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Dusk Audio Plugins

A collection of professional audio VST3/LV2 plugins built with JUCE.

Note: These plugins are developed with the assistance of AI tools. If that bothers you, these aren't for you.

Production Ready: Only 4K EQ, Multi-Comp, and TapeMachine are currently released and recommended for production use. All other plugins are in active development.

Plugins

4K EQ - RELEASED

Classic British console EQ emulation featuring:

  • 4-band parametric EQ (LF, LMF, HMF, HF) with color-coded knobs
  • High-pass and low-pass filters
  • Brown/Black variants (two console voicings)
  • Advanced analog saturation modeling
  • 2x/4x oversampling for anti-aliasing

Multi-Comp - RELEASED

Multi-mode compressor with seven classic compression styles plus 4-band multiband compression:

Compression Modes:

  • Vintage Opto – Classic 1960s tube optical leveling amplifier. Program-dependent attack/release with smooth, musical compression. Features "Peak Reduction" and "Gain" controls with optional Limit mode.
  • Vintage FET – Classic late-1960s FET limiting amplifier. All-discrete Class A design with ultra-fast attack times. Features "All Buttons" mode for extreme compression/distortion. Four ratio settings: 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1, plus All.
  • Classic VCA – Fast, precise 1970s VCA compressor. Known for its punchy, aggressive character with soft-knee compression. Great for drums and percussive sources.
  • Bus Compressor – Classic British console bus compressor. The quintessential mix bus glue with fixed attack/release detents and Auto release. 2:1, 4:1, and 10:1 ratios with that distinctive punchy character.
  • Studio FET – Later revision FET limiter. Cleaner character with approximately 30% of the harmonic content of the vintage version. More controlled transient response.
  • Studio VCA – Modern British dual VCA compressor. Clean, musical compression with RMS detection and soft knee. Excellent for vocals and mix bus applications.
  • Digital – Transparent, mathematically precise digital compressor. Zero coloration with accurate peak/RMS detection. Ideal for surgical dynamics control where transparency is paramount.
  • Multiband – 4-band multiband compressor with Linkwitz-Riley crossovers. Adjustable crossover frequencies, per-band threshold/ratio/attack/release/makeup, and solo buttons for each band.

Features: Sidechain HP filter (20-500Hz), sidechain low/high shelf EQ, auto-makeup gain, parallel mix, analog noise floor simulation, transformer emulation with mode-specific HF rolloff, 2x/4x oversampling, lookahead with true-peak detection.

TapeMachine - RELEASED

Analog tape machine emulation featuring:

  • Two tape machine models with distinct characters
  • Four tape formulations: Type 456, GP9, Type 911, Type 250
  • Tape speeds: 7.5, 15, 30 IPS
  • Advanced saturation and hysteresis modeling
  • Separate Wow & Flutter controls
  • 15 factory presets across 5 categories (Subtle, Warm, Character, Lo-Fi, Mastering)
  • Dual stereo VU meters with animated reels
  • 2x/4x oversampling for alias-free processing

Convolution Reverb - IN DEVELOPMENT

Zero-latency IR-based reverb:

  • Supports WAV, AIFF, AIFC, SDIR impulse responses
  • Waveform display
  • Size, pre-delay, damping, width, mix controls

Multi-Q - IN DEVELOPMENT

Universal EQ with multiple modes:

  • Digital Mode: Clean 8-band parametric with color-coded bands
  • British Mode: Classic console EQ with two console voicings
  • Real-time FFT analyzer with pre/post display
  • Q-coupling modes for natural EQ response
  • Interactive graphic display with draggable points
  • HQ mode with 2x oversampling

Tape Echo - IN DEVELOPMENT

Classic tape delay with spring reverb:

  • 12 echo modes
  • Spring reverb modeling
  • Tape saturation and wow/flutter
  • Tempo sync with multiple note divisions
  • Animated tape visualization

Neural Amp - IN DEVELOPMENT

Neural network amp modeling (NAM):

  • Load .nam model files
  • Guitar and bass amp tones
  • Low-latency inference

GrooveMind - IN DEVELOPMENT

⚠️ Early development - not functional yet. ML-powered intelligent drum pattern generator:

  • Pattern generation from Groove MIDI Dataset
  • Groove humanization with micro-timing
  • Context-aware fills
  • Style classification

Building

Recommended: Docker/Podman Build

For consistent, distributable binaries:

# Build all plugins
./docker/build_release.sh

# Build a single plugin (production-ready)
./docker/build_release.sh 4keq         # 4K EQ
./docker/build_release.sh compressor   # Multi-Comp
./docker/build_release.sh tape         # TapeMachine

# Build a single plugin (in development)
./docker/build_release.sh multiq       # Multi-Q
./docker/build_release.sh convolution  # Convolution Reverb
./docker/build_release.sh tapeecho     # Tape Echo
./docker/build_release.sh nam          # Neural Amp
./docker/build_release.sh groovemind   # GrooveMind

# Show all available shortcuts
./docker/build_release.sh --help

Local Development Build

./rebuild_all.sh              # Standard build
./rebuild_all.sh --fast       # Use ccache and ninja if available
./rebuild_all.sh --debug      # Debug build

Build Individual Plugin

cd build
# Production-ready
cmake --build . --target FourKEQ_All
cmake --build . --target MultiComp_All
cmake --build . --target TapeMachine_All

# In development
cmake --build . --target MultiQ_All
cmake --build . --target ConvolutionReverb_All
cmake --build . --target TapeEcho_All
cmake --build . --target NeuralAmp_All
cmake --build . --target GrooveMind_All

Installation Paths

  • VST3: ~/.vst3/
  • LV2: ~/.lv2/

Shared Libraries

Analog Emulation Library

Location: plugins/shared/AnalogEmulation/

Reusable analog hardware emulation components:

  • Transformer saturation modeling
  • Vacuum tube emulation (12AX7, 12AT7, 12BH7, 6SN7)
  • Waveshaper lookup tables (Opto, FET, VCA, Console, Tape, Triode)
  • Hardware profiles for various compression and tape styles
  • DC blocking filters
  • High-frequency content estimation

Shared UI Components

  • DuskLookAndFeel.h - Base look-and-feel for consistent styling
  • LEDMeter.h/cpp - Shared LED-style level meter component

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.


Dusk Audio