HoRNet SpectraDuck is a spectral sidechain ducker that analyses your audio in real-time and automatically cuts only the frequencies causing masking — no crossovers, no fixed bands. Available at launch price of €19.99.
Today we are launching HoRNet SpectraDuck — a spectral sidechain ducker that sees frequencies and cuts only where it matters. If you have ever spent 20 minutes setting up a traditional sidechain compressor just to get your kick to poke through your bass, SpectraDuck is for you.
SpectraDuck introduces a new category of ducker. Instead of cutting everything when the sidechain is loud, it analyses the spectrum of your sidechain signal and pulls down only the frequencies where the conflict is happening. The rest of your signal passes through untouched. No crossovers. No fixed bands. No phase issues between bands.
Drop SpectraDuck on the channel you want to duck — your bass bus, your drum bus, your music bed. Route the trigger signal (kick, vocal, anything) as the sidechain. SpectraDuck analyses the sidechain in real time and automatically detects which frequencies are causing masking. It then lowers your channel only in those frequency ranges.
Three knobs cover most sessions: Amount (how hard it pushes, 0-100%), Range (the ducking ceiling in dB, up to 24 dB), and Sharpness (how surgical or musical the cut is). With a good starting preset and those three controls, you are up and running in under two minutes.
SpectraDuck is built for mixing engineers who do musical sidechain on buses: kick versus bass, vocal versus BGM, drum bus glue, master chain ducking. It is also a natural fit for podcasters and video editors who need background music to sit under a voice without losing its energy.
The three main knobs handle 90% of use cases. When you need finer control, SpectraDuck offers: HP / LP Detector filters (tell it exactly which frequencies to listen to in the sidechain), Auto Time (automatically estimates attack and release from the sidechain content), Lookahead (anticipates transients for click-free operation), MS Mode (Linked / Mid Only / Side Only for surgical stereo work), and Listen Mode (hear the sidechain or hear only what is being cut — the fastest way to verify your settings are right).
The interface draws your signal spectrum in cyan, the post-ducking spectrum in yellow, and the gain-reduction curve in magenta. You see exactly where the ducking is happening at every moment — no guessing, no second-guessing. The SC indicator in the top right lights up when the sidechain is active.
SpectraDuck is available for macOS (10.15+, Intel and Apple Silicon native, M1-M4) and Windows 10+ in VST3, Audio Units (AU), and AAX formats — 64-bit. Latency is approximately 5 ms, automatically compensated by your DAW via PDC.
Launch price: €19.99 (intro price, limited to 1 week). After the launch period, price goes to €29.99.
A fully functional free demo is available on the demo page.
If you have any questions, reach us at hello@hornetplugins.com. For refund requests, we offer a 15-day money-back guarantee — no questions asked.