NI Voucher - Classic Compressors or Supercharger GT??

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Hi guys,

So I was going to use a voucher I have and grab the Softube NI Classic Compressors - they really appeal to me and I've wanted to have a 2A, 1176 and 160 in the arsenal for some time. They're not essential by any stretch, but seen as I have a voucher...

Anyway, then I saw Supercharger GT and this thing looks brilliant. Real control of adding saturation, compression and tone.

So my question is, stick to the original plan and bask in the ability to load up a specific compressor for specific tasks, or is the GT just that good and that flexible that really that's a mucb better and cheaper option??

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Supercharger GT is brilliant (one of my absolute favorites at the moment) but even if you dial down all the distortion and input gain it has a very clear "sound" of it's own, thus it's not perhaps suitable to compare it to a whole bunch of compressors like the classic bundle.

Having the 2A, 1176 and 160 covers much more tasks than only the Supercharger GT so perhaps it's a wiser purchase. Then again, try the demo thoroughly and try to decide on which option is more desirable and usable in your situation.

If you do not have a 1176 style of compressor available and you mix typical rock/pop or other contemporary stuff then I highly recommend getting the classic compressors before investing in Supercharger GT. The 1176 is just such an incredibly useful mixing tool and not just a flavor. It keeps dynamics in check. Period. It's also nice that the NI version of the 1176 is a rather nice rendition of the real deal (not perhaps the most accurate, that's for sure, but I prefer it's sound to some other options).

Cheers!
bManic
"Wisdom is wisdom, regardless of the idiot who said it." -an idiot

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bmanic wrote:Supercharger GT is brilliant (one of my absolute favorites at the moment) but even if you dial down all the distortion and input gain it has a very clear "sound" of it's own, thus it's not perhaps suitable to compare it to a whole bunch of compressors like the classic bundle.

Having the 2A, 1176 and 160 covers much more tasks than only the Supercharger GT so perhaps it's a wiser purchase. Then again, try the demo thoroughly and try to decide on which option is more desirable and usable in your situation.

If you do not have a 1176 style of compressor available and you mix typical rock/pop or other contemporary stuff then I highly recommend getting the classic compressors before investing in Supercharger GT. The 1176 is just such an incredibly useful mixing tool and not just a flavor. It keeps dynamics in check. Period. It's also nice that the NI version of the 1176 is a rather nice rendition of the real deal (not perhaps the most accurate, that's for sure, but I prefer it's sound to some other options).

Cheers!
bManic
Great, thanks dude.

I make a lot of house orientated music (ranging from 80's power dance (!) through to the other project which is more deep house/techno). My original plan was to have add a lil' sumthin-sumthin to each of the main elements that dominate - 2A for my synth bass and leads, 160 for my kicks and percussion, 1176 for saturation and parallel compression/drum buss.

Out of interest, is that the general applications you find yourself using each of these plugs for? Any nice techniques / uses you've discovered for any of them?

cheers

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the NI Vintage Compressors are awesome!
I had them a while, then sold them mainly because I needed the money to fund some other purchases.

I don't really need them but, I really want them back, just waiting for the right time/deal! :D

Subjectively, the Supercharger isn't for me... plus, it's practically one compressor VS 3

+ the Vintage Compressors take insignificant amount of CPU for the superior quality they offer.

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3ee wrote:+ the Vintage Compressors take insignificant amount of CPU for the superior quality they offer.
I'm actually a fan of CPU hungry plugins - it makes me bounce/render and each time I do I'm adding a little improvement, plus it really makes me think what I'm doing to the signal rather than having a million plug per channel. Since working this way mixing has become far easier.

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If you do electronic music, I would actually recommend you get the supercharger.

I really do think it will do more for you and your music creatively than the VC series will. You get added saturation that you get to apply to taste, the colour knob, and then the sc covers the 'fet, opto, vca' duties very well with its punch, snap, and smooth presets.

And the price is better. Think about it.

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Hi huys, don't know if I'm hijacking the thread... I could never got the 160 to work on my kick drums. Any obvious thing that I'm missing?

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waltercruz wrote:Hi huys, don't know if I'm hijacking the thread... I could never got the 160 to work on my kick drums. Any obvious thing that I'm missing?
Are they heavily processed samples? You've probably thought of this but I really have it reign in the processing often as the samples are already eq'd and saturated etc

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I have the Classic Compressors, and I have the non-GT Supercharger.
(Or does KU include GT? Dunno, don't use it, don't really care.)

I could never find good use for the Supercharger on "normal" acoustic drum material. It was always too "shy", but squashed things too heavily too easily when turned up. I would imagine it should work absolutely great on electronic drums, though.

The Classic Compressors are nice, although I mostly find myself using other alternatives.
Something about them just doesn't feel right.
(Just a subjective opinion, not intended to question their quality!)
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Good post ChokeHold, I was actually looking at those NI comps myself, haha.

I have enjoyed SC-GT on acoustic drums before, but it may have been the added functionality of the GT that made it work. I deleted the SuperCharger[lite] after getting the GT version.

Steve Mac, are you setting your attack all the way up(slow)? And release low?

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Depending on how much your voucher is for you may still be able to pick up the Vintage Comps Collection cheaper in the marketplace. I think there are a couple of people selling it at the moment.

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itneveris wrote: Steve Mac, are you setting your attack all the way up(slow)? And release low?
?

Depends on what I'm doing! Hold on, I think you mean the other dude's question about the 160 on a kick?

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Oops, sorry! Yeah, haha

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Ok......

a) Yes, you can get these in the marketplace if you are patient. So though the evoucher is sexy, you may not really "save" any money. Just something to consider.

b) DEMO DEMO DEMO! :D

c) Ok, my take on these:

-supercharger gt: I really like it on drum busses with electronic stuff. It's a completely unique plug. You can go from subtle to trash and everything in between and it sounds good. Works well on real drums too, but I agree with previous statements that it's primarily niche is ED's.

-The dbx 160 is in my opinion fantastic on bass. Minimal tweaking and it dials in. The LA2A is way more swiss army knife and work pretty much as you'd expect one to work. It's not any better than some others I've tried, but it's smooth and works for that situation. I don't really care for the 1176 personally. I have the IK "black" comp and I think it's much better. Not sure I'm expert enough to give you exactly what I think is so different, but I feel they are pretty far off. One thing I can say is IMHO the "black" has far more character, which I think is important when considering a 1176.

Did I say "DEMO"???????? ;)

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I like the LA-2A and 1176 from that series and I think that they sound great - on anything :)

The 1176 is especially good on bass or guitar and the LA-2A has always been a wonder on vocals...

Even with the signal just passing through those plugins with no compression or limiting,something "nice" happens to the sound...

But the DBX 160 from that series just didn't rock my boat,so I sold it...

Come to think of it,when I had a couple of "real" 160's back in the day,they didn't rock my boat either...

But the real LA-2A's and 1176's did :)
No auto tune...

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