What is Kernix Raw?
Kernix Raw mangles your sound from a single knob. It front-loads analog saturation, opens up a feedback echo that re-saturates with every repeat, and bites in bitcrush grit with a touch of detune: all under the hood, the same engine from the full Kernix, here HQ-oversampled with Auto-Gain forced on. Wreck vocals, synths, drums, or a full mix. The result always gets dirtier and bigger, never just louder.
Quick start
Get a result with Kernix Raw in under a minute.
- Insert it. Put Kernix Raw on the track or bus you want to change.
- Turn MANGLE up. Raise MANGLE until it sounds right. Auto-gain keeps the level matched.
- Compare. Bypass the plugin in your DAW to hear the difference.
The interface
Controls
Header
- 1Fire Head: click the flame logo to open the About panel: what the plugin is, who made it and the trademark notices. Click anywhere in the panel to close it.
The knob
- 2MANGLE: a single macro that drives every stage at once. Turn it up and saturation thickens first, then the feedback echo and re-saturated repeats build, the bitcrush deepens from clean toward lo-fi, and a slight detune warps the pitch. It's the only automatable control, and output is biased down internally so even full destruction stays level-matched.
Key specs*
| Multi-FX engine | Drive (5-mode saturation, macro pins Crunch), Warp detune, a feedback Echo, Texture bitcrush, a Firewall harshness-tamer, and a Plasma air exciter are chained internally under one knob. |
|---|---|
| HQ oversampling | The drive/warp stage runs oversampled with equiripple half-band filtering, so the saturation stays clean and anti-aliased. |
| Static latency reporting | The reported latency is pinned to a fixed worst-case value and held constant with an internal padding delay, so the host never rebuilds its delay-compensation graph regardless of the macro. |
| DC blocker | A 20 Hz high-pass preserves headroom after the asymmetric saturation, and a tanh soft-clipper plus a hard ceiling keep the output bounded. |
| NonAuto hidden parameters | Every hidden engine parameter is wrapped in a non-automatable subclass so only MANGLE clutters the host's automation list, yet the hidden values still save and restore with plugin state. |
| Controls | One knob, MANGLE |
| Formats | macOS: AU, VST3, CLAP, AAX, Standalone. Windows: VST3, CLAP, Standalone |
* Key specs from the plugin page. Some specs may not be listed.
How do I use Kernix Raw on a track?
- Insert it. Put Kernix Raw on the track or bus you want to change.
- Turn MANGLE up. Raise MANGLE until it sounds right. Turn it up and saturation thickens first, then the feedback echo and re-saturated repeats build, the bitcrush deepens from clean toward lo-fi, and a slight detune warps the pitch. It's the only automatable control, and output is biased down internally so even full destruction stays level-matched.
- Automate it. MANGLE is the only control your DAW can automate, so one automation lane covers it.
What about the full Kernix?
Love the chaos? The full Kernix goes deeper. The Pro version lets you dial drive, echo, bitcrush, warp and the Firewall and Plasma stages independently, with 5 drive modes (Warm/Crunch/Tape/Broken/Hell), a tempo-synced feedback delay, a pitch + formant warp shifter, the built-in terminal with cheat codes, System Evolve generative morphing, and Kernel Panic. Every control is explained in the Kernix manual.
Keyboard and mouse shortcuts
These work in every Kernix Raw format (AU, VST3, CLAP, AAX, Standalone).
| Reset a control to its default | Double-click the knob or slider |
|---|---|
| Scroll to change a value | Hover over a knob and scroll the mouse wheel |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kernix Raw free?
Yes. Kernix Raw is completely free: freeware, no trial, no nag screens, no expiration.
What does the MANGLE knob do?
MANGLE is a macro that drives Kernix's hidden multi-FX engine: analog saturation, a re-saturated feedback echo, bitcrush grit, and a touch of detune together. It runs HQ-oversampled with Auto-Gain forced on, so it gets dirtier and bigger, never just louder. It's the only automatable control.
What can I use Kernix Raw on?
Anything you want to wreck: vocals, synths, drums, or a full mix. It is built for aggressive creative texture, from subtle grit at low settings to full destruction at the top.
How is Kernix Raw different from Kernix (Pro)?
Kernix Raw drives the whole effect chain from one MANGLE knob. The full Kernix lets you dial drive, echo, bitcrush, warp pitch and the Firewall and Plasma stages independently, with 5 drive modes, tempo-synced delay, the built-in terminal, cheat codes, and System Evolve.
Does Kernix Raw run on Apple Silicon and Windows?
Yes. Kernix Raw is a Universal Binary that runs natively on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs, and ships as a 64-bit build for Windows 10 and 11.
What formats does Kernix Raw come in?
Kernix Raw ships as AU, VST3, CLAP, AAX and a Standalone app on macOS, as a Universal Binary for Apple Silicon and Intel, plus VST3, CLAP and Standalone on Windows 10 and 11. AAX ships on macOS only. It runs in any AU, VST3, CLAP or AAX host: Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Reaper, Bitwig and more.
Will Kernix Raw change my levels?
No volume jumps. Auto-Gain is forced on and the output is biased gently downward as the knob opens, so the sound gets dirtier and bigger without jumping in volume. A soft clipper plus a hard ceiling keep peaks bounded.
Where can I find more about Kernix Raw?
On the Kernix Raw page: its features, system requirements and how to get it.
How do I get and install Kernix Raw?
- Get it. Kernix Raw is free. Get it from the Kernix Raw page.
- Run the installer. On macOS, double-click the .pkg file and choose AU, VST3, CLAP, AAX or Standalone. On Windows, run the .exe installer and choose VST3, CLAP or Standalone.
- Open your DAW. Restart your DAW and rescan plugins if needed, then find Kernix Raw under Remi Blaze in your plugin list.
More about Kernix Raw, including its features and system requirements, is on the Kernix Raw page.
Where are the plugin files?
If you need to find Kernix Raw on disk, for example to troubleshoot or to uninstall it manually, these are the standard locations.
| macOS AU | ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/ |
|---|---|
| macOS VST3 | ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ |
| macOS CLAP | ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/CLAP/ |
| macOS AAX | /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/ |
| Windows VST3 | C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ |
| Windows CLAP | C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP\ |
To uninstall, quit your DAW and delete the Kernix Raw file from the relevant folder. Your DAW will stop listing it on its next rescan.
Need help with Kernix Raw?
If something isn't covered here, or Kernix Raw doesn't behave as described, contact support or email support@remiblaze.com. To get an answer faster, include:
- your operating system and version (for example macOS 15.6 or Windows 11)
- your DAW and its version
- the format you're using (AU, VST3, CLAP, AAX or Standalone)
- the version you installed (shown in the installer and in your download), since the About panel of every Raw shows v1.0.0
- what you did, what you expected, and what happened instead
This manual is for Kernix Raw 1.0.1. Controls and settings can change between versions, so if something here doesn't match what you see, check the version shown in your installer or download. Spotted a mistake or have a question? Let us know.