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Blue Cat's Gain Suite
Blue Cat's Gain Suite
Price: Freeware
Blue Cat's Gain Suite - Simple Mono, Stereo and Mid-Side MIDI Controllable Gain Plug-ins (VST, AU, VST3, AAX) (Freeware)

This plug-in suite is a series of gain utilities which let you control the volume of one or several audio tracks simultaneously, in real time.

MacOSUniversal BinaryWindows Vista or newerWindows x64 (64-bit)VSTVST3AAX64-bit AAXAudio Unit
Also in Bundle: Free Pack

The interest of these plug-ins resides in their particular features:

First, they include advanced automation MIDI control capabilities (all response curves can be fully customized). Used together with one of our analysis tools or a MIDI controller, these plug-ins let you remotely control and automate the gain of each channel of the audio signal, wherever they reside in the signal path.

Another interesting and exclusive feature is the ability to link several instances of the same plug-in: thanks to our unique data sharing technology, you can control the gain of several tracks at the same time with a single slider.

The package provides a single channel (mono or stereo) as well as a dual channel version with mid/side capabilities for independent control of the left and right or mid and side channels. It can be very useful for stereo widening/narrowing your stereo tracks.

Note: Additional information about stereo widening with mid/side processing can be found in our M/S processing paper.

Main Features

  • Single or dual channels gain plug-ins.
  • Stereo or mid-side processing.
  • Multiple instances linking capability: link several instances of the same plugin and control several plugins from a single user interface.
  • Relative, absolute or reverse link.

Blue Cat Audio Standards:

  • Available in most plug-in formats for Mac and Windows.
  • Full MIDI control and automation support, MIDI Learn.
  • No CPU load on idle: processing shuts down when fed with silence (optimal CPU usage).
  • Customizable user interface with transparency & zoom.
  • Smooth Bypass: noiseless plug-in activation / deactivation.
  • Undo/Redo.
  • Full featured integrated presets manager.
  • Copy/paste the state of the plug-in between instances.
  • Any sample rate supported.
User's GuideOn The BlogTutorialsNewsletter

Blue Cat's Gain Suite - Simple Mono, Stereo and Mid-Side MIDI Controllable Gain Plug-ins (VST, AU, VST3, AAX) (Freeware) Blue Cat's Gain Suite - Simple Mono, Stereo and Mid-Side MIDI Controllable Gain Plug-ins (VST, AU, VST3, AAX) (Freeware) Blue Cat's Gain Suite - Simple Mono, Stereo and Mid-Side MIDI Controllable Gain Plug-ins (VST, AU, VST3, AAX) (Freeware)

User Comments & Reviews

The Blue Cat Gain Suite is another staple I use heavily simple gain control and M/S level manipulation. This group of plugins provide very basic functions, but have the same level of precise control and configurability that is a hallmark of other Blue Cat Audio plugins. I literally do not think of any other plugins when these particular jobs need fixing. Simplicity can be quite powerful at times. - Max Debutante

To add your own comment about this product, please contact us.

Downloads

MacOS

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System Requirements

MacOS

  • An Intel or Apple Silicon processor.
  • Mac OS 10.9 or newer.
  • Any VST / Audio Unit / AAX compatible application (64-bit) .

Windows

  • An SSE2-enabled processor (Pentium 4 or newer).
  • Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10.
  • Any VST / AAX compatible host software (32 or 64 bit).

For more information about supported platforms, see our Knowledge Base.

Versions History

V3.45 (2024/02/15)

  • Fixed GUI performance issues on MacOS 14 (Codename Sonoma).

V3.44 (2022/12/12)

  • Added Apple Silicon support for AAX Plug-in Format.

V3.43 (2022/09/06)

  • Fixed gain parameter text display not updated when moving the knob (introduced in previous update).

V3.42 (2022/09/02)

  • Added an option in global & preset input settings to send MIDI events when MIDI-enabled parameters are modified in the plug-in (to update control surfaces accordingly).
  • Improved undo management and automation when using the mouse wheel to move knobs.
  • VST: improved parameter value display in some host applications.
  • Mac: installers and plug-ins have been notarized to avoid security warnings on Mac OS Catalina and newer.
  • Mac: fixed user interface display issues on early versions of MacOS 10.9.
  • VST3: fixed some parameter update issues in some hosts.

V3.41 (2022/02/10)

  • Fixed VST3 parameters update issues in some hosts (Cubase 11, Studio One).
  • Fixed VST & VST3 automation not recording properly in some hosts (Cubase 11, Ableton Live).

V3.4 (2022/01/03)

  • Native Apple Silicon (M1 processor) support.
  • Dropped 32-bit support on Mac.
  • Now requires MacOS 10.9 and newer.
  • Added MIDI control support (MIDI CC messages) for Next and Previous Preset commands, with MIDI learn.
  • Improved MIDI & automation control settings with lock, reset and "save as global setting" capabilities.
  • Unicode support.
  • Reduced the number of threads used by the plug-in.
  • Reduced memory footprint.
  • VST3: fixed random crash in Ableton Live 11 upon load.
  • VST3: fixed parameters update issues in Studio One when bouncing tracks.

V3.32 (2020/12/15)

  • Arrow keys can now be used to navigate presets.
  • Improved smooth plug-in bypass (faster and smoother transition).
  • New high resolution graphics for knobs.
  • Reduced disk footprint.
  • Reduced memory footprint.
  • Misc DSP performance enhancements.
  • Windows: improved GUI loading performance.
  • Mac Audio Unit: fixed plug-in listing in some host applications (Plogue Bidule).
  • Mac: fixed GUI performance issues on native P3 displays and improved performance on other displays.
  • Mac: fixed mouse wheel that required large movements to change parameter values.
  • Mac: fixed mouse cursor flickering issues.
  • Mac: fixed Esc key not closing fine edit parameter dialog.

V3.31 (2019/12/20)

  • MIDI Program Change preference is now saved into session instead of global preferences, so each instance can now use different MIDI channels. It is also saved in the user default preset.
  • VST3: added program change support for VST3 plug-in format.
  • Mac: much faster GUI rendering on recent Mac OS systems.
  • Mac: fixed user interface not properly shown on retina displays in some applications built with the 10.14 Mac OS SDK (Cubase 10.5 for example).
  • Mac: fixed settings panel rendering issues in dark mode on Mac OS Mojave and newer.
  • VST: the user interface is now properly resized in Cubase on Windows when loading skins.
  • Dropped support for legacy RTAS plug-in format.

V3.3 (2018/12/13)

  • Refreshed GUI design, with improved usability and improved touchscreen support.
  • The GUI can now be zoomed from 70% to 200%.
  • Added Retina displays support on Mac (text and graphs using high resolution).
  • Last loaded preset is now remembered in session and displayed in the presets menu.
  • Plug-in state can now be reverted to the last loaded preset.
  • New installer on Mac.
  • Fixed minor compatibility issues with Mac OS High Sierra and Mojave.
  • Dropped support for Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.6 and earlier.
  • Dropped support for legacy DirectX plug-in format.
  • Fully compatible with previous versions of the plug-in (except for VST3 on Mac, as explained below).

Warning: because of a bug of the initial VST3 release, this new version may not work with existing sessions that used the VST3 format. See this blog post for more details and how to fix it.

V3.2 (2016/03/03)

  • VST3 plug-in format support.
  • Custom skins can be selected directly from the main menu.
  • Presets can now be selected using MIDI Program change and bank select messages (optional).
  • Last loaded preset can now be saved directly from the presets menu without having to select the file.
  • Automation and GUI now use the same precision to display gain parameters.

V3.1 (2014/01/09)

New Features:
  • Copy/paste the plug-in's current state from the presets menu using the system clipboard.
Improvements:
  • Reduced the plug-in's memory usage.
  • Windows VST Installer now remembers where the plug-in was initially installed to simplify upgrades.
  • (Mac) plug-in version number is now available when using "Get Info" in the Finder.
  • (Mac) Improved display of Audio Unit parameters in most host applications.
Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed window frame not showing with Cubase 7.5 (32-bit) on Mac.
  • (Mac) About window does not show up first in the corner of the screen anymore.
  • (Win) Alt-Click on a control now resets the value to default in Pro Tools, as expected.
  • Fixed version number reported to host application for VST and Audio Unit versions.

V3.02 (2013/06/21)

New Features:
  • 64-bit AAX support for Pro Tools 11.
  • Audio Suite support for offline processing in Pro Tools (AAX).
Improvements:
  • The windows installer now automatically detects the most appropriate VST install path.
Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed AAX version not showing up in Pro Tools 10.3.5 on Windows.
  • (RTAS) Fixed parameters control with EUCON control surfaces in Pro Tools.
  • Fixed user interface issues in Final Cut Pro X.
  • Fixed compare button issues in Pro Tools.
  • Mac-VST: Fixed window resize issues on Cubase and Nuendo (Mac).
  • Mac: Control MIDI settings dialog now brought back to front when already opened in the background.

V3.01 (2012/04/23)

Bug Fixes:
  • AAX/RTAS on Mac: Fixed audio engine freeze or error issue with Pro Tools on some Mac configurations.
  • AAX on Mac: Fixed compare button that did not work well when using factory presets or any preset created on Windows.
  • Performance improvement when running under high CPU load for other platforms.

V3.0 (2012/03/28)

New Features:
  • New user interface.
  • New integrated presets manager:
    • Load/save presets from the plug-in's user interface.
    • Organize presets with folders.
    • Customize the default preset.
    • Exchange presets easily.
  • Increased the number of groups (9 groups instead of 4).
  • Automation range and response curve can now be customized for each parameter.
  • Automation and MIDI settings (channel, MIDI learn etc.) are now accessible from the main user interface.
  • AAX plug-in format is now also supported on Windows.
Improvements:
  • Plug-in name has been shortened for a clearer display in mixer view for most host applications.
  • The plug-in now appears in the "Dynamics" category in Pro Tools.
  • Changed the default VST install path on Windows.
  • Improved default response curve for automation and MIDI control.
  • Added new presets.
  • Improved value display in fine edit window.
  • Improved user manual.
Optimizations and Performance Improvements:
  • Reduced VST plug-in loading time.
  • Improved parameters precision (now stored as 64-bit).
  • More compact presets format (uses less space and loads faster).
  • Smaller binaries on Mac (dropped PowerPC support).
Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed presets-related crashes in Cubase on Mac.
  • Fixed user interface display issues in Wavelab on Mac.
Note: this new version can be installed side by side with the previous version for backward compatibility reasons: installing this new version won't break your previous projects.

V2.43 (2011/02/10)

  • Fixed keyboard focus stealing issue in Pro Tools and several other host applications.
  • 64-bit Mac VST support.

V2.42 (2010/03/19)

This update only concerns the RTAS version of the plug-in:
  • RTAS plug-in bug fix: when using both the mono and stereo versions in the same session, the controls of the instances were linked together.

V2.41 (2010/02/25)

  • Space bar does not trigger plug-in buttons anymore (avoids conflict with transport control in most applications).
  • Fixed a crash on Mac and 64-bit Windows that randomly occured when opening and closing the user interface multiple times.
  • Win x64: fixed issue with some hosts not opening the plugins.
  • Win x64: fixed issue with settings window that was not displayed properly in some hosts.
  • Mac: fixed keyboard/mouse focus issues in some hosts.
  • Mac: fixed multiple screens issue.

V2.4 (2010/01/30)

  • RTAS plugin format support for Pro Tools (Mac and Windows).
  • 64-bit applications support for Windows DX and VST under Windows x64.
  • Mac AU 64-bit format support (compatible with 64-bit Logic 9.1 on Snow Leopard)
  • Mac: fixed user interface crashes in some hosts under Snow Leopard.
  • Fixed MIDI learn issues.

V2.3 (2009/11/20)

  • RTAS plugin format support (final beta stage - currently available with the Free Pack only)
  • Mac: fixed keyboard/mouse focus issues in some hosts.
  • Mac: fixed user interface crashes in some hosts, when used with particular display settings.
  • Mac-AU: fixed user interface resizing issue when changing skin in some hosts (Logic).
  • Mac-AU: fixed settings lost issue when doing offline rendering in some applications.

V2.2 (2009/09/21)

  • New Windows Installer (much faster install, improved upgrades).
  • Bug Fix (PC): Cubase freezes when loading a preset using a different skin while the plugin window is open.
  • Blue Cat's Skinning Language 1.6.1 support.

V2.11 (2009/05/05)

Mac VST update: fixed incompatibility issues with Cubase 5 on Mac.

V2.1 (2009/04/30)

Mac only: fixed the range of the gain parameter for automation and MIDI (was +-40dB instead of +-60 dB)

V2.1 (2009/02/03)

Mac Audio Unit Support.

V2.1 (2008/11/21)

  • First Mac version.
  • Improved parameters display in host application and settings window.

V2.0 (2007/08/14)

  • Link several instances of the same plugin and control several plugins from a single user interface.
  • Smooth Bypass: activate/deactivate the plugin with absolutely no noise.
  • Undo/Redo.
  • Load/Save presets in a host-independent format: you can now share presets between the directX and VST versions.
  • Streamlined user interface with new GUI design and Blue Cat's Skinnning language 1.3.3 support:
    • New toolbar to access main functionalities.
    • Integrated window opacity support (make the user interface of the plugin transparent).
    • New layout and new look and feel.

V1.1 (2006/11/29)

  • Now supports Blue Cat's Skinnning language 1.2.4.
  • CPU efficiency improvement: no processing occurs when input is silent.
  • Settings window now loads faster.
  • (Bug fix): in some plug-in adapters (such as FxPansion's VST to RTAS adapter) the GUI did not display properly when first loaded.
  • (Bug fix): when reinstalling the software in another directory, the "skin not found" message was displayed.

V1.0 (2006/11/06)

First version.

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