Heritage Audio transforms its Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor into plugin form

Back in 2022, Heritage Audio released its Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor, a reimagined take on the classic optical compressor. The hardware harnessed a vintage sound and pushed it into a modern realm – and now, three years on, its been transformed into a handy, versatile plugin.

The Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor plugin allows for “crystal-clear opto-compression” from the comfort of your DAW. Just like the physical tech, the plugin allows you to toy with sounds reminiscent of the Raytheon double triode tube, enabling you to capture subtle warmth or a full-blown clamour of fuzzy, tube-driven grit.

The plugin also has five internal side-chain filtering options, allowing for even more fuzzy experimentation. Whether you’re fiddling with your guitar, bass, drums or vocals, you can unmask sounds to add a little extra space and groove to your tracks.

In terms of controls, the plugin allows you to tweak input gain, ratio, attack, tube saturation, threshhold and more. There are also SC filter options to tweak how sensitive the Tubesessor plugin is to certain frequencies, as well as the ability to flick between different attack/release settings.

The plugin is supported on Mac and PC, as well as being compatible with all major DAWs, including Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One, and more.

In terms of price, the Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor is available for $99, with the option of trialing it out for 14 days totally free. There’s also an option to redeem a free Tubesessor Native lifetime license if you’re a pre-existing i73 PRO owner.

Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor is available now. However, if you already own the i73 PRO, head to Heritage Audio to claim your free license.