maxim|digital audio Dynamics [Freeware]

The Maxim Digital Audio (MDA) Dynamics plug-in is a free piece of software that is available in VST format. It's a really simple looking plug-in, but it does have more parameters than normal for an MDA plug-in (although it shares the same plain looking interface). I don't remember too much about the installation process as it has been a while since I have even used this plug-in, as I'm no longer running it on my current system. As long as you have a PC and a VST compatible DAW, you shouldn't encounter any problems when it comes to downloading and installing the plug-in. The interface of the plug-in is really simple, as like many of the MDA plug-ins, it has a series of sliders as parameters. In this case, there are sliders for threshold, ratio, output, attack, release, limiter, gate threshold, gate attack, and gate release. You can tell just from using it quickly that as long as you know the typical parameters that compressor/limiters have, you won't feel out of place with this plug-in. I don't know if a manual was ever made for this plug-in.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

While I don't have the Maxim Digital Audio Dynamics plug-in on my current Pro Tools system, as I know have a Mac, I did have it on my old Cubase SX system that I had before I made the switch to Pro Tools. I ran Cubase SX 2.0 and 3 on a Hewlett Packard Pavilion dv8000 lap top that has 2 GB of RAM and a 3.0 Ghz processor. For the time it did the job well for running both Cubase SX and this plug-in without any issues. This plug-in really didn't seem to take up too much processing power at all. I would think that most users won't have any issues running this plug-in, but if you've got a compatible system you might as well try it for yourself for free!

OVERALL OPINION

While I was running the Maxim Digital Audio Dynamics plug-in, it wasn't a plug-in that I would use all the time, but I still did use it every now and again to get a different type of dynamic processor in the mix. I liked it because you have a lot of control over the output of the sound, even if it isn't the fullest or most realistic sounding compressor/limiter/gate by modern standards. It's definitely a plug-in I'd recommend trying out if you're able to on your system, as it's worth having around since it's free anyway.