Dual-Channel Tube Mic Pre and Compressor.
Vari-Mu Glue, Built-In EQ, One Insert.
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Anaheim is a dual-channel tube mic pre and compressor with a beefy Vari-Mu gain stage and a built-in 2-band EQ, all in one insert. The Input knob drives the initial tube stage, so it adds character before you've touched another control at its base setting, like a real preamp does, it just automatically adds color.
From there the signal hits the Vari-Mu compressor, it really breathes and holds the material instead of just controlling peaks, it's an instant thickening and smoothing agent. Threshold, Attack, Release, a sidechain high-pass is the entire story. You don't want to modify the input gain again so the Saturation stage sits right after the compressor for exactly that. A simple Bass/Treble EQ closes out the chain, Bass is a low shelf at 80 Hz, Treble is a high shelf at 8 kHz, then Mix blends it all back against the dry signal, that's New York-style parallel compression.
Load Mix Bus Silk. Push the Input.
Drop it on a 2-bus, load the Mix Bus Silk preset, and listen to the Vari-Mu stage take hold. Then push the Input past noon and hear the tube stage wake up on its own, no drive knob to find.
Try Anaheim FreeNo account required - we send the link to your email. Silences briefly every 30 seconds in demo mode.
Vari-Mu Compression
Anaheim's compressor is a real Vari-Mu gain stage, gain reduction that breathes with the material instead of just stomping on peaks. There's no Ratio knob to second-guess, the ratio is fixed and inherent to the topology, so the compressor was tuned to sound right without asking you to consult a manual first. The sidechain high-pass keeps low end from driving the gain reduction on anything bass-heavy, and Release runs all the way to Auto for program-dependent recovery.
Tube Input, Then Saturation
The Input knob isn't just level, it drives a tube stage automatically, so pushing it adds color before you've touched anything else, the way driving a real preamp does. Once the signal's through the compressor, a second Saturation stage sits right after it for whenever you want more grit than the input drive alone gives you, without having to go back and re-touch Input.
Two separate places in the chain to add character, one before compression, one after, each doing a different job instead of one knob trying to cover both.
Bass / Treble EQ and Mix
A simple Bass/Treble EQ closes out the chain after compression and saturation. Bass is a low shelf at 80 Hz, Treble is a high shelf at 8 kHz, both shelving, not surgical, because by the time the signal reaches the EQ it's already been shaped, this stage is for broad tone, not correction. Mix blends the whole processed chain back against the dry signal, that's New York-style parallel compression, dial it back from 100% whenever you want the character without giving up the original transient.
Channel Mode and Link
Both channels get every control, independently, and a three-way Stereo/Mono/Dual switch plus a Link toggle take you from a dual channel setup, to a matched stereo pair, to mono. Dual channel makes things huge, it's perfect for 2-bus mixing but great for drums, bass, guitars, vocals, and more, it really sounds like the old units. Stereo gangs Channel 1's controls onto both sides for a matched pair, Mono sums to a single path for a source that needs to sit dead center.
Link works independently of the mode switch, engage it and Channel 1's controls drive Channel 2 directly, useful any time you want two sources handled identically without switching out of Dual mode.
Metering
Each channel gets its own dedicated compression meter and its own output VU, four needles total, so you're never guessing what it's actually doing. The compression meters read 0 to -20 dB, needle rests at 0 and swings down as gain reduction builds. The VU meters read standard M Media ballistics on post-chain output level, the same needles you'd expect on any of the channel strips in the catalog.
Ten Factory Presets
Ten factory presets get you into character fast, from a clean starting point through to fully driven. Load one close to what the track needs and move from there, every control's still live underneath so nothing's locked once you're in a preset.
One-time purchase. Yours forever. No subscription, no renewal.
Install on up to three machines simultaneously. Need to move a license? Email us.
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VST3 (64-bit) - Windows, macOS, Linux
AU (64-bit) - macOS only
Windows 10 / 11
macOS 11 Big Sur or later (Apple Silicon + Intel)
Linux - Ubuntu 22.04+ or equivalent
Any VST3-compatible host: Reaper, Cubase, Studio One, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Bitwig Studio, Nuendo, and more
AU (macOS): Logic Pro, GarageBand, MainStage
Perpetual, single user
3 simultaneous activations
Need to move a license? Email us
SHA-256 (mmedia-anaheim-v1.0.1.zip): 8dbbbb7e31d5107daa790fd7f7f358ef8edd2041d61a8e1a08b9f5beea3e57e1
Tested on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, Debian 12, Fedora 40. Requires one system library for license verification:
sudo apt install libsodium23 # Ubuntu / Debian sudo dnf install libsodium # Fedora / RHEL sudo pacman -S libsodium # Arch
VST3 only. Confirmed working in REAPER and Bitwig.
Perpetual license - pay once, own it forever.
By purchasing you agree to our EULA and Privacy Policy.
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