OPTO

OPTO is an opto-inspired compressor and tone shaper with four distinct flavours, built for smooth levelling, musical movement, controlled weight and colourful saturation.

MAIN INTERFACE

• IN/OUT set the input and output levels.
• THRESH sets the threshold level. Lower settings make OPTO work harder and produce more gain reduction.
• RELEASE controls the compressor's recovery speed after gain reduction. Faster settings feel more energetic, animated and obvious, whilst lower settings are smoother, more relaxed and more levelled.
• CLARITY adds or removes presence and definition. Use it to bring vocals, drums, guitars and buses forward without reaching for a separate EQ, or to darken and round up a sound by taking away some high-end energy.
• TONE is the master voicing tilt. At the centre it is neutral, turn left for darker, fuller tone or turn right for brightness, presence and forward energy.
• DEPTH is the low-end weight control. Positive settings add body and size, negative settings can tighten or thin the low end.
• DETAIL is an upward detail control for low-level information. It brings forward ambience, sustain, room tone and quieter texture when the signal is below the threshold, while backing away when the compressor is working harder.
• DRIVE pushes the internal character stage. It adds harmonic density, low-end excitement and colour before the levelling circuit, helping OPTO feel more analogue and forward.
• MODE (3A / 2A / 1B / 0C) changes the compressor model and response. 3A is faster and more forward. 2A is smoother and more levelled. 1B is controlled and modern. 0C is slower, heavier and more characterful.
• AUTO RELEASE adapts OPTO's release behaviour to the incoming material, instead of using a fixed manual release time. When enabled, it disables the RELEASE knob.
• DETECTOR lets you choose how OPTO reacts to the source. PEAK gives quicker peak control, while RMS gives a smoother, more natural response.
• HARD / SOFT KNEE changes how the compressor enters gain reduction: HARD is more direct and obvious, and SOFT is smoother around the threshold and can feel more natural on vocals, bass, bus and mastering-style control.

ADVANCED PANEL

• MONO / DUAL MONO / STEREO changes behaviour based on the track format. On a mono instance, the MONO button is shown but disabled. On a stereo instance, DUAL MONO processes the left and right channels independently, while STEREO links both channels so the limiter applies the same gain reduction and helps keep the stereo image stable.
• LIMITER MODE (OFF / SAFE / AGGRO) controls the final output limiter, designed to prevent clipping at the end of the chain with a fixed final ceiling of -0.003 dB. Use SAFE for cleaner, more transparent peak control, or AGGRO for faster, more assertive limiting.
• TRAFO is a transformer-style colour stage. It adds subtle asymmetry, low-end firmness, harmonic density and a more hardware-like finish.
• SIDECHAIN HPF is a variable control that filters low end out of the detector so bass energy does not overtrigger compression.
• AUTO GAIN compensates for level changes caused by compression and tone shaping, helping you judge the compression without being fooled by volume.
• MIX is a global wet/dry blend for instant parallel processing. Push OPTO harder than you normally would, then blend the chain back until the colour, movement and density sit exactly where you want them.
• OUTPUT HPF/LPF is a second set placed on the output of the plugin, right before the limiter in the wet path.