Dogma

Version 3.3

EQ split into two blocks of 4 bands, low latency mode, visual timing improvements and parallel limiting.

Added

• Split EQ: the 8-band EQ is now two banks of four, EQ1 (A–D) and EQ2 (E–H), so you can have pre and post emphasis EQ sandwiches.
• LOW latency mode (Settings → Latency), set per instance, reduces latency down to around 0.6 ms, It also reduces lookahead time both on the limiter and dynamics modules so it sounds a bit different.
• Parallel limiting - the aux limiter instances (not the master limiter) now have mix knobs.
• Polarity invert (Ø) next to TRIM and BALANCE.
• Bypass all bands button on the BANDS panel.
• Group selection upgrades: hold Shift while dragging a box to add more bands to the group. New group BYPASS button.
• Master limiter gain reduction now also on the bottom meter when the channel is selected.
• Plugin crash guard: if a hosted plugin crashes your DAW, Dogma remembers it. It is skipped when scanning and Dogma asks before loading it again.
• Readable automation values in your DAW: Hz/kHz, dB, ms, ratios and menu names instead of raw numbers.
• Vertical db ruler - turn off by clicking the EQ curve handle.

Changed

• Log-scaled knobs for frequency, Q, attack, release, limiter window, release, and compressor ratio, so the useful range gets the most travel. Saved sessions sound identical.
• Improved metering timing: UI takes latency into account more consistently.
• GR meter range moved: click GR on the bottom meter.
• Text in non-triangle knob shapes displays better.

Version 3.2

Significant CPU performance gains from a combination of SIMD vectorization, inefficiency hunting and substituting expensive functions with mathematical approximations where the resulting DSP had a delta of -120db or lower.

Added

• Full screen button
• Hold line on the N/C/L gain-reduction meter, configurable in Settings.
• Gain-reduction meter for dynamic EQ bands: select a dynamic (or SATURATOR) band and the bottom strip meters it like a C channel.
• Output stage at the very end of the chain, in the left half of the bottom strip with TRIM and BALANCE
• Per instance ability to switch between FIR (default) and IIR oversampling
• Resizable side panels (anarchy, settings, instances, plugins, bands).
• Keyboard mode (the split keyboard button on the bottom strip): 1–8 select bands, arrows for gain and frequency, gain and frequency entry - in the manual.

Changed

• Header button rethink.

Version 3.1

Added

• Substantially improved N/C/L gain-reduction meter
• Master limiter Detector: NORMAL / STRICT (Settings › Master Limiter). STRICT adds stricter inter-sample peak detection at the cost of some loudness.
• Input PAD button
• Orientation lines on the output meter

Version 3.0

Dogma 3 is a new plugin that appears in the DAW as "Dogma 3", next to Dogma 2. The version identity break was warranted after substantial refinements to dynamics DSP code, parameter restructuring and internal DSP routing overhaul. Not only do certain things sound different in version 3 (mainly TRANSIENT and GATE) but loading previous sessions would have crashed or done random things because of the internal changes to the anarchy page routing code. This "working stuff out live" is why the early bird discount was generous. But version 3 seems to have now reached a mature state and further identity breaks aren't anticipated to be necessary at all, let alone soon.

Added

• Settings › Plugins › SCAN ALL PLUGINS populates a plugin list which replaces the file picker in V2
• B (bypass) header button: latency-matched bypass of the whole plugin, in both modes.
• UPWARDS function (EQ bands and C1–C3)
• TRANSIENT DSP redesigned
• BANDS panel (right-click any band home box)
• Improved themes.
• Tool tips: click the AP MASTERING logo to toggle tool tips
• Group band adjust: drag on empty spectrum background to select STATIC bell bands, then use OFFSET (±12 dB) and MULTIPLY (0.1×–10×)
• Reorder the chain from the home row
• Settings › Display › Refresh rate: 30 or 60 Hz.
• Gate DSP rework

Changed

• The routable "+10 dB Gain" stage is gone; the boost is now the limiter's 10DB button.
• Z BYPASS retired in favour of the header B button.

Fixed

• Pro Tools (AAX) crash when closing the pro tools session under certain conditions.
• P channel not loading previous setting state (despite correctly saving it)

Version 2.3

Added

• INSTANCES dock panel.
  • The header instance selector now opens a docked list of every Dogma instance.
  • STRIP rows have their own M / S buttons; right-click S for solo defeat.
• A (auto-follow) header button in MASTERING mode, replacing the "Auto" entry in the old list.
• Right-click a knob to type a value, in the knob's own units (Enter commits, Esc cancels). It also works on the spectrum satellites and the saturator knee.
• Settings › DEFAULT KNOB SHAPE: triangle, square, circle, pentagon or hexagon.
• Settings › Display › EQ curve magnify (1× / 2× / 4×): exaggerates the drawn EQ curve. Display only.
• Mouse wheel over a band line adjusts Q, with no modifier needed.

Changed

• Mono tracks show one input bar and one output bar.

Fixed

• Feedback bug on explicitly mono instances with M/S stages (Elliptical, MID/SIDE bells) in use.

Removed

• The header M/S buttons in STRIP mode (now on INSTANCES rows)

Version 2.2

Legacy mac versions now supported after major UI rewrite. Minimum macOS is now 12.0.

Added

• Native C++ UI, replacing the webkit UI.
• STRIP MUTE (M) and SOLO (S).
  • M silences the instance's output; its meters keep moving.
  • S silences every other STRIP instance, but never MASTERING instances. Active solo pulses amber.
  • Mute and solo are monitoring state only: not saved, and cleared when you leave STRIP mode.
• Solo defeat: right-click S so that other instances' solo can't silence this one. It shows as a blue ring.
• Instance list colours: red = muted, orange = soloed, blue = solo defeat.
• Super+click a placed band to select it and toggle its "?" audition.
• Ctrl+wheel works like Alt+wheel - requested by Windows users.
• Settings › SET DEFAULT WINDOW SIZE for new windows.
• User manual for v2.2

Changed

• The DISSENT routing panel docks on the right instead of replacing the main view.
• The output meter caption names the active mode (PEAK / RMS / LUFS). STRIP instances meter peak instead of windowed RMS.

Fixed

• The pulsing solo glow was clipped at the control panel's edge.
• The output-meter caption showing the wrong mode after switching between MASTERING and STRIP.

Version 2.1

Added

• PLUGIN slot (P): host one stereo VST3 anywhere in the chain.
• Per-unit BYPASS buttons on S, NL 1–3, C1–3, L1–3 and each EQ band.
• Undo / Redo per viewed instance: 20 steps, in memory only. A drag or wheel burst counts as one step.
• LOOKAHEAD on dynamic bands, the C compressors and F MOD: the detector sees 10 ms ahead, for a flat 10 ms of extra latency however many use it.
• Hysteresis (0 to −6 dB) for GATE on bands and C compressors.
• Key source on C compressors: SELF or band A–H (that band's bandpass of the input, or of the external sidechain).
• STATIC band shapes: BELL, LOW PASS or HIGH PASS (Q sets resonance).
• F MOD for STATIC LOW/HIGH PASS bands: a detector sweeps the cutoff frequency, up to ±10 kHz.

Changed

• Auto-follow switches only between MASTER instances.
• EQ curves are drawn at the EQ stage's real (oversampled) rate, so the shape near Nyquist matches the audio.

Fixed

• The output loudness meter now works without the master limiter in the chain.
• Switching between MASTER and STRIP now remembers the previous state
• DAW keyboard shortcuts (such as space) stopped working after clicking in the plugin (Ableton, Windows hosts).
• Fixed copy button on the activation page on Linux.

Version 2.0

Dogma 2 is a separate plugin rebuilt around the new DISSENT routing page: the fixed chain becomes a modular one with up to three compressors, three non-linear stages and three limiters. It also adds MASTER/STRIP modes with saved chains, and many new band functions.

Breaking / compatibility

• New plugin: code DGM2, bundle id com.apmastering.dogma2, name "Dogma 2". Existing sessions keep running Dogma V1 and are not upgraded.

Added

• DISSENT routing page
• Unit instances, up to three of each, placed anywhere in the chain, each with its own home triangle and GR meter:
  • Compressor C1–C3: the old Sum compressor as a unit, plus Trim and Mix.
  • Non Linear N1–N3: Ceiling (±12 dB) and a ±12 dB output Trim.
  • Limiter L1–L3: the master limiter core, plus a ±24 dB input Gain. Each adds its own lookahead latency.
• Gain units: +6 dB (G+6) and −6 dB (G−6).
• COMPENSATE (Z) unit
• Correlation ribbon and spectrum are chain modules after the limiter, switched on and off on DISSENT and saved per instance. This replaces the Settings toggles.
• MASTER / STRIP modes
• New dynamics processors:
  • TRANSIENT: a transient shaper.
  • EXPANDER: upward expansion.
  • GATE.
  • SATURATOR: with DC bias for even order harmonics
  • SIDE CHAIN: keys from the plugin's external sidechain input.
• Band Target menu (STEREO / MID / SIDE / L / R), separate from Function, so any function, including dynamic ones, can act on Mid, Side, Left or Right.
• Output meter: RMS or LUFS (K-weighted, ungated), with an integration time of 30 ms–3 s.
• Settings › spectrum display Tilt
• Mouse-wheel adjustment on knobs, satellites and input gain.
• Shift for 4× finer adjustment on knobs and satellites
• The window reopens at its last size, saved per instance.
• Corner resize grip, so resizing works in AU too.

Changed

• The Sum channel is now filters only: Tilt, LF, HF, Elliptical and Trim.
• On dynamic bands and compressors, Gain is now labelled Threshold
• Home-row triangles follow chain order and wrap onto a new row.

Fixed

• The EQ curve sometimes failed to draw (notably in Pro Tools).
• Input gain knob jumping on click
• A filter re-entering the chain made an audible laser zap.
• AU validation failure with a mono main bus and a stereo sidechain.
• The analysers (FFT and correlation) no longer burn CPU while hidden, toggled off or covered by Settings or the routing page, and restart cleanly when shown again.

Removed

• The Spectrum on/off and "Correlation on by default" toggles in Settings (now chain modules)

Version 1.0

The first version: Up to eight dynamic or static EQ bands sit directly on the analyser, feeding a "Sum" stage (shelves, elliptical filter, bus compressor) and a brick-wall lookahead limiter.