2nd
Warm Body
One octave above the fundamental. Adds fullness — the most euphonic harmonic. Start here for 808 sub enhancement.
Audubon · Plugins
CRN-001
·
Released v1.0
Bass Harmonic Enhancer
Crane.
Bass made loud.
Six independently sculpted harmonic bands. A phase-coherent split. Four-times oversampled. Everything below the crossover gets bigger — everything above arrives untouched.
Free Add to Cart · v1.0
Free
01 / 08
01 — Overview
A precision bass enhancer
that only touches the bass.
Crane is a six-band harmonic enhancer that adds warmth, definition, and presence exactly where you need it — below the crossover, nowhere else. Designed for dubstep, drum & bass, trap, and any production where the low end has to assert itself on small speakers.
A Linkwitz-Riley 4th-order crossover splits the signal, processes the bass band with a polynomial waveshaper at 4× oversample rate, then recombines it phase-coherently.
Six harmonic bands let you sculpt how the low end breathes, growls, or punches. Mids and highs arrive at the output bit-identical to what came in — there's no hidden processing on the high band, no phase smear at the split point, no unintended side-effects on the rest of your mix.
02 — The Engine
Polynomial waveshaping with surgical control.
The live FFT spectrum overlays the pre-enhancement input (blue) against the post-enhancement output (amber) — you see exactly what Crane is building, in real time, across the full audible band.
Polynomial Waveshaper
The core of Crane is a polynomial waveshaper: y = a₂x² + a₃x³ + … + a₇x⁷. Each coefficient maps directly to one harmonic. The Level knob for each band controls how much energy flows into that coefficient — zero to full, with 0.1% resolution.
Even / Odd Character Blend
Every harmonic band has an Even/Odd slider. Slide left for the pure even-order term — tube-stage warmth, euphonic. Slide right for the pure odd-order term — transistor bite, gritty and forward. Most sounds want something in between.
Per-Harmonic Bypass
Each of the six bands has its own ON/OFF toggle. Build harmonic texture incrementally, hear exactly what each component contributes, A/B individual harmonics during shaping without touching the Level knob.
Live FFT Spectrum
The analyzer overlays input vs. output across the audible spectrum. Harmonic bell markers indicate each active band's frequency. The crossover line is draggable directly on the display — set it by ear while watching the split.
03 — Per-Harmonic Control
Six bands. Six independent personalities.
2nd through 7th harmonic, each with its own Level knob, Even/Odd blend, and bypass. Lower harmonics add body and warmth; higher harmonics add presence, shimmer, and air.
3rd
Presence
An octave + a fifth up. Midrange presence; makes bass translatable to small speakers. Defining harmonic for growl bass.
4th
Punch
Two octaves up. Adds impact and punch without as much apparent grit as the 3rd. Pairs well with the 2nd.
5th
Shimmer
Two octaves and a major third. Adds shimmer and definition — particularly useful for wobble bass and modulated sounds.
6th
Clarity
High-frequency content generated from the bass — useful for presence in dense mixes where the fundamental is buried.
7th
Air
The highest available harmonic. Adds upper-frequency extension to bass material. Use at low levels — texture, not weight.
04 — Band-Split Architecture
Touch the bass.
Leave the rest alone.
A — LR4
Linkwitz-Riley 4th-Order
The industry standard for phase-coherent band splitting. When the low band and high band are summed at the output, the crossover region is flat and phase-aligned. No comb filtering, no cancellation at the split point.
B — Range
60 Hz → 1000 Hz, log taper
From sub-only processing to almost the entire bass range, including upper harmonics of bass instruments. The control uses a logarithmic taper so fine adjustment is easy at low frequencies, where it matters most.
C — High Band
Bit-Transparent Passthrough
The high-band signal runs through the complementary high-pass and then directly to the output stage — no waveshaping, no saturation, no additional processing. Everything above the crossover is preserved exactly.
05 — 4× Oversampling
Clean harmonics. No aliasing.
A — Anti-alias
Aliasing Prevention
Polynomial waveshapers generate harmonics that, at nominal sample rate, fold back into the audible spectrum as inharmonic artifacts. Crane runs the waveshaper at 4× the host rate, pushing alias products far above 20 kHz before downsampling with a steep FIR.
B — DC Block
18 Hz DC Blocker
Even-order polynomial terms inherently generate DC offset — a constant voltage that wastes headroom and can cause downstream clipping. An 18 Hz high-pass after the waveshaper cleanly removes any offset before mix.
C — PDC
Latency Reporting
The small amount of latency introduced by the oversampling filter is reported accurately to the host for plugin delay compensation. Crane works correctly on parallel buses alongside dry tracks without phase offset.
06 — Global Controls
Five knobs that shape everything else.
Drive and Boost determine how hard the waveshaper works; Crossover determines where it works; Mix and Output shape the final result.
Drive
−12 → +24 dB
Pre-waveshaper gain. More drive pushes more of the signal into nonlinear territory. 3–6 dB is usually enough; higher values interact with every harmonic band simultaneously.
Crossover
60 → 1000 Hz
The split point. 80–120 Hz for sub-only (808s). 200–300 Hz for full bass-band processing. 400–600 Hz when you want the entire bass instrument range processed.
Mix
0 → 100 %
Dry/wet blend. At 100% only the processed signal is heard. Pull back for parallel processing — drive the harmonics hard, blend a fraction in for natural-sounding enhancement.
Output
−24 → +12 dB
Final trim. Harmonic enhancement raises RMS — use Output to compensate and maintain consistent loudness for A/B. Useful when feeding a limiter that needs a stable input.
Boost
1.5× / 2.5×
A global harmonic multiplier. Off: 1.5× scale. On: 2.5×. The quick way to shift between subtle enhancement and heavy saturation without adjusting every Level knob. Ideal for drop automation.
07 — Workflow
From insert to drop, in seven moves.
01
Insert Crane on your bass channel, 808 bus, or any channel where low-end enhancement is the goal.
02
Set the Crossover first. 80–150 Hz for sub-only, 200–350 Hz for a full bass instrument, 400–600 Hz for synths with complex upper harmonic content.
03
Start with the 2nd harmonic — Level 20–40% to add fundamental warmth. The safest harmonic to push and the one that translates best on all speakers.
04
Add 3rd harmonic (30–50%) for presence and midrange definition — this is what makes your bass audible on phones and earbuds.
05
Shape character with the Even/Odd sliders — left for tube warmth, right for transistor bite. Each band can have its own character.
06
Use Drive to dial in overall saturation intensity, then compensate with Output to maintain perceived loudness.
07
Automate the Boost toggle on drops or transitions to instantly shift between enhancement mode and heavy saturation character.
08 — Specifications
Everything, on one page.
Format
VST3
Platform
Windows 10 / 11 · 64-bit
Version
1.0.0
Harmonic bands
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th — 6 independent bands
Per-harmonic controls
Level (0–100%), Even/Odd blend (0.0–1.0), bypass toggle
Drive range
−12 to +24 dB
Crossover range
60–1000 Hz · logarithmic taper
Crossover type
Linkwitz-Riley 4th-order (LR4) · phase-coherent
Mix range
0 → 100% dry/wet
Output Gain
−24 to +12 dB
Boost
Off: 1.5× harmonic scale · On: 2.5×
Oversampling
4× · always active
Waveshaper
y = a₂x² + a₃x³ + a₄x⁴ + a₅x⁵ + a₆x⁶ + a₇x⁷
DC blocker
18 Hz high-pass after waveshaper
Spectrum display
Real-time FFT · input + output overlaid · draggable crossover line
Parameter smoothing
Ramp filter on all parameters · click-free automation
State save
Full settings saved with DAW project as XML
09 — Fine Print
Documentation.
DAW
Any VST3-compatible host — Ableton Live 11+, FL Studio 20+, Reaper, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig, and others. Insert on any mono or stereo track.
Operating System
Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). Mac support is planned for a future release.
Format
VST3 only. Works on mono and stereo channels — bass tracks, drum bus, anywhere low-frequency enhancement is needed.
CPU
4× oversampling means roughly 2× the CPU of an EQ on the same channel. On a modern processor, Crane uses a small fraction of one core. Multiple instances are practical.
Recommended Setup
Insert on bass or 808 channel. Start with Crossover 250 Hz, 2nd harmonic 30%, Even/Odd 0.15, Drive 0 dB. Build by ear.
Updates
Current release 1.0.0. Free updates for all future 1.x releases.
v1.0.0 — Initial Release
First public release. Six independently sculpted harmonic bands, phase-coherent LR4 band split, 4× polyphase FIR oversampling, Even/Odd balance control, per-band solo, global Drive and Mix.
Full User Guide
Step-by-step walkthrough of every control, the spectrum display, harmonic cells, and workflow tips for getting the most out of Crane on bass, 808s, and sub instruments.
Open User Guide →
Personal & Commercial Use
Use Crane in any project — music production, mixing, sound design, post-production, broadcast, and live performance. No royalties, no project restrictions.
Single User
One license per user. Install on up to 3 machines you personally own or operate.
Serial Activation
Your license includes a unique serial number tied to your email. Your serial and download are permanently accessible in your Members Area.
Free Updates
All 1.x updates are free. Your serial activates the current version and all future updates in the 1.x line.
No Redistribution
The plugin binaries may not be shared, resold, or redistributed. Each user must obtain their own license.