Plugin comparison
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which effect to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
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Contenders
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.
Effect / Cableguys
ShaperBox 3 by Cableguys is a multi-effect plugin combining 11 effect processors, each driven by drawable LFO waveforms with optional 3-band processing.
Technical matrix
| Signal | Carbonated Audio On Tap | ShaperBox 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $20 | — |
| Dubspot Score | — | 8.7 |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX, macOS, Windows | VST 2, VST 3, AU (Mac only), AAX |
| Type | Sidechain ducking and volume-shaping plugin | — |
| 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 | — |
| Latency | Zero, no lookahead | — |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX on macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon native); VST3 on Windows | — |
| System | macOS 10.13 or later, Windows 10 or later (64-bit) | — |
| License | $20 one time, 3 activations, free updates | — |
| Included effects | — | 11 Shapers: Pitch, Reverb, Time, Drive, Noise, Liquid, Filter, Crush, Volume, Pan, Width |
| Multiband | — | Every Shaper can be split into 3 bands, each with independent LFO and envelope follower controls |
| Modulation | — | Drawable LFO waveforms plus envelope follower per band |
| Mac formats | — | VST 2, VST 3, AU, AAX (Intel and Apple Silicon) |
| Windows formats | — | VST 2, VST 3, AAX (64-bit) |
| System requirements | — | macOS 10.15 or later; Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11 |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.