Client Project
ALLCOMP
Redesigning a beloved all-in-one compressor so the interface finally matched the reputation of its sound.
Project overview
Client
Mixing Night Audio
Industry
Audio Software
Role
Product Design
Duration
1 Sprint
ALLCOMP was the first collaboration with Mixing Night Audio and Grammy-winning mixer Ken Lewis. The plugin had already earned real respect, five pro compression chains and four tone-shaping modules that let a producer get radio-ready results from a single dial, no ratios, no maths. But it had launched with a tongue-in-cheek aesthetic, and the interface hadn't kept pace with how seriously people had come to take the sound.
The brief was finesse. Give the UI the same level of craft as the DSP underneath, support fast and confident use, and keep a knowing nod to the original character that fans already loved.
Challenge
Redesigning a product people already like is its own kind of pressure. Go too far and you erase the personality that earned it a following; play it too safe and nothing actually improves. ALLCOMP's whole promise is "forget the tech, stay on the music" so the interface had to make a genuinely deep tool (five chains, four modules, filters, a mix knob doing heavy lifting) feel like one confident turn of a dial.
The hardest part was tone in the literal sense. Refining the visual character from joke to craft without losing the warmth. The charm was an asset. It just needed to read as intentional rather than throwaway.
Design Principles
Respect what already worked
The redesign started from what fans loved, not from a blank canvas. Character was preserved deliberately refined, not replaced.
One dial, total confidence
ALLCOMP's magic is how much happens under a single turn. The interface had to make that one gesture feel authoritative, with everything secondary arranged so it never undermined the simplicity.
Finesse in the tactile detail
Every state, hover and value readout was tuned for the feel of fast, confident use, the difference between a tool you trust and one you second-guess.
Key Decisions
Charm to craft, not charm to clinical
The tongue-in-cheek origin was kept as a nod rather than sanded flat. The refinement raised the finish across hierarchy, type and detailing while leaving the personality that fans recognised intact.
The chain selector as the centre of gravity
Five chains. Vocals, Low End, Punch, Smooth, Heat, became the primary decision, designed so choosing the right one for a sound is instant and obvious, with the depth waiting behind it for anyone who wants it.
Housing the tone-shaping modules cleanly
Levitate, Mash, Awaken and Oxidate plus filters had to live in one interface without turning it into a cockpit. They were arranged as a clear secondary tier, present and powerful, never in the way of the one-dial promise.
Scaling the system
Character, refined
ALLCOMP's redesign set the tone literally for the Mixing Night relationship. A visual language with genuine personality held to a professional standard of hierarchy and finish. Warmth in the detailing, discipline in the layout. It's the foundation the later Cascade work built on.
Outcome
ALLCOMP shipped as Mixing Night Audio's flagship all-in-one compressor, AAX, AU and VST3 across macOS and Windows.
What Shipped
Full plugin interface redesign
Five-chain selector system (Vocals, Low End, Punch, Smooth, Heat)
Tone-shaping module layout (Levitate, Mash, Awaken, Oxidate)
Refined interaction and value-state detailing
Developer handoff
Impact
Live commercial product
Computer Music performance award
Featured on KVR Audio, Sound On Sound, MusicRadar and Computer Music
The first project in an ongoing relationship that led to Cascade
Reflection