As a music producer, I am always searching for the tools to make my work easier and faster. Recently, I discovered a new plugin, which is known as the Plugin Alliance brainworx refinement.
After spending considerable time testing this plugin and pushing it through its boundaries, I felt compelled to share my insights.
So, in this blog, I will explore the introduction, features, working, applications, review, and conclusion.
What is Brainworx refinement v3:
This deharshing plugin is useful for removing harshness from any sound while preserving the original texture, dynamics, and clarity of the sound within a predefined range. This can be used on any sound, such as edgy vocals, guitars, raw recordings, etc to make them sound smooth.
It applies deharshing based on the peak level of the audio.
The Brainworx develops this plugin in collaboration with the Grammy-winning mastering engineer Gebre Waddell, who spent thousands of hours turning his idea into reality.
The original version of this plugin was released 10 years ago. This new and updated version of this plugin includes new code ( for optimal performance and stability) and updated features such as Brainworx GUI, etc. It combines harshness smoothing with analog tube saturation, offering both subtle and surgical enhancement.
Key Features of bx Refinement:
Here is the list of the features of this plugin. By reading this section, users will also get an idea of how to use this plugin.
Harshness Removal:
The main focus of this plugin is to smooth out the harshness of any sound, including vocals, guitars, etc. The amount of the harshness removal is controlled by the damping knob located in the center of the plugin.
Warmth with Analog Tube Saturation:
This plugin adds warmth to the sound with the help of the analog tube saturation model. Instead of using a single piece of hardware, this plugin uses different desirable musical characteristics of audio enhancement found in tube-based equipment.
Dynamic Modulation:
Generally, this plugin smoothens the harshness of the audio. But this smoothing effect can be automated into the rheumatic warming effects synced to the track’s tempo with the help of the dynamic modulations.
Character Switch:
Three different flutter options are present in the plugin to add different characters to the output sound.
- Soft Filter: Uses the 2nd order filtering.
- Hard Filter: Uses 4th order filtering.
- Wide: Uses wide bandwidth.
Addition of Air:
We know that harsh frequencies mostly occur at the top end of the sound spectrum. When we rehash the sound, then its top end becomes dull. To rebalance this, we have to add some air to the audio.
To tackle this condition, a knob named PRESENCE is present on the left side of the damping knob. This knob applies a shelving filter to boost the high frequencies in a way to sound transparent, just to rebalance the sound.
This presence effect can also be rhymed with the help of modulation options.
Modulation Section:
The modulation section of the plugin has two sub-sections. The first section is the dynamic section, and the 2nd one is the LFO section.
The dynamic section first analyzes the audio profile of the incoming signal. If there are more peaks in the audio, then the dynamic section will control this audio more. As I mentioned above, this plugin smoothes out the audio based on the peak levels.
So, if audio with many peaks makes the dynamic section of the plugin, give more control to the damping knob and presence knob to affect it. In the dynamic section, there are two main controls. The first one is RANGE, which sets the level of modulation. The second option is SPEED which decides how fast the damping knob and the presence knob act on the peaks of the audio.
A meter is also present in this section, which shows the level of the modulation.
Next up we have the LFO section, which helps to produce a sine wave in the shape of a controlled signal. Users can also choose the rate of the LFO by choosing the hertz value. The depth control in this LFO section is to select the intensity of the modulation.
Mono Maker and Stereo Width:
There is also a knob located at the bottom of the plugin. It helps the user to make the sound mono up to the frequency selected by the mono maker knob.
The stereo width knob is used to adjust the stereo width of the sound, letting the user widen or narrow the sound.
Mode:
There are three modes in this plugin alliance brainworx refinement VST. They change the channel upon which the process is being applied.
- Mids: Makes the plugin affect only the mid-information of the audio.
- M+s: Allows the plugin to work both on the mids and, as well as on the sides.
- Sides: In this mode, the VST will only work on sides.
Free Download Plugin Alliance bx refinement:
Users can freely download this plugin on the official site of the developers and can use this plugin on a trial basis. In this way, he/she can decide whether this plugin fits their need or not.