Valley People Dyna-mite by Softube

It's a complicated tool... Why don't you take a look at the user's guide?

Squash drums, get a snappy bassline, enhance track dynamics, duck, gate, key or de-ess - the Valley People Dyna-mite is a swiss army knife limiter/expander design with unique character that inspires to new sounds!

The Valley People Dyna-mite was designed in the 80's and has become a secret weapon for some. For others, it's still a hidden treasure just waiting to be discovered. It features a limit mode, an expander mode, a gate mode, a de-esser mode and on top of that, two sidechain modes that let you duck or follow a track. All the options breathe of the Dyna-mite's very special vibe and flavor.

"It puts an amazing front end on the attack of a snare or a tambourine that really makes it speak in a track."

Joe Chiccarelli
(Beck, U2, The Strokes)

Nowadays, the Dyna-mite has a reputation not only as a problem solver but also as a creative tool that can really influence your sound in a unique way. It stands out from other solutions by being a tech-driven innovative design which has resulted in several creations, like the Valley People proprietary VCA and the Anticipatory Release Computation, both of which play a big part in the sound of the Dyna-mite.

The Softube Valley People Dyna-mite plug-in is the first and only software recreation of the Dyna-mite that is officially endorsed by Valley People.

In short

"There is always the debate if plug-ins sound close to the original. With the Softube Dyna-mite I hear absolutely no difference, those guys nailed it."

Michael Wagener
(Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Dokken, Alice Cooper, etc.)

Faithful replica of the Valley People Dyna-mite, a multi-dynamics tool capable of limiting/ compressing, expanding, gating, keying, ducking, de-essing, etc.

Limiting: Peak and average limiting, incl. negative ratio (-20:1) limiting and detector HF filtering (for De-Essing purposes).
Expanding: Hard or soft with extreme gate settings and detector HF filtering.
Ducking or Keying modes with external side chain (where available).
Threshold knob with auto make-up gain.
Release ranging from 0.05 to 5 sec/20 dB with Anticipatory Release Computation (ARC) to reduce pumping.
Output volume with accurately modeled output distortion and clip LED.
Innovative Range knob that controls maximum amount of expansion or limiting.
Built-in interactive guide that displays current settings and active mode.

Controls

Threshold with Automatic Make-Up Gain

Classic threshold control. Determines the signal level above which limiting, or below which expanding action begins.

Release with Anticipatory Release Computation (ARC)

The program dependent Release control changes its behavior depending on the material in order to prevent pumping. Valley People called it "Anticipatory Release Computation", or just ARC for short. Whatever name it has, it's definitely a big part of the famous Dyna-mite sound!

Range

The Range control limits the maximum gain reduction. You can use it in expanding mode to set the lower limit of the gate (for example, never gate more than 20 dB), or in limiting mode to allow the strongest transients to slip through.

Output Stage

As always, a faithfully modeled output stage. The clipping of the output stage is also a big part of the Dyna-mite sound, and crucial when you need to control your signal levels. The slower detector mode (AVG) takes care of the overall limiting, while the output clipping handles the transients.

Detector Source

Both internal and external side chain is supported. The middle mode (DS-FM) inserts a high frequency boost to the detector which makes it perfect for de-essing or limiting troublesome cymbals. In expanding mode, it helps to trigger the gate for high frequency signals (which is useful if you want to do hard gating on a drum bus, but don't want the gate to close on the hi-hats).

Mode Switch

Switch between expanding (EXP), limiting (LIM) and bypass (OUT) modes. Output gain and saturation is active in bypass mode.

Detector Type

Three different detector types give the Dyna-mite three distinctive sounds. Choose between an aggressive Gate mode, a fast all-round Peak mode or the slower AVG mode.

Interactive Guide

In addition to the original controls, we added an interactive display which shows the current modes and settings.

Let's hear some sound examples >>>

ALL VISUAL AND AURAL REFERENCES TO THE VALLEY PEOPLE DYNA-MITE TRADEMARK ARE BEING MADE WITH WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM PMI AUDIO. THE VALLEY PEOPLE AND DYNA-MITE LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF PMI AUDIO GROUP, USED UNDER LICENSE.

Limiting Drums:

Keying Strings with Bass Drum:

Drums: Bypass

Drums: Gate+Limit