Introducing Librae and Polydactyl Dynamics-Processing Plugins by Noise Engineering

Librae master of end-chain dynamics plugin from Noise Engineering



video upload by Noise Engineering

"Noise Engineering introduces two plugins for your dynamics processing needs: Librae and Polydactyl!

Get these plugins for your DAW here: https://bit.ly/3LynNDF

Librae is a mid/side and stereo dynamics processor capable of compression, expansion, limiting, and distortion. The adaptive envelope extraction is designed to be as transparent as possible. Use it on master-bus applications and for creative processing. Now in AU, VST, and AAX formats.

Polydactyl is a multiband dynamics processor with pre and post-processing plus four adjustable bands. Each band features limiting, compression, expansion, noise gating, and saturation and distortion controls. Based on the Eurorack module, now in AU, VST, and AAX formats."

Polydactyl multiband dynamics processor plugin from Noise Engineering

video upload by Noise Engineering

0:00 Overview
1:31 Sliders and controls
2:42 Stereo link
3:35 Playing demo

"Get this plugin for your DAW here: https://bit.ly/3LynNDF

Polydactyl is a powerful multiband dynamics processor plugin that makes it easy to precisely sculpt the dynamics of your audio tracks. Whether you're mixing a full band, tightening up a track, or just looking for creative inspiration, Polydactyl has you covered.

Each stage has separate controls for dynamics and distortion, making it easy to dial in the perfect amount of compression, noise gating and expansion on each adjustable band with ease. Weight controls for Pre and Post stages control how the plugin responds to your signal. Individual Link controls for each stage make it easy to adjust processing. Polydactyl also features lookahead for transparent gain reduction."

Press release follows:



Noise Engineering expands software offerings with Polydactyl and Librae dynamics-processing plug-ins


LOS ANGELES, CA, USA: Noise Engineering is proud to expand its software offerings by announcing availability of Polydactyl and Librae, two new dynamics-processing plug-ins presenting many flavors of compression, expansion, limiting, and distortion — Polydactyl being designed for anything from subtle mixing tasks to complete sonic destruction as a multiband processor, while Librae is made for mixing, mastering, sound design, and stereo-field experimentation — as of April 20…

“From the start, these plug-ins were intended for clean mastering, sound design, and coloration,” comments Noise Engineering Chief Plumber Adam Lange-Pearson, one of two software engineers behind Polydactyl and Librae. “While we worked on these, our chat threads were full for months with picky feedback about levels and sound quality, and heated ergonomics discussion,” he continues, concluding: “By the end, I am pretty sure we argued over every pixel in each meter at least once.”

Ostensibly, Polydactyl is a multiband processor inspired by over-the-top and aggressive techniques, yet it is designed to be versatile enough to be used in almost any mix. Featuring four adjustable bands — plus Pre and Post — to precisely sculpt the dynamics of audio tracks with separate per-section controls for Blend, Gain, Room, Floor, Release, and Stereo Link, the bands can be dialed in individually or the Link function can be utilized to quickly apply user settings across multiple bands (though turning Link off makes it simple to set each band as needed).

Though those controls break away from traditional dynamics-processing layouts, they simplify the workflow for dialing in subtle (or not-so-subtle) dynamics. Dedicated distortion controls such as Saturate, Soft Drive and Hard Drive (with associated Soft Blend and Hard Blend controls for clipping distortion), Zero Pop (for zero-crossing distortion), and output level are also included in each section, which can also be bypassed or soloed.

Saying that, the clean interface of Polydactyl provides a huge range of visual feedback. First and foremost, the frequency spectrum meter displays the output level across the audio spectrum and is interactive — click and drag the lines to adjust the band splits; select bands for further adjustment. Additionally, Polydactyl includes a scalable envelope display to show processing over time and global In and Out VU meters. Moreover, each stage also includes a static curve meter to demonstrate the compression and expansion applied to the signal, and In and Out VU meters.

Librae is a mid/side and stereo dynamics processor with separate controls for Pre, Mid, Side, and Post stages. Duly designed for transparency, Librae is made for master-bus applications, but the team behind the plug-in put a lot of thought into making it a capable tool for creative processing and sound design. Many of its controls are similar to those on Polydactyl. Put it this way: Librae also has separate per-stage controls for Blend, Gain, Saturate, Room, Floor, Release, and Stereo Link, plus distortion controls like Saturate, Soft Drive and Hard Drive (with dedicated Soft Blend and Hard Blend), Zero Pop, and output-level controls. Its Pre and Post stages also feature shelf-EQ weight controls to adjust how the plug-in’s dynamics processing responds to the incoming signal. Librae features a Global Mid < - > Side balance control for easy adjustment. Similarly, each section can also be bypassed or soloed.

It is easy to understand Librae, though, thanks to a detailed graphical interface featuring a goniometer displaying the correlation between the input channels and an envelope display showing processing over time. Each processing stage features a dedicated graphical display with a static curve meter to show the curve applied to the signal, In and Out VU meters, and a weighting graph to visualize the detector shelf EQ weighting (with adjustable Weight High and Weight Low) on the stage input.

In keeping with all Noise Engineering plug-ins, Polydactyl and Librae are designed for automation and each include an extensive internal modulation matrix with LFOs and step sequencers that can be routed to almost any parameter. Moreover, modulators have adjustable randomization for easy humanization.

Intuitive in use from first being opened, Polydactyl and Librae both come complete with a sizeable number of Noise Engineering-provided presets — ranging from subtle and transparent to aggressive and in-your-face — to kickstart anyone in need of inspiration. If more than that is needed then the rand (random) and nudge buttons (to generate and tweak patches in one click) are sure to get creative juices flowing.

Available as two new dynamics-processing plug-ins presenting many flavors of compression, expansion, and distortion, Polydactyl and Librae are ready to take up their positions in signal-processing toolkits the world over.


Polydactyl and Librae are available now in AAX, AU, and VST formats for $49.00 USD apiece, and also available as part of the Build Your Own Bundle (buy any three plug-ins and automatically get one for half price) — only from Noise Engineering here: https://noiseengineering.us

Please visit the dedicated Polydactyl webpage (https://noiseengineering.us/products/polydactyl-plugin) and Librae webpage (https://noiseengineering.us/products/librae-plugin) for more in-depth information.