Reflex Spectrum Analyzer

An analyzer designed for low-end detail.

The Reflex Spectrum Analyzer includes the standard features you'd expect from this category of plugin—such as stereo comparison and the ability to tilt and smooth the display. Where this plugin stands out is its ability to show responsive and granular bass information.

Traditional analyzers using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm tend to produce frequency bins that are skewed towards the upper frequencies, resulting in poor resolution in the low end. This can be compensated by using a larger FFT sampling window, but at the expense of slowed response in the top end.

The Reflex Spectrum Analyzer addresses this challenge by using multiple FFT analyses across the frequency spectrum, with different sample rates and window sizes, ranging from ~12ms in the high end to ~340ms for low frequencies.

The combined frequency amplitude spectrum is displayed in a streamlined fashion on a semitone log scale covering 11 octaves from 10Hz to 20kHz.

While the laws of information theory prevent us from visualizing audio at high resolution in both the time and frequency domains simultaneously, Reflex brings you closer to what's possible.

Features

• 132 semitone-spaced frequency bands from 10Hz to 20kHz
  
• 90dB range
• Adjustable smoothing across frequency and time
• Left-Right and Mide-Side stereo modes
• Short-term (i.e. 3-second) LUFS display
• Adjustable spectrum tilt (0, 3dB, 4.5dB or 6dB per octave)
• Peak frequencies displayed on a chromatic scale (calculated without tilt)
• Adjustable GUI size
  
• Optional Dark Mode
• Click/drag over the spectrum display to audition specific frequencies (vertical position controls filter width)
• Double-click the display to reset time smoothing with fresh data
• Connect a second signal via sidechain input to compare spectra (if using the AU format of the plugin, also click "Sidechain Compare")

Technical notes

• Available in VST3, AAX & AU formats for Windows and MacOS
• Requires a compatible Digital Audio Workstation or other plugin host
• Supports common sample rates from 44.1 to 384kHz

See here for information about versions and changes.