It'll be interesting to try the demo on this one. I have quite a bit of experience with the Elysia Alpha compressor and I did try the Mpressor a few times as well. For sure they are extremely clean and very fast compressors. However, I can not be other than a bit skeptical about this release. IMHO brainworx is hardly a proven company, in my opinion. They've yet to model any extra complex analogue non-linearities in any of their plugins (all the SPL stuff they did is pretty basic fluff) so why would they now? Only nailing the compression character itself would of course already be a huge deal but we'll see. Getting that extremely fast attack and making it sound like the analogue hardware is extremely difficult.

Softube didn't nail it in their FET compressor nor in the Tubetech model. There's still something a bit wrong with the first chunks of the attack and in my opinion Softube has a much more impressive repertoire than brainworx. Not to mention UAD who also failed to nail the attack character of the 1176 and some of the other recreations and these guys are as brilliant as they come.

Oh well.. only the demo will tell.

As for pricing? If it really does sound very close to the hardware (I doubt this. Especially at extreme settings) then perhaps it is justified.

Cheers!
bManic

Some info on pricing found in a thread at GS
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-product-alert/4 24085-elysia-mpressor-plug-3.html

Native versions (RTAS/VST/AU)
- 293,28 Euro excl. VAT (for customers outside the European Union and EU customers outside Germany with VAT number)
- 349,00 Euro incl. VAT (for German customers and EU end customers without VAT number)

TDM version (including RTAS/VST/AU versions)
- 419,33 Euro excl. VAT (for customers outside the European Union and EU customers outside Germany with VAT number)
- 499,00 Euro incl. VAT (for German customers and EU end customers without VAT number)

From my first tests I can say that this is a really nice compressor. Really nice. Totally reminds me of something I already own and like a lot. Will do some more comparissons tomorrow.

Shogger

It's really excellent judging by the demo. I think this might be the best compressor yet on the vst-land. Eager to hear what Bmanic thinks.

I don't know, I think the Brainworx hardware emulations were quite a bit more complex. What are your thoughts on those, just out of curiosity?

Brent

I haven't liked any of Brainworx own plugins. The GUI of their EQ was pretty much horrible in my opinion and sounded just like any other EQ. Not to mention that they've made a huge deal about it being able to do mid/side processing which has been the norm for quite some time already and is extremely simple to do (only requires a few lines of code).

The SPL plugins they did didn't impress me that much either. I compared the transient designer plugin directly to the hardware and there was simply too large differences in the way the transients were processed. Hardware was much smoother and more "smeary". The plugin sounded just like a .. mmm.. plugin.

I didn't try the SPL Tube ratpack thing though..



.. however, having said all that..


I've been playing with the demo of the Elysia Mpressor today in the studio and the plugin is EXTREMELY impressive! My guess is that the new guy they hired to do the dsp is a freak of nature. Probably a brain in a jar, connected directly to some dsp farm from the future!

It's very close to the hardware, at least as far as I can remember. It's been a while since I tried the Elysia compressor so my memory might be failing me but I truly feel like this is one plugin that "nails" it.

One thing that helps is that the real compressor is extremely well behaved without any noticeable distortion or "character", even when driven hard. This might make it a bit easier to do the emulation as you can simply skip the underlying non-linearities and concentrate on the compression itself. It is very impressive how they nailed the ultra-fast attack and release of this beast.

I really didn't want this plugin to be so damn good because it is forcing me to buy it.. even at the current discount it's 220 euros excluding VAT! Ouch!!

You don't happen to need a thorough review of it?

Cheers!
bManic

Are you sure you're not mixing up the Alpha and mpressor?

From Elysia's web page for the hardware mpressor: "The mpressor is a new tool for modern dynamics processing. On top of the tried and tested standard features, this creative compressor provides several special functions that produce fat and freaky sounds by employing a punchy control behavior, colorations full of character and extreme settings."

Maybe it's just me, but this does sound elitist, as if three times the cost means anything other than that.

No, I'm not mixing it up. What I mean is that simply running a signal through the Mpressor without any compression doesn't color the sound at all really. It has an extremely clean signal path. Easily clean enough for mastering purposes. It's just like the Alpha compressor but with a few tweaks to the components.

Most money was saved on the knobs and chassis as far as I know. The innards of the Mpressor are very much derived from the Alpha but the parameter ranges are tweaked to be able to do extreme stuff like a negative ratio (which in itself is nothing new at all.. dBx was way ahead in that game).

Cheers!
bManic

I think that what kmonkey means is that people who complain about the price were never the intended target group in the first place. It has nothing to do with any elitism. That word in itself is being thrown around a lot lately, usually aimed at people who actually know what they are talking about (in some cases, not). It's become the latest hip word to escape from reality and responsibility of trying to understand what the other party is saying, even if the wording sometimes has a hint of superiority within it.. which is of course annoying but still..

Premium products have always existed and have never been about quality alone. There are plenty of premium products that suck (this one doesn't). Still it is perfectly valid market strategy to price a product as they see fit, thus creating a special market segment/target for whatever it is they want to sell.

What IS annoying is the whining and bitching about prices, which is pretty common on KvR, just because people are so used to the idea that everything needs to be cheap and affordable just so that they can satisfy their own selfish needs. Some things are priced high.. so? There's plenty of excellent freeware that mops the floor with similar products in the high price range (not anything that compares with this plugin though, unfortunately).

Cheers!
bManic

I guess I have to wonder about the concept of premium market. Does that mean those who have expense accounts or studios that write these down as business expenses? Does premium mean superior performance or simply pricing?

Actually, I think elitist has been applied for many years indeed to audiophiles, golden ears and those roasting dinner over arrays of tubes powering $7000 mono amplifiers. And not without justification.

As for kvr as a market, there seem to be plenty who do not mind paying $300 for an effect, but many simply cannot justify the cost. If in actuality cost doesn't signify superior performance or value, then $99 effects are indeed a far better buy.

http://most-expensive.net/iphone-app

This makes me think of the notorious iPhone app "I Am Rich" that sold for $999.99. It sold eight copies (although one was a mistake) before it was take down. Now, one certainly gets a lot more value out of a premium audio plug than this junk app, but the concept is a bit the same: a boutique piece of gear that is out of the price range of the hobbyist, therefore making it artificially "scarce" and thereby valuable. Waves are masters of this -- you pay the premium price to get to use the plugs that are not necessarily of higher quality but are "rare" simply by their cost.

And, at the end of the day, $300 won't get you jack for a HW unit, but somehow because it's a real "thing" it seems more valuable... Kinda the drag of plug dev...

Of course a business always writes off the expenses. It's also that time = money, lots of money and if a plugin helps you get results faster you'll save money.

Premium definitely doesn't mean that the product is "better" as there is no such thing, at least in my opinion. It's all about getting results.. not about how you get those results.

This is the very reason something like Pro Tools has been so successful. It's definitely not "the best" but it came at the right time at a not-too-ridiculous price (at least compared to getting a large analogue desk with motorized faders + automation matrix/computer thing). It was a premium product for sure but many saw the potential and the money that could be saved.



The audiophile world is just pure silly.. but elite? ..practice of or belief in rule by an elite.., surely not. They are just ignorant.

The reason I'm so allergic to the word "elitism" in the context of anything that has to do with music or music production is that there are no rules, there are no rights nor wrongs. Only results and the criticism of your audience.



Those who cannot justify the cost of premium plugins are most likely people who make/produce/record/mix music as a hobby, perhaps making even a living of it but still having the luxury of doing this at a relaxed pace. This means they sometimes simply lack the experience and thus the perspective of seeing how such an expensive plugin could be vital to somebody else. Does this give them the right to call somebody "elitist" because they don't see any point in the expensive plugin nor in the way it works for the other person? I think not.

Once you do time-table critical work and need to meet certain quality standards (being judged by the client, thus varying a LOT!) you won't stop and consider a price of a simple plugin.. at least not unless it's insanely expensive (Genwave) or silly (Genwave.. ). There's simply no time to fuzz about.

I've been in situations where a finished mix needs to be done in a few hours.. from scratch, including tidying up all the audio and doing some rough editing! It's very annoying and terrible work but sometimes it pays to do these. If a plugin helps me here, like a compressor which lets me put something in place with just a few clicks, thus avoiding doing time consuming volume automation, it is usually worth it's price, for that one session alone.

This is precisely the reason why Waves plugins are so popular. You buy one relatively high-quality set of plugins that covers almost all situations. You learn the tools well and become fast at getting the results you want. Win. Money more than well spent, even though the diamond/mercury bundle is quite expensive.

.. why on earth I've been rambling all this nonsense is beyond me. Guess it's time to hit the sack!

Cheers!
bManic

One could point to costs involved in hardware that simply don't exist in software versions...all the result of having a physical product to build and distribute. So the costs are much more real than ones and zeros hidden on a hard drive -- real in the perceptional aspect.

I do agree that the implication of scarcity is what attracts some to products that may be no better but are less available as a result of their "cost." Software prices overall have come down considerably over the years, so premium prices are viewed with skepticism by many. And, given this reduction in pricing, it can be a short road to financial issues if not enough people buy premium-priced software.

But it CAN be more valuable than a plugin. If with that 300$ you happened to buy a brand new Roland TB-303 back in the late 80's you'd get a helluva lot more money from it today. Do you see any vintage plugins being sold? Do you think there will be a "premium vintage" software market.. like ever?

Cheers!
bManic