Baby Audio

A Synth With A Soul

BA-1 from Baby Audio is a modern re-imagination of an 80’s analog synth that looked like a toy but sounded like a beast. Evolved beyond the point of emulation BA-1 brings you pure and authentic textures that are fast to program and dripping with color.

The Legacy

BA-1 is based on a portable 1980s synth with a toylike appearance and a gritty sound. Despite its small size, it left a big mark on music history, while still flying somewhat under the hype radar. The original has been used as a secret weapon for bubbly synth textures by some of Sweden’s most successful pop producers of the past two decades. It was also a staple of 1990s digital dancehall and beloved by the indietronica scene for its raw lo-fi quality. The ‘CS01’ – as the original is called – has never been properly captured in software form. So for our first ever synth, we started there.

The Sound

In keeping with our motto ”it’s an evolution, not an emulation”, we modeled the hardware with the greatest possible accuracy, before carefully upgrading it with new and useful features. A second analog-modeled oscillator, FM, polyphony, and more, help to vastly expand the sonic palette of the original. All while keeping its signature sound unspoiled. Additionally, BA-1 lets you drain the battery, bend the circuits and use the built-in speaker for an authentic lo-fi aesthetic that you could normally only get with hardware.

The Effects

If you know our company, you’ll know that effects are our specialty. So we’ve treated BA-1 with an FX section worthy of its own plugin. The effects chain is inspired by budget 1980s rack hardware and captures the lo-fi charm of the home studio scene of the era. The overdrive is modeled after a guitar pedal, while the delay, reverb and chorus effects are based on cheap, but amazing, digital rack units.

In BA-1, the effects are not an afterthought but an ingrained part of the sonic signature. So tweak, use, and abuse them.

The Simplicity

BA-1 is simple, but surprisingly tweakable. We’ve put great effort into tuning all parameters to be in the perfect sweet spot. This results in a rewarding programming workflow where tweaking BA-1 is a lot of fun and you’ll create new patches on repeat.

And if a simple interface is not fast enough, you can always use the smart ‘Re-Gen’ feature. Hit Re-Gen and BA-1 will automatically create new and musically tuned patches with every click.

FEATURES

• The first proper analog-modeled emulation of the CS01, a beloved and cultish 1982 monosynth
• Vastly expands the sonic palette of the original – thanks to careful upgrades and new features
• Includes a colorful FX section inspired by budget 1980s hardware
• Fun and easy to program, yet deceptively versatile
• 500+ high quality presets and a Re-Gen function for instantly generating new patches
• If you want authentic, lofi-leaning, synth textures in a plugin, this is it!

Factory Presets:

BA-1 comes loaded with 500+ presets , including special collections made by some of the best sound designers in the industry.

Warm Up Your Sound.

Tape recordings have a musical quality that digital mixes often lack. TAIP brings this quality into your DAW. It will add some authentic analog heat to your tracks, without the need to route any audio outside the box.

Tape plugins are not a new concept. However, our emulation method is. Instead of using traditional DSP, we’ve developed TAIP around an AI algorithm designed to decipher the invisible nuances of analog circuits.

The result is a truly faithful tape emulation that’s intuitive and creative in use – with some added features to accomodate a modern workflow. Use TAIP to bring a touch of warmth and glue to your tracks, or ‘drive it like you hate it’ as an alternative to your distortion plugins.

Highlights.

• AI-powered algorithm, giving you the true warmth and behavior of analog tape
• Flexible feature set, allowing you to create a custom ‘tape flavor’ for any need
• Use TAIP to add musical saturation and glue to drums, instruments, vocals and beyond
• Read more about our AI emulation approach further below

MAIN FEATURES

TAIP is our attempt at creating the ideal ‘Tape Machine’ for the DAW-era, combining an authentic vintage sound with a modern feature set. Its parameters will let you customize the right tape flavor for any need.

• DRIVE: Traditionally, tape machines were designed to color the sound as little as possible. TAIP is not. You can use the DRIVE knob to add just as much color as you need – from a subtle touch of heat to heavy distortion.
• MIX/TAPE FLANGING: MIX lets you run your tape in parallel. You can combine MIX and WEAR to get a classic ‘tape flanging’ effect. This is caused by the wow and flutter of WEAR running in parallel with the dry track.
• MODEL: While SINGLE is a regular tape emulation, DUAL creates a series of two tape emulations chained together under the hood, each applying half of the DRIVE value. This will add slightly more weight to your signal.
• LO-SHAPE / HI-SHAPE: These sliders let you saturate the low/high end more or less than the rest of the frequency spectrum. (Example: Warm up a drum buss without distorting the low frequencies).
• GLUE: Tape machines are known to introduce a pleasing compression-like effect due to their low dynamic range. TAIP lets you add this effect – or even exaggerate it. Use GLUE for subtle cohesion or as an actual compressor.
• NOISE: Lets you add tape noise to taste – or avoid it altogether.
• WEAR: Combines wow, flutter and an altered frequency response curve to emulate a worn- out tape machine.
• PRESENCE: Part of the tape warmth comes from an attenuated high-end. PRESENCE allows you to decide how much of that attenuation you want. It can bring back the brightness that is sometimes lost on tape.
• INPUT: Choose between NORMAL or HOT (more distorted) input levels without affecting the output volume.
• AUTO GAIN: Allows you to add more DRIVE while keeping a consistent plugin output level.

Putting the ‘AI’ in TAIP.

‘AI’ is an overused – and often misused – term. But we believe it’s the future of music technology. It just needs to be used genuinely and with a legitimate purpose. For a hardware emulation project like TAIP, AI offers an alternative – and in our opinion more faithful – approach over the traditional DSP method. Where a normal DSP emulation would entail ‘guesstimating’ the effect of various analog components and their mutual dependencies, we can use AI / neural networks to accurately decipher the sonic qualities that make a tape machine sound and behave in the way it does. This happens by feeding an algorithm various training data of dry vs. processed audio and teaching it to identify the exact characteristics that make up the difference. Once these differences have been learned by the AI, we can apply them to new audio.

This process may sound overly digital for a plugin that brings an analog sound. But the reality is that ‘analog’ and ‘digital’ are two fundamentally different domains. To get a computer to behave (or sound!) in a certain way, it helps to think like it does. Re-creating an ‘analog-style’ signal path in DSP is thinking about the problem like a human. The AI approach helps us solve the problem like a machine would – for a more faithful emulation.

Presets.

TAIP comes loaded with 135 presets created by friends of BABY Audio – including:

• Mark Needham (Fleetwood Mac, The Killers, Bloc Party, Elton John)
• Max Jaeger (Ariana Grande, Kanye West, Drake, Calvin Harris)
• Eestbound (Travis Scott, Young Thug, Jazz Cartier)
• Rob Kleiner (Sia, Britney Spears, David Guetta, Cee Lo)
• Cesar Sogbe (Prince, David Byrne, Jennifer Lopez)

Display options

• Switch between three backgrounds (Black / Gray / White)
• Plugin window fully resizable

LOFI VIBES FROM A STRANGE DECADE

As kids of the 80s, we have always been drawn to the sound of slightly out-of-tune synths, warm tape saturation, gritty samples and grainy reverbs.

So we set out on a mission to capture the lofi spirit of our favorite decade — and bring it into a new decade.

Meet a complex algorithm with eight simple knobs. We named it ‘Super’ for its powers and ‘VHS’ for its sound.

FEATURES

A chain of six meticulously crafted ‘one-knob’ effects:

• STATIC — Static noise synthesizer
• HEAT — ‘Analog tape’ saturator
• SHAPE — Sample rate reducer
• MAGIC — Dark chorus FX
• DRIFT — Pitch fluctuation LFO
• WASH — ‘Bad hall’ reverb

Also including  an Internal/hidden EQ, bit-crusher and limiter.

THE TIME MACHINE THAT ISN’T A DELAY

We wanted this plugin to be like sending your sounds back in time, then re-discovering them on a worn-out VHS tape 30 years later. All with the click of a single button, right inside your DAW.

The result is six unique effects coming together in a versatile signal chain. Super VHS will add some lofi authenticity to whatever clean sound you run through it — from a subtle touch of character to extreme sonic twists that leave your head spinning. Each effect has just a single control, but multiple parameters under the hood, allowing you to find endless combinations to transform your synths, samples, guitars, drums, vocals and beyond.

EFFECTS OVERVIEW

• STATIC: A synthesized hum, generated by a pink noise oscillator mixed with a digital saw wave.
• HEAT: A warm sounding saturation algorithm inspired by ‘consumer-grade’ tape machines from the early 1980s.
• SHAPE: A sample rate reducer (with some extras) inspired by 1980s 8-bit samplers.
• MAGIC: A lush “Juno style” chorus — but modeled with a slightly darker and more detuned tone.
• DRIFT: An internal LFO creating unpredictable pitch and time fluctuations, ranging from ‘natural’ to ‘supernatural’.
• WASH: A grainy, unnatural sounding, hall reverb, inspired by digital rack effects from the VHS-era.
• MIX: Controls the over-all wet/dry balance.
• OUTPUT: Controls the global output.
• HIDDEN PROCESSING: High shelf EQ attenuation, bit-crusher, limiter.

WAIT, WHERE ARE THE PRESETS?

Like our ‘I Heart NY’ parallel compressor, Super VHS isn’t designed for preset browsing. Instead, you have all the controls you need at your fingertips — allowing you to create the right sound for any purpose in a simple and intuitive way. The effect algorithms respond very differently to different sounds and instruments — so you never know where you’ll end up.

And a final word of warning: Super VHS is not a ‘one-size fits all’ kind of plugin.

Each effect will sound amazing on some things and totally destroy others (which may be exactly what you’re after!). More often than not, a little goes a long way.

Introducing clarity on demand.

Smooth Operator combines equalization, spectral compression and resonance suppression into a singular creative experience that’s instant and intuitive. Use it to perfect your tonal balance and add a touch of ‘hifi’.

Our spectral detection algorithm adapts to your audio 44,100 times per second and automatically eliminates fatigued frequencies. This gives you full control to shape your signal and bring out more definition.

Highlights:

• Brings out clarity and smoothness across instruments, vocals and mix busses.
• Allows for creative tone shaping without artifacts or harsh resonances.
• Intelligent algorithm that automatically detects and resolves fatigued frequencies.

What is Spectral Processing.

The easiest way to understand Spectral Processing is to think of it as manipulating the building blocks that make up a digital signal – rather than the actual signal.

Our algorithm uses Fast Fourier Transform – or FFT – to break the incoming audio into tiny particles, which are analyzed and processed separately, before being put back together as audio. This all happens in realtime and allows for a much more surgical approach to resonance detection and rebalancing than what would be possible with traditional audio effects.

While most spectral tools focus on audio restoration, we wanted Smooth Operator to be all about creative expression. The plugin is meant for shaping your tone.

Use it to compress, EQ and ‘purify’ in one simple process – and know that Smooth Operator has your back when it comes to automatically eliminating artifacts.

Smooth Operator comes loaded with 63 presets created by friends of BABY Audio – including:

• Preston Reid (Ciara, Toni Braxton, Lil Uzi Vert)
• David Nakaji (Post Malone, Aminé, Lil Eazzyy)
• Rob Kleiner (David Guetta, Sia, Britney Spears, Giorgio Moroder)
• Steven Holness (Adele, Jason Derulo, Paul Weller)
• Neenah (Winne, Mr. Probz, Nana Fofie, Joe Budden)

Display options.

• Switch between three color modes (Pink / Green / Blue)
• Plugin window fully resizable

Unlock Unparalleled Powers.

Parallel processing plays a fundamental part in getting a “big” mix sound. By processing multiple copies of the same track and blending them together, you can add more punch to a mix — in a more natural-sounding way.

It’s like teamwork: Multiple copies of the same track – each focused on doing one specific job – can achieve more together than a single copy being processed to death on its own.

Parallel Aggressor is based on this simple concept.

The plugin splits your audio into three equal parts:

• Dry – Your original signal
• Spank – A heavily compressed duplicate
• Heat – A heavily saturated duplicate

Work the duplicates hard! Then combine all three signals to squeeze every drop of sonic juice out of your track.

Great sound – great simplicity.

You’re probably using parallel processing all over your mixes already. But Parallel Aggressor is designed to give you the maximum sonic impact with the lowest possible track count. No extra busses or mix faders needed.

As with all our plugins, we’ve engineered Parallel Aggressor to inject its own sonic flavor into your mix.

The plugin is designed to make the small decisions internally, while leaving the big decisions to you.

PARALLEL ENGINE 1: SPANK

Spank offers an addictively punchy compression algorithm, designed to adapt to your audio signal. It begins where our I Heart NY plugin ended, with improvements in sound quality, signal detection and flexibility.

Style injection buttons: Extra Punch, Extra Smack, Sidechain Filter, Mono

PARALLEL ENGINE 2: HEAT

Heat is a warm, analog modeled, saturation algorithm with an aggressive bite. It is based on our tape saturator from Super VHS, but has been rewritten and optimized for the Parallel Aggressor release.

Style injection buttons: Extra Hot, Tone, HP Filter, LP Filter

AUTO GAIN:

Auto Gain ensures that the combined output of the plugin’s three signals roughly matches the input/dry level. This allows you to experiment with different internal mix balances while keeping a consistent plugin output.

PRESETS:

Parallel Aggressor comes loaded with 25 presets created by BABY Audio and some friends of the house:

• KurtCurt (Grammy nominated engineer for 2 Chainz, Diamond D, Wiz Khalifa).
• Anthony Saffery (Billboard #1 producer for Portugal. The Man, Dirty Vegas, Cornershop).

Dark Mode

Grey Mode

Light Mode

What the Workflow looks like:

• Balance the three parallel signals from the main level mixer.
• Use the Spank and Heat knobs to dial-up the firepower of the parallel engines.
• The meters help you set the right amount of Spank and Heat for any audio signal. (Dial the main Spank/Heat knobs until the meters peak right before the orange line).
• The style knobs inject desirable sonic flavors into the parallel engines. Engage multiple at once.
• The solo buttons let you monitor each parallel signal individually for fine-tuning purposes.
• Turn on Auto Gain to get a consistent plugin output, roughly matching the input level.
• Output sets the global output level (post Auto Gain).
• Switch between three different color schemes by clicking the top left icon.

Notable User: Damien Lewis – Grammy Awarded Producer/Mixer for Rihanna, Beyoncé, Timbaland
“Parallel Aggressor takes parallel compression to another level. I’m not sure what’s under the hood but it’s magic and I always love what it does to my drums and instrument busses.”

DREAM BIG

Spaced Out is a lush wet-FX generator, built for sending your sounds and vocals into weightless, heavenly orbit. It combines a crystalline reverb engine with a wealth of modulation options and a 16-step delay sequencer.

In total, more than 50 individual effects come together in a singular creative experience with endless outcomes and zero sub-menus.

Spaced Out hosts an automatic ‘Generate’ function, which will create new textures at the click of a button and give you fresh ideas for where to take your tracks. We’ll see you on the other side!

FEATURES

Spaced Out offers a pristine sounding one-stop solution for your wet-fx needs on drums, instruments and vocals. Use it subtly to add depth and movement — or go explore the outer bounds of wet-FX processing.

ECHOES:

• 16-step delay sequencer sync’ed to the DAW’s tempo
• Modes: Straight, 2x, Dotted, Triplet
• Intensity: Sets the sequencer’s behavior through sustain and feedback controls
• Dimension: Off, Ultra-Wide and Motion modes
• Texture: Clean, Wonky Tape, Lofi and Hazy modes
• Reverse: Reverses the delay playback
• Filter: Analog-modeled low and high pass filters

SPACE:

•   X-Y based joystick control for intuitively morphing between reverb length and modulation behavior
• Programs: Vacuum, Small Space, Medium Space, Outer Space
• Pre-Delay: 0-250 milliseconds
• Stardust: Adds an angelic, sustained shimmer to the reverb tail
• Mellow: Dual low and high end dampening filter
•   Clean-Up: Feeds an altered dry signal into the reverb algorithm, for a cleaner and less dense response
• Width: Sets the reverb width between wide and mono

CENTRAL MIXER:

•   Mixer: X-Y joystick control for seamlessly morphing between the Echoes/Space and Wet/Dry signals
• Generate: musically tuned randomizing function for instantly generating new effect configurations
•   Lift-Off: Glues the wet signals together through a combination of compression, mid-side processing and EQ
•   Ducker: Ducks the wet signal when the dry signal is playing
•   Ducker Sync: Syncs the ducker to your DAW’s BPM for a pumping ‘four-on-the-floor’ effect
•   Output: Controls the global effect output

A SPACE ECHO FOR THE 21ST CENTURY?

It is no secret that we at BABY Audio are obsessed with the quirks, sounds and simplicity of vintage analog gear. With every software product we make, we hope to offer a little bit of that same hands-on experience and instant gratification. Never by emulating the past — but by tapping into its spirit to invent something new.

With Spaced Out, we asked ourselves this: How would we design a “space echo” effect today, almost 50 years after the original, with the abundance of computer power and algorithmic complexity at our disposal? 

We set out to create an effect as fun, flavored and futuristic for the 21st century as the Space Echo was for its own time. It’s been an epic journey and we’re proud to have returned with our most complex plugin to date.

PRESETS

Spaced Out comes loaded with 125 presets created by BABY Audio and some friends of the house – including: 

• Filip Nikolic (Turbotito, Poolside, Azealia Banks)
• Tushar Apte (Nicki Minaj, Noah Cyrus, BTS)
• Richie Beretta (Beyoncé, Diplo, Jillionaire)
• John Nathaniel (One Republic, Switchfoot, Kygo)
• Anthony Saffery (Portugal. The Man, Dirty Vegas, Cornershop).

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

• Choose between two color schemes (light / dark)
• Plugin window fully resizable

A delay worth waiting for.

Of all the essential mix tools, the delay may be the most creatively gratifying. So we asked ourselves: Could we take this classic effect and give it an upgrade?

We set out to develop our vision for a more inspiring delay plugin. One that lets you design your own signature delay sounds through a versatile selection of flavoring tools.

Easily and intuitively. And with powerful results. Comeback Kid includes everything you’d expect from a new go-to delay — plus some unexpected extras.

MAIN FEATURES:

SETUP YOUR DELAY:

BPM-synced modes: Straight, dotted, triplet. Free mode: 0.01 ms – 2500 ms. Ping-Pong option.

ADD SOME CHARACTER:

• Lo-Cut + Hi-Cut: Tame your delays with analog modeled filters.
• Attack + Sustain: Sculpt your delays with flexible transient designers.
• Cheap: Degrade you delays with a custom 11-bit signal path — modeled after vintage digital units.
• Tape: Warm-up your delays with analog-style tape saturation.
• Swirl: Add movement to your delays with an analog modeled phaser.
• Sauce: Add space to your delays with a touch of algorithmic reverb.
• Wider: Widen your delays through L/R time variations.
• Richer: Add dimension to your delays through L/R pitch variations.
• Pan: Place your delays in the stereo image.
• Mono: Turn your delays into mono.
• Ducker: Lower your delays when the dry signal is playing — for a cleaner, more modern sound.
• Destiny: Leave your delays to destiny — for a less robotic, more human and unpredictable vibe.

As with our other effects, each knob is the tip of the iceberg—with plenty of good stuff going on under the hood. This gives you flexible sound design options, while the workflow remains fast.

DELAYS THAT WORK IN YOUR FLAVOR

Want a tape delay vibe for your lead synth, a modern slap on your vocals and a crunchy lofi echo on your guitars? Not a problem. Want to mix and match all of the above to create your own delay sound? Also not a problem!

Comeback Kid offers you a flexible palette of flavoring tools to take full control of your delays. And with no sub-menus or hidden features, everything you need is right in front of you.

EVEN SOME INSPIRATION:

Comeback Kid comes loaded with 61 presets created by friends of BABY Audio – including:

• Mick Schultz: Grammy Nominated, Multi-Platinum, producer for Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Jeremih etc.
• Anthony Saffery: Billboard #1 producer / engineer for Portugal. The Man, Dirty Vegas, Cornershop etc.

IHNY-2

Punchy Parallel Compressor

Slaps So Good

We set out to make the hardest hitting compressor in the industry. The kind that makes your tracks slam and sing. To achieve that extra edge, IHNY-2 works in parallel. This allows you to compress more while retaining the dynamics of your dry track.

• Engineered for a modern and ultra-aggressive compression sound, perfect for adding power to your tracks
• Hosts parallel signal chain internally for a fast and obstacle-free parallel compression workflow
• Majorly upgraded V2 of our first ever plugin (I Heart NY) – offering surgical control and a range of new features

Mix Harder

Contemporary mixes need punch. And to achieve maximum impact, without killing a track’s dynamics, engineers turn to parallel compression (a technique that blends a dry track with a heavily compressed duplicate). IHNY-2 hosts a plug-and-play parallel configuration so you don’t have to set up any extra routing in your DAW.

The plugin is purpose-designed for slamming your tracks in parallel and will hit harder than your typical go-to compressors. It is not subtle, but a dedicated tool for adding energy and “slap” to drums, mix buses or even the master bus (if you dare!)

IHNY-2 is an evolution of our very first plugin, I Heart NY. The original was a favorite with many users and was picked for the SOS Awards by Sound On Sound Magazine. V2 ships with new features, surgical control – and improvements in sound.

FEATURES

Configuration:

IHNY-2 splits the incoming audio into two duplicates. One remains untouched by the plugin (Dry track), the other is subjected to all the goodness IHNY-2 has to offer (Wet track). You balance the two signals on the vertical axis of the XY pad, while setting the compression amount of the Wet track on the horizontal axis. This allows you to operate the most important controls of the plugin in just one motion.

IHNY-2 has an autogain algorithm working under the hood to give you a consistent output as you move the node around the XY pad – but if you find that it’s too loud or too quiet you can use the Autogain slider on the front panel to nudge the behavior.

While moving the node around the XY pad, you’ll see a value displayed under the “AGR” abbreviation (Adjusted Gain Reduction). This number takes into account the current Gain Reduction and Dry/Wet balance to give you a value for the compression intensity. For a good starting point, we recommend you aim for AGR levels between -10 and -20.

Tweak Panel:

HNY-2 is meant to be as fast and intuitive as its predecessor. But if you need to go deeper, the Tweak Panel gives you full control over the compressor. Here, you’ll find a number of new features that weren’t included in V1.

• Attack + Release:
  • Sets how fast the compressor engages and disengages.
• Ratio:
  • Sets the compression intensity from mild to aggressive.
• Punch:
  • Heavy compression tends to suck the transients out of a signal. The Punch control works to emphasize attack transients in the compressed track, helping it cut through even at very high compression levels.
• Harmonics:
  • Imagine a saturator that behaves like a compressor – that’s Harmonics. This feature introduces harmonic saturation controlled by the gain-reduction, meaning more compressed parts get saturated harder.
• Shape:
  • Adds our custom ‘smiley EQ curve’ to bring out the lows and highs and make the compressed signal more present. (The smiley EQ curve is what sets “New York Compression” apart from regular parallel compression. IHNY-2 can do both).
• Tilt:
  • Makes the compressor work harder on either the low or high end of your signal – which can be useful for controlling bass heavy material and letting the high end breathe (or vice versa).
• Lo + Hi Preserve:
  • Prevents the low and high frequencies from being compressed above/below the cutoff points. This is a great way to preserve the kick while squashing the rest of your drum bus.

OTHER FEATURES

• Oversampling:
  • Run the plugin in 1x, 2x or 4x oversampling modes. (We recommend 1x for better CPU performance).
• Solo:
  • Monitor the wet signal in solo. Useful for finetuning – or for using IHNY-2 as a regular insert compressor.
• Tooltips:
  • Turn on to get explanations of each parameter as you use the plugin.
• Save As Default:
  • Save your own default preset, which will load whenever you open a new instance of IHNY-2.
• Reset To Default:
  • Reset the plugin to your default preset.
• Baby Audio Logo:
  • Bypass the plugin.
• Resize Icon:
  • Resize the plugin.

Mouse Controls:

• Cmd+Click:
  • Slows down mouse movement in the Tweak Panel for finetuning purposes.
• Ctrl+Click on XY Pad Node:
  • Horizontal movement only.
• Alt (Cmd) + Click on XY Pad Node:
  • Vertical movement only.
• Double Click:
  • Resets any parameter to its default value.

It’s All About The Sound

IHNY-2 comes with a range of new features to surgically tweak the compression behavior. But a compressor should not be judged on its features (or ability to run in parallel) as much as it should be judged on its sound. Let’s get into that.

Just like its predecessor, IHNY-2 offers its own, unique sonic signature: Its style of compression is clinical and aggressive, combining the precision of a digital algorithm with a touch of analog-inspired non-linearity. It can even go into full-on saturation mode as you apply the ‘Harmonics’ control.

The plugin is designed especially with modern genres in mind – i.e. optimized for loudness and impact, without a loss of clarity.

However, some of our inspiration actually goes back in time as well. Particularly to the affordable DBX units of the 80s and 90s. You can call them basic, but these compressors had a brutal and hard-hitting nature that their more sophisticated counterparts just couldn’t muster. They are loved and used for that to this day!

With IHNY-2 we had an ambition to take the “slammy” and “squashy” behavior of our favorite old hardware compressors even further – and make it an intentional feature rather than a byproduct of design limitations. At the same time we wanted an algorithm that didn’t destroy the signal, even at high compression levels (unlike cheaper hardware compressors).

We’re sure you’ll find that IHNY-2 sounds like none of your other plugins. It’s not designed for “smooth” work. But when you need some power, you’ll have a hard time finding a better companion. IHNY-2 is everything I Heart NY was – and so much more!

PRESETS:

IHNY-2 comes loaded with 156 presets created by BABY Audio and friends of the house – including:

• Delbert Bowers (Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes)
• Matt Sim (Nicki Minaj, The Chainsmokers, Gucci Mane)
• M-Phazes (Eminem, Madonna, Demi Lovato)
• Preston “Prizzie” Reid (Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Muni Long)
• Rob Kleiner (Cee Lo, SIA, David Guetta, Britney Spears)

CHASING ‘THE PERFECT ARTIFICIAL SPACE’

When we’re talking reverbs, there are two fundamental philosophies: One tries to mimic the sound of a real physical space – while the other seeks to create an artificial space from an algorithm, free from the constraints of the natural world. The idea of an algorithmic reverb was first conceived in the 1960s – and evolved over the following decades, redefining the sound of modern music with every new technology leap (and improved memory chip). All your favorite albums from the 1980s and after most likely relied on algorithmic/artificial reverbs to get a big and polished sound.

Crystalline follows in the tradition of the classic algorithmic reverbs, but adds new features and higher fidelity thanks to modern computer power. It is meant to sound unreal – in the most positive sense of the word. Its rooms and halls won’t sound anything like those in your house – but closer to those of your dreams!

MAKE SPACE FOR LUSHNESS

• Crystalline is a state-of-the-art reverb plugin with a pristine and modern sound
• Gives you unprecedented creative control to shape your reflections
• Lets you sync reverb start and decay times to your song’s tempo
• An evolution of classic 20th century studio reverbs – fully upgraded for today

A STUDIO REVERB FOR THE CURRENT ERA

A ‘perfect algorithmic reverb’ is often considered the holy grail of digital audio effects. In fact, the idea can be traced all the way back to research papers from the 1960s. Throughout the 20th century, algorithmic reverbs evolved thanks to companies like EMT and Lexicon. But scarce computing power generally forced manufacturers to work within limited constraints.

Fast forward, and we now have the resources to do things that couldn’t be done during the golden age of studio reverbs. Both in terms of sheer sound quality. But also in terms of adding creative features that weren’t possible in the hardware days.

Crystalline stands on the shoulders of 60 years of chasing ‘the holy grail of DSP’. We’ve asked ourselves what the pioneers of legendary digital reverbs would have done if they had the resources we have today. And then we’ve made exactly that plugin. With all the bells and whistles a modern engineer would need.

FEATURES

BPM-synced start and end times: Crystalline lets you hard-sync the reverb attack and decay time to your DAW’s tempo. This will generally result in cleaner mixes where the reflections are naturally in sync with the music. Prefer the classic way? Just hit the “Sync/MS” switch and Crystalline lets you set pre-delay and decay times in milliseconds instead.

Reflections Section:

• “Size” lets you set the room size from tiny to large. This control is detached from the “Length” control, meaning you can get any size/length combination you want, including esoteric settings like huge spaces with very short tails or tiny spaces with very long tails.
• “Sparkle” emphasizes high frequencies inside the reverb algorithm. This generates reflections that are naturally brighter, which will help you achieve that extra shine on vocals or snares.
• “Width” lets you set the stereo image of the reverb from mono to wide – and even further to extra wide.

Depth Section:

• “Resolution” sets the complexity of the algorithm from ‘basic’ to ‘pristine’. More complex settings will give you an ultra-clean reverb response, free of metallic artifacts. But this comes at a higher CPU load. The ‘Basic’ setting will give you an efficient CPU performance, without compromising the sound noticeably.
• “Modulation” creates pitch variations inside the reverb algorithm. This results in a richer sound that works especially well to fatten up synths, guitars and vocals.
• “Shimmer” makes the high frequencies of the reverb tail decay slower than the rest of the spectrum, giving the reflections an ‘angelic halo’ effect. You can set the frequency cutoff point as well as the multiplier effect, which controls how much longer it takes for the higher frequencies to decay. Please note that if Shimmer is active, the high frequencies will decay later than your specified reverb “End Time” (either at 2x, 4x or 6x the length).

Clean-Up Section:

• “Damping” is a dual filter control that lets you remove high and low frequency content from the reverb reflections. This control offers a fast way to get rid of clutter and muddiness in your mixes.
• “Sides” is a high-pass filter that removes stereo information from the low end of the reverb, while keeping the mono-information intact. This is especially helpful for creating wide vocal or lead instrument reflections without muddying-up your low end.
• “Gate” lets you instantly recreate the classic 1980s gated reverb sound. The gate offers ‘threshold’ and ‘release’ controls and makes it fast and intuitive to make your snares go ‘Phil Collins’.

Shape Section:

• “Tone” is a tilt EQ that lets you quickly shift the frequency balance of the reverb to brighter or darker.
• “Smoothing” gradually applies an EQ-curve custom-designed to address the frequency areas that tend to get resonant and sharp. It mellows out any reverb harshness and gives Crystalline a more subtle feel. This allows you to add a little more reverb without drenching your mix.
• “Transients” lets you shift the reverb algorithm’s emphasis to either the attack or sustain part of the incoming signal. Emphasizing the sustain more than the transients will make the reverb feel airy and light, while emphasizing the attack stage is a great way to get a splashy and dense sound. The Transients feature works especially well for controlling reflections on percussive material.

Output Section:

• “Ducker” lowers the reverb signal when the dry/incoming track is playing. This gives you a cleaner mix, where you can turn up the reverb more without compromising the dry track. “Ducker Gentle” mode offers a slow and natural ducker setting, while the standard ducker mode has a more pumpy feel.
• ”Reverse” reverses the reverb playback, giving you some radical sound design possibilities.
• “Freeze” is another creative effect that takes a granular snapshot of the reverb when clicked and holds this snapshot continuously until the button is un-clicked again. It can be a powerful effect for creating interesting transitions in a mix.
• “Dry/Wet” sets the global mix balance between the dry/incoming signal and the reverb signal. Clicking the “Wet Lock” button lets you browse presets while keeping your preferred wet/dry balance – for easier comparison.

Top Panel:

• “Color” lets you change between light and dark background colors.
• “Eco Mode” lets you run Crystalline in a low-CPU mode by setting the resolution to ‘basic’ and disabling the shimmer effect.
• “Save As Default” lets you save your own default preset that will appear every time the plugin initializes or you hit the reset button. “Reset” resets the plugin’s state to your default preset. “Tool Tips” gives you help texts explaining each plugin parameter during mouse hover-over. Crystalline comes loaded with more than 150 presets from Baby Audio and friends of the house to get you started.