Dyna-Mite is the Swiss Army Knife Limiter/Expander with Unique Character that Inspires New Sounds!

The Valley People Dyna-Mite was designed in the 80's and has become a secret weapon for some. For others, it's still a hidden treasure just waiting to be discovered. It features a limit mode, an expander mode, a gate mode, a de-esser mode and on top of that, two sidechain modes that let you duck or follow a track. All the options breathe of the Dyna-Mite's very special vibe and flavor.

Note: iLok USB key is required to run Softube software.

Ear 2 Track is an authorized Softube Dealer and can provide sales and support for all products.

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This download edition has no box, media, packaging, or shipping costs, making your purchase very green, and very fast no matter where you live on the planet. You can download the product and updates when it's convenient for you. Ear 2 Track is an authorized Softube dealer and will provide you with a registration number and download instructions by email typically within 1 business day of your purchase. iLok USB software authorization key is required, not included.

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Nowadays, the Dyna-Mite has a reputation not only as a problem solver but also as a creative tool that can really influence your sound in a unique way. It stands out from other solutions by being a tech-driven innovative design which has resulted in several creations, like the Valley People proprietary VCA and the Anticipatory Release Computation, both of which play a big part in the sound of the Dyna-Mite.

Quotes and Reviews

"I'm very familiar with the Dyna-Mite, having owned a stereo unit for many years. They were basically the "Distressor of the Eighties." I used them all the time as a Drum Crusher. They could pump and breathe like crazy and put a great attack pop on a snare drum. Yes, even in the mid eighties I was using them as parallel compression on drums and synths. They also worked well on Electric pianos and room mics. In the Eighties I used them on albums for Oingo Boingo, The Stranglers, and even Pat Benatar. One trick I used back then was to put a shotgun mic 8-10 up over the snare drum gate it and compress it with the DynaMite...

The plug-in, wow. It certainly does that thing. It puts an amazing front end on the attack of a snare or a Tambourine that really makes it speak in a track. It can turn an Electric Bass into a Synth Bass and an Upright bass into an electric. There is something very wrong about this plug-in compressor. But sometimes it can really be most 'right' sound for the track. The gating works great. It brings back all those Gated Snare Drum Echo memories. Sometimes the '80's can be very very cool....."

Joe Chiccarelli
Mixer, Engineer, Producer
(Beck, U2, The Strokes, Elton John, etc.)

"There is always the debate if plug-ins sound close to the original. With the Softube Dyna-Mite I hear absolutely no difference, those guys nailed it."

Michael Wagener
Mixer, Producer, Engineer
(Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Dokken, Alice Cooper, etc.)

Features

Faithful replica of the Valley People Dyna-Mite, a multi-dynamics tool capable of limiting/ compressing, expanding, gating, keying, ducking, de-essing, etc.

• Limiting: Peak and average limiting, incl. negative ratio (-20:1) limiting and detector HF filtering (for De-Essing purposes).
• Expanding: Hard or soft with extreme gate settings and detector HF filtering.
• Ducking or Keying modes with external side chain (where available).
• Threshold knob with auto make-up gain.
• Release ranging from 0.05 to 5 sec/20 dB with Anticipatory Release Computation (ARC) to reduce pumping.
• Output volume with accurately modeled output distortion and clip LED.
• Innovative Range knob that controls maximum amount of expansion or limiting.
• Built-in interactive guide that displays current settings and active mode.

Threshold with Automatic Make-Up Gain

Classic threshold control. Determines the signal level above which limiting, or below which expanding action begins.

Release with Anticipatory Release Computation (ARC)

The program dependent Release control changes its behavior depending on the material in order to prevent pumping. Valley People called it "Anticipatory Release Computation", or just ARC for short. Whatever name it has, it's definitely a big part of the famous Dyna-Mite sound!

Range

The Range control limits the maximum gain reduction. You can use it in expanding mode to set the lower limit of the gate (for example, never gate more than 20 dB), or in limiting mode to allow the strongest transients to slip through.

Output Stage

As always, a faithfully modeled output stage. The clipping of the output stage is also a big part of the Dyna-Mite sound, and crucial when you need to control your signal levels. The slower detector mode (AVG) takes care of the overall limiting, while the output clipping handles the transients.

Detector Source

Both internal and external side chain is supported. The middle mode (DS-FM) inserts a high frequency boost to the detector which makes it perfect for de-essing or limiting troublesome cymbals. In expanding mode, it helps to trigger the gate for high frequency signals (which is useful if you want to do hard gating on a drum bus, but don't want the gate to close on the hi-hats).

Mode Switch

Switch between expanding (EXP), limiting (LIM) and bypass (OUT) modes. Output gain and saturation is active in bypass mode.

Detector Type

Three different detector types give the Dyna-Mite three distinctive sounds. Choose between an aggressive Gate mode, a fast all-round Peak mode or the slower AVG mode.

Interactive Guide

In addition to the original controls, we added an interactive display which shows the current modes and settings.

System Requirements

Mac OS X (10.4 or higher), Windows XP or higher

• Mac: Intel or PowerPC processor (G4 or higher), Windows: PIII or higher
• 512 MB RAM
• Any VST, AudioUnits or RTAS compatible host application
• iLok USB key and the latest Pace Interlok drivers