Transgressor 3

Name: Transgressor 3
Price: 99 USD
Author: Boz Digital Labs

by Boz Digital Labs · Transient Shaper · Split attack / sustain

vst3s Score 8.3/10 · rated #6 of 10 transient shapers

Transgressor processes the attack and sustain of a sound separately, including a separate EQ for each, so you can brighten a snare's crack while darkening its ring.

Version 3 modernized the engine and interface.

Best for: Drums, Bass, Guitars. Genres: Rock & Indie, Metal, Hip-Hop & Trap.

Keywords: snare, drums, bright, dark, kick, MIDI-controllable, bass, extreme, built-in mix knob, mixing, parallel processing, sidechain input, single-band, stutter.

What it does

Boz Digital Labs pitches Transgressor 3 as an all-in-one for "transient shaping and EQ": it splits a sound into attack and sustain and gives each its own level and 4-band EQ.

Attack section: shapes the hit of kicks, snares and other drums, with hold and release to fine-tune it.
Sustain section: sets the level and tone of tails and resonances.
Separate EQs: a 4-band EQ on each section with selectable slopes, so you can brighten a snare's crack while darkening its ring.
Detection: Hard and Soft detection modes, sensitivity and a retrigger control to prevent false triggers; side-chain Listen and Source options with internal, external or MIDI triggering.
Mix: a wet/dry knob for parallel processing.

There's a limited trial.

Source: Boz Digital Labs product page

When to use it

Transgressor 3 is the one to pick when the problem is tone as well as envelope. Where SPL Transient Designer Plus and Smack Attack only change levels, it lets you EQ the attack and the tail differently, which neither the Softube dual-band design nor Trans-X offer in the same way. MIDI triggering also makes it useful for tightening multitracked drums.

Best for: snares with ring or boxiness, kicks that need click without extra boom, and bass or guitar where you want more pick noise without changing the sustained tone.
Genres: rock, metal and hip-hop, and any mix with live drums.
Look elsewhere if: you just need quick, level-independent punch (SPL) or want to fix transients across the spectrum automatically (spiff).
Tip: use the sustain EQ to cut a snare's ring frequency while leaving the attack untouched.

What producers say

Small but very positive following.

KVR user review (2020, of version 2) said it "easily matches or surpasses" the best transient tools the reviewer owned.
Making A Scene (2017, earlier version) called the separate attack/sustain EQ "nothing short of insane" for creative shaping.
Gripes: the earlier reviewer preferred a threshold-independent detector and wanted a dynamic EQ band.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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