Frederick Alonso has announced the release of Infinity, a freeware analog-style mastering compressor and tube saturation effect in 32-bit VST plugin format for Windows-based digital audio workstations.
This free plugin is based on a concept for a hardware device that has been patented in 2014. Apparently, the developer is planning to build a hardware version of this mastering compressor which was inspired by classic analog devices such as the Thermionic Culture and the API 2500 stereo compressor. The software version is currently available only as a 32-bit VST plugin for Windows, however, a Mac OS X version is expected to be released in the future. We don’t have any specific dates for that update, though.
Although it seems that the developer has put quite a lot of work into creating this freeware tool, I wasn’t really able to get much joy out of it during my initial test. The labels on the GUI are very small, so I’ll definitely be taking a closer look at the provided user manual before giving this plugin another go tomorrow. One thing that really put me off was the behavior of the knobs. They move incredibly slow as you drag them with your mouse, which is probably great for fine-tuning but also rather annoying if you want to quickly max out or minimize the value of a certain parameter.
UPDATE: The plugin has been updated in the meanwhile. The knobs move much quicker now (hold SHIFT for fine-tuning) and the GUI is much easier to read. I will test the plugin more thoroughly this evening, but it is already much better than the previous version. Great update!
Just to make it clear, this definitely doesn’t go to say that Infinity is a bad plugin. I’ve only tested it for a couple of minutes (if you can even call that a test) and I’ll take a closer look at it tomorrow. If you guys happen to give this plugin a try in the meanwhile, you’re more than welcome to post your impressions in the comments section below.
On the bright side, I really liked the sound of the tube saturation stage. It’s a very subtle effect, however, it’s certainly something that I could see myself using in the future. I’m really hoping that I’ll enjoy this plugin a whole lot more after I test it once again tomorrow!
To grab your free copy of Infinity, submit your email address in the form located on the right side of the product page linked below. The download pack includes the DLL file and the user manual in PDF format. You can also donate some money if you want to support the developer and his future work.
Download
Infinity is available for free download via Stab Recordings (3.68 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit VST plugin format for Windows).
Last Updated on April 12, 2020 by Tomislav Zlatic.
