The vocal fader that mixes itself. One control takes a raw take to a dense, present, radio-ready vocal — with WARM and GRIT color when you want attitude.
- One-fader density compression
- Gate + program-dependent release
- WARM / GRIT harmonic color
- Auto-makeup that actually works
- See how far one fader gets you. If you can finish a vocal without reaching past it, that's exactly the result we designed for — tell us if it happened, and if you did reach past it, what for.
- WARM and GRIT on a bright vocal. Where's your sweet spot, and where does it become more attitude than you'd want?
- The gate on a noisy room take — does it clean it up without eating word starts?
- Pocket is the $39 representative for all 12 Essentials units — they share one chassis, so anything you notice here helps the whole family.
Learn POCKET
QUICK-START · 4 MINTake a raw vocal to a dense, radio-ready level with essentially one fader.
- 01
Trim INPUT to the SWEET lamp
POCKET's auto-makeup law assumes a detector level around −20 dBFS. Adjust INPUT TRIM until the amber SWEET SPOT lamp lights (−20 ±4 dBFS) — do this once and the COMP fader behaves the way it was voiced to.
- 02
Pull the COMP fader
COMP is THE fader — pull it down for more. The vocal comes forward at the same loudness rather than getting squashed, because auto-makeup is built into the law. Stop when every syllable is present without the breaths pumping.
- 03
Clean up with the GATE
Slide GATE up until the silence between phrases is clean — the lamp shows when the gate is open. Bottom position is off. Watch that word starts survive; back off if consonants clip.
- 04
Add color: WARM or GRIT
WARM adds 2nd-harmonic tube-ish thickness; GRIT adds 3rd-harmonic tape-ish edge. Both are loudness-compensated, so what you hear is tone, not volume. DIST DRIVE sets how hard the saturator is pushed — 100% is the classic POCKET amount.
- 05
Blend and level
MIX blends against the latency-aligned dry for parallel compression — keep transients and breath while the body stays glued. GAIN sets output; the safety ceiling at −0.1 dBFS catches anything wild (red lamp = it's working).
- Raise the SIDECHAIN HIGH-PASS on a close mic until a hard "p" stops ducking the whole phrase — it only affects the detector, never the audio.
- DRIVE AUTO makes saturation track gain reduction — squash harder, glow harder. Turn it off for a constant glow that doesn't come and go with the performance.
- Bypass is loudness-matched — no louder-is-better trick — so trust the A/B.
- Hit DELTA to hear only what POCKET changes — great for checking the comp is grabbing syllables, not breaths.
Every control, its range, and what it actually does — the complete POCKET manual.
Download manual (PDF)All manualsActivation
iLok (PACE) — machine, iLok Cloud or iLok USBLicense lands on your iLok
Accepted testers get every Wave-1 plugin deposited to their iLok account — machine activation, iLok Cloud or iLok USB, your call.
Open the plugin
Insert POCKET in your DAW (AU · VST3 · AAX). First launch asks for activation via iLok License Manager.
You're in until August 30, 2026
Beta licenses run through the round. Your license codes and downloads live in the tester portal.
Not in the round yet? Applications are open — we accept in waves.
Apply for the closed beta