DeJunk
DeJunk is a gate that listens for what a sound is, not just how loud it is. It was designed with recorded distorted guitar in mind, but works just as well on clean electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, and other stringed instruments.
Between phrases, a track can fill up with junk: string scrapes, a hand landing on the strings, cable knocks, pick noise, fret noise and other handling sounds. An ordinary gate only asks whether something is loud enough. On distorted material, where the junk can be nearly as loud as the playing, that often means either letting the junk through or cutting into the music.
DeJunk asks a different question: is someone actually playing? The playing comes through with its attack intact, while the junk between phrases can be kept out.
Keep the note, lose the junk. One knob.
Controls
- CLEAN
Sets how strict DeJunk is, from 0 to 100. Default: 70.
Turn it up and DeJunk refuses more. Turn it down and it lets more through. CLEAN is not a threshold in dB. It sets where DeJunk's judgment tips from junk to music.
Click the number under the knob to type an exact value.
- Lamp
The amber lamp in the top-left corner is bypass. Lit means DeJunk is working; unlit means bypassed. Bypass is crossfaded to keep switching click-free, and your DAW's own bypass button controls the same thing.
- Meter
The meter runs from JUNK to MUSIC. The bar shows DeJunk's judgment of what it is hearing, the white marker shows where CLEAN has put the line, and the bar turns amber while the gate is open.
Setting CLEAN
Play the track and watch the meter. Playing should push the bar toward MUSIC, while handling noise should stay farther toward JUNK. The meter shows DeJunk's judgment rather than simple signal level, so loud junk can still land on the JUNK side.
Put the white marker between the two, then listen and adjust by ear.
Every track is different, so CLEAN is set per track. 70 is a starting point, not a universal setting.
How DeJunk behaves
DeJunk weighs three things: how loud the signal is, whether it looks more like steady playing or a single event such as a scrape or knock, and whether the sound repeats the way musical material often does. A short isolated event can therefore be refused even when it is close in level to the playing.
DeJunk has 352 ms of latency, and your DAW compensates for it automatically in playback and export, so the track stays in time with everything else. That wait is what lets DeJunk judge what is coming and open before the note reaches the output, helping it keep the start of the phrase intact.
The latency also makes DeJunk a mixing tool. It is not intended for playing through live or for monitoring while you record. Bypass keeps the same latency, so switching DeJunk on and off stays in time.
Because DeJunk opens ahead of the playing, sound that happens immediately before a phrase can sometimes come through with the first note.
While the gate is open, DeJunk leaves the sound alone: no EQ, no compression, no saturation. When it closes, it closes to silence.
DeJunk removes junk between the playing. Noise underneath the playing, such as hiss or hum while you play, stays where it is. DeJunk is a gate, not a noise reduction tool.
Short bursts of junk can be refused. Longer loud sounds, such as feedback or a held scrape, can start to look like playing and may pass through.
The repeat check needs a few seconds of material to work with. Until then, very quiet passages have to pass based on the other parts of DeJunk's analysis.
For electric guitar, put DeJunk after your amp or amp simulator. That is the signal position it was originally designed and tuned around.
DeJunk works in mono and stereo. In stereo, one decision applies to both channels so the stereo image stays put. It also means that junk on one side can get through while the other side is playing. For double-tracked guitars panned left and right, use one DeJunk on each guitar track rather than on a combined stereo mix.
There are no presets. With one control, there isn't much worth filing away.
Features
- Gate for recorded guitar, bass and other stringed instruments.
- Judges playing versus junk, not just loud versus quiet.
- Built to refuse scrapes, knocks and handling noise even when they are close in level to the playing.
- Opens ahead of the playing to help preserve attacks.
- One control: CLEAN, 0–100.
- JUNK-to-MUSIC meter for setting CLEAN.
- Leaves the sound untouched while the gate is open.
- Mono and stereo operation, with one decision for both channels.
- 352 ms latency, compensated by your DAW.
- Crossfaded, latency-matched bypass linked to your DAW's bypass button.
Installing
- VST3 (Windows)
Copy DeJunk.vst3 to:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\
- VST3 (Linux)
Copy DeJunk.vst3 to:
~/.vst3/
- macOS
Run:
DeJunk-<version>.pkg
The installer includes both VST3 and Audio Unit. Use Customize during installation if you only want one of them.
Your host may need a plugin rescan or restart before DeJunk appears. DeJunk is listed in the Guitar category; Cubase shows it under Guitar.
By installing or using DeJunk you agree to the License terms.
Back to DeJunk