Violet Crown

Violet Crown is a stereo channel strip built to do what expensive rack hardware does on a mix bus: hold the dynamics together, add presence to the top end, and make the whole thing feel completely glued together. It combines a three-band parametric EQ with a custom RMS compressor engineered specifically for bus work.

The compressor uses a 10 ms RMS detector per channel – the same technical approach that defined the sound of classic British and American bus compressors. RMS detection responds to the energy of the program, not the instantaneous peak, which means it catches the body of a mix rather than just the loudest transients. The result is compression that feels earned rather than imposed.

The release section includes a full auto-release mode, engaged by turning the Release knob fully to the left. In auto mode, the release adapts continuously – pulling back quickly when the compressor is working hard, then settling into a slow, transparent recovery as gain reduction lightens. Set it and it sounds right immediately.

The EQ offers six independent filters across three bands. Low Boost and Low Cut are separate shelf filters with independent frequency selectors. Mid Boost and Mid Cut are independent peak filters sharing a Q control. The high band extends from 800 Hz to 16 kHz for the boost shelf, with a separate cut filter for high-end control. EQ and compressor can be routed in either order.

Dual VU meters with 300 ms ballistic RMS response show output level independently on L and R. No activation. No account. No internet connection. Free, forever.

Features

• Three-band parametric EQ with independent boost and cut filters per band
• Six EQ filters total: 2 low shelves, 2 mid peaks, 2 high shelves
• Low band: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 Hz
• Mid Boost: 200 / 400 / 700 / 1.5k / 3k / 5k Hz
• Mid Cut: 300 / 400 / 500 / 700 Hz
• High band: 800 Hz to 16 kHz
• Shared Q control per band: 0.6 / 0.8 / 1.0 / 1.4 / 1.7
• Custom RMS bus compressor – per-channel independent processing
• Threshold: -60 dB to 0 dB, default 0 dB
• Ratio: 1.5:1 to 8:1 (Harder/Softer knob)
• Attack: 1 ms to 200 ms
• Program-dependent auto-release (fully left) – fast under heavy gain reduction, slow when barely touching
• Fixed release: 50 ms to 2000 ms
• Makeup Gain: -10 dB to +10 dB, 0 dB at 12 o’clock, double-click to reset
• EQ-first or Comp-first routing toggle
• Input level trim: -8 dB to +8 dB
• Dual VU meters, 300 ms ballistic RMS, independent L/R
• Hardware bypass switch
• Resizable UI (1000×373 to 2000×745)
• No activation, no internet, no telemetry
• Free

System Requirements

• Windows: Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit
• macOS: macOS 11 Big Sur or later, 64-bit (Apple Silicon + Intel universal binary)
• Linux: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or equivalent, 64-bit
• Format: VST3 (all platforms) + AU (macOS)