Cytomic - The Glue v1.7.6 VST, VST3, AAX x64

The Glue is an analog modeling compressor based on the classic British compressor of the 80s for big consoles with some handy additional features. The compressor’s action is smooth and transparent, as it uses the same high-quality algorithms as chain simulators, but optimized for fast operation. In addition to the usual compressor controls, it has: Mix / Range / Sidechain High Pass knobs, External Sidechain support, Peak Clip and Advanced Oversampling.

Powerful Oversampling Aliasing

is an inevitable result of processing signals on a computer. The Glue lets you reduce aliasing by any amount with high-quality oversampling filters. There are separate settings for real-time and offline use. The recommended settings are x2 for real-time and x8 for offline, but you can change them depending on the material and the amount of compression. Roughly speaking, if you’re compressing “dull” signals like bass guitars, you won’t need oversampling. For brighter signals, the default x2 works well, and for very bright signals or aggressive compression settings, you can switch to x4 for real-time. You can also copy your current oversampling settings to all other instances of The Glue to quickly hear the difference they make to your project – so you can either save CPU or easily boost quality by adding more CPU. If you want high quality resampling but still want low latency, you can choose between Minimum Phase (lowest latency) or Intermediate Phase (medium latency) instead of using Linear Phase (highest latency). All resampling methods create an integer number of DC sample delays that are sent to your DAW for correction, but for the best high-frequency phase alignment, use Linear Phase mode.

Classic VCA Compressor with Feedback

The Glue is an analog compressor plugin based on the classic British stereo bus compressor of the big console from the 80’s. Used sparingly on the main bus, this provides a beautifully smooth and transparent compression that will never go out of style. Used heavily on the drum bus, it produces the classic ‘crack’ of the attacking part of the drums, adding punch while keeping levels in check. The side chain ‘detector’ is a diode based envelope follower that ‘smooths out’ the sound sent to it. The detected amplitude of the side chain input is used to control the level of the main signal, but is also sent to control the level of the input to the detector itself, in what is called a feedback loop. This gives a different result compared to a feedforward compressor, where the detector only changes the level of the main signal.

Diode envelope follower

The basis of The Glue’s smooth behaviour is an analogue modelled dual diode envelope follower, solved using optimised nodal analysis. This produces the same results as using circuit simulation packages like SPICE, but with less CPU overhead. The diodes are used as a way to smoothly switch between ‘no attack’ and ‘attack’ mode depending on the input signal level on the diodes. This means that very small input signals only result in a slow attack time, and it’s not until a large signal arrives that the diodes fully conduct and you get the final attack time. This smooth transition is important for transparent compression, but it goes one level deeper due to the feedback structure of the compressor. The feedback compressor is constantly trying to ‘balance’ the signal level sent to the detector back to the point where the diodes turn off. This means that every change in detected levels is smoothly switched by the diodes, resulting in very transparent, low distortion compression. The circuit also features a dual-diode setup, which results in a ‘soft mix’ as the smoothed sum of the detected amplitudes on the left and right is used to control the stereo level. This is called ‘stereo coupling’ and does not change the stereo image as both the left and right VCAs use the same detected voltage to set the gain.

Highpass Sidechain and Mix

If you want to reduce the compression pumping due to loud low frequency components, you can use the built-in soft -6 dB/oct high pass filter to filter the detected signal and reduce the emphasis on the low frequencies. Another way to reduce the audible results of compression is to use the Mix knob, which smoothly attenuates the dry input signal with the compressed signal in phase accuracy. As with the Level knob, the units on the Mix knob are displayed in decibels.

Range

A new addition to the original circuit is the Range knob, which controls the maximum dynamic swing when changing compression. The circuit’s side chain section can easily become saturated by large input signals when the signal is clipped near the compressor’s supply voltage rails. The main results are an increase in attack time, since the upper portion of the detected input signal (not the main signal path!) is clipped, so the detector tracks a smaller signal. When set fully, this control retains the behavior of the purest analog circuit, but the range can be reduced slightly to emulate older devices, or significantly for new creative control. The result is a useful alternative to parallel compression with the Mix knob.

V1.7.6 (August 26, 2024)

Bugfix: UI scale now properly restores between closing and reopening the UI.
UI, from composition state, and from the global default.

V1.7.5 (August 24, 2024)

Bugfix: Workaround for a bug in Juce 8 D2D causing a crash when resizing via drag on Win.
Bugfix: Use non-bold font in menus to improve readability on non-HiPDI monitors.

V1.7.4 (August 5, 2024)

Bugfix: Workaround for a bug in Juce 8 D2D where the login window was not drawing properly on Win. V1.7.3 (August 2, 2024)
Bugfix: Added back shift modifier for fine control of handles when dragging.

V1.7.2 (31 Jul 2024)