Products

Mixing & Mastering VST Plugins

G-Sonique has been modelling analog mixing hardware since 2007, and the same engineers run our online mastering studio — these plugins came out of daily use on real material, not from a spec sheet. One of them, the Pultronic EQ-110P tube equalizer, was named test winner in a VST equalizer group test by the German magazine Professional audio Musik & Equipment. They are grouped here by the job they do: equalizers, compressors and limiters, saturation, tube warmth and tape, bass and top-end enhancement, and monitoring.

These are Windows VST plugins and load in any VST host. None of the mixing and mastering effects on this page is currently available for macOS — the supported formats are listed on each product page. Most have a free demo version, so you can hear them on your own mix before deciding.

Equalizers

There are two reasons to reach for an EQ and they want different tools. Removing a problem — a resonance, a muddy build-up — wants a clean surgical EQ. Making something sound better than it did wants an EQ that colours as it works, which is why passive tube designs have stayed in use for sixty years.

Pultronic EQ-110P models the classic passive tube equalizer, including the trick that made the original famous: boosting and cutting the same low frequency at once, which produces a curve you cannot dial in any other way. Pultronic EQ-50M covers the mid-range, where presence and boxiness live. GSXL4070 is the parametric option for when you need to be precise rather than flattering.

Testsieger award seal — Professional audio Musik & Equipment, won by G-Sonique Pultronic EQ-110P
Testsieger — Professional audio Musik & Equipment

The German pro-audio magazine gave Pultronic EQ-110P its "Testsieger" (test winner) seal in a comparison test of VST equalizers, ahead of plugins costing several times more.

Compressors, limiters & dynamics

A compressor and a limiter are not the same tool with different settings. A compressor shapes how a sound moves — how it breathes, where its punch sits. A limiter exists to stop peaks getting past a ceiling. Using one for the other's job is behind a lot of mixes that sound flat and loud at the same time.

DTC-1 is a VCA-style bus and track compressor: the glue-and-punch kind you put across a drum bus or a full mix. Zener Limiter LM-2Z models classic zener diode limiting, smooth enough to sit on a master without sounding clamped. Transient Shaping System+ is neither — it works on attack and sustain directly, which is often what you actually wanted when you reached for a compressor on drums.

Saturation, tube warmth & tape

Analog warmth is not a mystery: it is harmonic distortion plus gentle high-frequency loss plus a little dynamic compression, all happening at once. Adding harmonics makes a sound seem louder without raising its peak level, which is why saturation is the oldest loudness trick there is.

FAT+ is the direct route — warmth, harmonics and perceived loudness on a track or bus. Analog Tape ASX-72 emulates a tape machine, so saturation, compression and glue arrive as one behaviour rather than three plugins. The Valve System VA645 and Twisthead VS-206 cover valve character: the VA645 as a general tube stage, the VS-206 as a vintage preamp for colouring vocals, guitars and synths at the front of the chain.

Bass, top end & stereo enhancement

Some problems do not respond to EQ. You cannot boost bass that was never recorded, and boosting treble to add "air" usually just adds harshness. Enhancers work differently — they generate harmonics related to the material, so the ear hears more without the level meter moving much.

XBass 4000L adds weight and presence to bass and kicks, including on small speakers that cannot reproduce the fundamental at all. FSQ1964 is a vacuum tube treble and transient enhancer for air and definition. TrebleCream works in the opposite direction, taking harshness and digital edge out of the top end while keeping detail — often the more useful of the two on modern material. Mid-Side Stereophonic Harmonic Generator / Vitaliser+ adds harmonics and width to mid and side channels independently.

Monitoring & mix control

The most common reason a mix does not translate is not a missing plugin — it is that the room or the headphones lied about what was there.

Monitor MSX5 makes mixing on headphones translate to speakers, which matters if headphones are where you actually work. Audio Control AC1 combines monitoring, metering and correction in one console-style plugin at the end of the chain.

Where to start

If you are buying one plugin, buy the one that fixes your most common complaint about your own mixes. "Thin and digital" is a saturation problem — start with FAT+ or Analog Tape ASX-72. "Muddy" is an EQ problem, so GSXL4070. "Drums have no punch" is usually transients rather than compression, which is Transient Shaping System+.

If you would rather have someone else finish the record, our engineers also offer online analog mastering, including a free test master so you can hear the result before committing.

Frequently asked questions

A compressor reduces dynamic range gradually above a threshold and is used to shape how a sound moves — its punch, its sustain, how it sits in a mix. A limiter is an extreme compressor whose job is to stop peaks passing a ceiling, normally at the very end of the chain. Reaching for a limiter when you wanted a compressor is a common cause of mixes that are loud but lifeless.

If you are releasing the track yourself, yes — something has to control the final peaks, and a compressor is not designed for that. Zener Limiter LM-2Z is built for it. If you are sending the track to a mastering engineer, leave the master bus limiter off and give them the headroom instead.

Degree, mostly. Both add harmonics that were not in the original signal. Saturation is subtle enough that it reads as warmth, weight and loudness rather than as an effect; distortion is meant to be heard. The same circuit often produces both depending on how hard you drive it.

For removing problems, a clean parametric EQ such as GSXL4070 is usually the better tool — it does exactly what you ask and nothing else. Vintage tube designs like the Pultronic EQs add harmonic colour as they work and have broad, musical curves, which is what you want when the goal is to make something sound better rather than to fix it.

Most titles have a free demo version you can download and run in your own DAW. Demos are time- or feature-limited and each product page states the exact limitation. The Demo versions page lists everything available.

Try any G-Sonique mixing or mastering plugin free before you buy — demos run in your own DAW.

Download free demos