Baby Audio, Waves, Sonnox: 3 Strong Plugin Deals for Granular Synthesis, Bus Compression, and Drum Gating
A New Granular Synthesizer, the Classic SSL Bus Compressor, and a Smart Drum Gate on Sale
Baby Audio, Waves, Sonnox: 3 Strong Plugin Deals for Granular Synthesis, Bus Compression, and Drum Gating · Source: GEARNEWS
Baby Audio opens this week’s deals with Grainferno, a genuinely new take on granular synthesis that breaks samples into grains and rebuilds them into completely new textures, for €79. Next up is Waves with the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, the plugin emulation of the legendary SSL 4000 G bus compressor, for €29.90. Rounding things out is Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate 2, a completely reworked intelligent drum gate that cleans up drum tracks with more precision than ever.
Software Deals of the Week
Baby Audio Grainferno: Now 49% Off
Baby Audio built Grainferno to rethink granular synthesis from the ground up. Instead of treating grains as pure texture, which is what most granular plugins do, Baby Audio Grainferno can push grain generation fast enough that the grains themselves cross into the audible range and start behaving like oscillators. Feed it any sample and you get a playable, pitch-tracking instrument that keeps the spectral fingerprint of the source material intact. Through September 29, Baby Audio Grainferno is available for €79.
The dual-sample engine processes two independent source samples at once, morphing between them in real time using seven different modes. Per-grain processing with Grain Filter, Grain Compressor, and Grain Blur gives you detailed control at the grain level itself. A drag-and-drop modulation system with three envelopes, three syncable LFOs, and two random generators lets you modulate almost any parameter, cross-modulation between sources included. A reorderable multi-effects section with delay, reverb, distortion, chorus, and compression shapes the signal before it hits the output.
In practice, Baby Audio Grainferno works just as well for experimental sound design as it does for playable musical instruments. Want to build a Reese bassline or a sub tone out of existing audio? Push the grain rate into audio-rate territory and you get a pitch-tracking instrument you can actually play. Over 300 presets from sound designers like Virtual Riot and Francis Preve plus six quickstart templates make getting into granular synthesis a lot less intimidating. Anyone who’s spent time with more traditional granular plugins will notice fast that Baby Audio Grainferno feels more like a sound design playground than a plugin with a predictable outcome.
Through September 29, 2026, grab Baby Audio Grainferno here at Thomann* for €79.00 instead of €153.51 with 49% off.
Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor: For €29.90
Waves put together one of the most widely used plugin emulations out there with the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor. The original comes from the bus compressor section of the legendary SSL 4000 G console and has been the reference for that particular kind of glue on a master bus for decades. Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor is currently on sale for €29.90.
The compressor offers the same four compression ratios as the original, plus attack and release times tuned exactly to the console’s bus compressor section. The fade-in function allows smooth ramps over adjustable time periods, which is genuinely useful for automated transitions. The VU meter shows gain reduction in real time and visually mirrors the original hardware design.
In practice, the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor most often ends up on the master bus or on drum groups, where it delivers exactly the kind of glue plenty of engineers talk about. Even low ratio settings with a gentle attack are often enough to round out a mix and pull it together, without the compression itself ever becoming audible. For producers looking for a proven, no-frills bus compressor, this plugin remains a reliable choice.
Grab the Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor here at Thomann* for €29.90.
Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate 2: Now 53% Off
Sonnox released a fundamental update to its celebrated drum gate with Oxford Drum Gate 2. Instead of just reacting to level like a traditional noise gate, this second generation runs on a purpose-built drum detection engine that classifies hits by timbre, not just loudness.
The new Align tab analyzes time, polarity, and phase across multiple mic tracks and automatically lines up a full multi-mic drum setup, something that used to require a separate alignment tool entirely. An adaptive resonant decay algorithm with an HF Damping parameter shapes the tail of every hit individually. An external sidechain input accepts both audio and MIDI triggering, which makes syncing multiple instances considerably easier. Two independent levelers let you control loud and soft hits separately at the same time, preserving subtle ghost notes without losing overall clarity.
In practice, Oxford Drum Gate 2 shows its strengths most clearly on complex multi-mic recordings, where bleed between overheads, room mics, and close mics tends to cause phase problems. The intelligent detection reliably identifies kick, snare, hi-hat, and toms even during complex playing, and false triggers drop noticeably compared to the first generation. Anyone who’s ever manually dialed in gates on every single drum track will appreciate the time saved by the automatic classification right away.
Through October 21, 2026, grab Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate 2 here at Thomann* for €79.00 instead of €169.00 with 53% off.
*Note: This article about this week’s software deals with the plugins Baby Audio Grainferno, Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate 2 contains affiliate links that help us keep Gearnews running. The price for you always stays the same! If you buy something through these links, we receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!
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