Circuit-modelled plugins · Copenhagen
Component-level models of the consoles, compressors and tape machines records were made on. Convolution reverbs with living tails. Signature chains for guitar and voice. And six equalisers that take a different route entirely. Built from the schematics and the measurements, finished by ear. VST3 and AU, native on Apple Silicon.
Bundles
Launch pricing until 30 November 2026. Every bundle includes a 14-day trial of its full contents. Existing owners receive crossgrade pricing: what you have paid is deducted from the bundle.
Method
A small team, a measurement suite for every product, and four principles that decide what ships.
A LEGEND model begins with the service documentation and reproduces the circuit stage by stage: nonlinear gain elements, reactive networks, transformer saturation, detector time constants. It is complete when its measured transfer functions match the published figures. Listening tests refine, never replace, that process.
Any control at its neutral position is bit-identical to bypass and consumes no CPU. Inactive stages sleep. The EQ series idles at 0.03 % of one core; a console channel on every track is the intended use, not an exception.
Factory presets reproduce settings engineers have published in interviews, manuals and their own sessions, with the source named. Every preset is loudness-matched to bypass (ITU-R BS.1770, K-weighted) so that comparisons are made at equal level.
Once a release is approved, its output is frozen as a bit-exact reference. Every subsequent build, including CPU optimisations, must reproduce it sample for sample before it ships. Each panel control performs a function; nothing on the interface is decorative.
From the designer
A model is finished when its curves sit on the manufacturer's figures. Only then do I start listening.
Fred, on the LEGEND seriesNo frequencies on the panel. The control names the result; the processing chooses the method.
Fred, on the EQ seriesA control at zero must be bit-identical to bypass. Otherwise it isn't at zero.
Fred, on designQuestions
VST3 and AU, plus a standalone application for every plugin. macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon (M1 and newer). Sample rates from 44.1 to 192 kHz. A Windows version is in development.
Download, install and use every function for 14 days. No iLok, no dongle and no account required before you have heard it. On purchase, the same installation is licensed in place.
Three computers of your own at the same time. Multi-seat licences for studios and institutions are available on request.
The LEGEND compressors, equaliser and console modules, the EQ series and the convolution reverbs run at zero latency. Plugins with lookahead or oversampling (the tape machine, FRED Channel, FRED TRANSIENT, FRED LEAD, FRED FADERS) report their exact latency to the host and keep it constant for every setting. Each product page states the figure.
REAL mode records through a hysteresis model with true 120 kHz bias at an internal rate of 176.4 or 192 kHz. That is where its sound comes from. ECO mode uses an anhysteretic model fitted to the same measurements at about 5 % of one core, with the same frequency response, for sessions that need many instances.
No. FRED Audio is not affiliated with any hardware manufacturer. The plugins are built from published schematics, datasheets, our own captures and measurements, and no manufacturer names or logos appear on the panels.
On 1 December 2026 every plugin and bundle moves to its list price. Purchases made during the launch keep their price permanently, updates included. Owners always receive upgrade pricing on new releases.
The 14-day trial is there to be used. If you purchase and still regret it within 30 days, write to us and we will refund you.
