Choosing between compressors

[cantaloupe]

I've been demoing different compressors lately and trying to find a single one to stick with, but my ears have a hard time pinpointing the differences with these things.

So far, these are the ones i like the best:

Unfiltered Audio Zip
Goodhertz Vulf Compressor
Klangheim MJUC
u-he Presswerk

I really like the other plugs from Unfiltered but unsure about Zip. It seems to give a lot of compression "artifacts" compared to the rest, but have a lot of interesting features. My ears can't decide at all with this one.
Vulf makes anything sound very gooey and lovely but seems a bit extreme as a one-size-fits-all compressor and removes a lot of high end it seems.
MJUC sounds excellent on some material, and is cheap but, doesn't seem as flexible as Zip or Presswerk.
Presswerk has too many features for my taste and sounds a bit "aggressive" to my ears but it seems like it has a lot of flexibility and many seem to prefer it.

I tend to use compressors on the master as a sort of glue (probably a crude approach).
If you had to choose, which of these four would you pick for a general purpose comp, and why?

[e@rs]

None of the above. Did you try FabFilter Pro-C 2? Very transparent overall. Or Cytomic The Glue?

[virtualpt]

I wouldn't choose any of those for a 'general purpose/one size fits all compressor'. I would go for FabFilter Pro C2, it is extremely versatile, with many compressors modelled, is good on CPU & has a great GUI. For the master bus, 90% of the time, my goto is Cytomic The Glue, I just love how it sounds on the master bus.

[virtualpt]

None of the above. Did you try FabFilter Pro-C 2? Very transparent overall. Or Cytomic The Glue?

LOL - you just beat me to it

[imrae]

If I could only use one compressor it would have to be Klanghelm's DC8C. Between the shape control/modes, feedback mix, program dependence, sidechain tilt filter and detector smoothing options it can really be as smooth or shaped as you want. Input saturation and oversampling work for smashing, too.

[pekbro]

I would put nearly all of those above pro c2 personally. Although, I’m not really interested in transparent compression. I have them all in any case, so it hardly matters to me.

[donkey tugger]

If I could only use one compressor it would have to be Klanghelm's DC8C. Between the shape control/modes, feedback mix, program dependence, sidechain tilt filter and detector smoothing options it can really be as smooth or shaped as you want. Input saturation and oversampling work for smashing, too.

Indeed, massively versatile. I often think, "ok, I'll try something else for a change", then realise that DC8C does exactly what I wanted and go back to it. Top purchase and cheap as chips.

[VariKusBrainZ]

Kush Novatron

[Tappistry]

Gonna throw in a vote for Blue Cat Destructor.

Highly capable multi-use compressor. Dual threshold and blending between VCA/Opto styles. Also has midi side chaining capabilities that opens up interesting uses beyond just standard compression, for sending or receiving parameter automation between other plugins.

[Gamma-UT]

I've been demoing different compressors lately and trying to find a single one to stick with, but my ears have a hard time pinpointing the differences with these things.

Unless the compressors in your DAW are terrible (which is unlikely), there's no need to get a third-party until you can hear compression and its artefacts reliably – and you've got a feel for why the options in something like Presswerk exist. Until then, you're going to spend a lot of time fumbling around in the dark and, realistically, most of the magic comes in the settings not a baked-in sound.

Also, with the exception of Presswerk, the ones you've listed are special-effects compressors or have a fairly specific sound (like MJUC) so are a bit like forcing everything on the two-buss through the aural equivalent of an Instagram filter.

[mutantdog]

Tokyo Dawn Kotelnikov is well worth checking out, it's very transparent and easy to use. The free version is excellent and the GE version brings in a lot of nice extras.

Presswerk is also great, it has a lot of character and is very versatile. The various UI modes effectively make it several compressors in one.

It's common knowledge that you can never have too many compressors, i have loads and they each have their own advantages but if i had to pick one it would be Kotelnikov GE.

[sl1200mk2]

Kush Novatron

I was going to say the exact same thing. Really a wonderful compressor! Has quickly become my go to for something all around and can go from relatively clean to tons of vibe and color. There's so many good options out there, but Novatron is able to cover a lot of ground all in one.

For master bus, you probably want something VCA style. The Glue is an obvious choice. I tried the PA Vertigo VSC-2 and really liked it as well. I should have bought it on sale over the holidays, but already went plugin crazy on other stuff, so I'll have to wait. As soon as I find a used copy or it's on sale again it'll be an instant buy. API 2500 from Waves would be another contender depending on your music. I have the UAD version and like it a lot.

[onerob]

DMG TrackComp is versatile yet simple. Recommended.

[MaxC]

If I could only use one compressor it would have to be Klanghelm's DC8C. Between the shape control/modes, feedback mix, program dependence, sidechain tilt filter and detector smoothing options it can really be as smooth or shaped as you want. Input saturation and oversampling work for smashing, too.

Indeed, massively versatile. I often think, "ok, I'll try something else for a change", then realise that DC8C does exactly what I wanted and go back to it. Top purchase and cheap as chips.

This has been my experience as well. As often as I try and persuade myself to utilize the latest and greatest alternatives with all sorts of analog modeling and next generation emulations, this tends to be my old reliable, and would probably serve as my desert island compressor. It's very deep, which can be a hassle to learn, but there's hardly anything it can't do if you're willing to take the time to get to know it. I especially like it for smooth, gentle compression, as imrae corroborated above. A somewhat underrated tool in the saturated (no pun intended!) compressor market, IMO.

[michaeltn86]

if u have a hard time pinpointing the differences between the plugins I'm pretty sure that u should rule out presswerk and unfiltered audio zip.

not because they are not good, it's because they have too many stuff for u to mess around. and while messing around is incredible fun, if u are looking for results, it's probably not a good choice.

if u constantly fall on the rabbit hole of "cutting lots of frequency", "tweaking compressors and reverbs endlessly", etc. and u end up going back to them, it's always better to have fewer options... if going through the rabbit hole is a key point for ur sound, then go have fun with any of them haha

if ur computer is not good enough too, I would probably avoid vulf and klanghelm too...

I would recommend u to start with compressors that are easy to use and with fixed parameters:

-Dbx 160 (can be anyone, waves, NI, others)
-mjuc
-soundraddix powair - incredible due to auto gain compensation and tons of GLUE and Control effect here.
-1176
-la-2a la-3a
- the glue by cytomic

other thought that I had just now, if for u getting inspired is the key to results and u dig the vulf compressor, go for it. I really dig it and I always try to fit them somewhere because I like its sound.

I also have to say that after seeing lots of puremix videos, I am rethinking lots of stuffs... if u have the time and money to spare check them out (u can also get a 5 days preview if u buy something from don'tcrack too). very different than other tutorial videos...

good luck and have fun