Product Reviews by KVR Members

Gain staging is a bit strange at first, but this thing really smacks. Sounds tight!
Free compressor or not, it's one of my go-to dynamics and tone tools now.
Even when the release knob was stuck it sounded great.
Thank you very much AdHd Audio Tools.

"Two thumbs UP!" - Fiskel and Egbert.

Gater-Pro is an incredibly useful tool. It doesn't matter if you don't make tarnce music, this step-gate can be used for all sorts of purposes. By using a few clever step-ties, and the mix and envelope controls, it is possible to put instruments in their place. De-mud and add some groove and space to a reverb-washed or frequency-challenged instrument. The swing control also makes it easy to slot Gater-Pro into any track.

I am personally finding new uses for Gater-Pro each time I use it. Think outside the box...

Make a gated sequence that is chopped and swung (swinged :P) to the extreme and fits with the groove of the track, now back it off with the dry/wet mix control.
Try this on reverb busses even, with Gater-Pro on a reverb you can create some amazing pulses that add to the movement of the track. You don't need to have the gate at 100% wet, but a hint of Gater-Pro on an effect return can provide some lift to the mix. My theory is, when you leave 'holes' in reverb tails, they are filled with the natural reverb of the club or venue you are playing at. They sort of mesh and can create an amazing reverb that sits well and isn't so muddy.

Sometimes I even use Gater-Pro in a bit of a transient designer style, by creating gates which maybe cut off something like a long snare, then using the decay envelope and perhaps mix control, it's possible to add something to the groove, SUBTRACTIVELY!! (if that's a word :P).

Gater-Pro earns a 10 out of 10 from me, with this version 2 release. It's incredibly useful, stable, and also very light on the CPU. Not to mention very affordable! Check it out! and HAVE FUN!.

Uranium is not your everyday compression plugin. While there ARE 4 main controls on Uranium, they are not the usual ‘Attack, Decay, Ratio, Threshold’ controls you would be familiar with on most other compressors. The GUI is quite a simple affair, except for the real-time waveform display situated in the centre of the plug, which looks a bit ominous with its glowing radioactive symbol. From the left, the four main knobs are COMPRESS, RECOVERY, GATE and GAIN, I'll run through these first...

Starting from the default state, with a standard rock drum beat (for example) the first thing I notice about tweaking the COMPRESS knob is that it very smoothly evolves into an overdriven sound. The gain reduction levels are perfectly accounted for automatically and although the signal is very in your face, the sound remains very usable. Below the COMPRESS knob is an option for the separate MID/SIDE processing of the signal. I will keep the COMPRESS value at maximum, and on the Normal setting and have a look at the what the next control can do for me...

So, next to the COMPRESS parameter is the RECOVERY control. This is essentially a decay or ‘release’ knob really, and in this example with the COMPRESS knob on Max, I can use the RECOVERY control to lengthen the compression envelope by turning it anti-clockwise from its default 12 o’clock position, or shorten it to the point of sounding like a quieter version of the dry signal by turning it clockwise. With COMPRESS at Max and RECOVERY all the way to the left, I can get a drum sound (for example) which is big-beat to the extreme. The natural reverb tails of a drum room can be ‘stretched out’ to fill the size of a warehouse. Below the RECOVERY knob is a drop down menu which features three different algorithm variations, SMOOTH (default), WARM and PUNCH. The WARM setting adds a nice subtle amount of “I don’t know what”, and the PUNCH setting can add some extreme attack transients to your waveforms (be warned). I will leave the RECOVERY control at 12 o’clock, with my sprinkling of warmth and take a look at the next control...

Ok, the GATE. Pretty much what it says on the tin. If I now drag the GATE knob to the 12 o’clock position, I get very short gated bursts of kick hat and snare. If I continue to drag it all the way to the extreme clockwise position I have the occasional brief snare hit just managing to wink at me through the top (or bottom?) of the envelope. Just below the GATE control, there is a drop down menu which contains a list of different speeds. With the GATE control at extreme settings, I can now relax the envelope a bit to find my desired ‘threshold’ by selecting one of these different gate speeds, and nudging the GATE control slightly. Using Uranium as a gate effect, it is possible to shape my audio with some tight, unique and ‘musical’ envelopes (for lack of a better word). It’s also worth mentioning that only the compressed signal is being gated in this algorithm, so the GATE functions are strongly influenced by the amount of compression used.

The last of the main controls is the GAIN knob, which is fairly self explanatory I would assume. This control is used to adjust your make-up levels (which is not so often surprisingly, due to the intelligent algorithm utilised in Uranium’s coding. Below the GAIN control is another drop-down list featuring 2 different saturation algorithms, again, both very usable and er... musical :p

Also on the GUI are the STEREO LINK and MIX faders. STEREO LINK is a fader to combine the processing of the left and right channels, and MIX is a WET/DRY control, very handy for NY style compression... Also worth mentioning is the ability to monitor the waveform display in real time and pause it to get a better look at the way the plugin is affecting the waveform.

In the year or so I’ve been using Uranium, I’ve enjoyed it and used it more and more. I realise that most people use compression purely to ‘tame’ their audio levels, but Uranium is a compressor you can use as an effect! As a modern gate effect or a kind of transient designer, or to add groove to your tracks. It also adds some nice dirt. Uranium is a handy and modern sounding audio sculpting tool, it is fast and easy to use, and very stable. I am a quite surprised that Uranium remains such a hidden gem. It's not a compressor for all uses, but it is quite unique in what it does. I really urge you to check it out.

I innitially gave it a 10 out of 10, but I think I should save that for when (or if) the 64bit and Mac versions are released ;)