulator system; and Hybrid — essentially multi-effects that fuse four different effects types.

Orbitron offers smart randomisation options by simply clicking on one of the three dice icons: ‘Dice 1’ — offers sensible changes to the existing setting while keeping currently selected modes; ‘Dice 2’ — offers sensible changes to the existing setting while changing the modes and also the settings for the mix modulator and feedback; and ‘Dice 3’ — sets in motion full random chaos of all parameters.

Put it this way: while Orbitron shares some similarities with the other products in the United Plugins stable — providing pre-eminent audio quality by utilising internal 64- bit processing so it can capably handle any sampling rate (right up to 192 kHz, or even higher); intelligently handling bypassing to ensure that there are no nasty clicks or harmful noises when automating the parameter and also compensating for latency by ensuring that the bypass states are perfectly in sync with each other; intelligently detecting whether it makes sense to perform processing at all, and if not, temporarily turning on sleep mode, meaning CPU usage is reduced to almost nothing, so saving valuable computing resources for other processes — it surely stands out from the sound of the plug-in crowd in an already overcrowded market as a multi-modulation tool that modulates and blends between four effects like no other by beautifully balancing complex audio processing techniques with easy-to-use controls. JMG Sound’s Orbitron is available to purchase for a time-limited introductory promo price of only €29.00 EUR until March 7, 2021 — rising thereafter to its regular price of €129.00 EUR — as an AAX-, AU-, VST-, and VST3-compatible audio plug-in directly from United Plugins here: https://unitedplugins.com/Orbitron/ (A 15-day, fully-functional trial version for macOS and Windows can be downloaded for free from here: https://unitedplugins.com/download/) Note that all United Plugins partner plug-ins — JMG Sound’s Orbitron included — now feature a more CPU-friendly core with extra efficiency — for instance, intelligent sleep on silence certainly helps — and are also compatible with macOS 11 (Big Sur) and Apple’s new M1 processor-based computers. Note that no iLok, dongle, or internet access is required for Orbitron activation. (All United Plugins software uses license files for activation and owners can freely use purchased software on all their computers as long as they are the user.)

See and hear Orbitron in action in United Plugins’ illuminating introductory video here: https://youtu.be/8EetOmBTfU8 

United Plugins opens online doors for business with inaugural releases from founding triad of independent developers

United Plugins is proud to announce availability of its inaugural respective releases from founding independent developer triad FireSonic, JMG Music, and SounDevice Digital — namely, the AU-, AAX-, VST-, and VST3-compatible FireCobra (intelligent mix enhancer), HyperSpace (algorithmic reverb), and Royal Compressor (vintage vari-mu compressor) audio plug-ins for MacOS and Windows — as of June 3…

United Plugins founding independent developer FireSonic feels compelled to create smart, easy-to-use tools that can be put to good use on any track to make it sound better, because — let’s face it — most music productions benefit from a little enhancement here and there! With that thought in mind, FireCobra combines the accuracy of the digital world with the live randomness of analogue. After all, early engineers strived for perfection, trying to record and play back sounds as close to the original source material as possible. Paradoxically, perfection is (almost) possible in today’s digital era, yet some previously-problematic side effects of analogue are now appreciated for what they are as they simply sound better — though this is generally accepted to be due to psychoacoustics rather than the analogue devices themselves since it is now possible to achieve so much more than analogue alone ever could. Clearly, then, the superficially simple GUI (Graphical User Interface) fronting FireCobra belies some seriously savvy technology with which it intelligently analyses an audio signal to make it punchier, more powerful, and generally better sounding. Still better, it makes mixes sound better with next to no time wasted on setting it up. Ultimately, it’s simply a case of applying it to any DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) track that needs enhancing and tweaking three algorithms accordingly via their associated controls on the flexible photorealistic 3D GUI: INTENSIFY (intelligently analyses the audio INPUT and makes the OUTPUT sound tighter and fuller), SMACK (creates unique and pleasant harmonic distortion inspired by rare analogue devices to make the treated audio sound way more authentic and audible in the mix), and ANALOGIZE (adds analogue warm valve mojo based on classic analogue saturation simulation). Saying that, adjusting the DRY / WET knob, increasing its value to increase enhancement or vice versa, is all that’s needed in most cases. As a highly-optimised plug-in designed to make most efficient use of the host computer’s CPU (Central Processing Unit) and also exploiting the newest AVX2 and AVX512 architectures, the 64-bit processing FireCobra can comfortably be applied to multiple tracks to best bring out difficult to perceive elements of a mix while attenuating those that tend to drown out others — and at sampling rates of 192 kHz or even higher!

Fellow founding independent developer JMG Music makes use of complex audio processing techniques, but balances them with easy to use controls, as evidenced by HyperSpace, an algorithmic reverb plug-in. Permitting its users to easily create their own algorithms made up of various processors in a fast, intuitive way, the self-explanatory Vintage, Classic, Retro, Modern, Sci-Fi, and Cosmic modes combine various algorithms with endless possibilities for enriching tracks with a myriad of colours — from vintage plates or classic hardware to super-realistic spaces or out-of-this-world ethereal textures. But behind the scenes, those algorithms comprise complex structures with hundreds of processors running in parallel with feedback networks while each processor possesses value settings that make up the character of the resultant reverb sound. Since each value for each processor has an effect on the others there is an almost infinite number of value sets available due to such complex structures. So machine learning was used to qualify over 20 million value sets, selecting only the best combinations for use in this 64- bit, 192 kHz (or higher) high sampling rate plug-in. Putting that into its user-friendly perspective, HyperSpace offers an amazing amount of control to create a reverb that’s unique to its user’s needs. Needless to say, it does that through an easy-to-use, resizable GUI with a super-clean background that effectively disappears, leaving users to focus on the controls that really matter. Moreover, these are divided into colour-coded zones — pink (controls the sound character of the reverb), blue (contains the main characteristics for creating a virtual space), orange (contains four special effects for creating spaces), and green (contains a group of processors designed to help the reverb sit better within a mix, so sounds are no longer pushed back in the mix, losing focus and clarity) — to ease navigating through HyperSpace. Helpfully, the plug-in’s parameters offer extreme value ranges to maximise flexibility while having the most useful values tuned to the centre of the controls so users can quickly find their sweet spot. Separate Wet and Dry controls maximise reverb balance, with a link option offering the typical mix behaviour found in most other plug-ins, while time-based parameters can be synced to the host tempo. The three dice symbols are smart randomisers that dial in useful settings for great-sounding reverbs in just one click, from subtly changing the character of an existing sound or unleashing chaos to surprise and inspire, while the wide range of onboard presets programmed by professional sound designers and producers truly showcase the sonic beauty of HyperSpace, however users choose to use them — whether for convenience or as an inspirational starting point without slowing down their creative workflow.

Rounding out newly-founded federation United Plugins’ founding independent developer triad (when placed in alphabetical order), SounDevice Digital is named after Czech musician, composer, and record producer Boris Carloff’s Prague-sited SounDevice Studio, which is where its ideas are conceived — creating convenient tools that are missed or needed while working there. That said, Royal Compressor is inspired by modelling three examples of a British vintage vari-mu compressor classic that dates back to The Beatles’ Sixties heyday, helping to shape hundreds of renowned recordings. Realising that the three devices in question sound somewhat different to each other by virtue of originally being built by hand steered SounDevice Digital towards the idea of merging them into a single, peerless plug-in. Put it this way: warm and pleasing-sounding compression attributes applicable to any kind of audio source material are readily on tap, thanks to the simulation of those vari-mu circuits central to Royal Compressor. Its clear-cut GUI features few controls, clearly influenced by yesteryear’s analogue era when manual mixing was the order of the day, yet those controls can dramatically alter any audio that they are applied to. They collectively bring about a welcomed vintage vibe to the compressed result, which is, of course, what Royal Compressor is all about. A MODEL knob allows users to instantly switch between the three different models of circuitry (A, B, and C), each with a different value for fixed attack. AUTOGAIN keeps the output signal at the same level, regardless of how high the INPUT CONTROL is set, so serious saturation always abounds. And, unlike those original vintage devices from which it draws its inspiration, Royal Compressor features an adjustable SATURATION control (based on a random saturation algorithm which creates the effect that valve hardware has when brought into play). Performance-wise, while Royal Compressor operates on a high internal sample rate, truly twenty-first-century simulation technology maximises its exceptional sound while minimising CPU load. Letting state-of-the-art simulation speak further for itself, Royal Compressor comes complete with a so-called ‘second-hand’ edition. Even semi-broken machines still serve some studios well, with functionality perhaps limited to only one feature, yet they can still bring something special to the production process. Which is exactly what this freebie from SounDevice Digital does!

FireSonic’s FireCobra is available to purchase for a time-limited introductory promo price of €77.00 EUR throughout June 2019 — rising thereafter to €129.00 EUR — as an audio plug-in (compatible with 32-and 64-bit VST hosts, 32- and 64-bit VST3 hosts, 32- and 64-bit AU hosts, and 32- and 64-bit AAX hosts) directly from United Plugins here: https://unitedplugins.com/FireCobra (Note that 15-day, fully-functional trial versions for MacOS and Windows can be downloaded for free.)

JMG Music’s HyperSpace is available to purchase for a time-limited introductory promo price of €77.00 EUR throughout June 2019 — rising thereafter to €129.00 EUR — as an audio plug-in (compatible with 32-and 64-bit VST hosts, 32- and 64-bit VST3 hosts, 32- and 64-bit AU hosts, and 32- and 64-bit AAX hosts) directly from United Plugins here: https://unitedplugins.com/Hyperspace (Note that 15-day, fully-functional trial versions for MacOS and Windows can be downloaded for free.)

SounDevice Digital’s Royal Compressor is available to purchase for a time-limited introductory promo price of €77.00 EUR throughout June 2019 — rising thereafter to €129.00 EUR — as an audio plug-in (compatible with 32-and 64-bit VST hosts, 32- and 64-bit VST3 hosts, 32- and 64-bit AU hosts, and 32- and 64-bit AAX hosts) directly from United Plugins here: https://unitedplugins.com/RoyalCompressor (Note that 15-day, fully-functional trial versions for MacOS and Windows can be downloaded for free.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY7ZDP40Rc8