Technology

Different thinking.
Different DSP.

A product can only be enough of its kind if it actually understands the signal it is working on. That is an architecture decision, not a feature list.

Architecture

The chain

Four stages, in this order. The order is the design — each stage exists because the one after it would otherwise be guessing.

  1. 01

    Listen

    Take in the signal as it actually is — full bandwidth, no assumptions about what it should be.

    A processor that starts from an assumption about the source can only ever be right about the sources that match it.

  2. 02

    Analyze

    Extract what is really happening: envelope, spectral distribution, crest, timing, loudness over time.

    Measurement, not detection. A single level reading collapses everything that distinguishes one piece of material from another.

  3. 03

    Understand

    Decide what that means for this material specifically, rather than applying the same response to everything.

    This is the stage a fixed curve does not have, and the reason two sources hitting the same threshold should not be treated the same way.

  4. 04

    Process

    Act on that decision — and show it, so the engineer can verify the reasoning instead of inferring it.

    Processing you can see is processing you can argue with. Anything else has to be trusted on faith or A/B-ed blind.

Most processors begin at step four. Everything before it is what makes one product sufficient on its own.

The difference

Where our designs start.

Every product here begins from the same technical decision: understand the signal before acting on it. That single choice is what separates these designs from the conventional approach — and it is a choice made in the architecture, before a single control is drawn.

  • Detect a level Measure the material

    One number crossing a threshold cannot distinguish a kick from a vocal sibilant. Envelope, crest, spectral distribution and timing can.

  • Apply a fixed curve Derive the response

    A fixed ratio and knee is a decision made before the audio arrived. The same settings should not mean the same thing on two different sources.

  • Tuned by the user Tuned by the signal

    Controls set intent. Getting from intent to the right amount, continuously, as the material changes, is the processor's job — not another six knobs.

  • Meters report the output The display shows the reasoning

    A gain-reduction needle tells you something happened. It does not tell you why, so it cannot be argued with — only trusted.

  • A chain of specialists One that is enough of its kind

    Stacking narrow tools is how a signal path accumulates phase, latency and second-guessing. A processor that understands the material first does not need the stack.

None of this makes the conventional design wrong. It makes it a different starting point — and a starting point is the one thing you cannot change later with a better algorithm.

Principles

What we hold to

  • Signal analysis

    Establish what the audio is before any processing decision is made.

  • Temporal behavior

    Track change over time, not just instantaneous level.

  • Adaptive response

    Let the processor follow the material instead of a fixed curve.

  • Perceptual control

    Optimise for what a listener hears, not for a number on a meter.

  • Visible processing

    Surface the decision so it can be verified, adjusted and learned from.

The engineer

Technology that works with the engineer

The engineer brings the hands, the ears and the mind. The technology should help them work as one.

Mixing is a continuous exchange between what you hear, what you decide and what you do. You listen to the sound, understand what the mix needs, and use your hands to make a change. The best tools support that process without making you stop and think about every step.

Think about driving to a familiar destination. You steer, accelerate, brake and signal when needed, but you usually do not think through each action as a separate procedure. Your attention stays on the road, traffic and destination. Practice and well-designed controls let your hands and judgment work together.

Audio tools should support the same kind of fluency. The engineer should be able to focus on the sound and the musical goal, while the controls and processing respond clearly and predictably.

A road running straight toward a destination, with small marks for steering, accelerating, braking and signalling along the way.

Keep attention on the sound

Technology should help the engineer understand the work in front of them.

A hand turning a control on a console, linked by thin lines to an ear with sound arcs and to a branching decision path.

A processor should not turn every decision into a list of settings to manage. The engineer sets the intention, listens to the result and decides what the mix needs. The technology should make its response clear, so the engineer can stay engaged with the sound instead of managing the tool.

  • Hands make direct, confident adjustments.
  • Ears judge the sound and the musical result.
  • Mind understands the task and chooses the direction.

When those three work together, the tools become part of the engineer’s workflow—not a distraction from it.

Built for fluent decisions

Understand the task. Make the move. Hear what changed.

Our products are designed to help engineers work with the signal and keep their attention on the mix. Controls express the engineer’s intent. Processing responds to the material. Visual feedback helps make that response easier to follow.

The goal is not to remove the engineer from the process. It is to let the engineer work naturally—with hands, ears and mind focused on the decisions that matter.

CyanoCore™

One engine, three workflows.

CyanoCore™ is the shared engine behind the CYANO family — CYANO for mastering, CYANO GLUE for bus and glue work, CYANO CH for channel compression. Same processing philosophy and sonic character across all three; what differs is the workflow, not the sound.

It is the engine for that family, not a company-wide platform. EQOMP, VisualGate and CONTOUR are separate designs built for their own problems.

The instruments

Separate problems, separate designs.

Each of these was designed for one problem rather than adapted from a general-purpose framework. Which is why there is more than one of them.

Delivery

What it runs on.

Plug-in formats VST3, AU, AAX, Standalone
macOS 11 and later — Apple Silicon native, not translated
Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit
Trial Thirty days on one machine. No separate trial build — the installer is the product, and the trial starts from inside it.
Licence Three machines on one licence, same email and code — studio, laptop and home are one purchase.
Installation & updates modou Central installs every product, manages licences and keeps them current.
See the products Installation & support
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