Choosing between compressors

[legendCNCD]

I'd go with:

- One slowish with adjustable saturation (MJUC / Novatron)
- One faster one (DMG TrackComp / Glue / DC8C)
- One hard hitting (u-he Presswerk / Vulf)
- Kotelnikov for free, its so transparent and GOO-OOD

(actually we mostly have these )

Are you going to get faster than Novatron?
I thought the attack and release speed was one of the things that makes it unique in the digital world.

And it can do eveything from fast to slow for either attack or release with one turn of the dial

FET>VCA>Mu

Well true, novatron can be fast as hell, but I like it slower

[Igro]

Mjuc is like u-he repro. Nobody can beat this comp since it's released.

[risome]

Have a read
https://www.mixedbymarcmozart.com/2014/ ... harmonics/

[djmino02]

I'm a fan of Omnipressor, D16 Frontier, Bus Driver, UBK-1, numerous Waves plugins, Plugin Alliance has some good ones

[kb420]

I primarily use two DAW's, Live and Cubase. When it comes to any general compression needs I may have, I use the stock compressors from Live and Cubase. For me, the key difference in 3rd party plugin compressors is the saturation. For that, I really like PSP Vintage Warmer, NI Supercharger GT, iZotope Ozone 8's Vintage Compressor, Waves SSL, H and V. If I want a surgical SUPER CLEAN compressor that can pretty much do it ALL, and has the GREATEST UI, then I go with Fabfilter Pro C2. If I could ONLY have one, Fabfilter would be it.

[cantaloupe]

Thanks for all the input, people. Great!

I think i got an okay grasp of the basic theory of compression, what i seem to lack is the ability to assign clear value judgements to these things the same way i do with stuff like oscillators, filters, reverbs etc. These last days of attentive listening and comparisons has helped quite a bit though.

I've used ReaComp (the stock compressor in Reaper) some, but transparency isn't what i'm looking for in any piece of gear or code really. Ultimately, MJUC is the one i enjoy the most and what i've settled with (for now, lol). It seems very suitable for my music. DMG TrackComp (thanks for recommendation) would probably be my next pick.

[skysplitterink]

I love Presswerk, its INSANELY versatile. And not hard to use with their verious UI options for different compressor styles (Buss, Vocal, Mid Side, Drum etc...)

[jens]

One extremely versatile compressor that is easy to use and very easy on the CPU and sounds great has not been mentioned yet at all here:

Boz' Manic Compressor.

Boz is doing sales often so the chances to grab this at a much lower than the standard price are relatively good (yes, I know - having to wait for a sale is of not much help when GAS kicks in )

[reggie1979]

Wakey wakey

MJUC is a terrific little compressor, but honestly the free version is all you need. The others seem, redundant to me. I'm a compressor ho. Though I don't use compressors on everything like some, I enjoy playing with different ones and seeing what they can (or can't) do.