Kiive Audio – Analog Warmth Meets Digital Workflow

If you’re chasing the warm, rich character of analog gear but want the workflow speed, precision, and convenience of the digital realm, then add Kiive Audio to your production arsenal.

The Canadian plugin company’s mission is to create industry-grade analog emulations with the capabilities of modern digital audio. Their wide catalogue of music production plugins spans from EQs to reverbs and compressors, all designed to enhance your mixing and mastering efficiently. “Kiive Audio started as a way to show our love for analog gear,” says co-owner and COO Johnny Fitzgerald. “We wanted tools that had the character of hardware but the convenience, flexibility, and recall of software.”  

Compared to what the rest of the market is offering, which usually includes insanely high prices, Kiive Audio delivers high-quality analog emulations at prices that won’t break your budget. Their buying options are flexible too; you can choose a bundle of two or three plugins, a mixing essentials bundle, or you could simply pick up a single plugin that catches your interest, all at very affordable rates. “Our mission is simple: create plugins that sound inspiring, remove the roadblocks between an idea and a finished track, and make engineers feel like they’re working with real gear without needing to mortgage their house to afford it,” said Fitzgerald.

As a business, Kiive Audio is refreshingly transparent, offering no subscription traps, one-off purchases, lifetime free updates, responsive full-time customer service, and even a 14-day free trial, allowing you to test drive their products. “We are a small team, and you’ll always be talking to a human,” said the team at Kiive. Authenticity isn’t just a selling point, rather a reflection of the care and detail at the core of their products. 

Funktasy Studios has put some of the Kiive Audio’s plugins through their paces. Here’s our comprehensive review of their three flagship releases – KStrip, XBus, and NFuse.

KStrip – Neve, SSL and API in One Plugin

KStrip is a channel strip which brings 3 of the world’s most well-known consoles together into one sleek, modern unit.

The UI (user interface) is clean and intuitive, with three distinct circuits – saturation, EQ, and compression – each one offering the possibility of switching among three modules, namely S, N, and A. These emulate the sonic signatures of the legendary consoles. A (API) provides punchiness to the sound, perfect for drums, guitars, and anything that needs bite. N (Neve) adds smoothness that flatters vocals and bass. S (SSL) offers clear and transparent control over all elements of the mix.

With KStrip, you won’t need to stack huge amounts of plugins, because this one does it all. It’s recommended by some of the music industry’s most revered audio engineers, such as Jack Miele (Yungblud, G-Eazy, Chris Stapleton).

“The goal isn’t just to make a perfect 1:1 clone; it’s to make something that feels alive in the mix and still gives you the workflow speed modern productions demand,” explains Fitzgerald.

KStrip is a brilliant plugin, allowing for outstanding flexibility in terms of how you desire to sculpt your audio while keeping that unmistakable analog warmth to the sound. 

XBus – Iconic SSL Glue and Punch Inside the Box

XBus is a bus compressor emulating the legendary SSL bus compressor, built to glue your mix together and give it that cohesive, “finished record” feel. XBus is light on your wallet yet heavy on impact.

The plugin features two independent compressors, one for the left channel/mids and one for the right channel/sides, giving you precise control over your stereo image. Each compressor includes the classic SSL-style controls: makeup gain, threshold, attack, release, ratio, and dry/wet. These are all designed to make quick and easy shaping transients, adding punch, and tightening your mix.

Furthermore, an Advanced Controls section is located at the bottom of the interface, offering sidechain filtering to shape the compressor’s response, and a subtle saturation option to add extra warmth for heavy-hitting masters.

Fitzgerald put it this way: “We obsessively model the quirks, harmonics, and differences that make analog gear so musical, but we also embrace the benefits of digital, like precise automation and features that would be impossible in hardware.”

XBus is an amazing SSL emulation that captures the iconic glue and punch of the SSL bus compressor, while offering a greater degree of freedom and flexibility than the original hardware ever could.

NFuse – Two Mix-bus Icons in One

Inspired by elements of both Neve and SSL, NFuse brings the character of two legendary bus compressors into one intuitive interface.

Inside the virtual rack, you’ll find parameters from the two famed bus processors: input, saturation, EQ, compression, stereo imaging, and output. Each parameter gives you a choice between two modules, F or N. F (SSL) offers crisp, harmonic saturation, a 2-band mastering grade EQ with minimal phase-shift, gluey and punchy compression, and colourful stereo width. N (Neve Masterbus Transformer) delivers rounded, thick saturation, a 2-band shelf EQ for smooth tonal shaping, a natural-sounding optical compressor, and powerful stereo imaging.

The real juice lies in the chain flexibility – NFuse allows you to rearrange the signal flow by swapping between the modules. It’s a game-changer, capable of combining the strengths of both analog machines into one streamlined plugin. That means fewer headaches caused by mile-long plugin chains, less CPU usage, and a groundbreaking, efficient virtual hybrid. 

“We think about how an engineer would want to use plugins in 2025 and beyond. That means having a great sound, getting quick results, and having features that feel like creative tools instead of science experiments. Plus, our team’s small, so we can move fast, take risks, and listen to our users in a way bigger companies can’t,” Fitzgerald emphasized. 

Beyond the reliability of the analog emulation, this plugin surely stands out for its huge versatility, being a serious mix-bus tool and one of the most exciting products in Kiive Audio’s lineup.

Kiive Audio isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel; they’re just making the wheel smoother, warmer, and easier to drive. With plugins that pack serious analog flavour, flexible workflows, and a refreshingly fair business model, they’ve quickly carved out a spot in the crowded plugin market. 

Plus, they seem to have no intention of stopping. As Fitzgerald hinted, “We’ve got a couple of big releases coming that I’m really excited about! There’s some stuff that I can’t mention here, but what I can say is that our users have been asking for these things for a while, so that’s super exciting for us!”

If you’re after professional-level sound without the usual hassle, Kiive Audio is definitely worth trying.

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*Funktasy received product(s) in this article for review as part of our Funktasy Approved series. Funktasy Approved showcases products and experiences we’ve personally tested and recommend to our community.