In the 1990s people began talking about a certain "New York sound", pioneered by The Big Apple's biggest engineers. The NY sound was aggressive but still dynamic – with thunderous drums and screaming guitars that popped out of the speakers.

It took us a lot of research to find out exactly how they did it. (There’s more to it than just parallel compression). When we finally had it right, we put our findings into the simplest plugin we could imagine. And with that Baby Audio was born.

I Heart NY splits your audio signal and treats it with heavy parallel compression, EQ and a bit of non-linear magic. It offers a dead-easy and gratifying way to add presence and weight to your tracks. The only risk is you end up over-using it!

✱ Spank:
Combines compression, equalization, low-end preservation and more into a single process. The Spank knob works like a macro control that lets you to dial-in more or less of several combined effects to give you the classic “NY Compression Sound”.

✱ Parallel Signal:
I Heart NY doesn’t work like a normal compressor with a wet/dry mix control. Instead, it gives you a separate fader to control the wet signal volume, which is then mixed-in on top of the existing dry signal. This is closer to how an engineer would mix a parallel signal on a console and we believe this change in workflow will lead to different creative decisions. Add as much of the wet/Spanked signal as your tracks crave and attenuate the global volume with the Output knob.

✱ Output:
The Output knob controls the combined volume of the dry and wet signals after they have been blended. Use it as the last step to place your track in the mix.

✱ Solo:
The Solo button bypasses the dry signal so that the plugin outputs the wet/Spanked signal on its own. This allows you to monitor what you’re doing – or to use I Heart NY as a traditional insert compressor.

✱ Metering:
The compression meter on the left will help you dial in the appropriate compression amount. Aim for it to peak right before the red level indicator, that’s usually where you get the most impact without compromising your sound. The output meter on the right shows the plugin’s output and helps you avoid clipping.

The ‘Spank’ knob offers a mix of punchy, yet transparent, high-ratio compression, a bit of EQ and an adaptive low-end preservation filter that ensures that kicks and bass tones keep their fullness. The signal flow has been designed to add its own unique flavor to your tracks, bringing together qualities from both analog and digital compressors. Whether you want to recreate the thunderous drum sound of 1990s rock bangers - a ‘NYC Compression’ favorite - or bring your pop vocals all the way to the front, the ‘Spank’ knob has got you covered.

✱ Nominated for the 2021 SOS Awards

✱ Sound On Sound 2020 Editor’s Pick

✱ Plugin formats: VST, VST3, AU, AAX (64-bit).

✱ Platforms supported: Mac OS 10.11 and up (including Native Apple Silicon M1/M2 Compatibility). PC Windows 10 and newer.

✱ DAWs supported: All major DAWs, including Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig, Reaper, Reason etc.

Download User Manual