Howdy Compressor

The world’s first luxury-cat dual-channel compressor. Perfectly reasonable.

Howdy Compressor is a fully equipped, fast, punchy VCA-style dual-channel bus compressor with a hard knee, single envelope follower, classic glue character, and the most magnificently unreasonable chassis in the catalog. The compressor is built to react. Attack reaches 2 ms. Ratio reaches a real 6:1. Howdy does not mosey.

Yes, smelly cat. But in a good way. Left and Right each receive a complete independent control set: Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, SC HPF, Output, and Mix. Release extends to an AUTO detent that derives its own timing from the previous sample’s gain reduction. Channel Mode selects Stereo, Dual, or Mid-Side operation. Engage Link and the Right channel follows the Left channel’s full parameter set in real time, including the on-screen controls. Auto Level automatically compensates output for the reduction being applied.

Howdy is a separate VCA design built for speed, punch, and direct control. It gets to work before the cat can wander off. That cat will wander off.

Speaking of the cat. Its head bobs directly on the downbeat using the host’s live tempo and time signature rather than a fixed animation loop, because you didn’t know you needed that, but you absolutely need that. Both VU needles change rendered size slightly with signal level in addition to their normal swing; one grows toward silence and shrinks toward the peak, while the other does the reverse. The full panel sparkles while real signal is present and becomes still during silence or power-off.

Eleven factory presets provide real, useful starting points; this is a professional VCA-style compressor. It simply refuses to dress like one.

Perpetual license, 3 simultaneous activations, Windows/macOS (VST3 + AU)/Linux.