Polysquasher
by Voxengo · Compressor · Transparent mastering compressor
Not rated yet
A transparent mastering compressor built around a small set of controls, basically threshold and ratio, meant to glue a mix before the final limiter.
Six built-in compressor modes and a mode editor sit behind the simple front panel, with mid/side, surround and up to 8x oversampling.
Best for: Mastering, Mix Bus, Drum Bus. Genres: all genres.
Keywords: mastering, transparent, bus processing, drum bus, glue, gentle, mid/side, mix bus, oversampling, simple, full mix, extreme, metering, mixing, single-band, skeuomorphic, utility.
What it does
Polysquasher is Voxengo's "transparent mastering compressor that glues your mix together." It was designed to compress a mix without changing its elements, and Voxengo recommends it as a finishing compressor placed before the final mastering limiter.
- Simple controls: a compression algorithm driven mainly by threshold and ratio.
- Compressor modes: 6 built-in modes plus a compressor mode editor for building and recalling your own modes.
- Metering: real-time gain reduction and waveform graphs.
- Routing: stereo, mono, mid/side and multi-channel processing up to 7.1 surround, with internal channel routing and grouping.
- Quality options: up to 8x oversampling and 64-bit floating point processing; 22 ms compensated latency.
The trial is fully featured but mutes the output for a moment every 45 seconds.
When to use it
Polysquasher is the pick when you want the least coloration and the fewest decisions: set threshold and ratio and let it hold the mix together ahead of a limiter. Unlike Cytomic The Glue and SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, which emulate the SSL bus compressor and add a recognizable punch, it stays uncolored, and TDR Kotelnikov is a clean mastering compressor with more detailed controls than it has.
- Best for: gentle master bus and drum bus compression that keeps the tonal balance intact.
- Genres: any; it's a general mastering tool.
- Look elsewhere if: you want analog color or a versatile channel compressor for single tracks; it adds 22 ms latency.
- Standout: transparent results from essentially two controls.
What producers say
KVR users praise its transparency on the master and drum bus and its ease of use.
- KVR users: one reviewer (2024) called it "a serious compressor" that is "transparent and very well preserving the sound"; another (2012) put it "in the same class as Elephant is for limiting."
- KVR forum (2020): a user said it "works extremely great for mastering before Elephant" and called it "Very transparent and gentle."
- Gripe: the 2012 reviewer kept an SSL-style compressor for single tracks because it is "more versatile than Polysquasher."
Where to buy
- AudioDeluxe: $77
- Voxengo: $89.77 (Listed at €79.06; converted at €1 = $1.1355 (ECB rate, 29 Sep 2026))
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