Novatron by Kush - The Sweetest ITB Compressor... period
by u b k
19th September 2017
Ladies and gentleman, behold: Novatron, the sweetest ITB compressor, period.
Novatron, Kush’s “Varitone Tube Compressor”, embodies (and in many ways surpasses) the things I love about analog compressors, because every single control has distinct tone-shaping features that, with a deft hand, can produce a nearly limitless variety of sounds and timbres. It’s an unreal processor that instantly replaced about half of the expensive analog compressors in my arsenal, because it sounds every bit as sweet, is more flexible, and, well, the recall...
Novatron starts by elevating the humble Attack and Release controls into continuously variable topology selectors, allowing you to fluidly combine the compression characteristics of 3 vintage circuits as you adjust the speed:
The fat thump and distinctive knock of a Variable Mµ tube compressor when set slow.
The bright snap and visceral punch of a tube VCA when set to medium.
The aggressive growl and smooth leveling of a tube FET set blazingly fast.
And everything in between, on both controls. So you can have a pure fast FET attack with a hybrid medium slow VCA/Variable Mµ release. This approach gives Novatron an extraordinarily wide sweet spot because for any given time constant, you are hearing the sub-100-microsecond character of the topology that (imho) is the best for the job.
From there, not one but two painstakingly modeled, linkable transformers — one on the input pre-compression and another on the output post-everything— create the most authentic chunky analog low end and rounded transients of any plugin. Because these transformers are iterative, they approach chaos in their interactivity and harmonic complexity… much like analog.
Three task-specific UBK compression modes — Mix, Limit, and Punish — optimize the ratio, knee, release taper, and harmonic character of the output transformer for the job at hand. Mix is a 2:1 soft knee affair with a release taper that’s more program dependent. Limit is a 6:1 medium knee with a classic release, while Punish has a brutal 20:1 hard knee with a more logarithmic (grabby) release that amplifies the aggro factor beautifully.
Two optional Tone Shift circuits — Dark and Airy — activate pre- and post-compression emphasis curves to further ’voice’ the overall flavor of the Novatron to a degree that is both subtle and meaningful. Because these circuits interact with the compressor and both transformers, they produce even more of that elusive analog flavor we’re getting better and better at capturing.
Energy Delta metering allows for fast, precise level matching between inputs and outputs.
External Sidechain inputs allow for aggressive pumping effects as well as subtle ducking and keying.
A session-wide Oversampling On/Off switch frees up even more resources on this already highly-optimized plugin.
Novatron sports Kush’s new enhanced Preset Manager system, with Banks and easy renaming and organizing of large numbers of presets. It also comes with nearly 100 presets in multiple Banks from UBK and the now-legendary Nate Digital.
Novatron is $149 and available now for Mac and Windows in 32/64 bit AU, VST, and AAX Native formats.
Happy crushing everyone!
Gregory Scott - ubk
Novatron, Kush’s “Varitone Tube Compressor”, embodies (and in many ways surpasses) the things I love about analog compressors, because every single control has distinct tone-shaping features that, with a deft hand, can produce a nearly limitless variety of sounds and timbres. It’s an unreal processor that instantly replaced about half of the expensive analog compressors in my arsenal, because it sounds every bit as sweet, is more flexible, and, well, the recall...
Novatron starts by elevating the humble Attack and Release controls into continuously variable topology selectors, allowing you to fluidly combine the compression characteristics of 3 vintage circuits as you adjust the speed:
The fat thump and distinctive knock of a Variable Mµ tube compressor when set slow.
The bright snap and visceral punch of a tube VCA when set to medium.
The aggressive growl and smooth leveling of a tube FET set blazingly fast.
And everything in between, on both controls. So you can have a pure fast FET attack with a hybrid medium slow VCA/Variable Mµ release. This approach gives Novatron an extraordinarily wide sweet spot because for any given time constant, you are hearing the sub-100-microsecond character of the topology that (imho) is the best for the job.
From there, not one but two painstakingly modeled, linkable transformers — one on the input pre-compression and another on the output post-everything— create the most authentic chunky analog low end and rounded transients of any plugin. Because these transformers are iterative, they approach chaos in their interactivity and harmonic complexity… much like analog.
Three task-specific UBK compression modes — Mix, Limit, and Punish — optimize the ratio, knee, release taper, and harmonic character of the output transformer for the job at hand. Mix is a 2:1 soft knee affair with a release taper that’s more program dependent. Limit is a 6:1 medium knee with a classic release, while Punish has a brutal 20:1 hard knee with a more logarithmic (grabby) release that amplifies the aggro factor beautifully.
Two optional Tone Shift circuits — Dark and Airy — activate pre- and post-compression emphasis curves to further ’voice’ the overall flavor of the Novatron to a degree that is both subtle and meaningful. Because these circuits interact with the compressor and both transformers, they produce even more of that elusive analog flavor we’re getting better and better at capturing.
Energy Delta metering allows for fast, precise level matching between inputs and outputs.
External Sidechain inputs allow for aggressive pumping effects as well as subtle ducking and keying.
A session-wide Oversampling On/Off switch frees up even more resources on this already highly-optimized plugin.
Novatron sports Kush’s new enhanced Preset Manager system, with Banks and easy renaming and organizing of large numbers of presets. It also comes with nearly 100 presets in multiple Banks from UBK and the now-legendary Nate Digital.
Novatron is $149 and available now for Mac and Windows in 32/64 bit AU, VST, and AAX Native formats.
Happy crushing everyone!
Gregory Scott - ubk
Money is ready.
