DIVIDE
MANUAL
Divide is a multiband plugin host. It splits your audio into up to 5 independent frequency bands, lets you load any VST3 or AU plugin into each band and into the master section, and sums everything back together — with per-slot M/S processing, sidechain routing, bus sends, and a choice of linear-phase or zero-latency crossovers.
New in 1.1: a redesigned interface, Zero Latency mode, click-to-add crossovers, a simpler slot menu, a rebuilt output meter, lower CPU use, and a fix for control lag inside hosted plugins. Look for the NEW tags below.
Throughout this manual, controls are shown exactly as they appear in the plugin — for example is the settings button.
INSTALLATION
Windows
Upgrading from 1.0? Just run the new installer over the top. Your sessions, presets, favourites and plugin list are kept.
macOS
ACTIVATION
When you load Divide for the first time, an activation window will appear. Enter your serial key from your dashboard or your confirmation email.
Example: A3F2-91BC-4D7E-F088
Divide can be activated on 1 machine on the free trial, and up to 2 machines on a full license. To move a license to a new machine, use De-Authorize This Computer in the settings menu on the old machine, or manage your activations from your dashboard.
Divide checks your license online from time to time but does not need a permanent connection: it keeps working for 90 days offline, so studio machines kept off the network are fine.
Trial users: Your serial key is included in your welcome email and is visible in your dashboard. The trial is fully functional for 14 days, no credit card required. The settings menu shows the days remaining and lets you upgrade with a full serial key at any time.
SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Windows | Windows 10 or later, 64-bit |
| macOS | macOS 10.14 (Mojave) or later — Intel and Apple Silicon (Universal Binary) |
| Plugin Formats | VST3, AAX (Pro Tools 12+), AU (macOS only) |
| Channel Formats | Mono, stereo and surround up to 9.1.6 (Dolby Atmos beds in Pro Tools) |
| RAM | 4GB minimum, 8GB recommended |
| CPU | Multi-core processor recommended (SIMD optimised) |
INTERFACE
OVERVIEW NEW
The Divide window has four areas: the header along the top, the Spectrum Analyzer below it, the band cards and Master card along the bottom, and the output meter on the right. The window can be resized from its bottom-right corner — the band cards share the width, so a wider window gives plugin names more room.
Header Controls
| Control | Function |
|---|---|
| Settings menu: authorization, Bus Send Delay, this manual, and legal notices. See Settings. | |
| -- PRESETS -- | Load, save and share presets. Shows the loaded preset's name, with a * once you change anything. See Presets. |
| A B | A/B comparison. Click to switch between two independent snapshots of your entire setup. The letter shows which is live. |
| Bypass all | Bypasses all band processing. Audio passes through untouched (with the same latency, so nothing shifts in time). |
| Lock crossovers | Locks all crossover handles so they can't be moved by accident. |
| Reset crossovers | Returns all crossover frequencies to their defaults (200 Hz, 800 Hz, 3.2 kHz, 8 kHz). |
| Zero latency | Switches to zero-latency crossovers. See Zero Latency. |
| −3 bands+ | Removes or adds a band at the top of the spectrum. Up to 5 bands. |
A lit button is on: its text turns green (or amber for Bypass all).
SPECTRUM
ANALYZER
The analyzer shows a real-time view of your signal, with each band's region tinted and filled in its own colour. A faint white line shows the input (before processing) and a brighter white line shows the output (after your plugins), so you can see exactly what your chain is doing. The scale is fixed from 0 to −100 dBFS.
Band Colours
| Band | Colour |
|---|---|
| Band 1 | Coral |
| Band 2 | Amber |
| Band 3 | Green |
| Band 4 | Sky blue |
| Band 5 | Violet |
| Master | White |
Crossover Handles
Each crossover is a line with a pill at the top that always shows its frequency. Drag a crossover to move it. Frequencies move in 5 Hz steps up to 100 Hz and 10 Hz steps above, and crossovers always stay at least 20 Hz apart.
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Drag a crossover | Moves it. |
| Double-click a crossover | Type an exact frequency. |
| Drag a middle band | Click inside any band between two crossovers and drag sideways: the whole band slides, keeping its width. NEW |
| Hover empty space | A dashed + 2.80 kHz preview shows where a new crossover would go. NEW |
| Click empty space | Adds a crossover there. The band you clicked splits in two: the lower part keeps its plugins and settings, the upper part becomes a new empty band, and every band above moves up one place with its plugins intact. NEW |
| Double-right-click a crossover | Removes it. The band below keeps its plugins and widens to cover both ranges; the band above, and its plugins, are removed. NEW |
Band Labels, Solo & Mute
Each band's region is labelled at its top-left, with its own S solo and M mute buttons at its top-right. Solo lets you hear one band on its own; mute silences just that band. Silent bands are dimmed in the display, so it always matches what you hear.
Tip: when Lock crossovers is on, none of the crossover actions above will move, add or remove anything.
BAND SETUP
Each active band has its own card. Bands are processed in parallel and summed together before the master section. Each band holds up to 5 plugin slots in series (top to bottom).
Band Header Controls
| Control | Function |
|---|---|
| Band 120 Hz – 200 Hz | The band's name and its current frequency range, updating live as you move crossovers. |
| × | Removes this band and its plugins. The band below widens to fill the gap (for Band 1, the band above does), and every band above moves down one place with its plugins. |
| Auto-gain | Matches the band's output level to its input level, so you judge processing by sound, not loudness. |
| Bypass | Bypasses all plugins in this band. The band still passes audio. |
| Solo | Isolates this band for monitoring. |
| Input / Output | Gain into and out of the band's plugin chain, ±12 dB. |
| Mix | Blends the band's processed signal with its dry signal (100% = fully processed). |
| Right-click the header | Band chain menu: Copy Band, Paste Band, Save Band Chain As…, Load Band Chain, Clear Band, Show Band Chains Folder. Saved band chains can be loaded into any band, in any session. |
OUTPUT METER NEW
The meter on the right shows Divide's final output — exactly what goes back to your DAW — as true sample peaks, with ballistics modelled on Pro Tools' meters.
| Element | Function |
|---|---|
| Bars | Instant attack and a steady fall, with a peak-hold line that holds for 3 seconds. Colour follows level: green, then lime, amber, and red only in the top 3 dB. |
| Clip LED | Lights red for 3 seconds when a sample reaches 0 dBFS. |
| -6.4 Peak readout | The peak level of each hit — every transient shows its own value, so you can read levels hit by hit. |
| Surround | On surround tracks the meter widens to show every channel, labelled (L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs …). |
LOADING
PLUGINS
Each band and master slot can host any VST3 or AU plugin installed on your system.
First time? Open the plugin browser and press Scan plugins to find all your installed plugins. You only need to do this once, or whenever you install new plugins. Scanning runs in a separate process, so a faulty plugin can't crash your DAW.
The Slot NEW
A slot shows the plugin's name, its mix knob and its bypass button — nothing else, so your chain stays easy to read. Everything else lives in one menu: hover the slot and click , or right-click anywhere on the slot.
| Control | Function |
|---|---|
| Mix | Wet/dry mix for this slot. Drag up/down; the value shows while you drag. |
| B Bypass | Bypasses this plugin only. |
| Slot menu | Open plug-in window · Replace plug-in… · Mid / Side (Off, Mid, Side) · Sidechain input · Add to / Remove from Favourites · load from Favourites · Copy / Paste Plugin · Slot Mix presets (100, 75, 50, 25, 0%) · Remove plug-in |
| MIDSIDESC | Tags after the plugin name show when Mid/Side or sidechain is switched on for that slot. |
| Drag a slot | Drag a plugin onto another slot to move it — within a band, to another band, or to and from the Master. Hold Alt while dragging to copy instead. |
| Copy / Paste | Copies a plugin and all its settings to a clipboard shared across every band and the Master. |
| 3Neve 1073 | A red slot means a preset or session uses a plugin that isn't installed on this computer. Its settings are kept, so the session is safe to save and reopen elsewhere. |
Crash protection: if a hosted plugin crashes, Divide disables just that plugin and keeps your session — and your DAW — running. Reload the slot to try it again.
PLUGIN
BROWSER
The browser lists your plugins grouped by format and maker, with your Favourites at the top. A small badge marks plugins whose channel format doesn't match the track (for example a stereo-only plugin on a mono track).
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| Scan plugins | Searches your system plugin folders for new or updated plugins. |
| Detect I/O types | Checks which channel formats each plugin supports, so the browser can flag mismatches. |
| Manage plugins | Hide plugins you never use (or that misbehave) from the browser, and bring hidden ones back. |
| Add custom scan path | Adds extra folders to scan, for plugins installed outside the standard locations. |
| Load | Loads the selected plugin into the slot. |
MASTER
SECTION
The master section sits after all bands are summed. It has 3 plugin slots (working exactly like band slots) and processes the combined output of every band — ideal for final compression, limiting, or stereo glue.
| Control | Function |
|---|---|
| Bypass | Bypasses the master plugins only. The bands keep playing. |
| Auto-gain | Matches the master output level to its input level. |
| Input / Output / Mix | Gain into and out of the master chain, and its wet/dry mix. |
ZERO LATENCY NEW
Divide has two crossover modes. Switch with Zero latency in the header. The setting is saved with your session and presets.
| Mode | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Linear phase (default, button off) | Mixing and mastering. 512-tap linear-phase FIR crossovers. Bands recombine perfectly — Divide with no plugins loaded nulls against the original. Adds 256 samples of latency (5.3 ms at 48 kHz), compensated automatically by your DAW. |
| Zero latency (button on) | Tracking and low-latency monitoring. Linkwitz-Riley crossovers add no latency of their own. Bands still sum to a perfectly flat frequency response, with clean 24 dB/octave separation. |
Good to know: zero-latency crossovers shift the phase slightly around each crossover point — low frequencies arrive a fraction later than highs (about 2 ms around a 200 Hz crossover, under 0.5 ms above 1 kHz). It sounds the same, but the waveform looks different and it won't null against the original. That is true of every zero-latency multiband design.
Switching modes fades the audio out and back in over a few milliseconds (the timing changes by 256 samples, which can't be crossfaded). Your DAW then re-aligns its delay compensation — playback may hiccup once, as with any plugin that changes latency. The setting isn't automatable, for the same reason.
M/S MODE
Mid/Side processing is set per plugin slot, so one band can, for example, compress the Mid and widen the Side. Open the slot menu ( or right-click) and choose Mid / Side. A MID or SIDE tag appears on the slot.
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Off (stereo) | Standard stereo processing. The plugin receives the full stereo signal. |
| MID Mid | The plugin processes only the Mid (centre) signal. |
| SIDE Side | The plugin processes only the Side (stereo width) signal. |
SIDECHAIN
Any plugin slot in any band can receive Divide's sidechain input. This lets you trigger compression, gating, or ducking from an external source — at only the frequency range you choose.
BAND BUS
SENDS
Each band can send its audio to any of Divide's 4 stereo bus outputs, where you can process it with your DAW's own plugins and effects — for example, a reverb on just the high band. Each band can have up to 5 sends.
Availability: Per-band bus outputs are supported in Pro Tools and Reaper, which expose the multi-output routing Divide needs. In other DAWs, bands are summed to the main output inside Divide.
Plugins after Divide on the same track? They delay the track but not the bus sends, so the bus arrives early. Set Bus Send Delay (settings menu) to their combined latency in samples — or better, load those plugins into Divide's Master section, where it's compensated automatically.
PRESETS
A Divide preset captures your complete setup — every band's plugins and their settings, crossover positions, bus sends, the master chain and the crossover mode. Open the preset menu in the header:
| Item | Function |
|---|---|
| Default (Reset) | Clears everything back to a blank Divide. |
| User Presets | Your saved presets. |
| Community Presets | Presets you've downloaded from the community. |
| Save Preset As… | Saves the current setup as a new preset. |
| Set As Default Preset | Makes the current setup the starting point for every new instance of Divide. |
| Show … Preset Folder | Opens your user or community preset folder. |
| Upload/Download a Preset… | Opens divideplugin.com/presets to share your presets or download new ones. |
The preset box shows the loaded preset's name, with a * once you've changed anything. Single-band setups can also be saved and reused as band chains — right-click any band header (see Band Setup). Your DAW's own preset system works too.
SETTINGS
Click in the header:
| Item | Function |
|---|---|
| Upgrade | Trial only: shows the days remaining, and lets you buy a full license or enter a full serial key. |
| Authorize This Computer | Activates Divide on this machine. |
| De-Authorize This Computer | Frees this machine's activation so you can use it on another computer. |
| Bus Send Delay… | Extra delay for the bus sends. See Bus Sends. |
| Manual | Opens this manual. |
| Legal & Licensing | Third-party licenses and notices. |
MULTI-MONO
In Pro Tools, Divide can be inserted as a multi-mono plugin (one instance per channel). A Channel link button then appears in the header. With it on, loading a plugin or adjusting one on any channel is mirrored to the others; turn it off to work on one channel on its own, and back on to re-link matching plugins.
TECHNICAL
SPECS
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Max Bands | 5 + master section |
| Slots per Band | 5 |
| Master Slots | 3 |
| Crossovers | Linear phase: 512-tap FIR · Zero latency: 4th-order Linkwitz-Riley (24 dB/oct) |
| Latency | 256 samples in linear-phase mode (5.3 ms at 48 kHz) · 0 in zero-latency mode · plus any hosted plugins' latency · all reported to the DAW for automatic compensation |
| Crossover Range | 20 Hz – 20 kHz · 5 Hz steps to 100 Hz, 10 Hz above · min. 20 Hz apart |
| Bit Depth | 32-bit float |
| Channels | Mono, stereo, surround up to 9.1.6 |
| Bus Outputs | 4 × stereo, up to 5 sends per band (Pro Tools / Reaper) |
| Plugin Formats | VST3, AAX, AU (macOS) |
| Activations (Trial) | 1 machine |
| Activations (Full) | 2 machines |
| Offline Use | Up to 90 days between license checks |
FAQ
TROUBLE-
SHOOTING
Divide doesn't appear in Pro Tools
Clear the AAX plugin cache and relaunch Pro Tools. On Windows: C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\Avid\Pro Tools\AAX PlugIn Cache. On macOS: ~/Library/Caches/Avid/Pro Tools/.
Plugins don't appear in the browser
Press Scan plugins in the plugin browser. If a plugin is installed outside the standard VST3 or AU folders, add its folder with Add custom scan path. Check Manage plugins in case it has been hidden.
Audio is out of sync with other tracks
Divide reports its latency to the DAW for automatic compensation. If tracks are misaligned, check that plugin delay compensation (PDC) is enabled in your DAW — in Pro Tools it is on by default. If you use bus sends with plugins after Divide on the same track, set Bus Send Delay in the settings menu.
The waveform looks different with Zero latency on
That's expected: zero-latency crossovers shift phase slightly around each crossover, so the waveform changes shape even though the sound and frequency balance don't. Switch Zero latency off when you need a perfect null.
A slot is red
The preset or session uses a plugin that isn't installed on this computer. Install the plugin and reopen the session, or remove the slot from its menu.
A hosted plugin crashes on load
Divide's crash protection disables a plugin that crashes so your session keeps running. Some older or poorly coded plugins are unstable when hosted inside another plugin — try loading it directly in your DAW first to confirm it works. If the issue persists, contact us at support@divideplugin.com.
Still stuck? Email us at support@divideplugin.com and include your OS, DAW version, and a description of the issue.