Imprint
by W.A. Production · Transient Shaper · Multiband transient shaper
Not rated yet
Imprint is a three-band transient shaper from W.A. Production with adjustable crossovers.
It adds peak width, smooth, attack and release controls and more than 20 presets, for $39.90.
Best for: Drums, Drum Bus, Bass, Mastering. Genres: all genres.
Keywords: multi-band, drums, samples & loops, smooth, wide, bass, mastering, punchy, visual feedback, enhancement, simple, advanced, bus processing, drum bus, mixing, subtle, synths, vocals.
What it does
Imprint is a three-band transient shaper from W.A. Production: it shapes the attack of a sound separately in low, mid and high bands, so you can add punch to one range without touching the others.
- Three bands: adjustable crossover points between the low, mid and high bands, with gain, mix and a click-free bypass for each band.
- Peak Width: sets how wide the peaks are that the band targets.
- Smooth: smooths the detected peaks for a more subtle effect.
- Attack: dampens the transients when you want less snap.
- Release: stretches the generated gain boost over time, so the effect reaches further into the sustain.
- Display and output: a real-time waveform display, plus output and master gain controls and a global click-free bypass.
- Presets: more than 20 factory presets for drums, bass, vocals, mastering and effects, plus user presets.
The current version is 2.2.0 (April 17, 2024). A demo, a PDF manual and a tutorial video are available.
Source: W.A. Production product page
When to use it
Imprint is the better pick when you want to shape transients in one frequency range only, such as sharpening a kick's low end without making the cymbals harsher. The SPL Transient Designer Plus and Kilohearts Transient Shaper work on the full band, so they are quicker but less targeted. Compared with Waves Smack Attack, Imprint has less detailed envelope shaping but adds the band split. It is closer in idea to Wavesfactory Quantum or Sonnox Oxford Envolution, which also offer frequency-dependent shaping, but it is simpler and cheaper than both.
- Best for: shaping transients per band on drum loops, full drum tracks, drum samples and synth basses.
- Genres: any style, especially beat-based electronic and hip-hop.
- Look elsewhere if: you want a quick, single-band attack and sustain tool; SPL Transient Designer Plus is simpler.
- Tip: iDesignSound found it works best on samples with a strong attack that need more definition, and on bounced drum tracks to sharpen the whole kit.
What producers say
Reviewers and buyers see it as an easy, affordable multiband transient shaper; criticism is rare.
- iDesignSound (2020) rated it 4.8 out of 5, praising the easy interface, the three-band control and the waveform display; it noted the plugin is "simple" despite being marketed as advanced, which it saw as a plus.
- Plugin Boutique users rate it 4.5 out of 5, praising the "user-friendly interface" and the advanced controls in each band for adding punch to drum samples.
- Criticisms: neither source lists real drawbacks; the iDesignSound review did not compare it with other transient shapers.
Where to buy
- Plugin Boutique: $39
- W.A. Production: $39.90
- AudioDeluxe: $39.90
- Audio Plugin Deals: $39.99
Tutorials and reviews
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