Polarity has released Polarity-MD, a free multiband dynamics processor for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Bitwig fans will be very familiar with the name Polarity and its impact on that community.
As well as being a Bitwig wizard and educator, Polarity is a forward-thinking developer, sound designer, and producer.
The Polarity Music YouTube channel is packed with excellent tutorials, and there’s a separate “Music Only” channel, where you’ll find lots of Vangelis-inspired tracks and some unexpected cover versions.
Polarity-MD is a free multiband dynamics processor, described by the developer as “essentially a four-band OTT.”
Polarity-MD is available in AU, VST3, and CLAP formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Downloading the plugin is quick and easy with no sign-up required.
The plugin features four bands, each offering upward and downward compression with per-band clipping.
You can set custom crossover frequencies with the 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley design.
Although there are various ways to use OTT, the plugin’s reputation is built on being something of a blunt-force tool. While Polarity-MD is every bit as capable of creating hypnotic, punchy drums and pushing loudness to the limit, it does so with a little more finesse.
In addition to the per-band controls, you have global controls for ratio (Amount), threshold, and attack/release.
You’ve also got pre/post-stages, with up/down compression, showing loudness, and compression before and after the four-band splitter.
The pre-stage offers ±24 dB trim and clipping. The post-stage features up/down compression and a brickwall clipper.
If you click on any clipper, you’ll hear the delta signal for that stage or band. You’ll hear what’s being clipped without it passing through the multi-band splitter (it goes directly to the output).
Visual feedback is color-coded across all bands and stages; downward compression is yellow, upward compression is blue, and clipping is red.
Visual feedback continues with built-in LUFS metering, showing your loudness before and after processing.
Polarity has a great overview video that explains everything about Polarity-MD. In addition, Polarity speaks about his unique approach to the plugin’s HTML/CSS GUI.
It’s very early days, but the reaction to Polarity-MD has already been epic, and it’s well-deserved.
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Last Updated on February 5, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
