Deep chord
preset “BC Deep Chord”i – VI – VII – IV in C minor, two bars each. SPACE opens up over the middle of the clip, DUB follows.
AU · VST3 · STANDALONE — macOS 10.15+
Chords that sit in the room.
Play one key and the Underground Engine voices a whole dub chord — then you ride DUB, SPACE and TONE while a 16-voice engine breathes underneath. Built for deep / dub techno and minimal, not for EDM drops.
- 113 factory presets
- 7 chord shapes, 3 voicing controls
- MIDI out + clip drag-out
- No iLok, offline activation
DEEP HOUSE·
DUB TECHNO·
MINIMAL·
AMBIENT
Not a demo loop. The engine.
Three clips below were rendered straight out of the plug-in — same engine you get, nothing re-recorded or mastered afterwards except a −1 dB peak normalise.
Dub stab
preset “Concrete Echo”Short stabs into a long room. TONE closes while SPACE widens, then a dub throw into the tail.
Ratchet arp
preset “Ratchet Sync”The same chord engine as sixteenths: ratchet, accent and a synced tremolo on top.
Four things it does that a preset bank can’t
Voicing, not just chords
Seven dub shapes (m7, m9, m11, sus2, sus4, add9, inverted dub) and three controls that change how they are stacked: INVERSION walks the bass tone up an octave, VOICES thins a five-note m9 down to a triad, DROP 2 drops the second highest tone for that open, slightly jazz voicing.
Macros that rewrite every preset
DUB, SPACE and TONE are real automation parameters (−1 … +1) that offset whatever preset is loaded. One automation lane sweeping SPACE opens the room of all 113 presets with the same musical curve. They survive preset changes, so DICE never yanks a macro you ride.
The chord leaves the plug-in
MIDI out sends the generated chord (or chord + played notes, or played only), and the MIDI pill drags a ready-made clip into Live, Logic, Cubase or Reaper. Layer your own bass, piano or a hardware synth under the same harmony.
A dub chain, not a test bench
Tempo-synced delay with filters inside the feedback loop, a dark space reverb, master low-pass, tape drive and width. LFO 1 targets cutoff, pitch, pan, delay time or reverb size with sine / triangle / sample-and-hold shapes; LFO 2 is a free tremolo with its own division. DUB DLY throws the delay (send 50 → 85 %, feedback +30 %), DUB VRB throws the room open — both swell over ~20–50 ms instead of clicking, and neither is stored in a preset, because a throw is something you do, not a sound.
Tour
Keyplayed or drawn in
→
Chord engineshape · voicing · strum
→
Arpoptional, tempo-locked
→
16-voice synthsaw/pulse/noise · filter
→
Dub FXdelay · reverb · drive
→
Outaudio + MIDI
113 presets, sorted like a record bag
Every preset is one slot — no “sounds” that secretly load three layers. Favourites, free-form tags and a morph bar let you keep your own order.
Arps
Arp Sequence · Arp Ladder · Arp Ratchet · Arp Depth · Ratchet Sync · Dub Arp Echo · Steel Arp · Low Ratchet · Low Tide Arp · Rust Arp · Half Step Arp · Cascade · Dub Throw Arp
Bass
Sub Pressure · Rubber Bass · Dub Sub · Tremolo Sub · Pulse Bass · Tape Sub · 808 Dub · Moog Growl · Molten Sub · Stepper Bass · Concrete Sub · Rubber Step · Cavern Sub · Airsub · Sump · Pit Prop
Chords
BC Deep Chord · RS Warehouse · Dub Stab · Detroit Basic · Pressure Drop · Night Bus · Channel One · Concrete Chord · Deep Six · Taped Chord · Tremolo Dub · Night Drive · Smoked Chord · Dub Chamber · Basement 4am · Vault Chord · Static Chord · Far Stab · Under Tow
Pads
Chord Wash · Ocean Floor · Mauve Sky · Glass Cathedral · Slow Tide · Fog Bank · Dub Pad · Breathing Pad · Wind Tunnel · Deep Field · Harbour Fog · Tape Choir · Night Ferry · Glass Corridor · Glass Choir · Slow Air
Plucks
Minimal Pulse · Bell Dub · Shaker · Glass Drop · Cold Bell · Wire Harp · Tin Roof · Rain Stick · Muted Bell · Metal Ping · Air Dust · Filament
Textures
Tape Dub · Concrete Echo · Kingston Tunnel · Salt & Iron · Rain On Metal · Ghost Radio · Radar Sweep · Tape Tremolo · Radio Static · Iron Lung · Cold Room · Distant Siren · Room Answer · Hollow Fifth · Wet Cement · Steel Wool · Salt Fog · Cassette Hall · Coal Seam · Ballast · Chalk Line · Static Comb
Ambient
Blue Hour · Low Ceiling · Afterglow · Harbour Wall · Neon Rain
Clean
Clean Saw · Clean Pulse · Clean Square · Clean Etch · Clean Bell · Clean Pad · Clean Fifth · Clean Sub · Clean Pluck
Small things you’ll use every ten seconds
- Undo / redo across preset loads, morphs and chip clicks.
- A/B compare two versions of the same sound, with a morph bar between them.
- Right-click MIDI Learn on any control — mappings travel with the session.
- Esc panics (drops a latched arp), R rolls the dice, ← → walk the bank.
- C / V copy and paste the whole sound between instances.
- Click the scope to freeze it; double-click the meter to reset the peak hold.
- Tags & favourites live next to the presets, keyed by name — they survive reordering.
Pricing
Try the whole instrument free for 14 days — every preset, every macro, MIDI out, clip drag-out. If it earns a place in your sessions, the licence is a one-time €39.
Free trial
€0
14 days · full instrument · no card needed
- Full engine, all 113 presets
- No audio watermark, no session limit
- Signed and notarised — opens without a warning
- After the trial ends, saving your own presets asks for a licence
Full licence
€39
one-time · no subscription · permanent licence
- AU + VST3 + Standalone (macOS)
- 2 computers with one key
- Free updates for all 1.x versions
- Offline activation, no iLok, no dongle
- Royalty-free in your own releases
Final price — the seller is not registered for VAT, so no VAT is added at checkout. 14-day trial included, no card needed. You lose the right of withdrawal once the licence key is delivered — this is stated at checkout.
Install
Three steps to sound
1 — Unzip, drag two files
Create the folder if it is missing, then drag both bundles in:
…Engine.component→~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components…Engine.vst3→~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
The Standalone app goes into /Applications.
2 — Open your DAW
The download is signed with a Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so macOS opens it without a warning dialog and without touching Terminal.
- If macOS ever does ask (an old copy, a rebuilt bundle), right-click the app → Open, or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
- There is nothing to unquarantine and no security setting to lower.
3 — Rescan your DAW
Restart the DAW (not the computer) so it rescans plug-ins. EarsDeep appears as an instrument: hold one key and the whole chord plays.
Every control and shortcut: the manual.
Windows 10/11 VST3: build in progress, not available yet.
FAQ
What exactly do I get after paying?
A licence key for your name + e-mail and the installer download. Paste the key into the About window (click “UNDERGROUND ENGINE” in the top bar) — the trial badge turns into “FULL” and saving your own presets unlocks. No account, no dongle, no phone-home on every start.
Who am I actually buying from?
You buy directly from the author: Ján Kolčák – EarsDeep Records (Kotmanova 22, 985 53 Kotmanova, Slovakia). The payment is processed by Stripe, which is the payment processor, not the seller. The seller issues the invoice and handles refunds. No VAT is charged — the seller is not registered for VAT in Slovakia, so the €39 is the final price. The plug-in is digitally signed and notarised by Apple, so Gatekeeper accepts it on first launch with no warning dialog.
How does the trial differ from the full version?
For 14 days everything works: all presets, all macros, MIDI out, clip drag-out. After that the engine keeps making sound, but you cannot save user presets until you licence it. We deliberately do not mute audio or inject noise — that would just ruin your session.
Is it Apple Silicon native?
Yes — one universal binary for Intel and Apple Silicon, macOS 10.15 and newer.
Is there a Windows version?
Not yet. The Windows VST3 build is prepared — the plug-in code has no macOS-only parts, so it is a build job rather than a port — and it is waiting for its first test build on a Windows machine. Nothing is downloadable for Windows today; when the build exists it will be announced here first. Windows is also the easier side to ship: an unsigned VST3 loads in a DAW without any prompt, so there is no notarisation step to wait for.
Does it work as a MIDI effect?
It is an instrument with MIDI out. To drive another synth, put it first in the chain and set MIDI Out to “Chord” or “Chord + played”. The MIDI pill also drags a clip straight into your DAW.
Can I use it in commercial releases?
Yes, royalty-free. You may not resell the plug-in, the presets as a product, or reuse the factory bank inside your own soundware.
Refunds?
14 days, no questions asked — the licence is deactivated and the payment refunded. Just mail the reference from your order.
Which DAWs are tested?
Ableton Live 11/12, Logic Pro, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper and Bitwig. If something misbehaves, send the host + version — we answer.
One key. A whole chord.
Download the trial, drop it on a track and press DICE a few times.