The Apogee Opto-3A is an immaculate plug-in recreation of a vintage optical hardware compressor. Featuring the same classic two-dial interface the Opto-3A is the perfect compressor plug-in for producers mixing and even mastering engineers. Boasting an exact sonic performance the Apogee Opto-3A is transparent and seamless allowing you to process multiple tracks simultaneously or even entire mixes to extreme degrees without affecting the tone of your audio. Going beyond what was possible with hardware outboard equipment the Opto-3A features an extended high-frequency emphasis functionality to alter the dynamics of your high-end in more detail. Additionally a high-pass side-chain allows you to tailor the response of your compressor to other tracks within your mix for a clean low-end as well as a mix dial to fine-tune the amount of wet and dry processing in your audio. Please Note: This product comes in the form of a digital download code that will be sent to your email for activation. An essential studio tool In any session the first processor you will reach for when mixing down tracks is the compressor. Its the beating heart of all studios that allows you to make your tracks cohesive and glued together. Its therefore vital that you have an array of world-class compressors at your disposal and this is exactly what the Opto-3A is. Whether its a single vocal track multiple guitar layers or even an entire mix the natural transparency and ultra-low distortion of the Opto-3A make it the ideal studio compressor. A jack of all trades master of everything! Run a clean recorded vocal through it to add harmonic saturation and colour that will take your dry sound to mix ready instantly or run an electric bass guitar through to tame the wide range of dynamics to keep your playing consistent and powerful or even try it with drum shells to tame transients or add a huge amount of impact and punch. The power of optical compression An optical compressor is the most common compressor type using a light element and optical cell to alter the dynamics of your audio. Simply put its a very fast and responsive compressor type thats ideal for the studio. The Opto-3A harnesses the true power of vintage hardware optical compressors to deliver authentic dynamic performance. With only two dials its a simple and easy compressor to understand that allows you to get the sound you want quickly without worrying too much about fine-tuning several parameters. The Apogee Opto-3A features the trademark slow attack and release times of the hardware counterpart making it perfect for large instrument busses vocal groups or even on a master bus to process every track simultaneously. Using it on your mastering chain is ideal due to the extremely low distortion character and ultra-transparent compression artefacts. Whilst even under extreme settings the 3A remains transparent compressing only the dynamics of your audio and being careful not to completely alter the tone of your audio. FeaturesOptical compressor/limiter plug-in for immaculate dynamics control Immaculately modelled with tremendous detail capturing the analog characteristics of the hardware counterpart Sleek interface with accurate VU metering Imprint character and saturation even without any gain reduction Extended high-frequency emphasis functionality allows for more high-end dynamics control Sidechain high-pass filter to leave low-end uncompressed Mix control lets you blend between wet and dry processing Runs natively in your favorite DAW on your Mac no Apogee hardware required Runs on Apogee hardware DSP in Symphony Desktop Element Series and Ensemble Thunderbolt audio interfacesSpecificationsSystem requirements:Operating system:Mac: MacOS 10.12.6 or higher Windows: Windows 10 and higher RAM: 4GB minimum 8GB recommended Supported DAWs:Logic Pro 10 Pro Tools 12 Ultimate (ProTools 11 and lower not currently supported) Ableton Live 10 Cubase 9.5 VST 1 & 2 (VST 3 not implemented in this release) Please note that any AUv2 VST 1&2m or AAX fully compliant DAW should work General:Free Pace iLok account – physical iLok not required Product code: 1246-1234