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Blue Cat's Protector
Blue Cat's Protector
"A brick wall for your master buss."
Price: 79€ or $79 (tax incl.)
Blue Cat's Protector - Brickwall Limiter Plug-in (VST, AU, AAX, VST3)

Blue Cat's Protector is a 0 dB 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 and its lookahead capabilities.

MacOSUniversal BinaryWindows Vista or newerWindows x64 (64-bit)VSTVST3AAX64-bit AAXAudio Unit

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.

Its large colorful peak and RMS meters and its custom dynamics histogram provide premium visual feedback and make it the perfect tool to monitor and control the dynamics on your master buss. You can also check in real time the loudness boost obtained with the limiter.

Beyond its powerful dynamics processing features, and like most of our plug-ins, Blue Cat's Protector also offers an original 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 the Blue Cat's Dynamics plugin. For multiband limiting and more, check out Blue Cat's MB-5 Dynamix

Main Features:

  • 0 dB brickwall peak limiter and waveshaper.
  • Optional lookahead.
  • Continuous control of the dynamics response from transparent limiting to colorful distortion.
  • Stereo link control.
  • DC Filter to get rid of DC offset.
  • Large zoomable peak and RMS audio levels and gain reduction meters for optimal monitoring.
  • Loudness boost monitoring.
  • Fully configurable dynamics response histogram.
  • Side chaining capability: a unique way to perform side chain compression and much more.
  • No latency (except with lookahead).

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.
  • Automation and MIDI output: record output parameters as automation curves or send MIDI CC messages to other plug-ins for powerful side chain effects.
  • 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.

Typical applications: master output protection, master buss limiting, loudness maximizing, peak overshoot monitoring, distortion, clipping.

User's GuideOn The BlogTutorialsNewsletter

Blue Cat's Protector - Fully configurable user interface with included premium metering. Blue Cat's Protector - Brickwall Limiter Plug-in (VST, AU, AAX, VST3) Blue Cat's Protector - Brickwall Limiter Plug-in (VST, AU, AAX, VST3) Blue Cat's Protector - Premium visual feedback included: in and out peak level meters, gain reduction meters with configurable history display.

User Comments & Reviews

Blue Cat's Protector was granted the Performance and Value awards by Computer Music Magazine

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]

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! - Jeremy Dahl, audiogazette

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! - Kevin Demuth, musician/composer

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. - Andrejs Eigus, selffish

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

Demo Limitations:

  • One single instance of the plug-in per session.
  • The effect is bypassed for 4 seconds every 45 seconds.

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

V2.31 (2022/12/12)

  • Added Apple Silicon support for AAX Plug-in Format.
  • Fixed VST3 version not always loading properly in Ableton Live 11.
  • Improved VST parameter value display in some host applications.
  • 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.
  • Fixed VST & VST3 automation not recording properly in some hosts for output parameters (Cubase 11, Ableton Live).
  • AAX: Fixed erratic mouse behavior in Pro Tools on Mac.
  • Mac: installers and plug-ins have been notarized to avoid security warnings on Mac OS Catalina and newer.

V2.3 (2021/10/19)

  • Single Installer on Mac (all plug-ins formats).
  • Apple Silicon (M1 processor) support.
  • Dropped 32-bit support on Mac.
  • Now requires MacOS 10.9 and newer.
  • Arrow keys can now be used to navigate presets.
  • 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.
  • Improved smooth plug-in bypass (faster and smoother transition).
  • Unicode support.
  • Windows: improved GUI loading performance.
  • VST3: fixed random crash in Ableton Live 11 upon load.
  • 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.

V2.21 (2020/07/07)

  • New high resolution graphics for knobs.
  • Reduced disk footprint.
  • 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.
  • VST3: added MIDI output support for VST3 plug-in format for MIDI side chain effects.
  • Fixed meters layout not properly saved and restored in sessions.
  • VST: the user interface is now properly resized in Cubase on Windows.
  • Mac: faster GUI rendering on recent Mac OS systems (up to 8x faster).
  • Mac: fixed user interface not properly shown on retina displays in some applications built with the 10.14 Mac OS SDK, such as Logic 10.5.
  • Mac: fixed settings panel rendering issues in dark mode on Mac OS Mojave and newer.
  • Mac: Fixed keyboard not responding in registration panel in some host applications (LUNA, Garage Band...).
  • Mac: Fixed demo version that could hang Logic when reloading projects using the plug-in.
  • Mac Audio Unit: fixed plug-in listing in some host applications (Plogue Bidule).

V2.2 (2019/04/25)

  • Brand new GUI design, with improved usability and touchscreen support.
  • The GUI can now be zoomed from 70% to 200%.
  • Lock the GUI state to prevent changes when loading presets.
  • New lookahead function to reduce distortion when used as a loudness booster.
  • Mono tracks support: the plug-in now also works in mono.
  • 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.
  • Now supports retina displays on Mac (text and graphs using high resolution).
  • Mac: new installer.
  • Mac: fixed minor compatibility issues with Mac OS High Sierra and Mojave.
  • Changed demo limitations: up to 5 instances allowed, bypass time changed to half a second, and bypass parameter is not affected anymore.
  • Dropped support for Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.6 and earlier.
  • Dropped support for legacy RTAS and DirectX plug-ins formats.
  • 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.

V2.1 (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.

V2.03 (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.

V2.02 (2013/06/21)

  • 64-bit AAX support for Pro Tools 11.
  • Audio Suite support for offline processing in Pro Tools (AAX).

V2.01 (2013/05/14)

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.
  • AAX: Fixed initialization issues on some Pro Tools HD configurations.
  • Mac-VST: Fixed window resize issues on Cubase and Nuendo (Mac).
  • Mac: Fixed user interface display issues when first opened in Ableton Live 9.
  • Mac: Control MIDI settings dialog now brought back to front when already opened in the background.
  • Mac: fixed copy/paste keyboard shortcuts for plug-in registration that did not work in some hosts.

V2.0 (2012/05/14)

New Features:
  • Brand new fully customizable user interface.
  • New gain reduction history display.
  • New input and output RMS meters.
  • The meters can now be zoomed to improve their precision.
  • New average loudness boost meter.
  • New DC Filter to kill DC offset.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Improved the algorithms for increased precision of the limiter.
  • Side chaining made easy: the MIDI and automation side chaining capabilities can now be fully configured within the main user interface.
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.
  • License is now shared between plug-ins type (register only once for all formats).
  • Added new presets.
  • Improved value display in fine edit window.
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.
  • Fixed MIDI output for 64-bit VST version.
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.

V1.21 (2011/02/10)

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

V1.2 (2010/04/13)

  • 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)
  • Space bar does not trigger plug-in buttons anymore (avoids conflict with transport control in most applications).
  • Demo version now displays a nag screen only once per session, and only when opening the user interface of the plug-in.
  • Fixed MIDI learn issues.
  • Mac: fixed user interface crashes in some hosts under Snow Leopard.
  • Mac: fixed keyboard/mouse focus issues in some hosts.
  • Mac: fixed multiple screens issue.
  • 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.
  • Mac AU: output parameters routing now works for more than one instance in Logic Pro's Environment.
  • Mac AU: fixed output parameters that could exceed defined range and not record properly as automation curves.

V1.11 (2009/05/05)

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

V1.1 (2009/01/26)

  • Mac Audio Unit and VST support.
  • PC DirectX and VST improvements:
    • New installer (much faster install, improved upgrades).
    • Automation output can now be disabled for hosts that do not propose automated parameters choice.
    • (Bug Fix): fixed MIDI learn issues.
    • (Bug Fix): window opacity is now properly reset when selecting factory presets.

V1.0 (2008/06/30)

First version.