Description
Blue Cat's Protector is a 0dB stereo brickwall limiter with adjustable dynamics response. It will typically find its place on the master bus of your DAW to protect your audio output from overshoot, limit the general volume and improve the perceived loudness, thanks to a very transparent frequency response.
Despite its very simple set of controls, it offers a wide range of sounds and it is also suitable as a track limiter for more creative effects such as distortion, pumping or heavy limiting.
Beyond its powerful dynamics processing features, and like most of our plugins, Blue Cat's Protector also offers a powerful side chain capability thanks to its MIDI CC output. This unique technique not only lets you do side chain limiting but also parameters modulation: control any parameter of any plugin to create powerful side chain effects in real time.
If you are looking for a complete dynamics processing solution you might be interested in looking at Blue Cat's Dynamics plugin.
Typical applications: master limiting, loudness maximizing, distortion, clipping.
Main Features
- 0 dB brickwall peak limiter and waveshaper.
- Continuous control of the dynamics response from transparent limiting to colorful distortion.
- Stereo link control.
- Large audio levels and gain reduction meters for optimal monitoring.
- Side chaining capability: a unique way to perform side chain compression and much more.
- Plugin window transparency management.
- No latency.
- Supported platforms: Mac-AU, Mac-VST, Windows-DX, Windows-VST.
- Native DSP code for optimal performance.
- Skinnable user interface.
- Smooth Update: silent (zipper-free) parameters update.
- Full automation support (all parameters can be automated, with smooth and continuous update)
- No CPU load on idle: when the plugin is fed with silence, the processing smoothly shuts down, to optimize the CPU usage of your Digital Audio Workstation.
- Real time MIDI control with advanced settings (MIDI channel and CC numbers, with complete response curve control) and MIDI learn.
- Automation and MIDI output: record output parameters as automation curves or send MIDI CC messages to other plugins for powerful side chain effects.
- Smooth Bypass: activate/deactivate the plugin with absolutely no noise.
- Undo/Redo.
- Import/Export presets in a host independent format.
- Any sample rate supported.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.
You can find more skins for this product here.
User Comments & Reviews
After trying Protector, I dare say this is one of the most transparent limiters I've tried to date! This limiter is a perfect addition to the Blue Cat Audio lineup - great work!
-I tried out the demo and after just a few minutes I went back and bought it!
The Blue Cat Audio stuff is always quality, and the prices are more than reasonable - especially with the discount for being a previous customer!
-Bought it. Very nice! Does the job perfectly! It's very transparent, even at lower threshold settings. And the lovely level meter is the big bonus! Great plug! I used it to raise the RMS volume of a couple of my field recordings in OS X recently.
-To add your own comment about this product, please contact us.
System Requirements
PC
- Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7.
- Any DirectX / VST compatible host software .
Mac
- An Intel or PowerPC processor.
- Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) or Snow Leopard (10.6).
- Any VST / Audio Unit compatible application.
For more information about supported platforms, see our FAQ.
Demo Limitations
- One single instance of the plug-in per session.
- The effect is bypassed for 4 seconds every 45 seconds.
Used on the master bus, it catches loud incidental peaks and transparently softens them, preventing nasty digital clipping without the need to turn the volume of your entire project down.[...] But Protector has many other tricks up its sleeve [...]. As a mix effect, Protector has just as many creative uses as it does purely practical ones [...], offering anything from brickwall-style peak limiting to violent waveshaping when used with very fast times. [...]The Stereo Link control facilitates both linked and unlinked operation, as well as any point in between.[...] The plug-in doesn't introduce latency, and requires an insignificant amount of processor power, so stacking multiple instances is no problem.
All of which means that it's a thumbs up from us.
"Verdict: More than a mere limiter, Protector has quite a range of applications. What's more, it sounds great and is very keenly-priced." - 9/10 rating and performance and value awards granted by Computer Music Magazine (CM), October 2008
- www.computermusic.co.uk - [read review on musicradar]