Rave Generation: Sonic Dynamics

Features

• Compressor/LimiterFeed-forward VCA compressor with controls for threshold, ratio, attack, release, knee, and make-up gain. In Limit mode, the ratio is overridden to an extremely high value for true peak limiting, while attack and release controls remain active. Soft knee gives a smooth transition, while hard knee is abrupt; detection can be Peak or RMS.
• Low-Frequency Relax (De-Rumbler)The Lo Freq Relax HPF cleans up sub-bass before detection. It is a cascaded 24 dB/oct high-pass filter whose cutoff is controlled by the knob. Use this to prevent deep bass hits (like kick or low-end rumble) from over-triggering compression. For example, setting it to 80 Hz can avoid excessive pumping on bass-heavy tracks. At 0 Hz this feature is disabled.
• Sidechain RoutingThe main inputs feed both the audio output and the internal sidechain detector. If an external sidechain is available and Ext SC is enabled, the plug-in uses the auxiliary inputs as the detection source for both compressor and gate. This allows ducking or keycontrolled effects. The Lo Freq Relax HPF is always applied to whichever source is used for detection.
• Stereo/Dual-Mono ProcessingBy default, Sonic Dynamics is a true stereo processor. With Stereo Link on, one envelope (from the louder channel) drives both channels’ VCAs. With Link off, it operates in dual-mono: each channel’s compressor and gate respond independently.
• Gate/ExpanderThe gate and compressor share a single VCA, just like the original hardware. The gate's control voltage is summed with the compressor's control voltage before driving the VCA, with diode isolation ensuring the gate can only add gain reduction (never reduce it). Gate Threshold and Gate Rate control when the gate closes and how quickly it decays. An anti-chatter network prevents rapid toggling near the threshold. When Stereo Link is on, the gate also links both channels. At minimum threshold the gate is fully bypassed. The gate detector follows the selected sidechain source.
• Auto and Mode-Dependent Control BehaviorSonic Dynamics automatically disables or ignores certain controls when specific modes are active, mirroring the behavior of the analog hardware: - Limit Mode: When Limit mode is engaged, the Ratio control is overridden to an extremely high value for true peak limiting. Attack and Release controls remain active, allowing you to shape the limiter's response. - RMS Mode: When RMS detection is selected, the detector uses heavy averaging that makes the envelope program-dependent. Attack and Release controls remain active but the perceived dynamics behavior changes due to the averaged detection. - LED Meters: The gain reduction (GR) and output meters remain active in all modes, giving you instant visual feedback on compression, gating, and output levels with no added latency.