Parallel Aggressor by Baby Audio - Parallel Saturation and Compression Plugin (VST/AU/AAX)

Praise for our plugins

Magnetic Mag Editor's Choice Award 2025 awarded to Baby Audio

Enjoy unparalleled power

Dial-in just a touch of parallel compression and saturation to make your tracks more weighty. Parallel Aggressor makes the parallel processing workflow faster than ever and packs a ton of punch to enhance weak tracks.

Drums / Dry → Wet

Bass / Dry → Wet

Synth Pluck / Dry → Wet

Trap Master / Dry → Wet

A classic technique in a simple plugin

Parallel processing plays a fundamental role in getting a big mix sound. By copying the same audio into multiple versions and processing each with different levels of intensity, you can add more presence to a track – while still preserving its natural dynamics. The technique is a staple of modern music production.

Parallel Aggressor is based on this concept. But instead of routing any audio to external busses, the plugin hosts the parallel tracks internally for a faster workflow.

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The 'spank' engine

Spank brings a heavily compressed duplicate of your original track that does exactly what the name implies. The compression algorithm is extra aggressive and specifically designed for parallel duties. It offers sonic coloration options with the four buttons in the bottom panel.

Use the circular knob to set the compression intensity and refer to the meter for visual cues on how far to go (right before the orange line tends to be ideal).

The 'heat' engine

Heat brings a heavily saturated duplicate of your dry signal. You can apply low and high preservation filters to keep the sensitive parts of the frequency spectrum untouched while going hard on the rest.

Inject sonic characteristics with the four buttons in the bottom panel.

What people are saying

“Parallel Aggressor takes parallel compression to another level. I’m not sure what’s under the hood but it’s magic and I always love what it does to my drums and instrument busses.”

Damien Lewis

Grammy Award-Winning Producer and Mixer - Rihanna, Beyoncé, Timbaland, Calvin Harris

“Parallel Aggressor is a mean little beast that lets me add punch and saturation in a very controlled way! I love it on my drum bus!”

John Nathaniel

Grammy-Nominated Producer, Songwriter, and Mixer - One Republic, Kygo, Switchfoot, Shawn Mendes

“I demoed Parallel Aggressor on the drum buss of a project I’m mixing, and immediately bought it. It is a great addition to my toolbox.”

Mark Linett

Grammy Award-Winning Producer and Engineer - The Beach Boys, Earth, Wind & Fire, Red Hot Chili Peppers

“Parallel Aggressor is a dream come true for anything that needs that extra punch but without changing the dynamics of your original signal. I throw it on my drum or mix buss and know it’s going to immediately bring me closer to finishing my song. Killer!”

Di Genius

Grammy Award-Winning Producer - Drake, Shakira, will.i.am

“The fantastic sounding results of the plugin (transparent and musical) are amazingly good. Parallel Aggressor is not just for parallel compression, but also a great sound design tool. I can recommend this plugin to everyone!”

Oliver Schmitt

Award winning sound designer & creator of ‘sounds of revolution’

“Put simply, Parallel Aggressor is the SSL G compressor’s nasty cousin you wish you had at your disposal all along. Everything starts to behave liKe magic under its precise and strict - but very colorful - control. Drums, bass, vocals even the mix, do as they are told. Demo it now!”

Anthony Saffery

Producer - Portugal. The Man, Dirty Vegas, Cornershop

“Parallel Aggressor is dope. I love the sound and interface. Got top results immediately on my drum buss.”

Grandtheft

Artist and Producer - Keys N Krates, Flosstradamus, Iggy Azalea

Explore the features

Parallel Aggressor by Baby Audio plugin GUI

More details

What are the tech specs?

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

✱ Platforms supported: Mac OS 10.11 and up (including Native Apple Silicon M-Chip 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

Features

✱ Parallel Engine 1: Spank
”Spank” offers an addictively punchy parallel compression sound. Set the effect amount by dialing the main “Spank” wheel. Then use the style injection buttons to control the behavior of the algorithm. Finally, use the volume slider to set the amount of “Spank” / parallel compression you want blended in with your signal.

Style injection buttons: Extra Punch, Extra Smack, Sidechain Filter, Mono.

✱ Parallel Engine 2: Heat
”Heat” is a warm, analog modeled saturation algorithm with an aggressive bite. It will add some rich, non-linear harmonics to blend in with your signal. Set the saturation intensity by dialing the main “Heat” wheel – then use the style injection buttons to control the behavior of the engine. Finally, use the volume slider to set the amount of “Heat” / parallel saturation you want blended in with your signal.

Style injection buttons: Extra Hot, Tone, HP Filter, LP Filter.

✱ Auto Gain
Engage “Auto Gain” to ensure that the combined level of the plugin’s three signals roughly matches the input/dry level. This allows you to experiment with different internal mix balances while keeping a consistent plugin output.

✱ Setting the mix balance
Balance Parallel Aggressor’s three parallel signals with the volume faders in the center of the plugin interface.

✱ Mixing with the meters
The plugin interface’s left and right side meters help you set the appropriate amount of “Spank” and “Heat” for any audio signal. As a general rule of thumb, we recommend you dial the Spank/Heat wheels to taste until their respective meters peak somewhere before the orange line.

✱ Listening in solo
The solo buttons below the volume sliders let you monitor each parallel signal individually for fine-tuning purposes.

✱ Display options
Switch between black, gray and white background colors.

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Preset creators

Parallel Aggressor comes with 25 presets created by friends of Baby Audio - including:

✱ KurtCurt (2 Chainz, Young Thug, Babyface, Rotimi)
✱ Anthony Saffery (Portugal. The Man, Dirty Vegas, Cornershop)