FOAM by Carbonated Audio is a $49 ducking reverb that lowers its own tail by up to 36 dB while the dry signal plays, then blooms in the gaps, on macOS and Windows.
Plugin comparison
Carbonated Audio FOAM vs Carbonated Audio On Tap
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which effect to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
Contenders
The side-by-side
On Tap by Carbonated Audio is a $20 sidechain ducking plugin with 16 curves, three trigger modes and a band-split crossover, on macOS and Windows, with zero latency.
Technical matrix
Specs compared
| Signal | Carbonated Audio FOAM | Carbonated Audio On Tap |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $49 | $20 |
| Dubspot Score | — | — |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX, macOS, Windows | VST3, AU, AAX, macOS, Windows |
| Type | Ducking reverb | Sidechain ducking and volume-shaping plugin |
| Ducking | Make Room, up to 36 dB, recovery in note values or milliseconds | — |
| Detector | Internal by default, switchable to an external source | — |
| Room | Size and Bloom XY field, ten factory spaces | — |
| Tail Shaper | Four points (Onset, Build, Body, Decay) on a tempo grid | — |
| Tempo sync | Decay, Pre-Delay, and Recovery, with manual BPM fallback | — |
| Routing | Send (reverb only) or Insert (equal-power dry/wet) | — |
| Latency | Zero samples, no lookahead | Zero, no lookahead |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX on macOS, VST3 on Windows | VST3, AU, AAX on macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon native); VST3 on Windows |
| System | macOS 11+ universal, Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) | macOS 10.13 or later, Windows 10 or later (64-bit) |
| Curves | — | 16 hand-crafted shapes, including sidechain pump, sub-bass duck and reverse chain |
| Trigger modes | — | Sync (DAW tempo), MIDI (any note), Audio (incoming signal) |
| Band split | — | Crossover from 20 Hz to 5.12 kHz, duck above or below |
| Controls | — | Mix, slope offset, shift amount, draggable end marker |
| License | — | $20 one time, 3 activations, free updates |
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