Linda Audio has announced the release of a versatile compressor effect plugin. The free Sonicrusher is not designed to model any real hardware but it is capable of everything from gentle transparent compression to extreme compression that will smack your drums hard.

It can be run in Modern level detector mode (feed-forward) for fast and hard transient shaping, or Vintage (feed-back) detector mode which is more gentle. It has adjustable knee and RMS and of course hi-pass (and even lo-pass) sidechain filter. It can work also in “Split” mode, which compresses high frequencies separately with slightly different parameters (It is useful for example on vocals or on some synths).

One other special feature is “Crush” – band-pass or hi-pass filter with overdrive which can add some life back to the compressed signal and even can be controlled by actual compression. There is also clipper with adjustable threshold, and dry/wet mix. Automatic gain compensation is also available.

The plugin is available to download in VST/VST3 and AU plugin formats for Windows and Mac. Donations are appreciated.

More information: Linda Audio