Name: TubeClip
Brand: Desert Moon Audio
Price: 56.00 USD
Availability: InStock

New

TubeClip TC-19 - Desert Moon Audio plug-in

Tube Clipper

More level, more weight, more warmth, and a ceiling that is the ceiling

TubeClip is a tube clipper plugin for Mac and PC. One job: more level, more weight and more warmth from a mix, a bus or a track, with a ceiling nothing exceeds, and without the aliasing every other clipper lets through. Three tube stages, GLOW for loudness from inside the waveform, FAT for low-end weight, and a guard that holds the ceiling without ever clipping twice.

14-DAY FREE TRIAL

Full version, free for 14 days. No payment details needed.

Works with all major DAWs

AU / VST3 / AAX for Mac · VST3 / AAX for PC

Yours forever — no subscription

Instant download after purchase

Hear the difference

Press play to hear a part through TubeClip. Tap Dry for the part as it was, at the same moment and a matched level.

Mix bus

Drum bus

Bass

Vocal, parallel

Where it goes

Four of the places it lives, each with a demo above.

The mix bus
Last thing before the limiter, TRIODE, DRIVE until the CLIP meter flickers on the loud bars: the limiter has less to do and the mix gets louder without getting smaller.
Hear it
Drums
PENTODE on a drum bus or a snare, GLOW up a little: the transients are clipped into harmonics instead of ducked, and the kit hits harder at the same peak level.
Hear it
Bass and synths
TRIODE with FAT at 4 or 5: the low end is driven into the tube and comes back with harmonics that read on a small speaker, held exactly at the ceiling.
Hear it
Vocals and parallel
MIX at half, GLOW up, DRIVE high: the clipped copy sits under the clean one for density and warmth, time-aligned, with the peaks unchanged.
Hear it

About TubeClip

TubeClip is a clipper built around a tube stage. A clipper takes the tops off the peaks so the rest of the programme can come up; a tube does it with a curve, so what comes off the peaks turns into harmonics instead of a hard edge. TUBE picks the curve: CLEAN is a knee with a few odd harmonics that fade fast, TRIODE a warm knee with a long tail of harmonics and a touch of asymmetry, PENTODE a crisper knee for odd harmonics and punch. DRIVE is how hard the programme hits it, and the CLIP meter shows by how much.

GLOW lifts the body of the waveform by up to 9 dB while the peaks stay exactly where they are: loudness from inside the wave, with no attack or release because it is a curve, not a compressor. FAT drives the lows harder into the tube and restores the balance after, so the low end gains harmonics and weight without turning to mud.

The ceiling is held, not re-clipped. Band-limiting a clipped waveform makes it ring above the ceiling, and clipping that ringing again folds aliasing back into the band; TubeClip's 0.7 ms look-ahead guard dips the gain by exactly the overshoot instead, for sample peaks or, in TRUE PEAK, inter-sample peaks, so nothing ever exceeds CEILING and nothing is clipped at the base rate. The oversampler is TubeClip's own, designed for clipping, and the tube stage runs through second-order anti-derivative anti-aliasing, so the alias floor sits at the measurement floor.

Key features

Three tube stages
CLEAN is a polynomial knee: a few odd harmonics that decay fast. TRIODE is a warm knee with a touch of asymmetry: a long tail of harmonics. PENTODE is a crisper knee: odd harmonics and punch. The chosen stage is backlit amber.
GLOW and FAT
GLOW lifts the body of the waveform by up to +9 dB with unity at the ceiling, so the peaks stay put: loudness from inside the wave, no attack, no release. FAT is a low shelf before the tube and its inverse after: the lows are driven harder and the balance restored, weight without mud.
DRIVE and the CLIP meter
DRIVE runs -12 to +24 dB and is how hard the programme hits the tube. The CLIP meter reads dB over the ceiling and keeps the clip clock: the heaviest clip so far and when in the song it happened. Click the meter to clear it.
A ceiling that is the ceiling
CEILING is -20 to 0 dBFS and nothing exceeds it: sample peak, or inter-sample peak with GUARD on TRUE PEAK. A 0.7 ms look-ahead guard dips the gain by exactly the overshoot instead of clipping twice, so no aliasing folds back into the band and a steady tone prints no sidebands.
MATCH, DELTA and AUTO
MATCH holds the output at the input's loudness so you judge tone, not level; it is never applied to a render. DELTA plays only what the clipper takes away. AUTO walks DRIVE toward the loudness TARGET at up to 5 dB a second, only while there is programme, and the readout shows what it is adding.
MIX and OUTPUT
MIX blends the clipped signal against the dry one, time-aligned, for parallel clipping. OUTPUT trims 24 dB either way after everything. The ladder above them is a true-peak level meter, and the readout prints loudness in and out, true peak, the oversampling rate and the latency.
Behind SETTINGS
KNEE from hard to soft, BIAS for even harmonics, SILK (a high shelf that rounds the top the harder you clip), IRON (an output transformer before the tube: the bass compresses and thickens, the top stays clean), FAT FREQ, TARGET, SIDE DRIVE in M/S, TOP, OVERSAMPLE 1x to 16x, OFFLINE rate, STEREO L/R or M/S, GUARD, ADAA and GLOW COMP.
Oversampling built for clipping
TubeClip's own polyphase half-band cascade, 2x to 16x: a steep base stage so harmonics just over Nyquist never leak back, and higher stages that are nearly free. Only the nonlinear part is anti-aliased, so the linear path stays flat within 0.007 dB to 20 kHz. Latency is padded to whole samples and reported exactly.

TubeClip panel, with its controls numbered

The panel at a glance

Tube Clean, Triode or Pentode: three tube stages, from a few fast-decaying harmonics to crisp, punchy odd ones.
Glow Loudness from inside the waveform, up to +9 dB, with the peaks left where they are.
Fat Low-end weight: the lows are driven harder and the balance restored, weight without mud.
Drive How hard the programme hits the tube, −12 to +24 dB.
Clip meter dB over the ceiling, plus the clip clock: the heaviest clip so far and when in the song it happened.
Ceiling −20 to 0 dBFS, and nothing exceeds it, inter-sample peaks included with Guard on True Peak.
Match, Delta, Auto Judge tone at matched loudness, hear only what the clipper takes away, or let Auto walk Drive to a loudness target.
Mix Parallel clipping, time-aligned with the dry signal.
Output Trim after everything, ±24 dB.
Output level True-peak level meter with a hold.

More details

Yes — 14 days, fully featured, from the first time the plugin loads. Every stage, every control, no interruptions and no signup. When the trial ends, audio passes through dry until a license is entered, so your sessions always open.

Yes. It's a one-off purchase, not a subscription, and there's nothing to renew. Updates to a plugin you own are free — download the current installer and run it over the top.

Every plugin is sold on its own, so you can buy just the one you want.

Your license covers up to 4 computers you personally own — studio desktop, laptop, spares. Enter the same key on each; the first activation on a machine takes one quick internet check; after that it works offline, apart from a once-a-day check for a newer version. Moving on from a computer? Deactivate This Machine in the plugin's preset menu hands the seat back, and if a machine dies before you can, just ask us.

Your download link and license key are in the order confirmation email sent at purchase. Run the installer, open TubeClip, click the trial notice on the panel, paste the key — done.

Can’t find the email? Check spam, then write to info@desertmoonaudio.com and we’ll resend it.

Yes — after activation. Entering your license key needs an internet connection once; from then on it works offline — the only other time it goes online is a once-a-day check for a newer version.

Tech specs

Mac: AU, VST3 and AAX — universal, native on Apple Silicon and Intel. macOS 10.15 or later.

Windows: VST3 and AAX, 64-bit Windows 10 or later.

DAWs: All major DAWs — Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig, Reaper and Reason.

Engine: three tube transfer curves (CLEAN, TRIODE, PENTODE) run through second-order anti-derivative anti-aliasing on the nonlinear part only; a polyphase half-band oversampler, 2x to 16x, designed for clipping; a 0.7 ms look-ahead guard that holds sample or true peak at the ceiling without re-clipping; Glow, Fat, Silk, Iron and bias stages; BS.1770 loudness and true-peak metering in and out; every control fades and every switch lands in silence. Latency 3.3 ms at 8x (0.7 ms at 1x), reported to the host.

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