Zynaptiq Punch

With its many‑band approach, Punch is smarter than your average transient shaper.

Transient shapers allow you to add impact to the attack of a drum or plucked instrument — or, when necessary, to tame transients to make them sound less aggressive. Unlike compressors, they’re not level‑dependent, so a well‑designed one works consistently across a wide range of input levels. Sometimes, though, the results can still sound heavy‑handed, and this is where Zynaptiq’s Punch comes in. Described as an “intelligent dynamics contouring” plug‑in, it technically belongs in the same category as other transient shapers, but it’s more sophisticated and gets around that ‘heavy‑handedness’ issue by making the process frequency dependent. Supporting 64‑bit AAX Native, AU, and VST3 plug‑in formats for Mac and Windows hosts, Punch adds just five samples of latency and supports sample rates up to 192kHz. Authorisation (two authorisations are included) is via iLok either to the computer or a physical iLok 2 (or newer).

Overview

Punch can be applied to individual tracks, submixes or even whole mixes, and its operation is underpinned by Zynaptiq’s expertise in source separation, signal statistics, frequency‑domain processing and filter design. So you could think of it as a significantly ‘better mousetrap’ — essentially an intelligent transient shaper that can be adjusted to suit the material that’s being processed. There are two algorithms to choose from: Smooth (which operates on 100‑plus bands) and Crystal (10 bands). Neither mode seemed overly CPU‑hungry to me. For multi‑channel applications, up to 16 channels can be set up and controlled from within the plug‑in window, and because the processing has a frequency‑dependent element, it can be tailored to just about any style of material, from drums and bass guitar to synths and acoustic guitar: if the sound has a transient attack, Punch can deal with it.

An adjustable release time allows for the creation of very short and snappy attack transients, while at the other extreme it can deliver smooth dynamic expansion, even helping to reverse the effects of overcompression. Punch allows for long envelope times without the envelopes contributing to a global increase in loudness, but just in case, the plug‑in incorporates a switchable output clipper and gain compensator.

A grid of ready‑made frequency contour profiles can be auditioned quickly by holding the mouse pointer over one of them, and there are easy macro adjustments in the form of the Bias and Punch controls. Punch determines the intensity of the processing, while Bias deepens the shape of the frequencies being affected, and can go positive or negative, allowing transients to be exaggerated or tamed. Additional controls for Sub and Air add in up to 12dB of boost to the processed signal before the final wet/dry mix stage. If the presets don’t do what you need, a Custom mode allows users to create their own frequency profiles, using eight vertical sliders that operate much like a graphic EQ, with frequencies arranged in octaves from 85Hz to 11kHz. MIDI parameter control is available, along with preset change using fixed MIDI CC designations (CC116 to CC119).

In Use

Once you’ve decided what you need to achieve, using Punch is very straightforward. Just ask yourself if your transients need to be made stronger or weaker, and whether the problem areas are at the low end, in the midrange or in the highs. In many cases, one of the existing profiles will get the job done. A kick drum may benefit from added impact to the mids or lows, but if you also want to enhance the ‘slap’, it’s easy to create a Custom profile to achieve that. As the Custom faders can be set to negative or positive values, you can make very precise sonic adjustments, such as beefing up the lows of a kick drum but also pulling back some of the 170 to 340 Hz low mids, to avoid a boxiness or boom, and you can still boost between 2.7 and 5.4 kHz to keep the slap sounding tight.

Punch manages to adjust the character of the sound being treated in a very natural‑sounding way.

The variable release time means the transients can be kept short and snappy or lengthened, so in practice any instrument that has a sharp attack, such as picked guitar, bass, percussion or piano can be treated. Best of all, Punch manages to adjust the character of the sound being treated in a very natural‑sounding way, without the end result ever really sounding as though it has been processed — it avoids the audible artefacts sometimes evident when using a conventional transient shaper.

It may be simple to use, but Punch is both extremely sophisticated and very useful, with a great many potential applications. Highly recommended.