We're currently living in the age of digital audio. Gate is an incredibly powerful tool that is essential to any music producer.

But there are so many different Gate plugins in the music production landscape, so we decided to create the ultimate list of the top Gate plugins today that will help you find the perfect fit.


Oxford Drum Gate

Gate by Sonnox



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Description


Precise and transparent drum gating

Have you become frustrated with the results of unreliable drum gating using traditional tools; chatter, misdetection, choked or lost ghost notes? Are you tired of overly complex and manual workflows?

Then meet the new Oxford Drum Gate; it's swift and logical workflow solves these problems and delivers the fastest, most musical and transparent results available. At the heart of the Drum Gate is intelligent drum-hit detection. First, the Plug-In detects them all with tailor-made transient detection. Then, you simply decide which ones to keep.

Detection

Need to reduce spill on a snare track in a dynamic mix of backbeats, ghost notes, and cross stick hits?

No problem! Just click the Snare button.

Decay

Tired of fighting abrupt and un-musical gating? Do you want to keep the natural ring of toms and remove the spill around them?

Easy! Use Drum Gate's adaptive Decay section to quickly focus on the resonance of each tom, in real-time, according to the velocity of each detected hit.

Leveller

Wish you could improve the consistency of the drummer's performance? Of course, you do!

Conform louder main hits and softer background articulations to two separately controlled target level ranges in the Leveller section.

MIDI

Want to augment/replace individual drums with samples and confidently retain the dynamics from the original performance?

Piece of cake! It's delivered by Drum Gate's hit detection and MIDI triggering functionality.




Features

  • Precise transient detection and intelligent drum-type matching to effortlessly separate the hits you want to keep from the spill you don't.
  • Create custom drum profiles to isolate unusual drum types or fix the occasional kick, snare, or tom mismatch.
  • A decay curve that adapts to the velocity of each drum hit, giving you consistent spill reduction on dynamic performances.
  • The Spectral decay editor lets you preserve the resonance, ring, or rattle of each drum hit while quickly clamping down on the spill.
  • The leveller's dual-target and amount controls let you improve level consistency without losing the contrast between loud hits and soft ghost notes.
  • Real-time MIDI output and MIDI file capture, for accurately triggering drum samples.

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Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


Mac:

  • OS X 10.8 and above
  • iLok USB device with latest drivers or active internet connection required

Formats:

  • AAX Native and Pro Tools HDX compatible 10.3.8 and above
  • Compatible with any host application that supports Audio Unit (AU), VST2 or VST3 Plug-Ins.

PC:

  • Windows 7 or later
  • iLok USB device with latest drivers OR active internet connection required

Formats:

  • AAX Native and HDX for Pro Tools 10.3.8, and above - Approved Pro Tools CPU, OS and hardware configuration
  • Compatible with any host application that supports Audio Unit (AU), VST2 or VST3 Plug-Ins.

The minimum version of OpenGL required to use the plug-in is OpenGL 3.3.

Please note: This product supports both iLok Cloud and iLok USB Key activation. An iLok USB Dongle OR an active internet connection (for iLok Cloud) is required in order to activate and use this product.

OS Compatibility



FabFilter Pro-G

Gate by FabFilter



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Description


Expand In Style

A good gate/expander is an indispensable tool in any mixing or live situation. FabFilter Pro-G offers everything you could wish for: perfectly tuned algorithms, complete control over the side chain and channel linking, excellent metering and great interface design.

Ultra-Flexible Side-Chain Routings

Apart from excellent sound, FabFilter Pro-G also provides very flexible routing. You can choose between mono, stereo or mid/side processing and in expert mode, external side chain input is available with completely customizable channel linking and routing.

Clear and Precise Metering

FabFilter Pro-G combines smart input/output level meters with a real-time level display and transfer curve. Everything was specifically designed to give clear feedback on the current gate/expander settings and processing, letting you set them up easily.

FabFilter Goodies

Of course, you also get all the usual FabFilter goodies: perfectly tuned knobs, MIDI Learn, Smart Parameter Interpolation for smooth parameter transitions, an excellent help file with interactive help hints, SSE optimization and much more!

Key Features

  • Six meticulously tuned expander/gate algorithms, including upward expansion and ducking
  • Program dependent attack and release curves
  • Low CPU usage
  • Adjustable range, hold time and knee settings
  • Optional look-ahead time up to 10 ms
  • Precise and helpful metering, including a real-time level display
  • Expert mode that offers highly customizable side chain options
  • Mono, stereo or mid/side processing
  • Up to four times linear-phase oversampling
  • Zero-latency operation mode
  • MIDI triggering: open the gate/expander with your MIDI keyboard
  • External side chain option
  • Separate dry/wet level settings
  • Easy to set up for common gating / expansion scenarios with the included factory presets
  • GPU-powered graphics acceleration
  • Double-click text entry of parameter values
  • Stereo and mono plug-ins available
  • Supports common Pro Tools hardware control surfaces
  • MIDI Learn
  • Undo/redo and A/B comparison
  • Smart Parameter Interpolation
  • Extensive help file with interactive help hints



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Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


Windows:

  • 64-bit: Windows 10, 8, 7 or Vista
  • 32-bit: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP
  • VST 2/3 host or Pro Tools

macOS:

  • macOS 10.10 or higher (64-bit only)
  • AU or VST 2/3 host or Pro Tools
  • Intel or Apple Silicon processor

Plugin Formats:

All FabFilter plug-ins are available in VST, VST3, Audio Units, AAX Native and AudioSuite formats.

OS Compatibility



poltergate

Gate by denise



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Description


Sound Shaping from Beyond

poltergate fuses the powers of transient design, gating and de-bleeding into one.

Shape live drums, samples or any source you like in a swift, creative and intuitive way. Achieve better noise reduction, instrument separation and de-bleeding in a plugin optimised for power, fast results and creativity.

Creative Looping

Use poltergate creatively thanks to its extended feature set and go a bit crazy if you want to!

For example, use the EQ graph and spike to target whatever instrument you would like to use in a sampled loop.

Then set the release to sync the tempo and even automate it to create rhythmic effects, using the curve feature to tweak the feel of it.

Then, with the dynamics section, exaggerate the attack or the fat, even going into clipping territory to turn it into something really different.

Bleed Shall Not Pass!

For poltergate, denise created their own, unique de-bleeding algorithm to achieve the precision they wanted. With just three intuitive knobs, you can keep the bleed out while preserving both the punch and the resonance of the drum.

It’s triggered by the same threshold as the gate, so you can save time by adjusting both the gate and the de-bleeder at once rather than separately. Take care of that cymbal spill and low-end rumble on toms like nothing else.

Inspiration

The process of creating poltergate was a close collaboration between the members of the denise team. Tweaking settings and experimenting with the optimal algorithm was a very precise and time-consuming process: for months, denise created various versions of the plugin, sometimes several a day.

In the end, they decided to create their own de-bleeding technology to achieve the result they wanted and introduced specific options like the spike shaper.

denise also put extra consideration into the graph’s colours and clarity to make it as easy as possible to see what’s going on.

Full Control Over Your Dynamics

The dynamics tab combines limiting, clipping & transient shaping. Exaggerate the attack or punch, even going into clipping territory to turn it into something really different.




Features

  • Built-in Sidechain EQ Graph - Detection of the signal in maximum detail.
  • Transient Design, Gating and De-Bleeding in One - New possibilities and time-saving.
  • Spike Control - Unique feature to detect transients more easily.
  • Presets - Perfect to get you going.
  • Transparent Clipper - Shape & colour to make your sound extra thick.
  • Unique De-Bleeder Algorithm - Bleed shall not pass with these 3 simple controls.
  • Audition Mode - Listen isolated to what’s being gated.
  • Flip - Reverse gate to hear what’s left out of the signal.

Video


Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


Mac:

  • Mac OSX 10.7 or newer (64-bit only) (macOS 11 Big Sur and M1 Apple Silicon supported)
  • VST, VST3, AU, AAX

​Windows: 

  • Windows 7 or newer (64-bit only)
  • VST, VST3, AAX

OS Compatibility



MRhythmizer

Gate by MeldaProduction



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Description


MRhythmizer is a unique time manipulation effect that uses an integrated sequencer to control time, volume and filters. From gating to glitching, repeating to scratching, all with stunning audio quality. MRhythmizer brings your music to life, so say goodbye to boring audio performances! 

Features

  • 36 available sequences for time, 36 available sequences for volume and 36 available sequences for filter - each sequence can be up to 64 quarter notes long and automatically synchronize with the song, time sequences can look up to 8 quarter notes into the past.
  • Controllable via MIDI, modulation and automation - switch between sequences using the controller you like the most, whether it is MIDI keyboard, MIDI pad-type controller or even if you like to automate it in your host. You can even attach it to a modulator so that it switches automatically!
  • Scratching slider - whenever you like to add some scratches, it is as easy as moving a slider.
  • 4 global modulators - in each instance you can have up to 4 fully-featured modulators that can modulate any set of parameters including other modulators! In this way, you can make the sound move in time, be less static and more interesting. Each modulator works as LFO, follower, midi/audio triggered ADSR envelopes, a pitch detector or even a combination.
  • Up to 8 channels surround processing - MeldaProduction plugins can handle not only mono and stereo signals but also up to 8 channels of surround audio, making them ideal for audio production for movies, games etc.
  • Sinc interpolation and high-quality upsampling - MRhythmizer implements the most advanced technologies to provide the best audio quality.
  • Extremely advanced and easy-to-use user interface - MeldaProduction products are always designed to enhance the workflow. You can easily change all values, fine-tune each control in multiple ways. Easy orientation in a standardized GUI, textual editing and smooth visualization with almost unlimited zooming are standard in all MeldaProduction plugins. Moreover, MeldaProduction plugins are the world first (and still the only ones), which support resizable and stylable GUI's
  • Automatic synchronization to host tempo - every oscillator and modulator in the plugin can automatically synchronize to the host providing as natural a sound as possible while not offending other tracks.
  • MIDI controllers with MIDI learn - you can map any parameter to any MIDI controller or MIDI keyboard and control it in real-time or record and automate it.
  • Very fast, optimized for SSE and SSE2 processors.
  • Global preset management and online preset exchange - using a title button you can save your settings (which are shared on the computer) so you can easily access these in other songs. Moreover, all plugins can automatically share your presets and download presets of other users from MeldaProduction's servers (if this feature is enabled).



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Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


Windows

  • Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • VST / VST3 / AAX compatible host (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Intel/AMD processor with SSE2 support

Always use 32-bit plugins in 32-bit hosts, or 64-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts!
 
64-bit plugins can't work in 32-bit hosts even if the operating system is 64-bit. Do NOT use 32-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts. They would have to be bridged and can become slow and unstable.
 
Mac OS X

  • Mac OS X 10.9 and newer (64-bit only)
  • VST / VST3 / AU / AAX compatible host (64-bit only)
  • Intel/AMD processor with SSE2 support or Apple Silicon processor

Note: Please check your product PDF documentation for more information and installation instructions.

OS Compatibility



Gatey Watey

Gate by Boz Digital Labs



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Description


Gatey Watey is a lightweight but clever gate plugin. Unlike traditional gates, Gatey Watey lets you choose which frequencies get attenuated when the level drops below the threshold, making for a much more natural sounding gate. It works great for getting rid of drum bleed without cutting off your drums, or de-noising electric guitars without cutting off the sustain. Basically, it’s how all gates should work, but for some reason, they don’t.

Really? A gate plugin?

Let’s just be honest here for a minute. It’s really hard to get excited about a gate plugin. Part of the reason I have a hard time getting excited about gates is because they all pretty much seem to do the same thing, with some minor differences between different gates. But that’s why we made Gatey Watey. It stems from the idea that gates, even as a utility, can be much better.

What Sets Gatey Watey Apart from the Zillions of Gates Out There?

Gatey Watey has one feature that we believe every gate should have; frequency selective attenuation. What this means, is that you can tell Gatey Watey to only attenuate the high frequencies (or the low frequencies, if you’re into that sort of thing) when the input drops below the threshold. This turns out to be super powerful when it comes to gating drums, electric guitars, or pretty much anything that requires a gate. For example, if you want to cut the high hat bleed out of a snare without killing the ring of the snare, Gatey Watey is your man. Do you want your distorted guitars to ring out without without your neighbor’s fluorescent light collection blaring through your pickups? Gatey Watey to the rescue.

Even in normal gating situations, Gatey Watey excels. You just tell it what to turn down, and how much to turn it down.

Simple to Use

We packaged Gatey Watey in a way that makes it dead simple to use. It does its thing, and it does it well. Anybody of any skill level will be able to open up Gatey Watey for the first time and immediately see what’s going on.




Features

  • Frequency selective gating
  • Simple Interface
  • No Learning Curve

Video


Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


Mac

Formats:

  • AAX
  • AU (Audio Units)
  • RTAS
  • VST
  • VST3

Windows

Formats:

  • AAX
  • RTAS
  • VST
  • VST3

OS Compatibility



Gatekeeper

Gate by Polyverse



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Description


Fast, Accurate, Flexible

Gatekeeper is the cutting edge of volume modulation. Capable of sample-fast transitions and equipped with a unique variable smoothing algorithm, Gatekeeper allows for drastic, punchy gating and sequencing while keeping the output smooth. Breathe new life into your audio with the most basic, yet impactful way: silence.

Gatekeeper can now send MIDI CC data, giving it the ability to control parameters in other plugins.

The Ultimate In-Your-Face Gating Effect




Features

  • Sample fast and precise volume modulation
  • Expressive and fun envelope drawing tools
  • Boost and clip features for extra punch
  • Smoothing algorithm to eliminate clicks and pops
  • 8 independent volume envelopes
  • Fully customizable midi-triggering
  • Panning tools
  • Tempo mapped looping
  • CV output for Modular synths
  • Hundreds of presets
  • Unbeatable Versatility

  • Gatekeeper can act as an LFO, envelope, step sequencer, sample-accurate volume automation and more.

  • With 8 MIDI programmable envelopes and even CV output for external hardware, Gatekeeper is a Swiss army knife of creative expression. Even more so, it includes hundreds of presets that will spice up your sounds. Whether used in production, mixing, or sound design, Gatekeeper always has something to bring to the table.

  • Precise, Expressive Designing Tools

  • Never again be frustrated by clunky editing interfaces! Curve brushes and an elaborate shortcut system makes drawing automation fun and easy, while 31 kinds of envelope brushes and 4 copy slots allow for exceedingly intricate designs. Need long drawn out patterns? With up to 1024 nodes, Gatekeeper can create a sequence up to a whopping 20 hours long.

  • The Next Key to Infected Mushroom's Arsenal

  • Since a large part of Infected Mushroom’s signature sound has always involved volume envelopes and rhythmic gates, it’s easy to see why they teamed up with Polyverse to bring the fastest, most accurate and flexible volume modulator to the world. Gatekeeper contains all of the secret techniques Infected has been using for years, all the way to their most recent creations.

  • Through our unique “Artistic feedback” process, artists use ever-changing prototypes while making their own music, allowing Gatekeeper to naturally evolve into its best form.


Video


Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


Mac

  • OS X 10.9 or later (macOS 11 Big Sur and M1 Apple Silicon compatible) (64-bit only)
  • Intel Core 2 Duo or higher, 4GB RAM minimum
  • AAX, VST, VST3, AU

PC

  • Windows 7 SP1 or later (64-bit only)
  • Intel Core 2 Duo / AMD Athlon 64x2 or higher, 4GB RAM minimum
  • AAX, VST, VST3

OS Compatibility



Trance Gate Snapin

Gate by Kilohearts



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Description


Trance Gate: Programmable gate

What if ___ _____ easily chop up ____ __ the sound __ _ rhythmical pattern?

Well now you can! Trance gate is a gate sequencer which quickly adds a rhyth  to a pad or lead, chops up a beat or adds more staccato to an arpeggio.

The world of anthem trance lies at your feet!

What's a Snapin?

This plugin is a "snapin". That means you can use it as a regular VST/AU plugin, or you can use it with our snapin hosts Multipass and Snap Heap where you can combine effects in amazing ways.



Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


These are the minimum recommended system requirements for running snapins.

CPU:

  • 2 GHz or faster

Memory:

  • 1 GB or more

Operating System:

  • Windows (7 or newer) or Mac OS X (10.7 or newer)

Software:

  • A VST / Audio Unit / AAX compatible DAW

Supported formats:

  • AAX
  • AU
  • VST2
  • Snapin

Please note: If you use a lot of snapins at the same time in your patch the CPU usage willincrease accordingly. Thus, we cannot guarantee that the snapins will work flawlessly in all use cases even if your system does meet the minimum recommended system requirements.

OS Compatibility



Modular Add-On: Doepfer A-101-2 Vactrol LPG

Gate by Softube



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Description


This product is an expansion for Softube Modular. If you do not currently own Modular, you can purchase it HERE.

Ever since the low gate pass was invented by Don Buchla, low pass gates have been heralded for their ability to add a lifelike and organic response and textures to modular synth patches. Doepfer A-101-2 Vactrol LPG adds this and more to your Modular patches. 

Organic, buttery, warm, woody, rubbery, musical, natural, acoustic—these are words that commonly describe the character a low pass gate module can add to synth patches.

A Classic Concept Extended

Originally, the low pass gate is an invention by legendary synth pioneer Don Buchla. Doepfer has expanded on the concept by adding clever features, not least the Resonance control which can add anything from a subtle nuance to screaming resonance, and further into self-oscillation.

Vactrol Control 

The hardware Doepfer LPG modules are based on vactrols, just like opto compressors. The response time of these can vary wildly, which is part of the LPG charm. Softube's plug-in version of the Doepfer LPG adds the Vact switch which is not part of the original hardware. This lets the user select between a fast, medium or slow response time, to cover the variation between individual analog units.

Expertly Made Presets 

The release includes over thirty new and inspiring presets that puts the Doepfer LPG to excellent use in your Modular rack.

In Short:

  • Vactrol control of a 12 dB low pass filter and a voltage controlled amplifier
  • Switch between three different sets of vactrols—slow, medium and fast
  • Auxiliary control of output mode (Low Pass, LPG or VCA mode) via the G1 and G2 inputs
  • Requires Modular 



Video


Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


  • Mac OS X 10.13 or newer (older OS versions will not work) (64-bit only).
  • Windows 10 64-bit (older Windows versions may work but are not tested) (64-bit only).
  • Mac: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon - M1 support pending.
  • Windows: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon / AMD Quad-Core or newer.
  • Screen resolution 1280x800 or larger.
  • Supported sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192 kHz, in both mono and stereo.
  • 8 GB RAM or more is recommended, as well as at least 8 GB hard disk space for installation (individual plug-ins take less space, while sample libraries may require additional disk space).
  • A Softube account is required to register and install the software.
  • An iLok account is required for authorisation of the software.
  • Internet access for downloading installer and managing licenses.
  • iLok generation 2 and up, if you intend to use a physical iLok dongle for authorizing your plug-ins (note that an iLok dongle is not a requirement).
  • In theory, any 64-bit VST, VST3, AU, or AAX (11.0.2 or higher) compatible host application should work.
  • The most recent maintenance release of the DAW application is recommended.

However, due to plug-in host differences between DAWs - and Softube's own rigorous testing standards - Softube only officially test their plug-ins and instruments in the most recent versions of Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, Live, Studio One, Digital Performer, Reaper and Sonar. Softube plugins are not tested in the non-listed systems, but they most likely work as long as the system requirements are met.

  • Softube Modular is required to run this software.
  • Make sure that you always use the latest iLok License Manager. It is not included in the Softube installer but can be downloaded from www.ilok.com​

OS Compatibility



Gate Snapin

Gate by Kilohearts



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Description


kHs Gate: Noise Floor Removal

Not all sound is created alike, and sometimes you want to just leave it at the Gate. Quickly cut out low hum and noise from the signal, cut reverb tails short or exaggerate the dynamics in a beat. The possibilities are... maybe not endless, but should cover your gating needs!

kHs Gate has simple but powerful controls for tuning in the desired effect, and can easily be driven by an external sidechain signal. The gate can also be flipped around to make a signal duck under another.

What's a Snapin?

This plugin is a "snapin". That means you can use it as a regular VST/AU plugin, or you can use it with our snapin hosts Multipass and Snap Heap where you can combine effects in amazing ways.



Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


These are the minimum recommended system requirements for running snapins.

CPU:

  • 2 GHz or faster

Memory:

  • 1 GB or more

Operating System:

  • Windows (7 or newer) or Mac OS X (10.7 or newer)

Software:

  • A VST / Audio Unit / AAX compatible DAW

Supported formats:

  • AAX
  • AU
  • VST2
  • Snapin

Please note: If you use a lot of snapins at the same time in your patch the CPU usage willincrease accordingly. Thus, we cannot guarantee that the snapins will work flawlessly in all use cases even if your system does meet the minimum recommended system requirements.

OS Compatibility



SSi Pro Analogue Modelled Gate

Gate by Minimal System Group



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Description


Important Note: This product is only compatible with Windows operating systems.

Imagine your track contains lots of hissing, pops, background noise. When you are attempting to do the best job possible you want to take out as much of that noise as you can. There are three main ways to deal with this noise: you can cut out the unnecessary spaces in the audio. You can automate the volume to either mute or turn down the audio. Or you can use the Pro Analogue Modelled Gate.

The Pro Analogue Modelled Gate is a device that acts very similar to a compressor, with one major difference - instead of increasing the volume up in quiet sections, a noise gate reduces the volume. You can see that the main settings on the device are very similar to a compressor.

Similar to a compressor, the threshold determines when the gate is triggered. On a compressor, when the source goes above the threshold, compression is triggered. On the Pro Analogue Modelled Gate, when the source goes below the threshold, the noise gate will clamp down on the audio. Just how much it will lower the volume depends on the amount of reduction that is set. Attack and release, as with compression, need to be set based on the source material..

The Pro Analogue Modelled Gate can also be used as an effect. If you listen to a lot of electronic music, you will no doubt recognize stuttering vocals and synths that pulse in rhythm to the song. While sometimes the effect is managed manually through edits and automation, it is usually created through the use a gate.

Features:

  • High end sound engine
  • Controls for gain, attack/release, range, threshold
  • VU Meter
  • Presets to get you started
  • Professional GUI Design
  • Very low CPU usage



Rating


Value For Money

Sound Quality

General Ease of Use

Number of Presets


  • PC running a Windows operating system. VST compatible DAW or VST hosting software
  • This plugin is 32bit but can be run on 64bit systems using jBridge
  • This plugin also operates within the 64bit versions of Cubase, Nuendo, Bitwig Studio, Reaper, Tracktion, Renoise, FL Studio, Sonar, Mixcraft and Samplitude using their inbuilt bridging.
  • It is recommended that you always try out the demo before purchases to ensure that the plugin is compatible with your system.

Host Compatibility

  • Minimal System Group Plugins run on Windows based PC's using a suitable VST host or DAW. Our plugins have been fully tested within Ableton Live, Adobe Audition, Cakewalk Sonar, FL Studio, Energy XT, Presonus Studio One, Renoise, and Cubase.

Please Note: This plugin is 32bit but can be run on 64bit systems using jBridge.

OS Compatibility