The prized optical section of the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor is now an expanded, dedicated plugin
EMBARGOED: SEPTEMBER 24, 2025, 4PM CEST
Langenfeld, September 24, 2025 — Brainworx and Shadow Hills Industries are thrilled to unveil Shadow Hills OptoMax, a new optical compressor plugin that takes the much-loved optical section from the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor as a starting point and reworks it into a whole new and exciting beast.
Building on the official partnership that produced the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor and Class A plugins, now a staple with top engineers, Brainworx has used their industry-leading analog modeling expertise to capture every nuance of the Shadow Hills optical circuits, and taken them beyond what’s practical in the analog domain.
The result is a musical, characterful compressor with multiple transformer colorations and powerful new modes that make it adaptable for everything from transparent leveling to aggressive, saturated compression.
What’s new in OptoMax
· Expanded control — Creatively limited ratio and speed controls (slow, med, fast) unlock new sonic possibilities, but still retain the essential bloom and smoothness of optical compression.
· Push mode — Limiter-style, ultra-fast timing mode for aggressive modern sounds.
· Signature transformer color — Instantly switch between Shadow Hills’ Nickel, Iron, and Steel transformer circuits from the original Mastering Compressor for three distinct flavors of harmonic character.
· Tone sculpting — A dedicated Tone control offers Air for silky brilliance or Smooth to gently tame edgy top-end.
· Modern workflow — Advanced sidechain (highpass and bell options, SC Listen, external SC, and stereo link), parallel Mix, and a resizable GUI keep the creative flow fast and flexible.
Analogue optical compressors transform the non-linear characteristics of light glowing and fading into smooth, musical compression. However, due to this essential mechanism, they are often limited to slower attack and release times. OptoMax preserves that classic, bloom-without-bite feel, but uses the power of digital processing to add deeper timing control and a robust sidechain section for modern engineers.
Learn more
Get all the details at www.plugin-alliance.com/shadow_hills_optomax
Get all the details at www.plugin-alliance.com/shadow_hills_optomax
Pricing and availability
MSRP - $150
Intro offer - $69 through December 24, 2025.
Shadow Hills OptoMax has been added to the Plugin Alliance MEGA Bundle at no extra cost.
Media contact
press@native-instruments.com