“We saw a clear opportunity to work with all their amazing DSP and improve on everything that was lacking”: Baby Audio acquires Denise Audio
Both brands will continue to exist independent of one another.
Baby Audio Transit randomisation
LA music software company Baby Audio has acquired Berlin/Amsterdam-based Denise Audio. In a new blog post, the company confirms that both brands will continue to exist independent of one another.
However, Baby Audio says it is currently working on a “full revamp” of the Denise catalogue. “The Denise Audio plugins have some amazing DSP [digital signal processing] inside them – while needing a little bit of love in other areas,” the post states.
On the motivation for acquiring Denise Audio, Baby Audio writes: “Honestly, we were not looking to acquire other companies. Baby Audio is an entirely independent company, with no external investors or private equity influence – so any M&A [merger and acquisitions] activity was not in the cards.
“However, we were presented with the opportunity on some fair terms and quickly realised that the Denise Audio plugins were significantly more powerful on the inside than they’re sometimes perceived to be.
“We saw a clear opportunity to work with all the amazing DSP and improve on everything that was lacking. This, combined with being able to hire more developers once we had a second outlet for products, made us decide to do it.”
The company adds that having two brands will help fuel research and development for plugins in the future.
“Having two outlets for our work will allow us to hire more specialised developers and release more experimental products,” it writes. “We will be able to treat Denise Audio as a playground for bringing out esoteric concepts, as this is aligned with the brand’s profile, while we can continue to increase the ambition level for Baby Audio with a bigger development team. Operating two brands will give us the bandwidth to do things with improved muscle and purpose.”
In a statement following the sale of Denise Audio, CEO Rob Stegeman writes: “We started Denise Audio in 2018 and it’s been a great journey. But after 5 years in the plugin industry I wanted to pursue other passions (more on that to be announced soon).
“This meant we began looking for a new owner of Denise Audio who would carry on – and improve upon – our work with a respect for the user base and new ideas for the future. To me, Baby Audio was the perfect buyer as I’ve always admired their attention to detail and product quality. I’m sure they will continue the journey for Denise Audio and take the brand further. I’m very happy with the deal and excited to share what I have coming in the near future.”
Baby Audio says Denise Audio users will have seen improvements already: the company has rebuilt all Denise plugins for full compatibility with the most recent operating systems, and looks to release “new products based on the existing Denise Audio catalogue and DSP”.
For more information, head to Baby Audio.
