Devious Machines Duck 2 2.0.30

Duck 2 is a sidechaining and creative volume-shaping plugin developed by Devious Machines, built as a major update to the company's original, well-regarded Duck plugin. Rather than relying on traditional compressor-based sidechaining or fiddly track automation, Duck 2 lets producers draw a precise, multi-segment volume envelope directly onto their audio, carving out exactly the shape needed to make a kick and bass sit together cleanly. What sets Duck 2 apart from a standard ducking tool is the depth of its redesigned envelope editor and its expanded multiband capability. The GUI has been completely reworked and made freely resizable, with new brush tools for quickly creating ramp and step patterns, a multi-mode randomize function for generating rhythmic ideas, and additional 2D Bend and Spline curve shapes. A new multiband section splits processing across three separate bands, each with its own independent envelope and professional-grade linear phase filtering, allowing for far more targeted dynamic and tonal shaping than a single full-band envelope alone. Duck 2 runs on macOS 10.13 and higher, as well as Windows 10 and above, available in VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX formats. Version 2.0.30 is a same-week follow-up fix release, resolving an AU validation issue and a potential crash from the prior 2.0.29 update when a mono plugin instance is used with a stereo sidechain input, alongside several smaller stability and workflow refinements. A 14-day fully functional demo is available, with saving disabled during the trial period.

Draw a custom volume envelope directly onto the track using Duck 2's multi-segment editor, using brush tools for quick ramp or step patterns. Choose a trigger source — lock the envelope to the beat like an LFO, or trigger it from MIDI or incoming audio from another track. If using MIDI triggering, filter by a specific MIDI channel if needed, and set your audio trigger's hold time as required. Enable the multiband section if you want to apply separate envelopes across three frequency bands with linear phase filtering. Use the randomize function to generate new rhythmic ideas, or manually nudge, invert, reverse, or repeat sections of your envelope. Copy and paste envelope shapes between instances of Duck 2, or import a shape from Infiltrator if you use that plugin too.