Reflex Acoustics releases free AutomaticLite compressor with automatic gain-staging

Reflex Acoustics has released AutomaticLite, a free mid-side compressor that rides its own threshold and make-up gain settings in order to produce a consistent compression sound across an entire track, including quiet parts and loud.

From the company:

Our goal with this device was to free up time for music producers and engineers by automating the part of the compression workflow where the user fine-tunes the threshold and make-up gain controls before A/B testing. These tasks can be tedious, especially in a mid-side configuration where there can be twice as many dials to calibrate. With AutomaticLite, we instead just provide a "Compression" knob which tells the device how boldly to push the mid and side thresholds. It's a bit like just dialing in how many decibels of compression you want.

Features:

• Automatic compression threshold ("Compression" knob controls how far the threshold rides below the peaks in the signal).
• Adjustable compression ratio (1–4x) and attack/release times.
• Simple automatic gate with adjustable range up to 6dB.
• Parallel processing via gain-matched dry/wet mix control.
• Automatic make-up gain to match perceived loudness.
• Mid-side processing (100% unlinked).

The device has zero latency, and is available now in VST3 format for PC, and VST3 & AU formats for Mac, with AAX support coming soon.