Soundtheory have announced the launch of Kraftur Focus, a new edition of their parallel clipper plug-in that offers increased phase coherency between the processed and bypassed signals.
The company say that Kraftur Focus was developed in response to users who have asked for phase compensation. The original Kraftur intentionally uses minimum-phase filters since they help to increase the statistically available headroom, while maintaining the energy of the signal. The newly introduced Kraftur Focus version, however, employs a hybrid approach which realigns the phase of the signal after the saturation stage. This means that Kraftur Focus can be engaged for parallel processing, allowing it to be used as a send effect. It does come at a cost, though, with the Focus variant incurring between 40 and 50 ms of latency compared to the near-zero performance of the original versions.
Along with the new edition of the plug-in, a Soundtheory have rolled out a version 1.2 update that introduces some new features to both versions. These include the ability to display a wide range of statistics — RMS, peak and peak-hold values of both the input and output signals as well as the Crest Factor Reduction. It is also now possible to emulate a band shift for single-band processing by clicking and dragging on the single band’s transfer curve.
Compatibility
Kraftur Focus is supported on PCs running Windows 10 or higher, and Macs running macOS 10.13 and above. VST, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available. Authorisation is carried out via PACE’s iLok system, although a physical dongle is not required.
Pricing & Availability
Kraftur Focus is available now, priced at $99£76 including VAT. To celebrate the release, Soundtheory are offering a 30% discount on Kraftur and Gullfoss. Current Kraftur owners are eligible for a free update.
