AURORA is free — no account, no license key, no trial limit.
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AURORADynamic parametric EQ

See the sound.
Shape the spectrum.

A studio-grade dynamic parametric EQ you sculpt by hand: up to 24 bands on a live spectrum, per-band dynamics, cross-track unmasking, three phase modes — and an assistant that does the tedious part in one click.

Download AURORAFree▸ See it work
  • VST3 · CLAP · AU · LV2
  • Windows · macOS · Linux
  • Zero latency to linear phase
  • No license key
13X
AURORA
Stereo
Vocal Air & Clarity
Preset
-12-60+6+12301003001k3k10k123456
Double‑click to add · drag to move · scroll node for Q
Bands
1
2
3
4
5
6
Band 5Bell
4.20 kHz
Freq
+4.2 dB
Gain
1.40
Q
Character
Transparent, phase-honest — no added harmonics.
+0.0 dB
Output
AURORA by 13X · Parametric EQ · ZL Phase · Clean Character

Live — drag a band · double-click to add · scroll a node for Q

Watch it

31 seconds inside AURORA.

The curve, Smart Ops and the dynamic engine in motion — captured straight from the shipping build. Sound on. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.

◇ Streams from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) when you press play — nothing loads until then.

Inside AURORA

The shipping build · nothing mocked up
AURORA's Smart Ops panel — match, de-resonate, de-ess and unmask, each a single action that writes editable bands onto the curve
Smart Ops

An assistant built into the EQ.

Match a reference spectrum, hunt and tame resonances, de-ess, auto-bracket with high and low cuts, and unmask one track against another. One click each — and because it writes real bands onto the curve, every move it makes is yours to edit afterward. This is the part most EQs charge extra for.

A dynamic band in AURORA with its sidechain detector open — threshold, ratio, knee and range, with the band's live gain reduction drawn on the curve
Dynamic EQ

EQ that moves with the mix.

Flip any band to dynamic and it leans in only when the frequency does. A full sidechain detector — Peak or RMS, threshold, ratio, knee and a signed range — so the band cuts a resonant snare on the hits and leaves the tail alone, or opens air on the breaths and nowhere else.

AURORA in mid-side mode — the analyzer split into mid and side halves, with per-band stereo placement shown in the inspector
Stereo & phase

Mid/side, and three ways to be honest about phase.

Work in stereo, mid-side or left-right with an analyzer that splits to match, and place any single band on stereo, L, R, M or S. Three phase modes cover the whole job: zero-latency for tracking, an analog-matched Natural that keeps the top octave true, and real linear phase for the 2-bus.

The full specification

Everything in the build

The curve

  • Up to 24 bands — add one with a double-click
  • 8 shapes: bell, shelves, cuts, notch, band-pass, all-pass
  • Cut slopes 6 → 96 dB/oct plus a vertical Brickwall
  • Drag to move, scroll for Q · live analyzer under the curve

Smart Ops

  • Match a reference spectrum, static or dynamic
  • De-resonate — find and tame resonant peaks
  • De-ess and auto high-/low-cut bracketing
  • Every move is fully editable after it runs

Dynamics & unmasking

  • Any band flips static → dynamic
  • Sidechain detector · Peak/RMS · threshold, ratio, knee, range
  • Cross-track unmasking — duck one track against another
  • De-Harsh — tame harshness spectrally, only when it bites

Phase, stereo & character

  • Zero-latency · analog-matched Natural · Linear phase
  • Stereo, Mid-Side or Left-Right — analyzer splits to match
  • Per-band placement: stereo, L, R, M or S
  • Clean · Subtle · Warm analog character
The whole plugin

Everything. Nothing to pay.

There is no paid tier, no unlock, no upsell inside AURORA. What you download is the shipping build with every feature switched on — the same file we use ourselves.

  • The full plugin — no trial limits, no feature gates
  • Smart Ops — match, de-resonate, de-ess & unmask
  • Windows, macOS & Linux · VST3, CLAP, AU & LV2
  • Lifetime updates — no subscription, no account
Builds
Not published yet
VST3 · CLAP · AU · LV2
PriceFree
no key

The builds aren't live on this environment. Leave your address and we'll send the link the moment they are.

No account · works offline · SHA-256 published for every build

Prefer a link by email — for the studio machine, or with release news?

Requirements

What it needs to run
Operating system
Windows 10/11 (64-bit) · macOS 11+ (universal) · Linux x86_64 (glibc 2.35+)
CPU
Modern 64-bit CPU — Apple Silicon, Intel or AMD
Memory
4 GB RAM minimum · 8 GB recommended
Plug-in host
Any VST3 / CLAP DAW — FL Studio, Ableton, Bitwig, Cubase, Reaper… — plus Ardour via LV2
Formats
VST3 · CLAP — plus AU on macOS, LV2 on Linux — 64-bit only
Latency
Zero in Zero-latency / Natural · reported PDC in Linear
Sample rates
44.1 – 192 kHz
Disk
~16 MB installed
Authorization
Free — no license key · works offline

Release notes

Every version, in the open
1.3.3Published Jul 28, 2026macOS

This release makes Aurora faster to work with and more dependable inside the host, while keeping the 1.3 matte interface and parameter map intact.

  • Your editor size now sticks. Aurora remembers its last scale across close/reopen and wrapper-tab changes, while still respecting sizes restored by the host.
  • Faster precision moves. Ctrl/Cmd + wheel gives five-times-finer control; Alt-click a band node toggles Listen; modifier-wheel gestures make Q, cut slope and cut-knee edits deliberate.
  • More restrained Character modes. Subtle adds quiet even/odd harmonics; Warm is now H2-focused with a much faster upper-harmonic taper. Clean remains transparent.
  • Safer editor lifecycle. Update checks cancel cleanly, background workers shut down in order, and repeated editor creation/removal is bounded and regression-tested.
  • Literal unity at the default. Zero-gain bells/shelves and the nominal 0 dB output centre now bypass floating-point residue; the full fresh Clean path nulls sample-for-sample.

Existing projects, presets and automation load without migration. Subtle and Warm intentionally use the new, gentler voicings.

macOS ships as a universal Apple Silicon + Intel build with VST3, AU and CLAP, signed and notarized by Apple.

1.3.0Published Jul 16, 2026Windows · Linux

The interface has been rebuilt from the ground up since 1.0 — this build brings Windows fully up to date with the current design:

  • Matte, card-on-stage look. A floating matte-black surface on a pure-black stage, teal as the single state accent, eight muted pigment band colours with the signature translucent per-band fills.
  • One control line. All knobs live on a single row with an EQ · DYN · DE-HARSH page selector — enabling Dyn jumps straight to the DYN page and gain reduction reads live next to the selector. The window is dramatically more compact.
  • Sharper type, calmer analyzer. True CSS-pixel typography with real Medium/SemiBold weights, gentle display smoothing on the spectrum, a quieter pre-EQ ghost and a glowing master curve.

No changes to sound, parameters or sessions — existing projects load unchanged; hosts show the new window size on next open.

Ships as a plain zip: unzip, then drop Aurora.vst3 into your VST3 folder (Aurora.clap into CLAP). No installer, no SmartScreen warning.

1.2.2Published Jul 16, 2026macOS

Layout refinements to the matte rebuild, straight from user feedback:

  • No window-in-a-window. The frame and outer padding are gone — the matte surface *is* the plugin, and the display runs truly edge to edge.
  • One control line. All knobs live on a single row with an EQ · DYN · DE-HARSH page selector — the dead space below the controls is gone and the window is dramatically more compact.
  • Enabling Dyn jumps straight to the DYN page; gain reduction reads live next to the selector.

No changes to sound, parameters or sessions — existing projects load unchanged. The window is more compact; hosts will show the new size on next open.

1.2.1Published Jul 16, 2026macOS

This is the interface Aurora was meant to have — implemented 1:1 from our final design master, replacing yesterday's interim look:

  • Matte black. A pure-black stage, a solid near-black window, film-grain quiet. No gradients, no glows.
  • Pigment bands. Eight muted band colours, and every band now paints a translucent fill of exactly what it does to the spectrum — the whole EQ is readable at a glance.
  • One accent. Teal marks state — active Spectrum, Dyn engaged, gain reduction — and nothing else.
  • Flat, precise nodes with dark numerals, a white outline on the selected band, and a monochrome analyzer that stays out of the way.

Kept from 1.2.0: the band-delete Restore chip, centre-detent bipolar knobs (Gain/Output/Range), the documented gestures, and the readability contrast floor.

No changes to sound, parameters or sessions — existing projects load unchanged.

1.2.0Published Jul 16, 2026macOS

One interface, rebuilt 1:1 from our original design master. The three-theme experiment is over — Aurora now ships a single, definitive look: the glass-bead band nodes, the glowing response curve, the gradient wordmark, the full aurora stage. Every 1.1 feature (per-band dynamics, De-Harsh, Smart Ops, Listen, placement) redrawn in that language.

New — and honest:

  • Real input/output meters. Peak bars per channel with a shared dB ruler (−36…+6), an emphasized 0 dBFS tick, peak-hold and a clip indicator — fed by the actual audio path, not an animation.
  • Band-delete safety net. Double-click removes a band; a Restore chip brings it back, parameters intact. The gesture is now documented right on the display.
  • Centre-detent knobs. Bipolar controls (Gain, Output, Range) fill from 12 o'clock — +0.0 dB finally *looks* like zero.
  • Readability pass. All small labels lifted above the accessibility contrast floor.

No changes to sound, parameters or sessions — existing projects load unchanged. Note: the plugin window proportions changed with the redesign; hosts will show the new size on next open.

1.1.1Published Jul 16, 2026macOS

Three UI themes — "Pro" is the new default.

  • Pro (default): flat and restrained — no glows, no gradient washes, a calm steel analyzer tone, crisper buttons. Colour only means something: band identity and state.
  • Black (new): strictly monochrome on pure-black chrome — white spectrum, white controls; only the band markers on the graph keep their colours.
  • Aurora: the original glow look, unchanged.

Switch anytime: More from 13x → Theme (bottom-left of the plugin). Your choice is remembered across sessions and applies to all open instances.

No changes to sound, parameters or sessions — existing projects load unchanged.

Questions

Is AURORA a good free alternative to FabFilter Pro-Q?

It covers much of the same ground — a live spectrum, up to 24 dynamic bands, mid/side and linear phase — plus a one-click Smart Ops assistant, for free. Pro-Q is the more mature product today; AURORA runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, which is one platform more.

Do I need an account to download it?

No. The download button is a direct link. There is an optional email path if you'd rather have the link sent to a studio machine, and an optional newsletter checkbox on that form — both are opt-in, neither is required.

Will it keep working if 13x disappears?

Yes. There is no license server, no activation and no phone-home. AURORA runs offline and will keep opening your sessions whatever happens to us.

How do I know the download is safe?

Every build's SHA-256 is published next to its download button — hash the file you received and compare. On Windows, Chrome and Edge may show a new-publisher reputation warning; AURORA is not yet code-signed there, and the checksum is how you verify it regardless.

Stop searching.
Start mixing.

Download AURORA and decide in five minutes whether it belongs in your chain. Nothing to cancel if it doesn't.

Download AURORA▸ Watch the trailer
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