C:\DRIVE 0.9.29 Current Features

C:\DRIVE is an offline image-based saturation plugin for macOS.

Core Features

  • Image-based saturation engine

  • Insert/drop an image to generate a custom saturation character

  • Local image analysis with no cloud upload and no AI API

  • Image analysis based on light, shadows, color, warmth, coolness, contrast, edges, texture, and grain

  • Movable listening area over the image to change the generated tone

  • Image analysis LED-style meters

  • Large tactile hardware-style interface

  • Photoreal rack hardware-inspired UI

Distortion Characters

  • Film: smoother, warmer, more natural saturation

  • Digital: sharper, more clipped, more defined character

  • Generative: rougher, more aggressive, more destructive character

Main Controls

  • Drive

  • Image

  • Tone

  • Texture

  • Dynamics

  • Mix

  • Output

Additional Audio Sections

  • Four-band post-drive EQ: Low, Mid, High, Presence

  • Power amp section inspired by a classic Bassman-style power amp

  • Cabinet IR section

  • Built-in cabinet IR

  • Five user IR slots for loading custom impulse responses

  • Noise gate with adjustable threshold, attack, and release

  • Gate curve switch: Linear or Log

  • Gate position switch: Pre-Drive or Post-IR

Signal Flow

Gate, if set pre-drive
Drive / image-shaped saturation
Post-drive EQ
Power amp section
Cabinet IR
Gate, if set post-IR
Output

Utility Features

  • Bypass

  • Auto gain

  • Oversampling options

  • Mono and stereo support

  • Stereo output support from mono sources

  • Mono-sum input option

  • AU and VST3 plugin formats

  • Universal 2 macOS build for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs

  • No standalone app

Beta Notes

  • Current version: 0.9.29 beta

  • macOS only

  • Installer package available

  • Package is not Developer ID signed or notarized yet

  • Users may need to allow the plugin through macOS security settings during testing

Try the BETA

Frequently Asked Questions

  • C:\DRIVE is an image-based saturation plugin. You insert an image, and the plugin turns its color, light, contrast, and texture into a custom drive, distortion, or fuzz character.

  • No. It does not identify objects, faces, places, or scenes. It analyzes visual qualities like brightness, color, contrast, grain, and texture.

  • No. Image analysis happens locally and offline. Your image is not uploaded or sent to any cloud service.

  • The beta supports PNG and JPEG images.

  • Yes. Bright, smooth images tend to create cleaner, more open saturation. Dark, high-contrast, or textured images tend to create heavier, rougher tones.

  • The Image knob controls how much the inserted image shapes the sound. At lower settings, C:\DRIVE behaves more like a normal saturation plugin. At higher settings, the image has more influence.

  • The listening area is the movable selection (crop) on the image. Moving it lets you “listen” to different parts of the image, which can change the tone.

  • No. C:\DRIVE still works as a regular saturation plugin with no image loaded.

  • They are three distortion characters. Film is smoother and more natural, Digital is tighter and more angular, and Generative is more aggressive and unpredictable.

  • Yes. It includes a power amp section, EQ, noise gate, and cabinet IR section, so it can work as a guitar tone tool.

  • Yes. It can be used on drums, bass, synths, vocals, loops, and full mixes, depending on how hard you drive it. You can even use the IR / Amp section on things that don’t normally use that for interesting, never heard before sounds.

  • The cab section uses impulse responses to emulate the sound of a speaker cabinet. C:\DRIVE includes a built-in cab sound and lets you load your own IRs.

  • Yes. These sections have their own on/off controls so you can use only the parts you want.

  • The goal is for the sound to restore from the generated toneprint, so the original image file should not need to remain on disk for the preset to work.

  • Not yet. Version 0.9.29 is a beta build, so core features are working, but visual polish, host testing, IR behavior, and edge cases are still being refined.