SnowTec has released Probe, a plugin analyzer designed to measure and inspect other plugins, and it is available as a free download.
This article covers Probe’s download details and an overview of what it can do.
What Is SnowTec Probe?
Probe measures the frequency and phase response, harmonics, aliasing, intermodulation distortion, compression and more of any plugin, displaying each measurement down to its detection limit. Both a standalone app and the “Probe FX” plugin version are offered for free.
Key Features
- Nine screens: LINEAR, HARMONICS, ALIASING, IMD, DYNAMICS, IR, SCOPE, PERFORMANCE and CHECKS
- Self-calibrating sweep for measuring amplitude and phase response, with a comparison against the latency the plugin reports
- Harmonics and aliasing displayed separately, using Hammerstein kernels (orders 1 to 5) starting from 20 Hz
- SMPTE-style intermodulation distortion (-40 to +6 dBFS), static curve, threshold and slope, plus attack/release measurement from step response
- Impulse response, RT60 (T30/T20) and octave-band display
- Two chains (A/B) of six slots each, with a latency-aligned A-B null test
- Separate L, R, M and S measurements, with signal level from -24 to +6 dBFS
- Live updates that follow your knob movements on the plugin under test
- Seven correctness checks: NaN/infinity, repeatability, block-size dependence, channel leakage, denormals, memory allocation on the audio thread, and state recall
- Seven built-in references, including gain, clipper, EQ, delay, compressor and reverb
- Measurements run in a separate process, so Probe and your DAW keep running even if the plugin under test crashes
- English and Russian interface languages
- Supported formats: standalone app, macOS (10.13 or later, Intel/Apple Silicon) VST3/AU, and Windows 10/11 VST3 (64-bit)
How to Download and Install Probe
On the official page, enter your email address in the “Download free” field, tick the box to agree to the privacy policy, and click “Get the links”. Download links for the macOS and Windows versions will be sent to you by email. Use the links in that email to download the installer, then install it.
The email and the plugin interface may appear in Russian, but you can switch the plugin to English using the selector at the top right of the window.
That covers the free release of Probe. If you analyze or debug plugins, it is well worth a try while it is available.