Xilentch has released Xhannel S, a free channel strip plugin and the first dedicated mixing tool in the XM family.

Until now, the XM Series has mostly focused on mastering tools. The first Xilentch plugin I tried was XMLimiter last year, and it quickly became one of my go-to limiters for use across mixes and masters, alongside LoudMax.

I like XMLimiter because it is easy to use and very transparent. Definitely recommended if you haven’t tried it already.

We later covered the updated XM Series mastering bundle, which brought a fresh interface and several changes to the free collection. Xhannel S now moves the same idea into mixing.

In short, Xhannel S can help you shape and clean up every channel in your mix. It includes an input stage, EQ, dynamics, filters, and output level control in one interface.

There is nothing especially wild or groundbreaking about that on paper, but that is not really the point. For me, a useful channel strip is all about speed, layout, and whether the individual sections sound good.

Xhannel S covers the usual cleanup and shaping jobs. The EQ can be adjusted with knobs or directly via the spectrum analyzer, and the filter section is there to quickly remove unnecessary low- or high-frequency content.

The dynamics section handles compression and gating, and I think it sounds very good. It works nicely as a glue compressor, but it can also get harder if you push it.

The Drive knob is probably the most interesting part of the plugin. Xilentch says it uses a custom curve rather than typical digital clipping, behaving more like the way a console channel gets progressively stronger when pushed. You can drive the signal harder with the Input control or turn up Drive itself for a smoother tone.

I also like the interface. Channel strips can get cluttered fast because everything has to fit in one window, but this layout makes sense. It took me less than five minutes to start using it as if I had known it for ages.

Xhannel S is free to download from Xilentch’s Patreon, with optional donations available. Available for Windows and macOS.

Download: Xhannel S (FREE)

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Last Updated on June 6, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.