GANUE Audio has released Rivet, a free FET compressor plugin for Windows and macOS.
Rivet is an input-driven compressor, so there is no threshold control. You drive the signal into the compressor with Input and compensate with Output, and the compression becomes stronger as the input level rises.
Honestly, I don’t really need any more compressors in my life. I have tested well over 100 compressors, and probably a lot more than that, over the years on BPB.
I have a few favorites, most of them free, including TDR Molotok from Tokyo Dawn Records and DC1A from Klanghelm, so I tend to stick to those. But if you’re building your music production setup from scratch or if you’re a fan of working with different compressors, Rivet is definitely worth a look.
Rivet is clearly inspired by the classic 1176-style FET compressor lineage, with five revision-style voicings rather than one fixed model.
The main feature, of course, is the Revision selector. Rivet has five selectable voicings, each inspired by a different revision of the classic 1176-style FET compressor family. The developer says the hardware was measured and rebuilt from scratch using original code through the Assay DSP Engine.
The five revisions are A, AE, LN, F, and H. They change the ratios, knees, harmonic character, and detector behavior, with A being the gritty early option, AE the most colored, LN warmer and smoother, F more modern and tight, and H the cleaner default voice.
Rivet uses fixed ratios, including the classic all-buttons-in mode (similar to what we have in the occasionally free Pulsar Audio Smasher plugin), and the attack and release controls use the fast reversed behavior associated with this type of compressor.
There is also a Drive stage for additional harmonic color, a GR Limit control that can go all the way to Amp mode for color without gain reduction, and a parallel Mix control.
I like the interface. It’s clean and nicely organized, and it is obvious that the developer put effort into making the control layout logical. The gain reduction meter is always useful on a compressor, and Rivet also shows input/output metering, a compression curve, gain reduction history, and sidechain EQ displays.
The deeper feature set includes a sidechain high-pass filter, a four-band detector EQ with adjustable Q, internal or external sidechain input, detector solo, look-ahead and look-behind detection timing, up to 8x oversampling, and linked stereo, dual mono, or M/S operation. You also get 31 factory presets covering vocals, drums, bass, guitar, bus, master, effects, and sidechain duties.
Rivet is free, with pay-what-you-want downloads starting at zero via Gumroad. There is no iLok and no online activation.
Rivet v1.0.0 is available as a 64-bit VST3 plugin for Windows 10 or later, and as VST3 and AU for macOS 11.0 or later. The macOS version is Universal, with support for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Download: Rivet (FREE)
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Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
