Your DAW gets cluttered, your CPU takes a hit, and worst of all, you lose that creative flow state. That is why CompGate immediately earned a permanent spot on my channel strips.

Why CompGate is a Game-Changer for Your Mix & Workflow

CompGate packs seven distinct, analog-modeled compression and gating engines inside a single, featherweight channel strip. The best part? Each engine retains its settings in the background, so you can audition different sonic flavors mid-session without resetting your tweaks or dealing with annoying audio pops.

Here is what this powerhouse brings to your mixes:

• Vintage FET Aggression – Modeled after the iconic 1176 topology with ultra-fast attack times and a dedicated Punch control that makes your drums slap right through a dense wall of sound.
• Buss VCA Cohesion – Delivers transparent, clean glue compression with an auto-release setting designed to make your drum bus and master channel breathe naturally.
• Smooth Tube Warmth – Delivers silky, opto-style leveling with program-dependent release times, ideal for getting vocals and basslines to sit effortlessly in the mix.
• Precision 4-Band Multiband Compression – Features Linkwitz-Riley crossovers with independent threshold, ratio, and makeup per band to lock down unruly low-end and harsh upper mids.
• Classic Feed-Forward & Feedback Control – Switch between RMS and Peak detection modes to tackle everything from subtle leveling to hard-clamping dynamic control.
• Surgical Noise Cleanup (Single & Multiband) – Run the classic gate for tight percussive chops, or switch to the 4-band Multiband Gate to kill cymbal bleed without choking your drum’s body.
• External Sidechain with Audition – Easily duck your bass against the kick or trigger gates from external stems, complete with a sidechain-listen monitor switch so you know exactly what is triggering your compression.
• Clear Gain-Reduction Readouts – Keep an eye on your headroom with real-time metering, including dedicated per-band feedback when working in multiband modes.

Tech Specs (Keep it Light)

• File Size: Featherweight 4.02 MB download
• Platform: Windows (WiN)
• Engines: 7 total (5 compressors, 2 gates)
• Crossover: 4-band Linkwitz-Riley filters for multiband modes
• Architecture: Zero-glitch engine swapping with independent memory state per module
• Sidechain: External sidechain input with sidechain-listen audition mode

The Verdict

CompGate is a dynamic Swiss Army knife that eliminates plugin bloat. Instead of burning your CPU and cluttering your mix window with half a dozen different dynamics units, you get classic opto warmth, punchy 1176-style bite, glue-ready VCA action, and frequency-specific gating inside one razor-sharp plugin. It is clean, it is ridiculously light on resources, and it just works.

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CompGate Setup  ( 4 MB )

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