Woodstock Audio – Open Compressor v1.0.2 for WiN

Open Compressor is a universal compressor that will show you what’s going on under the hood. Open Compressor combines the core components of all your favorite compressors, plus clipping, limiting, automatic threshold detection, and much more.

But here’s the catch: by showing you exactly what’s going on under the hood at every stage, we help you gain a deeper understanding of the technical processes and provide the information you need to make better music decisions.

Key Features

• Flexible compressor settings – Threshold, ratio (1:1 to 24:1), attack (20 microseconds to 250 milliseconds), release (25 milliseconds to 5 seconds), cutoff (0 to 18 dB).
  
• Auto Gain – Automatically adjusts volume during the compression stage to simplify A/Bing.
  
• Automatic Output Gain – Compensates for volume changes caused by saturation and other additional processors.
  
• Normal/Optical Modes – In Normal mode, the attack and release curves are linear. In Optical mode, the attack time is adjustable, and the release curve consists of two stages (50% for 1 second, then a slower roll-off for the remaining 50%).
  
• Detector High/Low Pass Filter – Apply a high or low pass filter to the detector/sidechain circuit to change what the compressor hears.
  
• Predictive Control – Anticipates signal peaks so you can navigate levels without changing tone. Step control with 0ms, 2ms, 5ms, and 10ms settings.
  
• Closed/Open View – Compact “closed” view (no visualizers, controls only) and expanded “open” view (all controls and visualizers).
  
• Saturator – separate handles for even and odd disks with a bypass switch.
  
• Limit – A single-knob limiter with versatile settings that allow for aggressive limiting while maintaining a natural sound. The knob adjusts the threshold. The limiter is installed after clipping and before compression in the signal chain. A dedicated bypass switch is included.
  
• Oversampling (Low and High) – In Low mode, oversampling is applied by a factor of 2 to the odd/even saturation, but not to the compressor. In High mode, oversampling is applied to both saturation and compressor by a factor of 4 (important for fast attack times).
  
• Low Level Control – Make low level information quieter or louder by turning left to expand downwards or right to compress upwards.
  
• EQ Visualizer – The EQ curve shows the processing performed by the tone control. The spectrum analyzer displays the output signal.
  
• Knee Visualizer – Displays the compressor knee shape and range, as well as the gain reduction status on the curve.
  
• External Sidechain – connects the compressor to an external signal. HPF, LPF, and Lookahead will now be applied to the external audio signal in the sidechain.
  L/R, Mid/Side, Link/Unlink modes allow you to process sound in various stereo configurations.
  
• Analog Compressor Preset Library – Recreate a variety of analog compressors using the extensive capabilities of the built-in plugin.
  
• GPU Graphics – The Signal Visualizer and Spectrum Analyzer use the GPU to improve performance.
  
• Entering Values – Double-click to enter values.
  
• Dynamic window resizing – Simply drag the cursor to the bottom right corner to resize the plugin.
  
• Automatic Threshold Detection – Source-dependent threshold adjustment (automatic) ensures stable gain reduction regardless of the input signal level.
  
• Automatic release – The release time is intelligently adjusted depending on the source material and ranges from 250 ms to 8 s. The further the gain is reduced, the longer the release takes.
  
• Drying/Humidification Control – Control the drying and humidification signal levels for parallel processing.
  
• RMS/Peak Modes – Change the compressor’s detection pattern from Peak to RMS. Multiple RMS windows are available (5ms, 10ms, 25ms, 50ms, 100ms).
  
• F-FWD/F-BACK modes – In feedforward mode, the detector is positioned before the gain reduction stage, as in most digital compressors. In feedback mode, the detector is positioned after the gain reduction stage, as in most analog compressors.
  
• Delta listen – Hear exactly what the plugin is doing by listening to the delta (difference) between the dry and processed signal.
  
• Full-screen Waveform mode – zoom in to see the Waveform in higher resolution and fine-tune parameters. Key controls are still available in the smaller top panel (compressor, high-pass/low-pass filter, clipping, and limit controls).
  
• Clip – A soft, single-knob clipper. The dial adjusts the threshold. The clipper is located before limiters and compressors in the signal chain. A dedicated switch allows bypass.
  
• Clipping/Limiting Detection Button – Enable this to begin listening to the audio and detect the loudest transients. The clipping threshold is then set to 1 dB below the loudest peak, and the limiting threshold is set to 2 dB below the loudest peak. From here, you can adjust the settings manually.
  
• Tone Control – Applies low and high shelving to darken or brighten the signal (turn left to darken, right to brighten).
  
• Waveform Visualizer – Wet/Dry waveform, gain reduction, and threshold lines for compressor, clipper, and limiter. Pause function for freezing the waveform. Zoom in/out.
  
• Harmonic Saturation Visualizer – Odd/Even Harmonic Combinations and Overtones. See which harmonic multiples/orders are used.
  
• Oscilloscope – shows how the plugin changes the waveform when clipping and saturation are added.
  
• Input/Output Level Meter – Switch the main level meter from GR (gain reduction) to input or output
  
• Built-in preset manager – browse included presets and save your own presets in the plugin.
  
• Versatile Bypass Controls – Built-in bypass for the entire plugin, plus separate bypass controls for the Clipper, Limiter, Saturation, and Low Level knobs, allowing you to easily switch between modes within the plugin.
  
• Value Windows – The exact values of each dial are displayed when you hover over it.
  
• Low CPU load – Optimized for efficient CPU usage, allowing for running large numbers of instances. CPU load is lower than that of similar compressors on the market, even with default settings and low oversampling mode enabled.