ShaperBox 3

Name: ShaperBox 3
Price: 89 USD
Author: Cableguys

by Cableguys · Modulation · Multi-shaper (volume, filter, time and more)

vst3s Score 9.5/10 · rated #1 of 10 modulation & movement

Eleven drawable shaper effects in one plugin: Volume, Time, Drive, Filter, Crush, Noise, Pan, Width, Liquid, Reverb and Pitch. Each is driven by LFO curves you draw, and each can work per frequency band.

Audio triggering and external sidechain let shapes restart on every transient. It covers sidechain pumping, stutters and constant motion.

Best for: Drums, Keys & Synths, Bass, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Hip-Hop & Trap, Pop.

Keywords: sidechain input, pumping, rhythmic, stutter, drums, external sidechain, wide, bass, multi-band, flanger, gated, mixing, phaser, pitch-shifting, samples & loops, sound design, tempo-synced, vocals.

What it does

ShaperBox 3 is Cableguys' bundle of drawable-LFO effects in one plugin. You draw a curve, and it animates volume, filtering, delay time, distortion and more in time with the song or with incoming audio.

Eleven shapers: Volume, Pan, Width, Filter, Liquid (flanging and phasing), Time, Drive, Crush, Noise, Reverb and Pitch.
Recent additions: ReverbShaper (v3.4) for rhythmic, chopped reverb, and PitchShaper (v3.6), a drawable pitch shifter with Complex, Vocals, Drums and Vintage algorithms that also handles formant shifting.
Multiband: every shaper can work on up to three frequency bands, so you can pump only the lows or stutter only the highs.
Triggering: internal tempo sync, external sidechain from another track, or audio triggering that restarts shapes on each transient; envelope followers are built in.
Tools: an oscilloscope that can overlay a sidechain signal for comparison, curve presets and a large preset browser.

There is a fully working demo.

Source: Cableguys product page

When to use it

ShaperBox 3 is the widest-ranging tool in the rated list. LFO Tool and Duck 2 focus on volume ducking, and Output Movement drives a fixed set of effects from LFOs and step sequencers; ShaperBox lets you draw a curve for almost any parameter type, per frequency band, and trigger it from transients. For plain sidechain pumping, Duck 2 or LFO Tool are quicker to set up.

Best for: sidechain pumping, stutters and gated effects, rhythmic filter and pan movement, tape-stop style time effects and turning static loops into moving parts.
Genres: EDM, house, techno, future bass, hip-hop and trap, and pop production.
Look elsewhere if: you only need a volume duck on the bass. A single-purpose tool is lighter and simpler.
Tip: use a multiband Volume shaper to duck only the low end of a bass or pad under the kick, leaving the top untouched.

What producers say

Reviewers treat it as the reference tool for shaped, rhythmic effects.

MusicTech (Alex Holmes, 2022) gave it 10/10, saying it keeps its crown as the multi-effects "monarch" and singling out audio triggering and LiquidShaper.
Sound On Sound (John Walden, 2023) called it "simply excellent" and "fabulous value for money".
MusicRadar (2022) said version 3 is more of a refinement than a reinvention, but slicker and more capable than before.
Gripes: no master output volume, and the redesigned layout takes some relearning for version 2 users.

Where to buy

Plugin Boutique: $89 (regular $99)
Cableguys: $112.41 (Listed at €99; converted at €1 = $1.1355 (ECB rate, 29 Sep 2026))

Tutorials and reviews

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