Newfangled Audio Invigorate – A Real-World Review

Newfangled Audio’s Invigorate, available from Eventide Audio, is much more than a stereo compressor/limiter. It is for “coloring up” any stereo or mono track by applying carefully sculpted, pumping compression, distortion or limiting in any combination using an intuitive collection of controls. These changes are made possible using a resizable radar screen–style interface that resembles a vertical birds-eye view of a baseball diamond.

Running as an AAX, VST3 or AU plug-in, Invigorate is best used as an insert processor, as a single Radar Dot can be moved around with a mouse between Compress, Limit and Overdrive signals, with the Mix control then working as a Wet/Dry. There are conventional compressor controls such as Attack, Release and Curve, along with an Anti-Pump filter—a highpass filter in the side-chain.

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I liked the Compensate Gain feature that sets the level of the processed signal; also clever were the Nominal and Learn controls to dial in the operating level for the compensation engine. Likewise noteworthy are the Tone Controls—three adjustable three-band EQs you can set separately for the sidechain path or the Input and the Output signals.

With all these controls available in one plug-in, I had to try it on one of my most difficult recent mixes, with problematic instrument tracks. I had a stereo synth pad that was not always “hearable” when placed at a proper, soft level. (Pads, when too hearable, seem to flood out all the transparency and air of the mix itself.) I put Invigorate across the pad to try to add a layer of compression with some distortion mixed in. Worked great—better than EQ or anything else I tried. The pad was more “transparent,” and I heard it fine without clogging up all the space in the track.