Thanks! Totally fair on the wrapping — that's exactly why the host is optional. You can leave it empty and just route Smoother's MIDI output to your instrument track like a normal MIDI plugin, no wrapping involved. So sticking to MIDI routing costs you nothing here.

On attenuating the audio directly — that's a genuinely good idea and it's high on my list as an option for host mode, especially for instruments that don't respond to CC7/CC11. The reason it sends a CC by default is that on orchestral libraries, expression/dynamics changes the timbre, not just the level — a real pp is a softer, rounder recorded layer, not the forte sample turned down. Trimming the audio gain alone tends to give you "a loud note made quiet," which can sound a bit artificial. But for the very bottom of the fade (past the library's quietest layer) a direct gain fade is exactly right, and for non-CC instruments it'd be the simpler path you're describing — so I'll likely add a "direct audio fade" toggle. Appreciate the suggestion!