Minimal
Fuse aims to make multiband compression easy. But, Si Truss asks, does that come at the cost of versatility?
CONTACT WHO: Minimal Audio WEB: minimal.audio
KEY FEATURES I/O: 6-band dual compressor.
Formats: PC/Mac AU, VST, VST3, and AAX
Multiband compression is nothing particularly new, but with its latest plugin Fuse, developer Minimal Audio aims to put a fresh and user-friendly spin on the process. Fuse is a six band compressor. Each band is dual function, capable of both downward compression – squashing down peaks above a threshold level – and upwards compression, where volume is boosted below a set threshold. The primary controls for each of these bands can be adjusted by dragging various nodes of lines around a visually responsive frequency grid.
Fuse can operate in stereo and mid/side modes. There’s no direct control over the different channels in these modes; you can’t, for example, apply completely different compression settings to the mid and side signals. The plugin does feature a Stereo Link control, however, which will adjust the balance between the two channels, and can shift the emphasis of the compression in order to increase stereo width.
Fuse is designed specifically for simple operation, and control of the overall effect is adjusted using a bank of eight rotaries below the main display. These control Attack and Release, downward Threshold and Ratio, upward Threshold and Ratio, frequency Tilt and Make-up gain. These controls are all universal, and apply to each band equally – i.e. lowering the downward Threshold control will decrease the threshold level for all bands simultaneously. Threshold and Ratio settings for each band can be adjusted individually using the nodes on the graphical display above, though.
Attack and Release are only set universally, but Fuse also has an Adaptive Time function. This can be engaged in both positive and negative directions and affects how quickly the upper frequency bands respond in comparison to the lower frequencies. With positive values the higher frequencies respond quicker for a more natural compression sound, negative values reverse this resulting in a more overt sound.
Multiband compression treatments tend to fall into two categories: transparent and clinical compression used for mixing and
