MixWave Spiritbox – Courtney LaPlante

There are various ways to create plugins. You can come up with something from scratch. You can model a piece of analog hardware. Or you can make ‘official’ emulations by working directly with the hardware manufacturer and/or artist. Software developer MixWave largely falls into that latter category. Their plugins typically carry the actual brand name, because MixWave has working arrangements directly with those companies  and artists.

MixWave doesn’t just produce emulations of vintage hardware. They also create virtual instrument products and sample packs. Their latest collaboration is with the Canadian metal band, Spiritbox. The band’s founders – guitarist Mike Stringer and singer Courtney LaPlante – each have a MixWave product focused on their sounds. Spiritbox – Mike Stringer is a guitar amp simulation built around reproducing the guitarist’s tone. Spiritbox – Courtney LaPlante is a vocal chain plugin designed to evoke the styles of the lead singer. LaPlante’s singing ranges from sweet vocals to metal (‘Cookie Monster’) growls and distorted screams. As a band, Spiritbox’s sound is reminiscent of a band like Evanescence.

A virtual vocal chain rack

MixWave Spiritbox – Courtney LaPlante is a chain of core tools centered around vocals. It’s like a rack of hardware integrated into a single plugin effect. Unlike some of the other MixWave plugins, Spiritbox – Courtney LaPlante is not trying to emulate any specific piece of vintage analog hardware. It’s also not like other vocal chains that mainly enhance or ‘sweeten’ the voice. Spiritbox – Courtney LaPlante is far more versatile for creating vocal effects. The seven modules in the virtual rack include Pitch, Distortion, Modulation, Compression, Delay, Reverb, and a Line Amplifier.

These modules can be separately enabled and rearranged into any order, simply by dragging around the panels. Other chain-style products also let you rearrange the processing order, but by using a small menu. MixWave’s ‘tactile’ solution is more intuitive and instantly lets you understand the signal flow.

Across the top you’ll find the standard MixWave menu bar for global input/output, presets, GUI size, oversampling, and metering. There are additional items in the bar designed for this plugin. The input and output sides each have a separate fly-out panel that includes high-pass and low-pass filters, a four-band EQ, and a compressor. The processing order of EQ>Compressor or Compressor>EQ can be swapped by clicking the arrow button. You can engage and adjust these going into the chain of tools and then again on the way out of the plugin, as needed. The top bar also includes a limiter.

One interesting characteristic is an adjustment for latency with a switch for Live, Normal, and Mix. For example, if you use the plugin during a tracking (recording) session to ‘bake in’ the effects, use the Live setting for zero latency. Normal or Mix are best when mixing afterwards in the DAW.

Understanding the core tools

Since filtering and EQ are covered by the top menu, the visible tools in the Spiritbox ‘rack’ don’t include additional modules for these, like other vocal chain effects. Line Amplifier drives the signal harder, much like the preamp section of some channel strips. Compression, Delay, and Reverb are pretty self-explanatory, but with some extra features. The Delay section can be either synced or with a ping-pong effect (the delay signal bounces between the left and right sides of a stereo image). Reverb includes three style settings – room, ambient, and plate. This lets you tailor the spatial character of the reverb signal. Distortion is just as it sounds. It’s designed to drive the signal with saturation and then into audible distortion.

So far, there are other vocal chain plugins that include some or all of these tools. The last two differentiate the product. The Pitch module controls the vocal characteristic of the singer’s voice. It’s a bit like having an Eventide Harmonizer built into the ‘rack’. The Formant dial shapes the vocal timbre of the signer. The Tilt dial is a tilt-shift filter for more treble or bass. The Modulation section adds movement, stereo width, and evolving texture to the vocal. Naturally, each of these tools includes a wet/dry control to balance the blend of the effect into the output of the channel.

When used lightly, it’s a great all-in-one tool to enhance vocals. Start to push it and you get into heavy metal vocal stylings. However, you aren’t restricted to voice. You can use this on any instrument or bus. The presets include starter settings for various singing styles, instrument types, and buses. For example, you might wish to use only the EQ, compression, and reverb. No problem. Simply turn off the other modules to disengage them from the chain.

These tools are also useful for sound design in the film and video world. Need to turn a regular VO into the signature voice of your film’s super villain? The Pitch section is your friend. If you are working up spooky videos for Halloween, then this might do the trick!

Additional thoughts

MixWave Spiritbox – Courtney LaPlante is a pretty handy plugin to have in your toolkit. It’s more comprehensive that many other vocal chain products. However, there are a few things I miss. As a vocal chain virtual rack, some type of de-ess and/or de-pop (plosives) module is needed.

There’s also no A/B function to store and switch between two presets. If you wanted to use this in live recording, then being able to switch between two settings on-the-fly would be nice. In LaPlante’s singing examples on the MixWave site, LaPlante switches vocal styles between verse and chorus. In theory, you could do this in a live session with A/B controls. Logic Pro owners do have a Compare button that lets you toggle between the current and previous setting. Nevertheless, it’s something that would be good to have right in the plugin GUI itself. As with most plugins you can create and save custom settings as user presets.

Overall, Spiritbox – Courtney LaPlante is a solid plugin. Don’t let the heavy metal aspect turn you off, because this is not a one-trick-pony. You can do a combination of functions in a single interface that would otherwise require a stack of multiple, individual effects. MixWave offers a free trial. The plugin come in all of the standard formats. Licensing is via iLok.

©2026 Oliver Peters

HEARTBREAK – The first film edited on FCP X?

Making a standard film takes about the same time as birthing a baby – about nine months. While I’ve found that generally to be true, some take longer – a lot longer. And that’s without being some huge sci-fi or superhero extravaganza.

I started the edit on a film called Heartbreak in 2013 during the early days of Final Cut Pro X (the X was eventually dropped). Had the schedule followed that nine month rule-of-thumb, it might well have become the first dramatic feature film edited on this relatively new version of Final Cut. But sadly, for a long list of reasons having nothing to do with the film itself, the producers didn’t truly finalize the film and lock in a distribution deal until five years later. Of course, Focus had long since made its debut, deservedly marking it as the first film cut using FCP X.

Heartbreak is the story of a down-and-out pool player, who makes a living by hustling pick-up games. He reluctantly takes on a female protege with the challenge to turn her into a championship player. She needs the money to get medical treatment for her son back in South Korea. That experience and its emotional journey helps him to turn his life around.

The production was a collaboration between the Valencia College Film Production Technology program and the film’s producers. As with many of the films that Valencia partnered on, all key departments were headed up by working professionals with a balance of students rounding out the crew – roughly in a ratio of 1/3 pros to 2/3 students. Actors were all professionals working under their guild’s special ‘low budget/experimental’ provisions.

Whatever the school had available (grip, lighting, camera, offices, editing, etc) was available to the producers. This significantly reduced actual paid budget items – often by half. In the case of Heartbreak, the film was directed by Ralph R. Clemente, who was the program director at the time and a talented filmmaker in his own right. Anthony Realmuto was the director of photography for the film, which was shot on a pair of RED Ones.

I came on board to edit the film, as I had done with several others through the program. However, I never wrote about it at the time, because it took so long in getting distributed and I didn’t want to discuss it prematurely. Ultimately, I handled the creative edit, color correction, assembly for distribution, and interchange with the mixers. The final mix was done by Dave Howe in Seattle and some visual effects shots were done in South Africa.

That early version of Final Cut Pro X lacked a unified Library file. Events (bins) and Projects (edit sequences) were set up as separate data files on the computer. FCP X was eventually revised to integrate these into a common Library file for a production. That occurred after Heartbreak had largely been edited. Of course, I didn’t wanted to update FCP X midstream, opting to wait until the cut was done and approved by the producers. Fortunately, even that early version of FCP X dealt with the RED camera files without any major issues, because I used their REDCINE-X application to create proxy files for the edit. The final color correction was done in DaVinci Resolve.

There are always some holes in small films like this one. But overall, Heartbreak hit the right emotional tone. Sadly, Ralph Clemente did not live long enough to see the final version of his film. He and a couple of other key members of the crew passed on from medical conditions before the film was finally completed. It’s too bad that Heartbreak didn’t achieve the honor of being the first film edited using Final Cut Pro X. Nevertheless, it’s still available for purchase or rental and on some streaming services. Filmmaking is always a journey with a path that is often quite different than it appears at the beginning.

©2026 Oliver Peters

Audio Mastering with Grand Finale

The concept of audio mastering stems from broadcast and vinyl LPs. Radio stations wanted a competitive signal, but also needed to keep levels strong without distortion. Vinyl records required a recording that wouldn’t cause the needle to jump out of the groove when the record was played. Both sectors managed this process through the use of equalization, compression, and limiting hardware. As mixing become more sophisticated, mastering became its own creative force within the industry – often noticeably enhancing the final product after the mix. Mastering hardware became more than simply the hand-me-downs from broadcast facilities.

In the modern world of audio plugins, those specifically designed for mastering take many forms. Some are simply a series of EQs and compressors that mimic vintage hardware. Others are a single plugin with a chain of internal processes. And some apply opaque algorithms to achieve standardized results. Even if you don’t plan to do your own mastering, these plugins can still be useful when you need to present a review copy in the best light. Finally, if you are a video editor, then audio mastering tools are a great way to finalize and enhance your NLE mix.

An all-in-one mastering chain

One of the mastering chain style of plugins is Grand Finale from Swedish developer Klevgrand. Although this isn’t a new offering, they have recently updated it to the 2.0 version. In my past reviews of Klevgrand products, I’ve noted the sparse, Nordic aesthetic to their interfaces. Grand Finale is no exception. While it uses similar controls to most plugins, Klevgrand has avoided artificially dressing it up with a skeuomorphic face, simply to evoke some sense of analog hardware.

Grand Finale is structured as a chain of seven modules with a specific signal flow. Each can be turned on or off and adjusted, but you can’t re-arrange the order. Start at SIGNAL IN to adjust input level and to pick a starting preset. There’s a high-pass filter that can be set to one of three frequencies – or just turned off. From here the signal is split into two paths – the rest of the signal chain, as well as a parallel processor (more about that below).

After SIGNAL IN, the standard audio flows through the Compressor, Multiband Compressor, Stereo Width, EQ, and Master Output. The small, blue arrows from box to box in the UI show this path. Notice that each of these sections has very few knobs to tweak. The small submenu for each changes the behavior of that module, either within the preset you’ve selected or if you started from scratch.

As part of the simpler design, these modules don’t show big meters for what’s going on. For example, COMP (compression) doesn’t show a grain reduction meter. Instead, the slim curve around the dial indicating level includes a gain reduction highlight as part of that curve, whenever compression kicks in. Same for the multiband module.

The MULTIBAND COMPRESSOR is divided into four band. Each has two adjustment bars – compression threshold (left) and makeup gain (right). Drag the bars or slider up or down. The submenu at the top of this module lets you change the character of the compression. Under the hood that means attack and release time and slopes are changed accordingly. However, you don’t have user controls of those. Each of these four bands can also be soloed. Honestly, I use multiband compression often and those parameters are something I would almost never manually change.

The WIDTH control uses mid/side adjustments to to avoid phase artifacts. The EQUALIZER module applies a ‘Pultec-style’ high and low boost. This means that there’s a boost with an adjacent attenuation close to the same frequency. As you select among the style options, the nature of the boost and attenuation changes. Klevgrand’s GotoEQ plugin uses a similar ‘Pultec trick’.

An integrated parallel signal path

In some approaches to mastering, you may have to use separate send buses to create a parallel compression path in order to add more body. However, Grand Finale offers a parallel processing module that is built right into the plugin. The ADDITIVE SIGNAL PATH unit branches off from the input section and is mixed back in with the main signal at the output stage. It includes distortion (harmonic distortion for saturation), its own compression, and a wet/dry mix percentage to control the gain added back into the mix. Klevgrand points out that by integrating a parallel processing path within the same plugin, phase and latency issues are avoided. Both the distortion and compression controls include selectable style choices.

Finally, the flow ends up in the MASTER OUT section. The output gain control is pre-limiter. Therefore, with the LIMITER engaged, the OUTPUT dial is driving the signal into limiting. You have no other adjustments – just the limiter’s speed of response: Fast, Lagom (moderate in Swedish), and Slow. The horizontal line under LIMITER indicates gain reduction. The digital read-out at the the top displays the final output through the plugin.

I do miss having an overall output control after the limiter or the ability to set the limiting target. It’s set to limit at 0dB, although my readings were always -0.1db, which is typically the ‘standard’ at which audio mastering tops out. Nevertheless, I prefer to leave a bit more headroom and usually set any brickwall limiting at -1db. My NLE limiting is even lower. Therefore, depending on your needs, you may still want to add a gain plugin or second limiter plugin downstream of Grand Finale.

Overall thoughts

Grand Finale offers a nice and effective chain of processes for mastering or just to insert it onto your mix bus for some polish. Klevgrand has succeeded in producing a very compact, efficient, and clean-sounding mastering tool. But you don’t need to limit its use to the mix bus. You can certainly apply it to any bus or individual track. In fact, there are specific curated presets for various instrument groups. Individual sections can be turned on or off as appropriate and you can have finer control over adjustments by holding down the alt/option key.

I’ve been using Grand Finale on several of my mixes – both song mixes in Logic Pro and video mixes in Premiere. I like its sound and operation, so it’s starting to be my ‘go-to’ mix bus processor over other options.

Grand Finale comes in all the standard plugin formats and is available as a trial. When you run in the trial/demo mode, an audio watermark (static) pops up every 30 second. A license file is used after purchase to activate the plugin. If you aren’t into plugins that simulate a rack of vintage, analog gear, yet are easy to understand and operate, then Klevgrand’s range of plugins might just be for you.

©2026 Oliver Peters

Safari Goes Wild Again

Safari Audio (formerly Safari Pedals) has always had an atypical approach to developing audio plugins. The original effects (version 1) supplied vintage-style processing in a UI that usually mimicked the look of guitar pedals. The design of those plugins was topped off with playful 2D graphics, a la vintage Animal Crackers circus packaging. Safari Audio has just released their brand new V2 products after a three year development cycle.

The Everything Bundle V2 includes sixteen products: ten updated effects plugins, one new plugin, three virtual instruments, and two AI mixing assistants. The plugins can be purchased individually, as a bundle, or as part of Safari’s All Access Pass subscription. This isn’t a review, so I won’t dive in too deeply. That’s something I’ll leave for after the new year, once I’ve had a chance to use these in some sessions. For now, check out Sam Loose on YouTube for his quick recap of what’s in the bundle.

There are a number of version 1 plugins that were not included in the update, such as Lion Master, Sun Bear, or Falcon EQ. Maybe these weren’t selling or will see a version 2 in the future. For now, they are no longer listed for sale on the Safari Audio website. However, Safari has made it clear that they will continue to support the V1 effects, including with maintenance updates. When you install the V2 effects, they will appear alongside existing V1 effects, so that project compatibility with older sessions isn’t broken.

Feature-wise and sonically, the V2 effects are improved over V1. Although, there really was nothing wrong with those. In spite of the quirky designs, Safari Audio’s quality has always been good. For instance, I’ve been using the Noam’s Mastering Console on a lot of audio and video editing sessions.

If you are familiar with the V1 ‘pedal’ plugins, the most striking change will be the new V2 interfaces. The new graphics are more dimensional and tend to look like a control panel in an enclosure sitting on a table against a photorealistic background. It’s definitely different than the rest of the plugin companies, whose interfaces try to look like vintage hardware. My only complaint is that these new versions have a lot of wasted space within the interface. This makes it harder to open multiple Safari effects at the same time, even when you scale them down by dragging the bottom right corner. However, the upside of this design over the guitar pedal layout in the V1 effects is that controls are more clearly arranged and less confusing.

I’m sure that V1 owners are wondering why this wasn’t a free update for them. I get that, but reworking these effects probably hasn’t been a cheap development effort. You can certainly just continue to use the V1 products you’ve already purchased and be fine. If you do want to upgrade, then Safari is offering discounts and loyalty credits to existing V1 customers. So it’s not like you are completely paying again for the same thing. For example, users that bought the Everything Bundle V1 can upgrade to V2 for $59, which then gives them both sets of plugins.

Installation is simple using a single installer and Safari is now using a central activation code for all of the plugins. No need to enter different serial numbers for each separate plugin. System requirements are macOS 10.13 or higher (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10/11. Plugins install as VST3, AU, and AAX 64-bit plugin formats. Bundle and separate purchases provide a perpetual license. And there’s a 14-day free trial period. Up to four machines can be simultaneously activated. Once activated, you don’t need to be connected to the internet. If you exceed four, then the plugin itself will flag you as you try to activate the fifth instance. You can deactivate any of the other computers right from within the interface. That’s quite handy. No iLok required.

In my preliminary use, the V2 effects performed well. If you like the design approach, they are certainly gorgeous to look at. Some, like Rabbit Tape, have been nicely animated. A few have additional graphic displays. Overall, it’s a solid effort. More to come on this in the future.

©2026 Oliver Peters

LemurAudio SIMON Mastering EQ

There are plenty of equalizer plugins on the market, but not every one is called a ‘mastering equalizer’. There’s no real difference between a regular equalizer and a mastering equalizer; however, certain features are usually associated with mastering EQs. These include parametric controls, mid/side or left/right processing, and proportional Q. LemurAudio, a new Czech developer, has now jumped into the audio plugin market. Their first plugin is SIMON, a mastering equalizer.

Broadly speaking, the SIMON EQ is similar to the Focusrite BLUE hardware EQ. SIMON features three parametric EQ bands, plus high and low shelf controls. Each band includes a range of stepped frequencies, variable Q, and variable gain controls. The gain per band is plus or minus 9 dB. The low shelf control is selectable between 50 and 100 Hz. There are controls for stereo, mid/side, linked processing, automatic gain compensation, and overall  output level.

One key feature that separates SIMON from other EQs is saturation. The plugin includes OP-AMP emulation with multiple settings. These include Digital, OP-AMP, and OP-AMP LP (linear phase) is three modes: Equal (both channels with the same harmonics), Modern (subtle left/right variations), and Vintage (distinctly different left/right variations). Saturation drive is controlled by an input trim dial. SIMON also includes a list of presets.

I have two other plugins that are billed as mastering EQs. One is the Kiive Audio M5133, which is also based on the Focusrite. The M5133 and SIMON offer a similar feature set. The other is the IK Multimedia’s Lurssen mastering EQ (based on the hardware at Lurssen Mastering). It’s a similar set of controls, but no Q control; however, the range of frequency gain is as high as plus or minus 34 dB. While this sound high, the proportional curve gets very tight at the high end.

In the end, any of these three do a great job. I did find the SIMON interface to be more fluid and reactive as I made adjustments. For example, resize the UI simply by pulling on the corner of the panel. Sure, it’s marketed as a mastering EQ, but you can definitely use it anywhere else that you’d apply an equalizer effect. In fact, there are presets for other instrument types and not just mastering.

LemurAudio’s introductory price of $29 for a perpetual license with five activations is really a no-brainer. No iLok or license management application required. Plus a demo is available if you simply want to check it out.

Addendum – I originally wrote this review based on the 1.0 version of SIMON. Recently LemurAudio released SIMON2 with some additional features. These include high-pass and low-pass filtering, an additional hardware emulation style, and a change in how the UI skin colors are selected. SIMON2 is free for owners of the original version. When you install it, both versions are retained to insure compatibility with existing projects on which you might have used SIMON.

©2026 Oliver Peters