HotPressor user guide

HotPressor

01Overview and the core idea02
02How it works03
03FOH vs Monitor04
04Installation and authorization05
05Quick start — a soundcheck ritual06
06Interface tour — FOH07
07Interface tour — Monitor, and the RTA mic08
08Parameter reference — signal path09
09Parameter reference — protection and output10
10Parameter reference — the Vocal Gate11
11Workflows and recipes12
12FAQ and troubleshooting13
13License and contact14

01 · Overview

Squash a live vocal flat, without the danger

Ordinary compressors do three dangerous things when you lean on a live mic: they chase feedback into a howl, they raise stage bleed along with everything else, and they slam makeup gain into an empty mic the moment a vocalist wanders off it. HotPressor refuses to do any of them, because it knows what the vocal is supposed to look like.

It ships as two separate plugins from one engine — HotPressor FOH and HotPressor Monitor — sold as a single product, one license. There is no mode switch between them: a monitor rig should never be able to sit accidentally in FOH mode, so the split is at the plugin level, not a toggle.

In one line

Insert it on the vocal channel, set your drive and squash, and HotPressor holds the vocal flat while a feedback guard, a bleed guard, and a hard cap on makeup gain keep it out of trouble — all without a single threshold knob.

02 · Concept

How it works

There is no threshold anywhere in HotPressor. Internal targets are fixed; you work the plugin with Input Trim, the two Control knobs, and a squash budget. Four ideas explain almost everything else it does.

01A fast catcher feeds a slow rider

Signal passes through two stages in sequence: Peak Control ("Grab") is a sub-millisecond catcher with a high ratio that stops plosives and shouts before they poke through; Level Control ("Ride") is a slow gain ride that settles the vocal toward its target level. Because Grab runs first, Ride never gets provoked by a transient it was never built to handle — the safe order for a live mic. Each stage has its own Response knob, which scales that stage's adaptive time constants 0.25×–4×. Deliberately not a raw attack or release: a raw attack knob could disable the plosive catch entirely, and a raw release would replace program-adaptive recovery with a fixed one.

02The leveler cannot make things worse

Level Control can cut deep, but it can only boost a little — boost is the direction that starts feedback — and it freezes rather than adds gain the moment the gate closes or the vocal looks off-mic. Slamming makeup gain into an empty mic is how ordinary compressors turn a wandering vocalist into a howling PA; this stage physically can't do that.

03Max Squash is a budget, not a sound

Max Squash tracks a slow, roughly 8-second average of total gain reduction. Push past it and the plugin doesn't clip or duck audibly — it raises its own stage thresholds slowly and hysteretically (quick in, very slow out) until the average is back in budget. Set it to the most reduction you are willing to live with for a whole show, not for one loud phrase.

04Nothing outside the vocal's window gets touched

Window Start and Window End define the band HotPressor considers "vocal." Detection is pre-filtered to that band, so noise outside it can never drive gain — and all positive gain (auto-makeup, a positive Output trim) is applied only inside the window, so makeup physically cannot raise a noise floor the plugin was never listening to. Cuts stay broadband, because cutting is always safe.

Running underneath, always

A Feedback Guard (narrow adaptive notches) sits first in the chain, ahead of both stages, and feeds them a cleaned signal — the compressor never keys off a ringing tone. An optional Multiband Guard can run alongside it — a 16-band leveler that tests each band by dropping it to unity gain and watching whether the ringing actually stops, standing down if it wasn't the cause. A Bleed Guard (a soft downward expander keyed to what the vocal model expects) runs alongside both. And an optional Vocal Gate decides whether the signal is your singer at all: it scores the input for harmonic structure — a band counts as voice only if the same pitch class is sounding at the expected ratios — and weights those bands up in the detector's sidechain only, never in your audio. That lets it hold a singer open while pushing down bleed sitting at the same level, which no level-based gate can do. All four are covered in the parameter reference; see FOH vs Monitor for how aggressively each behaves per variant.

03 · Two products

FOH vs Monitor

One engine, two plugins tuned for opposite jobs. Never put the FOH plugin on a monitor rig — separate plugins exist so that can't happen by accident.

	HotPressor FOH	HotPressor Monitor
Latency	A few ms allowed (lookahead); reports 0 today	~Zero, always — the singer hears themselves
Squash	Maximum, polished	Moderate — singers need dynamics to pitch and pace
Feedback Guard	Conservative	Aggressive — the headline feature
Bleed Guard	Assertive	Errs open — a dropout in the ears is worse than bleed
Grit	Yes — feedback-safe mid-band saturation	Absent by design
Collapse	Yes — bounded dip-and-bloom on hard hits	Absent by design
Order	Peak>Level or Level>Peak	Fixed Peak>Level — fewer decisions at the wedge

Why no mode toggle

A monitor mix has no room for a howl and no lookahead budget to hide one. Rather than trust a toggle, HotPressor ships FOH and Monitor as separate plugin targets with separate defaults baked in — you insert the right one on the right channel and can't flip it into the wrong behavior mid-show.

One purchase, both plugins

A single license unlocks HotPressor FOH and HotPressor Monitor on the same machine. Put FOH on the house vocal channel and Monitor on each wedge or IEM mix that needs it — no extra cost, no extra activation.

04 · Setup

Installation and authorization

HotPressor runs as VST3 and CLAP on Windows, macOS (universal), and Linux; AU on macOS; AAX for Pro Tools on Windows and macOS; Standalone on Windows and macOS. Windows, macOS (universal), and Linux (VST3 + CLAP) are all supported.

Install

Close your DAW before installing so it rescans plugins on next launch.
Run the installer on Windows or macOS, or unpack the Linux tar.gz and run install.sh — it installs per-user to ~/.vst3 and ~/.clap, or system-wide with --system.
Launch your DAW and let it rescan. Both HotPressor FOH and HotPressor Monitor appear as separate plugins in your plugin list.
Insert the FOH plugin on the vocal channel at front of house, and the Monitor plugin on each wedge or IEM mix that needs it. Never the reverse.

Authorization

Click Authorize in the header and enter your license key (format HTPR-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) from your purchase confirmation. One key activates both HotPressor FOH and HotPressor Monitor on that machine — there's no separate key per variant. No iLok, no dongle; once activated, HotPressor works fully offline.

Demo mode

Before authorization, HotPressor runs as a fully-featured demo with periodic short mutes, and any offline bounce renders silent. This is deliberate and not softened for the live-FOH use case: an unlicensed copy has no business running a real show. Evaluate it at soundcheck, then buy at brucejames.studio when you're ready to gig with it.

Where the license lives

The license file is stored in your OS app-data directory under HotPressor/ (on Linux, ~/.config/HotPressor/license.json). Machine-bound licenses remain specific to that computer. For use across computers or consoles, create a portable license as described below.

05 · Get going

Quick start — a soundcheck ritual

Set it up once at soundcheck while the singer works the song, then leave it. This is the FOH ritual; the Monitor plugin follows the same shape with fewer controls to touch.

Insert it on the vocal channel — the FOH plugin at front of house, the Monitor plugin on wedge or IEM mixes.
Unlock (the header Lock button, ON by default) and set Input Trim so the input columns sit around the level target line while the singer works the song, then re-Lock.
Push Peak Control until spikes stop poking through the mix.
Push Level Control until the vocal sits still.
Set Max Squash to the most gain reduction you're comfortable living with for the whole set.
Leave the rest at defaults until you have a specific reason to touch it.

Recommended starting point — FOH

Peak Control 60% · Level Control 50% · Grit 25% · Max Squash 14 dB · Window 100 Hz–8 kHz · Order Peak>Level. HotPressor now ships blank — every knob at 0 — so nothing surprises you on a fresh insert; dial in these numbers as your starting point, then trim from there.

Recommended starting point — Monitor

Peak Control 35% · Level Control 40% · Bleed Guard 6 dB · Max Squash 9 dB. Same blank-by-default starting line as FOH — set these first. Lower squash than FOH on purpose — singers need some dynamics left to pitch and pace against a wedge.

06 · Reference

Interface tour — FOH

A header strip with the license and safety controls, a read-only spectrum display in the middle, two rows of knobs, and a footer of session-level toggles.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

1WordmarkHotPressor FOH.

2Settings gearRTA position, reset to defaults, updates, support, about.

3LockAmber, ON by default. Disables Bypass, Null, Input Trim, and Output — the mid-show mis-click guard. Never blocks host automation.

4BypassDisabled while Lock is on.

5NullOutput minus dry — disabled while Lock is on.

6Spectrum displayInput vs. output per band, thresholds, level target. Read-only — see next page for the color code.

7Gain ReductionCurrent GR with a running meter bar.

8Input TrimDrive into the engine. Locked with Output.

9Peak stagePeak Control ("Grab") and Peak Response.

10Level stageLevel Control ("Ride") and Level Response.

11GritMid-band saturation. FOH only.

12CollapseBounded dip-and-bloom on hard hits. FOH only, default 0%.

13Bleed GuardDownward expander depth.

14Fb AggressionTrades a little false-positive risk for catching feedback that rings concurrent with speech. 0 = today's Feedback Guard behaviour, unchanged.

15Max SquashThe long-term reduction budget.

16WindowStart and End — the band HotPressor treats as vocal.

17ResolutionAnalysis bands feeding the display and future spectral path.

18OutputOutput trim and Mix.

19OrderPeak>Level (default) or Level>Peak. FOH only.

20Feedback GuardOn/off toggle for the notch bank.

21Multiband GuardOn/off toggle for the 16-band bypass-test safety layer — runs alongside Feedback Guard, not instead of it. Off by default.

22Capture Safe MaxClick to start capturing: forces every Multiband Guard band to unity gain and measures its peak. Click again to stop and commit a per-band trip ceiling.

23RTA MicWhere the optional measurement mic sits — see next page.

Peak Control's dial is skewed

The first ~10% of the knob's throw covers half its visual sweep — that's where real live settings live. Double-click any knob to reset it to default.

Also in the footer — Vocal Gate

A Vocal Gate toggle sits in the footer row alongside the guards above, and opens a setup panel carrying its seven controls plus a live diagnostics strip showing what the detector currently makes of the signal. It is off by default, and while it is off the detector does not run. Full reference on page 10.

07 · Reference

Interface tour — Monitor, and the RTA mic

The Monitor plugin shares its layout with FOH minus the FOH-only controls — no Grit, no Collapse, no Order — and a shorter footer: Feedback Guard, Multiband Guard, Capture Safe Max, and RTA Mic, with no Order dropdown.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1WordmarkHotPressor Monitor — same header controls as FOH, no variant-specific header buttons.

2Spectrum displaySame read-out as FOH; the "down" quadrant note reflects the tighter feedback margins at a wedge.

3Input TrimSame as FOH.

4Peak stagePeak Control + Peak Response. Same live-safe 0 default as FOH; recommended starting point is lower (35%) than FOH's.

5Level stageLevel Control + Level Response. Same live-safe 0 default as FOH; recommended starting point is lower (40%) than FOH's.

6Bleed GuardErrs open compared to FOH — a dropout in the ears is worse than bleed.

7Fb AggressionSame as FOH — 0 by default, unchanged Feedback Guard behaviour until you touch it.

8Max SquashLower default (9 dB) — singers need dynamics to pitch and pace against a wedge.

9WindowStart and End — same as FOH.

10ResolutionSame as FOH.

11OutputOutput trim and Mix — same as FOH.

12Feedback GuardDeploys faster and deeper than FOH — the headline feature at the wedge.

13Multiband GuardSame 16-band bypass-test safety layer as FOH, running alongside Feedback Guard. Off by default.

14Capture Safe MaxSame click-to-calibrate capture as FOH.

15RTA MicSet to Monitor World here — see the callout below.

The RTA mic is optional — genuinely optional

HotPressor is fully functional with nothing connected to the RTA input. If you do route a measurement mic — at FOH or at monitor world, whichever this variant is protecting — set RTA Mic to match, and it only sharpens feedback confirmation and bleed decisions, drawing a thin white room-reference line in the display. Not required, not expected. Skip it and HotPressor works exactly the same.

08 · Reference

Parameter reference — signal path

Ranges and defaults are given as FOH / Monitor where the two differ. A dash means the control is absent on that variant.

Drive and stages

Control	Range	Behaviour
Input Trim	±12 dB · 0 / 0	Drive into the engine, upstream of detection. Locked together with Output under the header Lock.
Peak Control	0–100% · 0 / 0	"Grab." Amount of the fast peak-catching stage. The dial is skewed — the first ~10% covers half the throw, where typical settings live. Live-safe default — blank until you dial it in.
Peak Response	0.25×–4× · 1× / 1×	Scales Peak Control's adaptive time constants. Not a raw attack knob — the program-adaptive behaviour stays intact at every setting.
Level Control	0–100% · 0 / 0	"Ride." Amount of the slow leveling stage. Freezes rather than adds gain when the gate is closed or the model reads off-mic. Live-safe default — blank until you dial it in.
Level Response	0.25×–4× · 1× / 1×	Scales Level Control's adaptive time constants.
Order	Peak>Level / Level>Peak · Peak>Level / —	FOH only. Default order keeps plosives from provoking the leveler; Level>Peak clamps more uniformly for a "studio consistency" flavour. Monitor is fixed Peak>Level.

FOH-only shaping

Control	Range	Behaviour
Grit	0–100% · 0 / —	Mid-band saturation, feedback-safe by construction — it adds only the nonlinear residual of a band-passed copy at unity small-signal gain, so drive never raises loop gain. Live-safe default — blank until you dial it in.
Collapse	0–100% · 0 / —	Bounded dip-and-bloom (max 4 dB, 2 ms in, ~120 ms bloom out) on a hard hit — the "over-driven" feel of a slammed FET stage. Always a deeper cut, never a boost, so it cannot feed back. Never on Monitor — a singer who feels themselves dip when they push creates a gain war.

Output

Control	Range	Behaviour
Output	±12 dB · 0 / 0	Trim after the engine. Positive trim is window-confined like all other boost; locked with Input Trim.
Mix	0–100% · 100 / 100	Dry/wet blend. 100% is fully processed.

08 · Reference

Parameter reference — protection and output

The controls that keep HotPressor safe on a live mic, plus the window that decides what counts as "vocal."

Protection

Control	Range	Behaviour
Bleed Guard	0–24 dB · 0 / 0	Depth of the downward expander keyed on the vocal model. Opens fast, closes slow — a chopped word is worse than a moment of bleed. Monitor errs open on purpose. Live-safe default — blank until you dial it in.
Fb Aggression	0–100% · 0 / 0	Trades a small false-positive risk for catching real feedback that rings concurrently with active speech, not just in isolation. 0 is today's Feedback Guard behaviour exactly — unchanged unless you touch it.
Max Squash	6–24 dB · 14 / 9	The long-term (~8s) reduction budget. Sustained over-budget squash raises stage thresholds slowly and hysteretically — a soft back-off, never a pump.
Feedback Guard	on/off · on / on	Narrow adaptive notch bank, sitting first in the chain. Monitor deploys faster (~150 ms vs ~340 ms) and deeper (−18 dB, to −30 if a ring survives) than FOH.
Multiband Guard	on/off · off / off	16-band parallel leveler with a per-band bypass-test safety layer, additional to Feedback Guard — not a replacement. Each band tests whether dropping to unity gain kills the ringing before staying bypassed; a band that isn't the cause stands down for Feedback Guard to handle.
Capture Safe Max	on/off · off / off	Click to start capturing: every Multiband Guard band is forced to unity gain and its peak is measured. Click again to stop; bands that saw signal get a per-band trip ceiling from the room instead of a generic fallback. Works independently of the Multiband Guard toggle — calibrating doesn't require the guard to already be on.

If you are reading this beside the VENUE console build

This guide covers HotPressor on the desktop (VST3 · AU · CLAP · AAX · Standalone). The 64-bit AAX DSP build for Avid VENUE runs the same engine, but it has no Multiband Guard and no Capture Safe Max — the console build spends those DSP cycles on the Vocal Gate instead, which occupies the control-surface cells Multiband Guard vacated. Everything else on this page applies to both. The console build ships its own HotPressor Control Reference.html with the full VENUE page tables.

Window and resolution

Control	Range	Behaviour
Window Start	60–250 Hz · 100 / 100	Low corner of the band HotPressor treats as vocal. Nothing below it can drive gain or be lifted.
Window End	5–20 kHz · 8k / 8k	High corner of the vocal window. Continuous knob, not a stepped selector.
Resolution	8–128 bands · 48 / 48	Analysis bands feeding the display today; the phase-2 spectral path will consume this directly.

Header and footer

Control	Type	Behaviour
Lock	toggle, ON default	Disables Bypass, Null, Input Trim, and Output so a mid-show mis-click can't kill the vocal. Never blocks host automation.
Bypass	toggle	Disabled while Lock is on.
Null	toggle	Output minus dry, for confirming what the plugin is adding. Disabled while Lock is on; has no effect while Bypass is on.
RTA Mic	FOH / Monitor World	Where the optional measurement mic sits, if one is connected. Fully optional — see the interface tour callout.

08 · Reference

Parameter reference — the Vocal Gate

A third guard, alongside Feedback Guard and Bleed Guard — and the only one that asks whether the signal is your singer at all. Off by default.

What it does differently

Every other gate you have used decides on level: loud enough, open; quiet enough, closed. That fails on a stage, because a wedge two feet away and a singer on the mic can arrive at the channel at the same level, and no threshold can separate them.

The Vocal Gate decides on structure instead. It splits the input across a bank of narrow analysis bands and looks for a harmonic series — a band only counts as voice if the same pitch class is also sounding at the ratios a voice would put it at. Bands that pass get weighted up by Voice Boost in the detector's sidechain only; your audio is never boosted. So voice crosses the threshold that bleed at the same real level does not.

Set Voice Boost to 0 to A/B it

At 0 dB the weighting is switched off and this is an ordinary level gate. That is the honest way to hear whether the voicing logic is earning its keep on your source, rather than taking the feature's word for it.

Vocal Gate

Control	Range	Behaviour
Vocal Gate	on/off · off / off	Master on/off, in the footer. Off by default; while it is off the detector does not run at all, and the setup panel says so.
Gate Threshold	−60 to 0 dB · −45 / −45	Where the gate opens, on the weighted sidechain rather than the raw level. It closes 3 dB lower — that built-in hysteresis is what stops a source sitting right on the threshold chattering on every syllable, so there is no second knob for it. The range matches the IN meter's span, so the threshold tick tracks the knob across the whole rotation.
Voice Boost	0–24 dB · 12 / 12	How much a harmonically-supported band is weighted up in the sidechain. This is the whole trick, and it changes detection only — never your audio. 0 dB turns the plugin into a plain level gate.
Gate Range	0–60 dB · 20 / 20	How far down a closed gate pushes, as a depth. It is a floor, not a mute: bleed held 20 dB down sounds far more natural on an open stage than bleed switched off, and it degrades gracefully if the detector is wrong.
Gate Attack	0.5–50 ms · 3 / 3	How fast it opens. Fast enough by default not to clip the front of a word.
Gate Hold	0–1000 ms · 120 / 120	How long it stays open after the signal falls back below threshold. Raise this first if the gate chatters on a breathy delivery.
Gate Release	20–2000 ms · 250 / 250	How fast it closes once Hold expires. Slower is safer live — a closing gate you can hear working is worse than a little bleed.

Where the rest of the knobs went

The detector itself has around thirty more settings — the analysis gap and its per-band trims, the harmonic test, the anchor window, the consonant guard, the loud override. They are baked in, at the values the Avid VENUE console build shipped and its testers approved. On a control surface the parameter list is the control surface, and thirty extra encoders to scroll past mid-show is not a feature.

Two honest limits

Unvoiced consonants have no fundamental — CH, SH and S get no voice weighting and are passed on level alone, so a very sibilant delivery at low level can be treated as bleed. And the desktop detector's tuning has been measured against synthetic material and unit tests, but not yet against a real mic on a real PA. That is why it ships off. Turn it on at soundcheck, not at eight o'clock.

10 · Practice

Workflows and recipes

Starting points, not rules. Set Input Trim first, then the two stages, then decide your budget with Max Squash.

01Aggressive FOH squash without chasing feedback

Push Peak Control and Level Control hard, then watch the amber back-off line in the display — that's Max Squash doing its job instead of you riding a fader. Raise the budget only if the amber line is engaging constantly.

Peak Control upLevel Control upMax Squash watch the amber line

02Protecting a wandering vocalist

Leave Level Control's boost ceiling alone — it's intentionally tiny — and trust the freeze behaviour when the singer steps off mic. Don't try to compensate with a higher Input Trim; that just raises the noise floor the plugin sees, not the vocal.

Level Control default ceilingInput Trim set at soundcheck, then Lock

03A feedback-prone room or wedge

On Monitor, trust the more aggressive Feedback Guard defaults rather than fighting it manually. If a room mic is available, route it to the RTA input and set RTA Mic to match — it sharpens confirmation but is never required.

Feedback Guard onRTA Mic optional, match placement

04Giving a lead vocal some edge at FOH

Bring in Grit gradually for a driven, present vocal without new feedback risk — it's unity small-signal gain by construction. Add a touch of Collapse for the "slammed" feel on hard hits; keep it small, since 4 dB is the hard ceiling by design.

Grit to tasteCollapse small

05Keeping stage bleed out without chopping words

Raise Bleed Guard depth gradually and listen for chopped syllables at the start of phrases — the expander opens fast and closes slow specifically to avoid that. If words are getting clipped, the depth is too high for this stage; back it off rather than tightening a release you don't have direct access to.

Bleed Guard raise graduallyListen for chopped starts

11 · Support

FAQ and troubleshooting

Where's the threshold?

There isn't one. That's the whole premise — internal targets are fixed, and you work the plugin with Input Trim, Peak Control, Level Control, and Max Squash instead. See How it works.

Max Squash doesn't seem to do anything.

It's a slow ~8-second budget, not a knob you hear directly. Watch the amber back-off line in the display — that's Max Squash working. If it's never engaging, you have headroom to squash harder.

Do I need the RTA mic?

No. HotPressor is fully functional with nothing connected to it. It only sharpens feedback confirmation and bleed decisions if you route one.

Why can't I move Bypass or Output?

Lock is on. It's the mid-show mis-click guard and deliberately disables Bypass, Null, Input Trim, and Output. Unlock it in the header, make your change, and Lock it again before the show.

The demo keeps going silent.

By design — periodic short mutes, and any offline bounce renders silent. It's not softened for live use; buy a license before the gig.

Feedback Guard notched a synth pad / organ / test tone, then let go.

Working as designed. Real feedback collapses when the guard cuts its loop; a steady musical tone doesn’t — so if a notch at full depth doesn’t kill the tone, HotPressor concludes it isn’t feedback, backs the notch out smoothly, and won’t re-engage at that frequency until the tone has been gone for a moment.

Why is there no Grit or Collapse on my Monitor plugin?

They're FOH-only by design. A singer who feels a dip or added drive when they push a monitor creates a gain war with their own voice; Monitor stays predictable instead.

It's asking me to reactivate after an OS update.

This shouldn't normally happen. If it does, reactivate with the same key — it isn't consumed by reactivation — and contact support if it recurs.

Can I run FOH and Monitor from the same license on different machines?

One license covers both plugins on one machine. For a second machine — a backup laptop, a second wedge rig — contact support about additional activations.

12 · Legal

License and contact

License

Use of HotPressor is governed by the end user license agreement included with the distribution as license.txt. One license covers both HotPressor FOH and HotPressor Monitor on the same machine. Please refer to that file for full terms.

Included files

The distribution archive contains the installer along with readme.txt for installation notes, CHANGELOG.md for version history, and license.txt for the agreement.

Support and contact

Studio

BruceJames.studio

Web

brucejames.studio

Support

support@brucejames.studio

Version

HotPressor 1.0.1

Before you write in

Include your DAW and its version, your OS, and whether you're running the FOH or Monitor plugin — it helps support resolve issues faster.

HotPressor

The living compressor · Windows, macOS, Linux · VST3, CLAP, AU, AAX, Standalone

HotPressor 1.0.1.

Portable licenses

Authorize once and carry your signed HotPressor license on a USB drive. Install a portable-license-capable build on each destination computer or console first.

Open Authorize or License, then Can't connect? Activate offline. Select Portable license (USB or local file). HotPressorDSP requests a portable license by default.
Copy the BJREQ1 request code. On an online device, enter it with your purchase email and key at brucejames.studio/offline-authorization.
Choose Save portable license file on the website to download HotPressor.bjlicense to USB. Alternatively, apply the returned BJLIC1 code in the plugin, then choose Save license to....
On the destination computer or console, choose Locate license... and select that file. Check authorization before the show.

Moving consoles and keeping backups

The same signed file works on another compatible HotPressor or HotPressorDSP installation without reauthorizing. You can copy it to a replacement USB drive or local folder. The file is not tied to the USB hardware or computer fingerprint.

Treat the file like a key. Because it is deliberately not tied to any machine, anyone holding a copy can run HotPressor, and the file carries your purchase key. Don't leave your drive in a rental console, and don't share the file.

Removing the drive

An already-authorized running session stays authorized if the drive is removed. Reconnect it before the next session. If its path or drive letter changes, use Locate license... again. To work without USB, copy the file locally and locate that copy. Saving exports a copy; it does not change the remembered source.

Existing licenses

Machine-bound licenses keep working on their original computer. Copying an old license.json does not make it portable: request a new portable authorization. Do not edit signed license files.

For the full instructions and troubleshooting, see PORTABLE_LICENSE.md included with this release.

HotPressor user guide

Contents

Squash a live vocal flat, without the danger

How it works

01A fast catcher feeds a slow rider

02The leveler cannot make things worse

03Max Squash is a budget, not a sound

04Nothing outside the vocal's window gets touched

FOH vs Monitor

Installation and authorization

Install

Authorization

Demo mode

Where the license lives

Quick start — a soundcheck ritual

Interface tour — FOH

Interface tour — Monitor, and the RTA mic

Parameter reference — signal path

Parameter reference — protection and output

Parameter reference — the Vocal Gate

What it does differently

Workflows and recipes

01Aggressive FOH squash without chasing feedback

02Protecting a wandering vocalist

03A feedback-prone room or wedge

04Giving a lead vocal some edge at FOH

05Keeping stage bleed out without chopping words

FAQ and troubleshooting

License and contact

License

Included files

Support and contact

Portable licenses

Moving consoles and keeping backups

Removing the drive

Existing licenses