Module Reference · EQ & Dynamics
Noise Gate
The Noise Gate fuses three detectors instead of trusting one: a fast peak follower, a smoothed RMS average and a transient-flux sensor that spots onsets before they peak. Three Styles re-weight the blend - Classic balances all three for general program, Vocal leans on RMS so speech rides smoothly through the gate, Drum leans on peak and flux so hits crack through the instant they land. A five-state machine (closed, opening, open, hold, releasing) with separate open and close thresholds - the Hysteresis gap - ends the chatter single-threshold gates produce, Hold keeps short gaps from clipping word endings or cymbal tails, and up to 10 ms of Lookahead opens the gate before the transient arrives.
Range sets how deep the gate shuts, from gentle bleed reduction to a hard mute, and the Mode switch re-purposes the whole detector: Expander eases the floor down along a Ratio slope instead of slamming shut, Ducker inverts the law so the track dips whenever the key gets loud. Key HPF and LPF focus detection on the band that matters, the key can come from an external sidechain, and Auto Floor tracks the noise bed with a rolling-minimum estimator so the effective threshold rides just above hiss that drifts over time. The editor plots the real fused key level against the engine’s own effective thresholds, with draggable threshold and range handles, a live gain-reduction meter, a history strip and a gate-state readout.
Why it hits different
The GhostWare take.
- Three fused detectors with per-style weighting - opens on the hit, not after it.
- True hysteresis plus hold: two thresholds and a five-state machine end gate chatter.
- Auto Floor learns a drifting noise bed and keeps the threshold riding above it.
In the shot
Reading the panel.
-
1
KEY PLOT
The real fused detector level scrolling against the live open and close thresholds - drag the T and R handles right on the plot.
-
2
GR METER
Live gain reduction, with a scrolling history strip and the gate-state readout under the plot.
-
3
GATE DECK
Threshold, hysteresis and timing up front; mode, style, key filters, sidechain, Auto Floor and lookahead behind them.
Control Showcase
Every control, explained.
16 controls, named exactly as they appear in the plugin.
Level the key signal must reach to open the gate.
Gap between the open and close thresholds - the key must fall this far below Threshold before the gate starts closing, which kills chatter.
How fast the gate opens once the key crosses the threshold.
How long the gate stays fully open after the key drops, before the release begins.
How fast the gate closes once the hold time runs out.
How deep the gate shuts - 0 dB passes everything, high values hard-mute the floor.
Expander slope: how many dB of attenuation for each dB the key falls below the close threshold.
Gate mutes below the threshold, Expander eases the floor down along the Ratio slope, Ducker inverts the law and dips the track while the key is loud.
Detector blend: Classic balances peak and RMS, Vocal leans on RMS for smooth speech, Drum leans on peak and transient flux for fast hits.
High-pass on the detector only - stops rumble and footsteps from opening the gate. The audio itself is untouched.
Low-pass on the detector only - stops hiss and cymbal bleed from opening the gate.
What the detector listens to: the module input, or an external sidechain key.
Auto Floor: a rolling-minimum tracker learns the noise bed and lifts the effective threshold just above it as the hiss drifts.
Delays the audio slightly so the gate can open before the transient arrives. Adds latency while nonzero.
How much both channels share one gate decision. 100% keeps the stereo image stable.
Balance between the gated and dry signal.