MR Gate 6

Name: MR Gate 6
Price: 39 USD
Author: Wave Arts

by Wave Arts · Gate · Expander and noise gate

Not rated yet

MR Gate 6 is a full-featured expander/gate for cutting noise during quiet passages, with threshold, ratio, attack and release controls.

It adds adjustable lookahead, a scrolling time display and a monitor of the gated signal, for $39.

Best for: Vocals, Drums, Guitars. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: downward expansion, repair, simple, look-ahead, vocals, dialogue, CPU-light, drums, flat UI, gentle, metering, mixing, single-band.

What it does

MR Gate 6 is the expander and noise gate from Wave Arts' Master Restoration Suite 6. The developer pitches it for "quick and simple background attenuation", cutting noise in the quiet gaps between phrases or notes.

Gate and expander controls: threshold, a variable ratio (so it can work as a gentle downward expander or a hard gate), attack and release.
Lookahead: adjustable lookahead so the gate opens before transients, with latency compensation in hosts that support it.
Monitor: a monitor feature that lets you listen to the gated signal while setting it up.
Display: a scrolling dynamic display of the recent history of input and gain levels, plus comprehensive metering.
Audio: mono or stereo operation at sample rates up to 192 kHz.
Suite role: designed to sit in a restoration chain, for example after a noise reduction plugin, to clear what is left in pauses.

Version 6.09. A free trial is available. It is sold on its own and as part of Master Restoration Suite 6.

Source: Wave Arts product page

When to use it

MR Gate 6 is the better pick for plain cleanup gating, where you want quiet sections pulled down cleanly after noise reduction, and it is cheap if you already own Wave Arts' suite. Compared with FabFilter Pro-G it is much simpler: Pro-G adds sidechain filtering, external triggering and more detailed range and hold control. Unlike Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate 2 or sonible smart:gate, it has no drum-specific triggering or automatic setup, so it is not the tool for tight kit gating. Its scrolling display and monitor make it easy to see and hear what is being removed on voice and instrument tracks.

Best for: cutting hiss, hum residue and room noise between phrases on dialogue, vocals and instrument recordings, and restoration chains.
Genres: general purpose, plus podcast, post-production and archive restoration work.
Look elsewhere if: you need keyed or sidechain-triggered drum gating; Pro-G, Oxford Drum Gate 2 or smart:gate suit that better.
Tip: Tape Op noted it "can moonlight as an effect processor", so it is worth trying as a creative effect too, not only for cleanup.

What producers say

The only press coverage is of the older Master Restoration Suite, where the gate was treated as a simple but useful part of a well-reviewed bundle.

Tape Op (Garrett Haines, 2008) called MR Gate a "solid performer" alongside MR Noise and said the suite gives "a lot of tools for the money", with clean design and low CPU use.
MusicRadar (2007) said MR Hum and MR Gate are the simpler plugins but "remain surprisingly useful"; it praised the clear interface and the monitor option.
Criticisms: MusicRadar noted some artefacts at extreme settings across the suite and a price that may deter some. Neither review covers version 6 specifically.

Where to buy

KVR Marketplace: $39
PluginFox: $39

Tutorials and reviews

Wave Arts MR Gate

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