overview01 spec02 demo03 faq04

overview / algorithms

thirteen modes.

all 4× oversampled
scroll horizontally →

01.

hard clip

Brick-wall knee at threshold. No shaping, no softening. Transient-honest, maximum density. The reference mode.

02.

soft tanh

Hyperbolic tangent — the classic smooth curve. Low-order even harmonics, transients audible, never harsh.

03.

soft atan

Arctangent — gentler shoulder than tanh. The "round" clipper. Sits well on bus and vocals.

04.

tube

Asymmetric tube-style soft clip. 2nd-harmonic emphasis with DC bias. Console-stack warmth on snares + bus.

05.

foldback

Triangle wavefolder — excess signal folds back in-band. Sounds like a distorted bell. Use sparingly on percussion.

06.

diode

Asymmetric exponential diode clipper. Dense mid harmonics, classic stompbox feel. Great on guitars and tonal layers.

07.

sine

Smooth sine-curve transfer. Continuous derivatives, no audible artifacts at low drive — turns nasty fast above the knee.

08.

cubic

Classic x − x³/3 soft clip. 3rd-harmonic-heavy character. Drumbus glue and synth bass density.

09.

blended tanh

Tanh blended with hard rails. Soft knee + brick-wall ceiling. The mastering pick when you want softening without overshoot.

10.

poly exp

Polynomial exponential — bright, slightly bitey character. Adds upper-mid harmonic energy without dulling the top.

11.

schroeder

Resonant-ish nonlinearity. Generates a recurring inter-modulation pattern — feels alive in a "phaser-ish" way at high drive.

12.

user curve

5-point user-drawn transfer curve. Draw your own clipping shape. Bezier-interpolated, monotonic-clamped so it always behaves.

13.

audio sample

Drag in an audio file → its waveform becomes the transfer curve LUT. Turn any sound into a clipper. Re-discover destruction.

/ and more

8-band parametric EQ chain with SHAPE (pre-clipper EQ) and BAND (parallel band-routed) modes, live FFT spectrum analyzer, draggable handles glued to the response curve. Cracked saturator — three internal stages from tube glow through 3rd-harmonic enhancement to wavefold. Dimension — single-knob M/S width + LFO chorus with detent at 0.5. LFO-modulated threshold — sine / tri / saw / square, tempo-synced 1/1 .. 1/32. 127 factory presets across Default, Sidechain, Noise categories.

overview / delivery

what you get.

per purchase
no subscription

·01

signed installers

Notarized macOS .pkg · VST3 + AU · universal binary.

·02

lifetime v1.x

Every point release in the 1.x series. Plain-text release notes.

·03

127 presets

50 default · 42 sidechain · 35 noise. Save your own to the User tab.

·04

manual · 38pp

Every parameter diagrammed, every algorithm graphed.

spec / engineering release

full spec.

v1.0.0 · 2026.04
doc rev a

/ signal
algorithms	13 · hard · tanh · atan · tube · fold · diode · sine · cubic · blended tanh · poly exp · schroeder · user curve · audio sample
routing	main / sc / both / duck / inverse
oversampling	1× · 2× · 4× polyphase IIR
sample rate	44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 kHz
internal dsp	64-bit floating point
latency	1.6 ms @ 48 kHz / 1×
thd+n (hard clip)	−0.01 dB pre-clip
cpu (m1, 64ch, 1×)	0.6 %

/ modulation + host
lfo waves	sine · tri · saw · square · s&h
lfo rate	0.01 Hz — 80 Hz · tempo-sync
lfo depth	±24 dB threshold modulation
formats	vst3 · au
platforms	macos 10.13+ · win 10+
architectures	arm64 · x86-64
license	per user · 2 seats · keys via lemon squeezy
activations	2 seats · deauthorize-anywhere

spec / transfer curve

fig.02 — live curve.

algorithm: hard clip
plotted in real time

Every algorithm renders its exact transfer curve in real time, plotted over the unity diagonal. Clip points are labeled. You never have to guess what the math is doing to your signal — it's drawn.

x-axisinput level (dBFS) y-axisoutput level (dBFS) unitydashed diagonal · reference ceiling0.0 dB · clip threshold

demo / a — b comparison

hear it.

three sources · multiple algorithms each
switch sources with the tabs below

source · drum loop

drum loop.

reference

0:00 / 0:00 unprocessed drum loop · reference for every comparison below

processed · tungsten · 1 / 6

hard clip.

algo · 01

0:00 / 0:00

Brick-wall knee at threshold. Transient-honest, maximum density. The reference clip mode.

← → cycle algorithms · space play/pause · click waveform to seek

faq / common

questions.

updated 2026.04.24

is there a free trial?

No. Trial builds get cracked too easily and that's the entire studio's lunch money. Tungsten is $29.99 — less than a single round of drinks — and ships with a 30-day no-questions refund. Buy it, run it on a real session, send it back if it doesn't earn its place.

how does licensing work?

Your license key is emailed by Lemon Squeezy at checkout and stays in your customer portal forever. Paste it into the plug-in once per machine — the plug-in validates against Lemon Squeezy's server (this is the only outbound call it makes), then runs without further network access. Two seats per key, deauthorize-anywhere.

how many machines?

Two. One studio, one mobile. Deauthorize-anywhere flow. Mid-session recovery license available if you're in a bind on a deadline.

windows?

Yes — VST3 build for Windows 10+ is included with every license at no extra charge. Same preset format, same key, two activations split across macOS and Windows however you like.

refund policy?

30 days, no questions. Buy it, run it on a real bus, send it back if it doesn't earn its place.

tungsten.