Turn a raw vocal take into a polished, mix-ready sound — one plugin, one screen, 143 presets.
Install · Quick start · Tips · FAQ · Troubleshooting · Manual
Morass wraps a complete, professionally-voiced vocal chain — clean-up, mic modeling, surgical + musical EQ, compression, de-essing, air, saturation, doubling and reverb — behind one screen of musical controls. No routing, no chaining six plugins: load it, pick a preset, ride a knob or two. The presets are the fast path; the full channel strip is there when you want to shape by hand.
It's built on JUCE 8, ships as AU / AUv3 / VST3 / Standalone, and runs on macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Windows and Linux.
- 143 factory presets across 14 genre/utility categories — a starting point for pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B, podcast/VO and more, one click away.
- Full chain in signal order: input trim → noise gate → hiss-killer → high-pass → mic modeling → 4-band EQ (with optional dynamic bells) → lookahead compressor → de-esser → air exciter → saturation → doubler → reverb → output trim.
- Mic modeling — make an SM7B sound like a U87 (10 modeled mics).
- Dynamic EQ on the mud and presence bells — tame boxiness/harshness only when it spikes.
- Mid/Side processing for EQ, compression and de-essing.
- Oversampled saturation (2×/4×) with reported latency, and a lookahead compressor.
- Three reverbs — Room, Plate, and a feedback-delay-network Hall — with pre-delay.
- A/B compare, live metering (in / gain-reduction / out), and a draggable EQ curve.
- Shareable presets — export/import a small
.morassfile that carries its own metadata.
Four tabs keep the window short; every control has a plain-English tooltip and a value readout.
| Input / Clean | EQ |
|---|---|
|
 |
| Trim, high-pass, mic modeling, gate & hiss-killer. | Low / Mud / Presence / Air, with dynamic bells. |
| Dynamics | Color & Space |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Lookahead compressor, de-esser, output. | Saturation, exciter, doubler, reverb. |
The top strip (mode, oversampling, reverb algorithm, mic in→target, gate/hiss toggles), the A/B compare buttons, the EQ curve and the meters are always visible above the tabs.
Grab the installer for your OS from the Releases page. Installers drop Morass into the standard plugin folders your DAW already scans — no separate registration, just rescan plugins (or restart your DAW).
Important
These builds are unsigned / not notarized, so macOS Gatekeeper and Windows SmartScreen
will warn on first launch. That's expected — the one-time "allow it" steps are below and in
docs/INSTALL.md. No binaries on the Releases page yet? Build from source.
macOS (AU + VST3, universal Intel + Apple Silicon)
- Download
Morass-<version>.dmg, open it, and run the installer package. It installs the Audio Unit to/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Componentsand the VST3 to/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3. - Unsigned build: if Gatekeeper blocks the
.pkg, right-click it → Open → Open, or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. If a plugin is still quarantined after install:sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Morass.component sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Morass.vst3
- Restart your DAW. In Logic: Audio FX → Morass Audio → Morass.
Windows (VST3 + Standalone)
- Download and run
Morass-<version>-windows-setup.exe. It installs the VST3 toC:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3and (optionally) the standalone app. - Unsigned build: SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC" — click More info → Run anyway.
- Rescan plugins in your DAW. Morass appears under Morass Audio.
No installer? A portable Morass-<version>-windows.zip is provided — copy Morass.vst3
into C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3.
Linux (VST3 + Standalone)
- Download and extract
Morass-<version>-linux.tar.gz. - Install:
./install.sh # per-user: ~/.vst3 and ~/.local/bin (no sudo) sudo ./install.sh --system # system-wide: /usr/local/lib/vst3
- Rescan plugins in your DAW (Reaper, Bitwig, Ardour, Tracktion, …).
Which format? Logic Pro / GarageBand use the Audio Unit (macOS only); everything else
— Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper, Bitwig, FL Studio, Ardour — uses VST3. Morass
installs both on macOS. Full walkthrough & uninstall steps: docs/INSTALL.md.
- Insert Morass on a vocal track (mono or stereo) as the first effect in the chain.
- Pick a preset — click the preset name in the header and choose one near your material
(e.g. Pop Lead Bright, Podcast Host, Clarity Boost). Use
</>to audition the whole library. - Trim to taste — set Input Gain so the IN meter peaks around −12 to −6 dB, then nudge Comp Threshold for the amount of level control you want, and Output Gain to match loudness.
- A/B it — dial your tweak into slot A, hit Copy, then push B further and flip between them to compare.
That's the whole loop. Everything else is optional shaping — see the tips and the full user manual.
Audio flows through these stages in order. Every stage is parameterized and automatable; presets are just stored snapshots of these parameters.
in ─▶ Input Gain ─▶ Gate ─▶ Hiss-Killer ─▶ High-Pass ─▶ Mic Profile
─▶ ┌───────────────── EQ ─────────────────┐ ─▶ Compressor ─▶ De-Esser
│ Low Shelf · Mud Bell · Presence Bell │ (lookahead)
│ · Air Shelf (Mud/Presence dynamic) │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘
─▶ Air Exciter ─▶ Saturation ─▶ Doubler ─▶ Reverb ─▶ Output Gain ─▶ out
In Mid/Side mode the EQ, compressor and de-esser run on the Mid and Side channels
independently; the clean-up, mic profile, exciter, saturation, doubler and reverb stay L/R.
Full design notes: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.
- Order of operations. The chain is already arranged the studio way: set Mic In first, clean up (gate / hiss / high-pass), then shape EQ, then compress. You don't need to re-route anything.
- Gentle polish. For an already-good take: high-pass ~70 Hz, +1.5 dB presence, +2 dB air, a 2:1 compressor around −16 dB, a touch of de-ess, 8–10% reverb. (Start from the Gentle Polish preset.)
- Kill mud without dulling. Cut a few dB around 250–350 Hz with the Mud bell, or turn on Mud Dyn so the cut only engages when the low-mids actually build up.
- Tame harshness. Turn on Pres Dyn and set the presence bell to cut; it only ducks on harsh peaks (sibilant "e"/"i" shouts) instead of dulling the whole vocal.
- Sibilance. Set De-Ess Freq where the "s" lives (5–8 kHz), lower Threshold until the harsh "s" is tamed, and back off Amount if it lisps.
- Width & thickness. A little Doubler widens a mono take; keep it subtle on lead vocals. Mid/Side mode lets the compressor glue the center while leaving the sides open.
- Print clean. Enable Sat OS 2×/4× when bouncing to reduce saturation aliasing — the host compensates the added latency, so your print stays sample-accurate.
- Save your sound. Got a chain you like? Save it to your User category, or Export a
.morassfile to reuse across projects and machines.
Is it free? Can I use it on commercial releases?
Yes — Morass is free and open-source under GPLv3. You can use the plugin on any music, commercial or not. The GPL applies to the source code (if you distribute a modified build, you share your changes), not to audio you make with it. See Licensing.
Which DAWs and OSes are supported?
Logic Pro and GarageBand (Audio Unit, macOS), and any VST3 host — Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper, Bitwig, FL Studio, Ardour, Tracktion, etc. — on macOS, Windows and Linux. macOS builds are universal (Intel + Apple Silicon).
Why is there no VST2 / AAX (Pro Tools) version?
VST2 requires a license from Steinberg that's no longer issued, and AAX requires Avid registration. VST3 is the current standard and covers every listed DAW. AAX is on the roadmap.
Why does my system say the download is unsigned / unsafe?
Because the public builds aren't code-signed or notarized yet — code-signing certificates cost money and are on the roadmap. The binaries are built in public CI from this source. See the install steps for the one-time "allow it" click on macOS/Windows.
Does Morass phone home or collect any data?
No. It has no network code — the JUCE web/analytics features are compiled out
(JUCE_WEB_BROWSER=0, JUCE_REPORT_APP_USAGE=0). It only reads/writes preset files you
create, in your user preset folder.
Mono or stereo? Does it add latency?
Both — insert it on a mono or stereo vocal track. It's zero-latency by default; enabling Sat OS (oversampling) or compressor Lookahead adds latency, which the host compensates automatically (plugin delay compensation), so timing stays tight.
How do I report a bug or a security issue?
Open a bug report for normal issues. For security problems,
please report privately — see SECURITY.md.
- Morass doesn't show up after installing. Rescan plugins / restart the DAW. In Logic,
clear the AU cache and re-validate:
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/AudioUnitCache killall -9 AudioComponentRegistrar auval -v aufx Mora Mrss - "Cannot be opened" (macOS) / "Windows protected your PC". Expected for unsigned builds — see the install steps for the one-time approval.
- A duplicate/old copy loads. A stale plugin in the system folder
(
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins) can shadow a newer one in your user folder — remove duplicates and keep one. - Timing feels off with oversampling on. That's plugin delay compensation catching up; make sure your DAW's PDC is enabled (it is by default in every major DAW). Bounces are sample-accurate.
- High CPU at Sat OS 4×. 4× oversampling is the heaviest setting; drop to 2× or Off if you're tracking many instances live.
More Logic-specific testing notes: docs/TESTING_IN_LOGIC.md.
Prerequisites: CMake ≥ 3.22 and a C++20 compiler (macOS: Xcode + CLT — required for AU; Windows: Visual Studio 2022 Desktop C++; Linux: GCC/Clang + the usual ALSA/X11/GL dev packages). JUCE is fetched automatically on first configure — no submodules.
# Configure (downloads JUCE on first run; tests are ON by default)
cmake --preset default
# Build everything (all plugin formats + standalone)
cmake --build --preset default
# Build a single format, e.g. just the VST3
cmake --build --preset default --target Morass_VST3
# Run the tests
ctest --preset default --output-on-failureArtifacts land under build/Morass_artefacts/<Config>/. The three test suites are
MorassTests (DSP smoke + parameter-automation safety), MorassPresetTests (validates every
factory preset), and MorassGoldenTests (golden-file audio regression).
Developing on Windows: Logic and Audio Units are macOS-only and AU can only be compiled on a Mac. On Windows/Linux you develop and test the identical DSP via the VST3 and Standalone targets; CI's macOS runner produces the real AU/AUv3 builds. On a Mac,
bash scripts/build_and_install_macos.shbuilds, installs andauval-validates in one step.
| Doc | What's in it |
|---|---|
| User Manual | Every control, mic modeling, dynamic EQ, tips |
| Install Guide | Per-OS install, uninstall, unsigned-build steps |
| Presets | The library, the .morass format, adding presets |
| Architecture | How the DSP / parameters / UI fit together |
| Testing in Logic | Building and validating the AU on a Mac |
| Releasing | Tagging, packaging, signing |
| Roadmap · Changelog | Where it's headed / what changed |
Issues and PRs are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md. CI builds and tests on
macOS, Windows and Linux and runs pluginval at strictness 10, so please keep ctest green and
run clang-format on touched files. Found a vulnerability? SECURITY.md.
Morass is licensed GPLv3, because it builds against the free/open-source edition of JUCE,
whose terms require derived works to be GPL/AGPL. You can freely use the plugin on any audio.
If you want to ship a closed-source commercial product based on this code, you'd need a
commercial JUCE license. See LICENSE and NOTICE.