Musik Hack is the brainchild of Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Stan Greene, and Samuel Fischmann, a composer and plug-in developer. Their first collaboration comes in the form of Master Plan, a new all-in-one mastering plug-in with a simple GUI that promises to deliver professional-sounding results within minutes.
The plug-in is based around a transparent loudness processor, with the amount of limiting applied defined by a central Loud parameter. Low and High controls then provide two bands of equalisation, with the first offering a range of ±6dB, and the second allowing ±8dB of adjustment. Further tonal control is available thanks to a selection of buttons, with a Clean control serving to remove any ‘muddy’ low-frequency content, and a Calm button combating high-frequency buildup.
Moving away from transparency, Master Plan also allow users to introduce some saturation, with Tape and Thick buttons offering a fixed amount of tape emulation and analogue-inspired saturation respectively. A Multi button engages a multi-band compressor, with users able to set the amount of gain reduction applied across fixed low, mid and high bands using three level sliders. The behaviour of the compression can be modified using a Smooth button alongside the multi-band section, which is intended to “gently tame” dynamic signals.
Completing the processing chain is a single Wide parameter, which utilises phase coherent stereo depth processing to provide users with some control over the perceived width of their signal. A number of helpful monitoring control facilities are built in to the plug-in, with mono summing and dim functions joined by emulations of NS10 monitors and mobile playback devices. Finally, the bottom of the GUI offers a row of numerical meters that display the resulting loudness values in both short-term and integrated LUFS readings, along with peak and crest factor readouts.
Compatibility
Master Plan is supported on Mac and Windows platforms, and is available in VST3, AU and AAX plug-in formats.
Pricing & Availability
Master Plan is available now, with yearly and permanent licences currently (30 March 2023) being offered for reduced introductory prices. a one-year licence is available for $50 (usually $75), and a permanent costs $125 (usually $175).
