A 2-Channel Vari-Mu Bus Compressor.
Glue and Tone-Shaping in the Same Signal Path.
Perpetual license - pay once, own it forever.
By purchasing you agree to our EULA and Privacy Policy.
Lake Ontario pairs the superglue of Vari-Mu compression engine with a very musical 4-band EQ on every channel - Low and High shelves, Low-Mid and High-Mid bells, fixed Q, freq and gain at your fingertips.
Our compression DSP concepts have been clearly evolving; we wanted a vari-mu compressor that sounded like a $15k hardware unit, but we wanted it with Auto-Gain so we wouldn't be fooled by volume changes; listening to the gooeyness spread with no volume change is the candy. Invariably, the EQ needs a nudge either going in or coming out of the compression, so the EQ is for that purpose; it's not about being corrective, it's about making it just a little more delicious. We called it Lake Ontario because, like its namesake, it has depth, character and a beautiful, quiet authority. Some things make their presence known without vanity, without needing change.
Load a Bus. Watch the Needles Breathe.
Vari-Mu glue that responds to your program material instead of clamping down on it - with a real 4-band EQ built into the same signal path.
Try Lake Ontario FreeNo account required - we send the link to your email. Silences briefly every 30 seconds in demo mode.
The Glue
Threshold, Attack, Release, and a 4-position Ratio (1.5:1 / 2:1 / 4:1 / 6:1) shape the glue; an always-on micro-saturation stage keeps things warm even with the Saturation knob at zero. Stereo, Dual, and Mid-Side modes cover everything from a stable mastering bus to fully independent left/right character.
EQ Order & Auto Level
The EQ Order switch reorders the whole signal path - sculpt the tone before it hits the compressor, or let compression happen first and shape what comes out the other side. Auto Level trims output to hold loudness where it started, so you can judge the processing on its own merits instead of a volume trick. Link ties both channels' controls together for fast setup, with an option to break them apart for Mid-Side work.
Nine Factory Presets
Nine factory presets cover subtle bus glue, vocal warmth, drum bus punch, a transparent mastering setting, and a Mid-Side widening preset built specifically to show off independent Mid/Side control.
One-time purchase. Yours forever. No subscription, no renewal.
Install on up to three machines simultaneously. Need to move a license? Email us.
Encrypted activation over HTTPS. No telemetry. No data leaves your machine during use.
You email us, we answer. No ticket queues, no bots, no knowledge base rabbit holes.
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
Plugin buffer only - no lookahead, no oversampling latency
Perpetual, single user
3 simultaneous activations
Need to move a license? Email us
SHA-256 (mmedia-lake-ontario-v1.0.3.zip): c2612661a6cc3acea270d75f6e1ef41ddd759ad9232a1f1cc0c67c03fc049566
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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