Oak
by Acustica Audio · Imaging · Stereo enhancer and multiband OTT
Not rated yet
Oak combines per-band stereo enhancement with three-band OTT-style multiband dynamics, with elliptical filtering for tight bass.
It comes as four plugins (One, OTT, OTT Live and the full Oak); no price was shown on the product page.
Best for: Mix Bus, Mastering, Keys & Synths, Drum Bus. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Pop, Hip-Hop & Trap.
Keywords: multi-band, wide, punchy, tight, enhancement, live performance, synths, mixing, auto-gain, bus processing, drums, full mix, low latency, mid/side, built-in analyzer, bass, drum bus, harsh, linear-phase, mastering, minimum-phase, mix bus, modern, mono-compatible, musical, polish, resizable UI, smooth, spacious.
What it does
Oak is Acustica's stereo and dynamics suite, pairing per-band stereo widening with OTT-style multiband compression for mixes that, in the developer's words, "need to be punchy, wide, and effortlessly musical".
- Per-band stereo: Drift, Width and Surround controls in each band for shaping the stereo image.
- OTT dynamics: three-band upward and downward compression with Trim, Depth and Auto-Gain, plus an Auto-Gain Hold to keep the balance you set.
- Elliptical filter: keeps the low end tight and mono-safe while the highs stay wide.
- Mid/Side and crossovers: progressive Mid/Side shaping across bands, with minimum-phase, linear-phase and in-between crossover settings.
- Linked groups and display: linked control groups adjust stereo or OTT settings globally; a spectrum analyzer shows the Side signal in red and the total in white.
The suite has four plugins:
- OAK One: the stereo tools only (Drift, Width, Surround and elliptical filtering).
- OAK OTT: the multiband dynamics with stereo shaping.
- OAK OTT Live: a version tuned for ultra-low latency on stage.
- OAK: the complete plugin, combining One and OTT in one resizable interface, with factory presets.
Sound On Sound's launch news is dated August 2025. The product page lists no trial.
Source: Acustica Audio product page
When to use it
Oak is the better pick when you want width and multiband punch from one plugin, especially on synth buses, drums and dense electronic mixes. Compared with Ozone Imager and S1 Stereo Imager, it adds OTT-style upward and downward compression, not just band-split widening. Unlike StageOne 2, which focuses on natural-sounding width, Oak leans toward the loud, dense sound of modern EDM and pop. It costs far more than the free Ozone Imager, and its OTT Live variant is built for low-latency use on stage.
- Best for: width and multiband punch on synth buses, drums and the master, plus live sets via OAK OTT Live.
- Genres: electronic and EDM, pop, and hip-hop and trap.
- Look elsewhere if: you only need a simple, free width control (Ozone Imager) or subtle, transparent widening for mastering (StageOne 2).
What producers say
The only hands-on write-up found is a mixing engineer's enthusiastic blog post; no magazine reviews were available.
- Jack Guy (mixing engineer blog) called it his go-to suite that makes tracks "bigger, punchier, and more modern with less effort", with results he described as tight, wide and polished.
- Also noted: he found other OTT processors harsh or fatiguing, while Oak's dynamics stayed smooth; the post lists no criticisms and no sponsorship disclosure.
Where to buy
- Acustica Audio: see store
Tutorials and reviews
- OAK by Acustica Audio
- OAK by Acustica Audio
- Oak Stereo & Dynamics Control by Acustica Audio (No Talking)
- OAK Explained
- OAK
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