Auburn Sounds introduces Couture [Transient Shaper / Saturation]
by Auburn Sounds   16th August 2018

No way to demo the saturation in the paid version?

Indeed, providing that time-limited capability would make a third version necessary. In the past we did it with periodic noise but we found people may mistake noise and the effect, and let's face it periodic noise is annoying.

When it comes to a time-limited option, essentially this can make your session hostage afterwards. We want you to be sure your session will still work even with the free version.

So unfortunately at this point it can be a leap of faith. We do provide refund everytime when people don't like the sound of what they bought (should write it somewhere). Anything you buy on the Internet has a retractation period of several weeks.

Interesting concept that I can see being very useful (I am a big fan of the “proudly digital” DSP development philosophy that eschews the limitations of hardware; level-independent saturation sounds like a great idea in this vein), and the price definitely “feels right” but the absence of a demo or a clearly written refund policy is a nonstarter.

A refund policy is a good alternative to a demo (not my personal fav but justifiable)… but the only thing resembling a “refund policy” in your Terms is a vague reference to French consumer law (possibly all French people are familiar with this law?)… and then an explicit cancellation of whatever rights a consumer as defined by French law is granted.

I’m definitely interested! I’m also not trying to attack you, and I apologize if the above comes off as such. But a clearly written refund/trial policy strikes me as an absolute must for a refund-backed guarantee, and respectfully I’ll have to pass if you decide to keep things as they are.

Hello, we are indeed in the "proudly Digital" camp if one have to choose a camp.

I will put an explicit Refund Policy in our Terms and Conditions whenever I can (today has been pretty hectic). The reason is that we already apply such a Policy currently, because no one likes unhappy customers on the Internet!
We've refunded whoever had "buyer's remorse" in the past. However until now that did happen with less than 1% of the sales.

I can only encourage you to test the free version regardless of such concerns, since it's not time-limited and comes with no-strings attached.

Great! Thanks for the quick response.

Same sort of "demo" mechanism that Klanghelm uses - release a cut-down version of a plugin for free but buy the full pluginin for all the sonic goodness. Hasn't done him any harm!!!

I obviously need to go deeper with this plugin, but the free version really helped with a snare drum recorded with a bit too heavy-handed compression for a project I'm mixed today. Looking forward to spending more time with it!

I helped in the alpha/beta process for this plugin, and snare drums were my absolute favourite thing to use it on.

However unlike other transient processors I found that it works really well on non-percussive sources like bass synths and vocals. Using the transient section 'in reverse' just a bit adds a great deal of body, it's a really cool effect.

Free version is a nice transient shaper. Wish it had an auto gain compensation, and I REALLY wish it had a bypass.

I’m bummed the saturation isn’t the free part though; that’s a much more interesting and unusual processor and is far more worthy of a demo than a fairly run of the mill transient shaper (even one as good sounding as this).

The part of the plugin that might earn a buy from me can’t be tried, so unfortunately I’ll pass on what seems a promising new developer.

Definitely agree on the lack of bypass. The most loved function of any plugin!

Turning the Amount knob to 0% will do something similar.

I'm curious which host does not provide Bypass functionality for plug-ins.
Since PT11 you can bypass group of inserts.
Pro Tools | Free Tutorial: Pro Tools Send And Insert Bypass Shortcuts.

Couture has static gain compensation though (like for a compressor) it cannot work everytime without having another dynamic process on top.

The real reason is that it's not even clear what it should be, say you augment the attack by 3dB, where do you want the body to be? For drums maintaining the sensation of loudness will be very input-dependent, and I think we've got as close as possible with the current tuning.

Well I answered the reasons above in the thread how we have a money-back guarantee instead, I'll modify the website to make it a lot clearer. (EDIT: Auburn Sounds - How can I hear the Full Edition features?)
Very few people end up disappointed. Hope you understand why we don't have much choice on this.

I really like the artwork, very unique and interesting. Sort of a future-retro architectural feel to it.
Although, I would have added some more color to it myself. I like the plugin as well, unfortunately, I don't
think I would wind up using it very much.

-Cheers

PTHD 2018.

Curiously, that didn't work. Nor did command clicking the plugin. The only way to "bypass" was to dial back the mix control, as you suggested, but that is rather tedious in a number of ways.

Yeah I hear ya, and I've struggled with this very question when it comes to transient shapers. I've arrived at the conclusion that peak compensation would be best. Maybe an enterprising new developer can add a few options (RMS, peak, and off)?


I totally sympathize with ya there, and I echo the others' in saying i heartily applaud you for the money back guarantee. It's very cool. But I'm short on time these days and I've already spent some of it trying out the free version. I'm not sure I wanna pay to spend the time to try something again only to have to maybe ask for a refund. Certainly others' mileage may vary!

I do feel strongly, however, that it was a misstep to put the most innovative feature -- the independent distortion -- in the paid-only version. Like I said, I know what to expect from a transient shaper and demoing one isn't likely to blow me away, even when it sounds great like yours does.

I mean this all as constructively as possible. I think you guys are doing really cool stuff and I admire it, and i wish you the best!

Refund available no questions, free version without time or noise crap limitations.

Looks cool, sounds good.

39 Sheets....


Fair as can be.. people are never all happy.

One Love.

Zz.

Hello Deleted ab0a387, thanks for your feedback and explaining what left you cold.
I'd like to just comment on the specific that the transient shaping part is not the most innovative: actually I think it is.

One of the overarching design decision in Couture is that the gain applied to the signal is always centered on the positions of higher energy. Hence why it's RMS and will always stays that way. Unlike with attack/release settings you don't have to fiddle so much: it's GR effect is where it makes sense semantically. The detector is 100% program-dependent for this particular purpose.



So Couture favors being "on" the transient even in presence of different percussions, at a hefty price in latency though (14ms). Analog emulation typically doesn't do that.

Couture's sophisticated transient detection allows to transient-shape percussive basses that may have eluded some other software.

Regarding the decision to change attack and body at the same time: we did not invent this, it was rediscovered while in development; but it is shared only with a few other software transient processors.
This provide balance between attack and body and also has an advantage of not needing as much internal slope thresholds, which can reveal quite intractable in practice.

Couture is not perfect by any mean, and it's not for everybody.
But there is nothing "run-of-the-mill" in it! We tried to push the envelope in all available directions.

Nasty overshoots over zero dBFs with Couture´s presets in Ableton Live 10.

Thank you for this detailed response. I really appreciate developers taking the time to address concerns; it shows a lot of care and effort.

I’m keen to discover what sets this apart as a transient shaper; perhaps someone can point me to some user videos illustrating how to maximize it, and I’ll give the free version another spin bearing in mind what you shared above.

This is exciting. Looking forward to trying it. Thanks.

I am really stoked to check this out. The idea of it following dynamics appeals to me in theory.

As a fan of transient shapers in general I have been curious about a few of these next gen units coming out.

The problem is the price on most of these. Spiff, the new eventide one, the sonnox one... They are all pretty expensive for a transient designer imo.

This really hits the sweet spot for me, your offering something a little different and its not more than a meal out with my better half. Looking forward to trying it out.

Some reviews from the Youtube-verse:

- This one is most detailed with comparisons and relevant sources:
Couture Transient Shaper And Distortion Review

- Is Couture Snake Oil? A fun video series by White Sea Studios:
YouTube

- All presets: YouTube

We have fixed the Protools bypass bug, and one Cubase crash (UI reopen), however we'd like to fix one last bug (unability to install with some PT 2018.4) before an updated version can be out.

Thanks for your interest.

OK. This thing is amazing. I was just playing around with the free version on the master bus and it is similar to Zynaptiq Unmix in its ability to make drums stand out in a full mix. Next-level technology it seems. I will buy the full version soon.

I recommend that everybody download the free version and try it.

Great job, Auburn Sounds!

I'm looking forward to trying the update, been having some stability issues
with the free version in various hosts since downloading it. FL Studio 20, Reason,
Tracktion Waveform, Reaper etc.

Sounds similar to the Cubase UI thing. The plugin crashes the host upon reopen.
Windows 8.1 64.

-Cheers

Yeah what's up with that 'MASTER Clearer' preset? Amazing!

Hello,

We pushed the update earlier than expected because of what Pekbro reported:

Couture 1.1 Release Notes:
• Add Pro Tools bypass support.
• Add compatibility with Open Broadcast Studio
• Fix crash in Cubase (and possibly other hosts) when reopening the UI

You can find new downloads at: Auburn Sounds - Couture, level independent dynamics

If you are already a customer: Auburn Sounds - I'm a customer. How to download the latest plug-ins?

Having changed my mind and ending up buying this. I gotta say the
saturation component of the pro version is stellar. It completes the free
version most excellently.

Goodstuff

I bought the full version too. Intro sale is over soon.

Today is the final day to buy Couture at 50% off! I doubt they will offer it any cheaper than this.

Auburn Sounds - Couture, level independent dynamics

Indeed! Last train is departing soon!

Every time I use Couture, I am impressed by how well it shapes transients, including those in a full mix.