Psycho Circuitry has just released another freebie in the form of a flexible optical compressor called miniOPT.
The release follows some other great freebies by the same developer, namely the Micro Xformer, Mini FET, and BigBadTube. We covered each one covered in a separate article on our blog.
The new miniOPT plugin follows a similar aesthetic compared to the other plugins of the ‘MINI series’ in terms of feature set and GUI design.
You will find the Input and Output knobs, the former in a selectable range between -18 and +18 dB, while the latest within the range of -24 and +24 dB.
Unfortunately, there’s no auto gain or linking feature available.
Anyway, a cool option is to choose between 3 opto action modes: Grab, Edge, or Smooth.
Typically, an optical compressor is known for its smooth behaviour particularly tailored to instruments that don’t have a prominent transient like strings or vocals.
This plugin expands on the traditional use cases of a common optical compressor.
Apart from the usual suspect of traditional controls like Threshold, Ratio, Attack, and Release, miniOPT has plenty more to offer.
It also brings a transformer stage, to colorize your audio signals, and a harmonics multiplier mode to decide the order and amount of harmonic saturation you may want to apply.
I love it when digital compressors blend some kind of analog-emulated saturation since they can add that sought-after ‘mojo’ we all love to our sounds.
Be sure to check out our own sets of FREE plugins like BPB Dirty LA for an added creative option to include in your arsenal.
miniOPT offers a much-appreciated oversampling mode up to 16x, which is always desirable for maximum clarity and to avoid potential aliasing issues.
The GUI is fully resizable, and you can choose between Stereo and Mono as the plugin’s operation mode.
A handy Mix knob lets you blend the desired amount of processing in parallel, while the meter on the right helps visualize the gain reduction applied.
Finally, you can switch between Cmp (Compression) and Lmt (Limiter) modes if you are after a more aggressive plugin application.
The plugin supports Windows 10/11(x64) & MacOS BigSur+, and the download is hosted on Google Drive after clicking on Download on the developer’s page.
Check out the deal: miniOPT (FREE) / miniOPT+ (50% off – $25)
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2 Comments
ArtyVapes
onCheers for the heads up. I like the free compressors that Psycho Circuitry has offered in the past. Hopefully this is a goody too.
Animus
onI find that optical compressors are often great for transient-laden material, due to the slow attack letting the transients through. Mileage may vary.