We’re thrilled to introduce Kilohearts Compactor, the newest addition to the free Kilohearts Essentials collection. This ultra-precise limiter/ducker with sidechain control pushes your mixes to maximum loudness while keeping them clear, tight, and free from pumping.
At first glance, Kilohearts Compactor might look like just another limiter or clipper. But here’s the twist: it works at the per-sample level and responds to an external sidechain signal. The result is precise gain control far beyond standard dynamics tools. And it's FREE, with no restrictions!
"Compact Mixing" at your Fingertips
If you’ve been making electronic music for more than five minutes, you’re probably aware of sidechain compression. It’s a technique that ducks the volume of one sound, like the bass, whenever another sound comes in, like the kick, giving them both space to be heard in the mix. With compression, this process is often relatively slow, creating that characteristic pumping sound.
You may have also heard of “Ring Mod Sidechain,” a clever trick that squeezes sounds together much faster using ring modulation to make space without any obvious changes in volume.
We’ve taken these ideas further, packaging them into a streamlined, easy-to-use plugin with added flexibility and precision. Kilohearts Compactor ducks sounds at a microscopic level, locking them together tightly like puzzle pieces so they both hit as loud as possible, without overs or pumping, letting you mix to a threshold without compromise.
We like to call this, "Compact Mixing".
How to Use Kilohearts Compactor
When sidechain is disabled, Kilohearts Compactor acts like a conventional clipper. Its detection modes and variable attack settings give extra flexibility, especially with transient material, compared to similar tools. Perfect for brickwalling individual tracks, buses, or even your master.
The real magic happens when you use a sidechain source to control the dynamics. How you set this up depends on your DAW, but almost all of them let you route one track into another as a sidechain input. This means the signal can control plugins without being audible in the mix.
Once your sidechain is set up, for example the classic kick drum sidechained into a bass track, just drop in Kilohearts Compactor, select your sidechain source, and you’re ready to go.
From there, dial in the effect to taste. Attack, Hold, and Release shape how quickly the ducking starts, how long it lasts, and how smoothly it recovers. Threshold and Range adjust the strength of the sidechain signal, visualized in the waveform display. Together, these controls give you precise, transparent control over how your sounds fit together.
We’ve also included the Stereo dial to control processing correlation between left and right channels, letting you shape your stereo image.
Kilohearts Compactor also offers three detection modes, each with its strengths. Peak mode is fast and ideal when maximum loudness is the goal. ISP mode goes further by detecting peaks between samples for greater accuracy, which can reduce artifacts and often lessen intersample peaks. Note that the processing itself may still introduce some intersample peaks. Finally, RMS mode is best when transparency matters most. Just set your threshold, extend the release, and enjoy smooth, natural leveling.
Advanced Use
Kilohearts power users are probably already asking themselves, “How can I use this in Phase Plant, Snap Heap, or Multipass?” The answer: in plenty of exciting ways. Compactor is a powerful new building block in your collection, and we’ve added a handful of factory presets to get you started:
- Sizzle Fizzler – Multipass preset: duck higher frequencies with lower ones for crisp tonal balance.
- EDM's Best Friend – Multipass preset: a fresh multiband classic reimagined with Compactor.
- Mid Side Compacting – Snap Heap preset: sidechain ducking with independent speed controls for mid and side.
- Compacted Reverb – Snap Heap preset: tight, ducked reverb with flexible filter options.
We’ve also been exploring the idea of Hierarchical Compact Mixing using a specially routed DAW template with cascading sidechained Compactors for effortless loud-pilled mix-maxing. But we’ll save that for the next blog post…
Watch the walkthrough below and install Kilohearts Compactor for free and start exploring your new Compact Mixing powers today.
