Rivet
The versatile FET compressor. Five selectable voicings from the classic FET compressor family in one free plugin -- with no threshold at all. You drive the signal in with INPUT and make it up with OUTPUT: the harder you push, the more it compresses. Character, by the input.
Character, by the input
Rivet is an input-driven FET compressor. There is no threshold control: you set how hard the signal hits the compressor with INPUT, and bring the level back with OUTPUT. Push gently for a light touch on peaks; push harder and the compression -- and the character that comes with it -- builds with it.
What makes it versatile is REVISION: five selectable voicings, each modelled on a different generation of the classic FET compressor family with the Assay DSP Engine. Real hardware measured, then rebuilt from scratch in original code. Not a sample, not a clone.
Free. No iLok, no activation, no locked features. Windows and macOS -- VST3, AU and AAX.
Five voicings, one switch
REVISION changes the ratios, the knees, the harmonic character and the way the detector behaves. It is saved with your presets, so a whole voicing travels with the setting.
| A | Gritty and early. Odd-harmonic bite, softest and earliest ratios. |
|---|---|
| AE | The most coloured. Rich, refined even-harmonic warmth. |
| LN | Warm and smooth. Even-harmonic warmth, widest knees. |
| F | Modern and tight. Clean at rest, hardest knees. |
| H | Clean and neutral. The default reference voice. |
Real GUI, real controls
A live capture of the plugin, not a mockup.
Everything on the panel
- ✓Five compressor revisions (A / AE / LN / F / H), saved with presets
- ✓No threshold: input-driven compression -- drive with INPUT, make up with OUTPUT
- ✓Fixed ratios: ALL / 20 / 12 / 8 / 4 (AE: ALL / 20 / 8 / 4 / 2) -- ALL is all-buttons-in
- ✓Fast, reversed ATTACK (about 17 ms to 0.1 ms) and RELEASE (about 1480 ms to 67 ms), with a two-stage recovery, shown as real time
- ✓DRIVE harmonic colour stage (oversampled, anti-aliased)
- ✓GR LIMIT soft ceiling, all the way to AMP (0 dB -- colour only, no reduction)
- ✓Parallel MIX
- ✓Sidechain: HPF + 4-band detector EQ with adjustable Q, internal or external, detector solo
- ✓Look (detection): look-ahead / look-behind detector timing
- ✓Oversampling up to 8x, separate realtime and offline settings; optional Detector OS
- ✓Stereo modes: Stereo, Summed S/C, Dual Mono, Mid-Side
- ✓Lit GR VU, IN / GR / OUT meters, Comp Curve / GR History / SC EQ displays
- ✓Ctrl (Windows) / Cmd (macOS) fine adjustment on every knob
- ✓UI scaling 100-200%
- ✓31 factory presets across Vocal / Drums / Bass / Guitar / Bus / Master / FX / Sidechain
Formats & platforms
| Developer | GANUE Audio |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.1.0 |
| Windows | Windows 10 or later (64-bit): VST3, AAX |
| macOS | macOS 11.0 or later: VST3, AU, AAX (Universal -- Apple Silicon and Intel), signed and notarized |
| Price | Free (pay what you want; no iLok, no online activation) |
Version 1.1.0
The release ballistics are recalibrated. Rivet sounds different over the slower half of the RELEASE knob.
Changed: release
- Recovery is now two-stage -- a faster stage with a slow tail underneath -- measured off the reference unit. 1.0 used a single stage.
- Toward SLOW, release now runs to roughly 1480 ms where 1.0 ran to about 570 ms, up to 2.6x longer. This is a correction: the 1.0 anchors were fitted inside an analysis window shorter than the decay, so they came back too fast.
- Toward FAST, essentially unchanged: about 67 ms against 1.0's 71 ms, so fast settings sound the same.
- The ms readout matches the new times. Because the envelope shape is part of what generates a compressor's own harmonics, harmonic content while compressing shifts by about 1-2 dB.
- Not changed: the compression curve, the ratios, the attack, the five revision voicings and the DRIVE colour stage.
New
- Summed S/C -- the linked detector can sum L+R before rectifying. Off by default. The stereo mode menu is now one flat four-way list: Stereo / Summed S/C / Dual Mono / Mid-Side. The parameters behind it are unchanged, so existing automation lanes are unaffected.
- AAX, so Rivet runs in Pro Tools. All five revisions, as in every format.
- Fine adjustment: hold Ctrl (Windows) / Cmd (macOS) while dragging a knob, or rolling the mouse wheel over it, and the value moves in exact steps -- 0.1 dB on INPUT/OUTPUT, 0.1 ms ATTACK, 1 ms RELEASE, 1% MIX/DRIVE, 1 Hz SC HPF, 1 dB GR LIMIT.
- The main knob is remade from a photo survey of the reference unit's control. Visual only -- size, position and behaviour on the panel are unchanged.
Fixed
- The preset name no longer resets when the editor is reopened.
- Loading a preset (factory or user) no longer changes the power (bypass) state. Display and routing view settings (stereo mode, summed S/C, display mode, look) are also preserved across user-preset loads.
- The declared plugin latency now updates when oversampling settings are restored from a saved session or preset. Hosts that compensate for declared latency (such as Pro Tools) see the correct figure again after a session reload.
Compatibility
Presets and sessions load unchanged. RELEASE is stored as a knob position, and that position is now genuinely slower at the slow end. For the old feel, turn RELEASE toward FAST; to keep a finished mix bit-identical, keep 1.0 installed. No standalone application.
Get Rivet
Free. No iLok, no activation. Windows & macOS.
Windows 10+ (VST3, AAX): 59.4 MB installer. macOS 11+ (VST3, AU, AAX, Universal): 162 MB installer. The PDF manual is included in both. The same files are on Gumroad, pay what you want starting at zero -- enter an email and the links follow.
Windows: the installer is not yet Authenticode-signed, so SmartScreen may appear; choose "More info", then "Run anyway". The AAX plug-in inside is PACE-signed. SHA-256 of the Windows installer: 79b06dc6fbb8c5368d36170bcbbacf7b1555b3a816d337aca4453d8e79d0b2b6
macOS: signed and notarized installer. SHA-256: 0e0fadeb12f577e0247bada6c6a870dc2e0a43dd15007bd20e647ff00bfd9ebf