GPW Heat, the first GPW plugin you can download, is out now and it is free. It is a saturation plugin for Windows built around a single HEAT knob and four modes, from a clean glow to a full burn. It runs as a VST3 in any DAW that hosts VST3 plugins, and as a Standalone app.
One knob, four characters
HEAT goes from 0 to 100 %. At 0 the signal is dry, and the first few percent fade the saturation in, so nothing jumps when you start turning. The mode sets the character:
- CLEAN: subtle console-style saturation that adds glue and gloss without sounding distorted. Made for buses and the master.
- WARM: soft, musical harmonics that round and thicken vocals, pads and bass.
- HOT: analog-style drive with real bite for drums and leads.
- BURN: the thickest and dirtiest mode, with tube-style weight in the low mids.
Colour, not volume
Every mode is level-compensated, so turning HEAT up changes the tone, not the loudness. You judge the saturation itself, not the fact that louder always sounds better. The processing runs with 4x oversampling to keep aliasing out of the top end, and the latency is reported to your DAW for automatic delay compensation. Changing mode crossfades over 30 ms, so you can switch or automate it while the track plays without a click.
Free, and it updates itself
Enter your email on the GPW Heat page and the download starts right away. New versions arrive through the plugin itself. While Microsoft's validation of GPW plugins is being completed, Windows may show a "Windows protected your PC" warning when you open the installer: click More info, then Run anyway. A macOS version is coming soon, and a box on the same page lets you ask to be told the day it is out.
More GPW plugins on the way
Heat is the first of a family built for EDM producers. Also on the GPW Plugins page: GPW Ghost Clip, a converter-style mastering clipper; GPW Duck Shaper, curve-based sidechain and volume shaping; GPW Ultralift, a one-knob build-up machine; GPW Imager, a stereo field processor with simple and multiband modes; and GPW De-Esser, two-band control for sibilance and harsh highs. Each one has its own page where you can see it in action and sign up for launch news.