Transparent Optical Compressor

OptoRED

The classic American optical attenuator — smooth, invisible gain riding that never squashes the life out.

VST3AUAAXmacOSWindows
single license

Full-version trial for 15 days · Free updates · Online activation

OptoRED plugin window — VU meter, Compress knob, Lo Cut, Wet/Dry and sidechain section

See it in action

Walkthrough & demos

Overview & walkthrough

Invisible gain riding

Optical compression won because you can't hear it working — only that the vocal suddenly sits.

OptoRED models the classic American optical unit: smooth, musical, artifact-free gain riding for vocals, bass, drums and busses.

A lo-cut filter and sidechain control what triggers the compression; autogain and wet/dry mix keep the workflow honest and parallel-ready.

Sunlit wooden room with a microphone stand

What's inside

Smooth. Musical.
Invisible.

OptoRED optical attenuator — VU meter, Comp/Limit switch and Compress knob

Optical attenuator

The signature opto curve — fast enough to catch, slow enough to breathe. Low ratios with autogain make it a natural bus glue.

OptoAutogain
OptoRED sidechain section — Off/On, Gain, Freq and Q with auto make-up gain

Sidechain & lo-cut

Keep low end from triggering the detector for clean, punchy drum compression, and blend parallel with the wet/dry mix.

SCLo-cutMix

Specifications

The fine print

TypeOptical compressor
ExtrasSidechain · lo-cut · wet/dry mix
FormatsVST3, AU, AAX — 64-bit
macOS / WindowsApple Silicon & Intel · Windows 10+
WorkflowAutogain · A/B compare
ProcessingUp to 8× oversampling
LicenseOnline activation required
Trial15-day full version, no feature limits

Try before you buy

The demo is the full plugin for 15 days — decide with your ears.

Tracking-ready

Low latency for real-time monitoring.

Instant delivery

License and installers arrive by email the moment checkout completes.

Set it. Forget it. Sit the vocal.