Elexius

Plimsoll VHC-L

Plimsoll VHC-L

Plimsoll VHC-L

49 € · 32 € while it's new

ready to download · macOS 11+ · VST3 and AU

Get Plimsoll

Plimsoll is a distortion you can EQ without EQing the sound. Decide whether the bass distorts, the mids or the top – or a mix of them – while nothing gets louder or quieter. Four engines, two headroom EQs, three knobs to the sound you meant.

  • four engines: clip, op-amp, fold, loc-o
  • headroom EQ in front of the stage, de-emphasis behind it
  • BIG EQ: three bands, bell or shelf, linked, dynamic
  • zero latency at 0LAT; 4x and 16x oversampling
  • 14-day demo of the full plugin, one click, no account
  • 5 computers per serial, offline activation

explore the trick · the engines · why I built it · try it free

Presets, undo, A/B, oversampling
The name line – and who it is licensed to
Transfer curve – what goes in, what comes out
Headroom EQ – aim the drive
In and out
The engine, CEILING and KNEE
Bass, mid, high, de-emphasis, dynamics
Input, output, mix

Eight parts. One panel. Three knobs to the sound you meant.

The CEILING dial

Turn CEILING down.

The clipper comes to the signal.

The level stays where it was.

Plimsoll VHC-L: the ceiling coming down to the signal

The trick

EQ first.
Distortion second.

The oldest trick in the book – Tube Screamer, pedalboard, tone stack – finally without the bill.

The headroom EQ: bass raised, highs lowered

Raise BASS.

The low end is driven harder.

Not louder.

DE-EMPH behind the stage puts the level straight back. What's left is saturation where you aimed it, nowhere else.

The headroom EQ: BASS rising, the distortion following

Four engines

One trigger.
Four ways to pull it.

1

Clip

The reason Plimsoll exists.

KNEE from a wall to a shoulder.

Louder mixes. Same kick.

Clean digital clipping, soft knee on tap. Every drum bus runs through one – this one gives the kick its own headroom.

CLIP: the knee softening

2

Op-amp

Warm edge to full overload. RAIL SAG: the supply gives way. Sags, breathes, fights back.

Analogue misbehaviour, dialled in – as much as the track can take.

The ORIGAMI dial

3

Fold

The most digital distortion there is. ORIGAMI folds the wave back on itself – once, twice, all the way.

Harmonics the other engines don't make.

FOLD: the wave folded back on itself

4

Loc-o

Blows anything out, with ease. GRIT sets how hard. Drums into a wall.

Our reading of the level-loc sound.

Big EQ

The whole window.

One press. Three bands, bell or shelf. LINK moves the EQ behind the stage with the one in front. DYN EQ lets the headroom breathe with the signal.

BIG EQ: the headroom EQ across the whole window

On the scope

Watch it work.

The signal through Plimsoll, filmed on Plimsoll Scope – wave, spectrum, stereo field, and against the dry take: frequency response, phase, dynamics. With sound.

Hear it

Drum bus

Clip the bus, keep the kick. BASS +6 dB of headroom, the rest into the ceiling.

Guitars

The pedalboard trick, no pedalboard. Op-amp with the rail sagging, MID pushed into the drive.

Vocals

Loc-o into a room. GRIT a third of the way, HIGH given a little headroom so the air stays air.

Why I built it

I kept noticing that I – and the producers and mixing engineers around me – load an EQ before a distortion almost by reflex. Not to EQ. To control the shape of the distortion. The guitar world has always done it: a Tube Screamer boosts first and distorts second, a pedalboard gets its second voice from an EQ in front of the drive, an amp sounds the way it does because the tone stack sits before part of the gain.

What I wanted was a clipper for the drum bus that gives the kick more headroom than the rest – without the bass losing level. That one need turned into Plimsoll: a distortion you can EQ, without EQing the sound. Versatile, but precise. And simple to use.

Leon · Elexius

49 € · 32 € while it's new. Or 14 days of the full plugin first – one click, no account, no card.

Try it freeGet Plimsoll

Questions

Is Plimsoll a clipper or a saturator?

Both. CLIP is a clean digital clipper – the reason it exists. OP-AMP, FOLD and LOC-O are three more ways to distort. The headroom EQ works in front of every one of them.

What does the headroom EQ do that a normal EQ doesn't?

A normal EQ changes level. This one changes how hard a band is driven – and the EQ behind the stage puts the level back. You hear more or less distortion in that band, not a louder or quieter band.

Does it add latency?

At 0LAT, none. With oversampling (4x, 16x) a few samples, reported to your DAW so everything stays in time.

How does the demo work?

Install, press START DEMO in the plugin. 14 days of the full plugin, no account, no card. Buy later and your settings stay.

How many computers can I use it on?

Five per serial. Free one in your account whenever you like. A computer without internet is activated offline with a licence file from your account.

Windows?

Not yet. macOS 11 and up today, Apple Silicon and Intel, VST3 and AU.

FormatsVST3 · AU · macOS 11 and up, Apple Silicon and Intel. Windows: not yet.
Demo14 days of the full plugin. One click, no account, no card.
Licence5 computers per serial, freed and moved in your account. Offline activation for a computer without internet.
Supportsupport@ – placeholder
Hear itin action
audio to come