Noise Engineering has released two dynamics plug-ins for compression, expansion, limiting and distortion – Polydactyl is intended for subtle mixing to sonic destruction as a multiband processor, while Librae for mixing, mastering, sound design and stereo-field experimentation.
‘From the start, these plug-ins were intended for clean mastering, sound design and coloration,’ says Noise Engineering Chief Plumber, Adam Lange-Pearson, one of two software engineers behind them. ‘While we worked on these, our chat threads were full for months with picky feedback about levels and sound quality, and heated ergonomics discussion. By the end, I am pretty sure we argued over every pixel in each meter at least once.’
Polydactyl is a multiband processor designed to be versatile enough to be used in almost any mix. Featuring four adjustable bands – plus Pre and Post – to precisely sculpt the dynamics of audio tracks through per-section controls for Blend, Gain, Room, Floor, Release and Stereo Link, the bands that can be set individually or via the Link function to quickly apply settings across multiple bands.
Though these controls break away from traditional dynamics-processing layouts, they simplify the workflow for dialling in subtle (or not-so-subtle) dynamics. Dedicated distortion controls such as Saturate, Soft Drive and Hard Drive (with associated Soft Blend and Hard Blend controls for clipping distortion), Zero Pop (for zero-crossing distortion) and output level are also included in each section, which can also be bypassed or soloed.
Polydactyl’s interface provides extensive visual feedback – the frequency spectrum meter displays the output level across the audio spectrum and is interactive. Users can click and drag the lines to adjust the band splits and select bands for further adjustment. Additionally, Polydactyl includes a scalable envelope display to show processing over time and global vu meters for input and output. Each stage also includes a static curve meter to demonstrate the compression and expansion applied to the signal.
Librae is a mid/side and stereo processor with separate controls for Pre, Mid, Side and Post stages. It is intended for for master-bus applications, but also offers a tool for creative processing and sound design. Many of its controls are similar to those on Polydactyl – separate per-stage controls for Blend, Gain, Saturate, Room, Floor, Release and Stereo Link, plus Saturate, Soft Drive and Hard Drive (with dedicated Soft Blend and Hard Blend), Zero Pop and output level. Its Pre and Post stages also feature shelf-EQ weight controls to adjust how the plug-in’s dynamics processing responds to the incoming signal. Librae features a Global Mid Side balance control for easy adjustment. Similarly, each section can also be bypassed or soloed.
Librae is easy to understand, thanks to a graphical interface that includes a goniometer displaying the correlation between the input channels, and an envelope display showing processing over time. Each processing stage features a dedicated graphical display with a static curve meter to show the curve applied to the signal, vu meters for input and output, and a weighting graph to visualize the detector shelf EQ weighting (with adjustable Weight High and Weight Low) on the stage input.
In keeping with other Noise Engineering plug-ins, Polydactyl and Librae support automation, and each includes an extensive internal modulation matrix with LFOs and step sequencers that can be routed to almost any parameter. Modulators have adjustable randomisation for easy ‘humanisation’.
Polydactyl and Librae are available now in AAX, AU and VST formats for US$49 USD apiece, and also as part of the Build Your Own Bundle (buy any three plug-ins and automatically get one for half price) from Noise Engineering.
