Grains is a granular effects plugin from Lunacy that splits incoming audio into small grains and rebuilds them as shimmering or glitchy clouds, and it is also available as an effect inside the BEAM suite.
Grains at a glance
| Developer | Lunacy |
|---|---|
| Type | Effects / Granular FX |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX |
| Operating systems | Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later |
| Apple Silicon | Native |
| RAM | 8 GB or more |
| Price on Plugin Boutique (October 2026) | €48.59 |
What Grains does
The granular engine builds grain clouds whose rate, size, envelope shapes, pitch and arpeggiators can be synchronized to the host tempo. Random spray, stereo width, reverse and detune can be added in varying amounts to each cloud, and a built-in delay module feeds back into the grain engine for cascading granular textures. Up to three Grains nodes can run at once, in serial or parallel, and the effect can be combined with other BEAM effects. The plugin ships with 50 presets designed by sound designers such as Databroth.
The macOS build shows up as a .dmg crack and AU crack, while the Windows build is typed as win/mac crack, x64 crack and VST3 crack.
Key features
- Granular engine. Grains produces shimmering particle clouds and glitchy percussive textures from incoming audio in real time.
- Grain cloud controls. Rate, size, envelope shape, pitch and arpeggiator settings are synchronized to the host and shape each grain cloud.
- Randomization and reverse. Random spray, width, reverse and detune can each be applied in varying amounts to the grain cloud.
- Feedback delay module. A built-in delay module feeds back into the grain engine, producing cascading granular patterns.
- Multiple nodes. Up to three Grains nodes can run at once, either serially or in parallel.
- BEAM integration. Grains can be combined with other BEAM effects, and BEAM owners can access it inside the BEAM ability use.
- Factory presets. The 50 curated presets are designed by sound designers including Databroth.
Compatibility
Grains comes as VST3, AU and AAX for Windows and macOS, with native Apple Silicon support listed for macOS 10.15 or higher and Windows 10 at minimum.
Grains compared with similar plugins
Albedo by Sinevibes is also a granular effect in VST3, AU and AAX for Windows and macOS. Graindad by Sugar Bytes is a granular effect in VST3, VST2, AU, AAX and Standalone for Windows and macOS.
| Plugin | Developer | Type | Formats | Systems | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grains | Lunacy | Granular FX | VST3, AU, AAX | Windows, macOS | €48.59 |
| Albedo | Sinevibes | Granular FX | VST3, AU, AAX | Windows, macOS | €36.69 |
| NanoBeast | W. A. Production | Granular FX | €41.65 | ||
| Graindad | Sugar Bytes | Granular FX | VST3, VST2, AU, AAX, Standalone | Windows, macOS | €98.18 |
| BLEASS Granulizer | BLEASS | Granular FX | VST3, AU, Standalone | Windows, macOS | €3.22 (regular €38.68) |
Price and availability
Grains was listed on Plugin Boutique in October 2026 at €48.59. Prices change often, so the store page shows the current one.
Grains FAQ
Does Grains run on Apple Silicon Macs?
Yes. Native Apple Silicon support is listed, with macOS 10.15 or higher as the minimum OS.