NoizLabs has released Beheader, a free-for-a-limited-time clipper and saturation plugin for macOS and Windows.
Beheader is a surgical clipper with a simple interface. Like any clipper, instead of pulling the whole signal down to avoid a ceiling, it clips only the peaks that exceed it, so you can control loud transients while keeping more of the body and energy intact.
I said recently in the article about Golden DSP’s Shatter Clip that clippers are one of the most crowded plugin categories right now. We have already covered several free clippers this year, and I recently published a roundup of the best free clipper plugins.
So, yes, any new clipper has plenty of competition. That said, Beheader is good and definitely worth a look if you don’t already have a go-to clipper in your arsenal. Also, its name gave me a full-on “Beheaded” by The Offspring earworm, so thanks for that, NoizLabs!
The main control here is Slope, which lets you move between softer saturation and hard clipping. Lower settings round the waveform more gently for an analog-style saturation effect, while higher settings catch peaks more firmly for a more surgical clipping sound.
Beheader also has Input and Output controls, a real-time saturation lamp, peak gain reduction readout, Stereo Link, undo/redo, A/B comparison, preset management, and direct value entry (always useful for precise control).
Stereo Link keeps both channels clipped together for a more stable stereo image, while turning it off lets the left and right channels react independently for a wider or more aggressive result.
The plugin can oversample the clipping stage at 2x, 4x, or 8x to reduce aliasing. That is especially useful when pushing a clipper hard, because it helps the highs stay cleaner and avoids some of the brittle edge you can get from heavy clipping.
I tested it on a mix and a drum bus. This one stays very clean and can be pushed hard. It can work for shaving 1-2 dB from vocal peaks before compression, catching rogue drum bus transients, adding density on a mix bus, or using the saturation curve more deliberately as a tone-shaping tool.
Beheader is normally priced at $12.99, but the current intro price reduces the checkout total to $0. To get it, click the Buy button, complete the free checkout with your email, then use the email link to create your NoizLabs user account. The download and license appear in your user area, and the license can be used on up to three devices.
The installer download is around 7 MB. Beheader is available in VST3 and AU formats for macOS 10.13 or higher, with Intel and Apple Silicon support. The Windows version is available in VST3 format for Windows 10 and 11.
Download: Beheader (FREE)
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Last Updated on July 10, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
