PiMax

Make It Loud

Downloads

Features

5 original saturation algorithms
Symmetric/Asymmetric saturation control
Up to 4 adjustable frequency bands for multiband saturation
12dB boost for destructive distortion
Stereo widening & mono-to-stereo tool
Per-band gain & width controls
Linear-Phase multiband filters
4x oversampling, Linear-Phase oversampling, render-only oversampling

Fully modular multiband

Slice your sound source into a maximum of four frequency bands for full control.

Each band comes with input and output gains, as well as a width control.

Bands can be soloed, muted, or bypass the saturation — perfect for granular control over a final mix or track group.

Versatile Saturation

PiMax comes equipped with several saturation settings: symmetric saturation for odd-order harmonics, asymmetric for even- and odd-order harmonics, and further modifiers for customizing the response of the saturation.

Finite creates gentle foldback distortion as it’s driven, leading to unique warping of the loudest signals, and incredibly transparent saturation at lower levels.

Infinite takes the foldback distortion even further, allowing the signal to pass through zero, creating high-pitched resonances for creative sound shaping.

Clip works like a traditional soft clipper, driving everything towards the ceiling and letting nothing past. This mode can help retain the energy of strong transients that would otherwise be absorbed in the other two modes.

Deep New in PiMax v1.1, this is an unapolagetically dirty saturation mode. It saturates at basically any input level, and it also imparts a slight boost to the low- and top-end. It can sound like a raunchy piece of analog equipment, or like a bizarre layer of noisy harmonics layered on top of your signal.

Warm The subtlest mode in terms of saturation, but the most heavy-handed in terms of filtering, this mode absorbs high-end and saturates very gently. Probably the most "analog" mode, this is great for making sounds more vintage, warm, or distant-sounding. You can control the perceived warmth with the Curve control.

We’re not done!

Control the dynamic response

PiMax also features control over program-dependent saturation modes.

Negative (blue) values will introduce downward expansion to the quieter parts of the signal, perfect for exaggerating transients and adding impact. At extreme settings, this can introduce interesting artifacts — if you’re looking to really mangle your sound.

Positive (green) values will introduce more amplification and compression, ideal for a sound source in need of fattening.

Elegant interface

PiMax is designed to get you the best results, fast. You’ll find no scratches, dust, or fake screws — PiMax has all the character it needs with its easily readable and navigable interface, built for the digital era.

Essential utility features

Stereo widening knob, which doubles as a mono-to-stereo utility
Dry/wet mix knob for parallel processing
Delta mode for monitoring difference between wet and dry signal
Linear phase mode, for both linear phase multiband operation and linear phase oversampling filters — essential when using Band Split mode or oversampling in conjunction with the Mix knob
4x Oversampling, with the option to defer oversampling until rendering
Fully resizable UI

Hear It In Action

An Introduction to PiMax | Arboreal Audio

Maxing out a mix with PiMax | Arboreal Audio

PiMax review by Paul Third

PiMax review by massivebeatzz

What You Get

✅ You can try PiMax for free for 7 days.

✅ Purchasing a license gets you lifetime access to updates, including bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features.

✅ Activation is quick and easy, and once you’ve activated, you can use PiMax offline on the machine you’ve activated it on.

System Requirements

Recommended Minimum of 4 GB of RAM & Dual-Core CPU

Min OS	Formats
Windows 7+	VST(3) \| CLAP
MacOS 10.9+ (Intel/Apple Silicon)	VST(3) \| AU \| CLAP
Ubuntu 20+	VST(3) \| CLAP

Changelog

v1.1.3

Changes:

Change license to GPLv3
Updates to license checking
Use PFFFT for linear-phase filtering on Windows & Linux
Updates to CI
Deploy from Actions workflow
Enable closing activation window when no license found & trial is expired
Refactor & cleanup of multiband processing
Smooth DC offset in asym. mode
Add a new asymmetric saturation type

Known Issues:

UI on Mac can sometimes display certain artifacts (until you click around a bit)
Render HQ on CLAP doesn’t work properly

v1.1.2

Changes:

Fix license activation not working in certain cases (mainly on Windows)
Fix volume meter RMS
Update download API
Disable GarageBand sandboxing

v1.1.1

Changes:

Improved smoothing of crossover modulation
Smooth curve parameter change
Use new machine ID which should persist across OS updates
Add options for OpenGL (Windows), Default UI Size, & showing tooltips
Write options to config xml file
Make a few things more thread-safe
Add 32bit Windows support

v1.1

Changes:

Added two new saturation modes (Deep and Warm)
Added CLAP support (with non-destructive parameter modulation)
Fixed audio bugs with linear phase multiband in certain hosts
Fixed loud noise when using mono->stereo widener in multiband in certain hosts
Fixed latency compensation to work properly with sub-block processing situations (i.e. Cubase, GarageBand, Wavelab)
Fixed trial showing as expired on initial load
Fixed pop when first loading Asymmetric mode
UI improvements (new volume meter & company logo, faster blur effect)
Added unbounded slider movement
Store UI size in config file
Remove OpenGL on Mac
Fixed weird pink box on curve slider with AU (you saw it too, right?)
Optimization, less CPU use in most modes
Trial expiration no longer bypasses audio & state restoration
Added detection of changed presets, notifying with a *
Adjust auto gain compensation in new Deep and Warm modes (from pre-release build)

v1.0.4

Changes:

Improved auto gain compensation in band split mode
Fixed auto gain muting other plugins in an FX chain
Improved quality of convolution for linear phase band split
Fixed frequency response with linear phase + HQ band split
Fixed crashes involving linear phase/HQ band split
Fixed stereo issues in VST3 in Bitwig
Interface with backend for new licensing method
Added 12dB input boost button

v1.0.2

Changes:

Fix crashes in linear phase multiband mode
Fix audio bugs with mono->stereo widener
Fix activation bug
Logo in splash now links to website
Add Delta processing mode (dry signal subtracted from wet signal) by Alt/Option-clicking the Mix knob

v1.0.1

Changes:

Activation check threading issues addressed
Improve clicks & artifacts from parameter adjustments
Fix licensing issues in GarageBand
Fix AU validation failures
Curve slider now shows decimals < 10
Gain compensation changes

Tags:

audio vst au clap mixing music music production plugin loudness clipper distortion saturation multiband enhancer