SKnote Q796

It is a stereo device with stereo sidechain. Built for mastering but great on single instruments, according to the company.

Features:

• Expander: includes a pump-up mode (“compresses LOW levels, makes sound full”).
  
• Compressor:
  o Feed-forward (the modern way) and feed-back (the vintage way) modes.
  o Sidechain.
  o Negative ratio.
  o Continuous Peak-RMS set.
  o Gain reduction limit (great for invisible squashing).
  o Distortion (static and dynamic; starts over the threshold and increases with gain).
  o Long time integration (an additional very slow time constant).
  
• Limiter: a “very fast” limiter.

The “analog” interface, modeled on the hardware, is integrated in a “digital” frame, for a better control. Three separate graphs show in realtime:

• Input waveform.
  
• Output waveform.
  
• Control signal (from Peak to RMS).
  
• Gain reduction.

Pricing & Availability
Q796 has an MSRP of €129 and is expected to be released by the end of May, 2009, as a VST effect plug-in for Windows.

A demo version of the software will be available for download before May 10th (the only limitation will be a short, low level, noise burst every 20 seconds).

A sound demo is already available at www.sknote.it.