U-He has released a free public beta version of the forthcoming Presswerk compressor effect for Windows and Mac OS X based host applications. The current public beta is fully functional and it expires on December 26th.
Although BPB is a blog about freeware, I sometimes feature free public betas such as this one because they offer a unique possibility to use commercial software for free (even if only for a limited time). U-He is a company which is particularly known for being extremely generous with their public beta versions. The beta of their Bazille modular synthesizer was free for ages and I also remember the free beta version of DIVA which was pretty awesome (I emailed their support team to ask if it’s OK to sample a bunch of sounds from the public beta version of DIVA and they said go for it).
See also: Best Free Compressor Effects For Windows & Mac!
Presswerk is described as a compressor “construction kit”. It features a set of compressor building blocks which allow the user to mix and match different components in order to create different types of compressors. The plugin also offers three different pre-made combinations (called views) which emulate three different classic compressor types. These pre-made views (optical leveling amplifier, FET compressor and tube limiter) can be fully re-created in normal mode.
Looking at the list of features, it becomes obvious that Presswerk really is a workhorse compressor which is suitable for almost any imaginable mixing (or even mastering) situation imaginable. You can keep it clean, or engage the “Analog” mode for emulating the circuitry of outboard gear. It can operate in feed-forward and feed-back modes. It features sidechaining, pre and post saturation, m/s processing, and tons of other stuff which you can mix and match to build your dream compressor.
You can download the public beta for free in the KVR forum thread linked below. The introductory price will be $89 and the regular price will be $129. The public beta will remain active until late December. This means that you have more than two months to use this amazing compressor for FREE!
Download
Presswerk public beta is available for free download via KVR Audio (25 MB download size, ZIP archive, VST/AU plugin format for Windows and Mac OS X).
3 Comments
I really like the idea of custom-tailoring a compressor using components. Thanks for the heads up!