Shadaloo Audio DSP has launched H, a free tone and loudness enhancer plugin for macOS and Home windows.
H was constructed by Fabio “Shadaloo” Caterino, an Italian multi-platinum licensed combine and mastering engineer. He initially designed the plugin for his personal mixes after which determined to launch it publicly as a pay-what-you-want obtain.
To begin with, I’ve examined quite a few one-knob plugins earlier than, however that is my first-ever one-letter plugin. So, a plugin named “A” would have been extra becoming, however oh effectively…
H will not be a standard saturator or clipper. It’s a multi-stage processor the place the controls work together with one another in nonlinear methods, which is what makes it fascinating.
The Push management drives the sign from very mild enhancement to considerably apparent saturation, however it’s not simply an enter achieve.
Even with Shade set to 0%, rising Push will change the dynamic response. Based on the developer, this comes from a mix of quintic clipping and a level-dependent shaping stage that reacts progressively because the sign will increase.
The Shade part gives 5 modes (Easy, Comfortable, Edge, Grit, and Crush) that form the character of the processing. Every mode works extra like a macro, so it principally adjustments each the harmonic construction and the frequency-dependent habits somewhat than making use of a set saturation curve.
Push, Shade, Mix, and the chosen mode all affect one another, so the habits is deliberately context-dependent somewhat than a set of unbiased parameters.
The Mix management is tuned for parallel-style processing, letting you add character whereas holding the supply grounded and mix-friendly. The Output management works immediately with Push for cleaner achieve staging and simpler degree balancing.
With the technical stuff out of the way in which, I might merely describe this plugin as “tasty” saturation. It’s fairly good.
H additionally consists of Peak and RMS output studying modes that will help you examine ranges and match output extra exactly.
The developer notes that he tends to depend on Peak mode for drums and RMS for full mixes. I want utilizing third-party metering plugins, so I didn’t pay a lot consideration to the built-in meters in the course of the check.
Oversampling can go as much as 4x to assist forestall aliasing.
One factor to notice is that the present Home windows construct will not be but digitally signed, so your system might show a safety warning earlier than set up.
H is offered as a free (pay-what-you-want) obtain in AU and VST3 codecs for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and VST3 for Home windows (64-bit).
Obtain: H – Tone and Loudness Enhancer (FREE, pay what you need)
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Final Up to date on March 28, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
