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 )

[kobal]

go with voxengo marquis and thanks me later , for the price and at any price.. it will cover lot of your needs in top quality you can find in plugins

[DeathByGuitar]

Can't go wrong with Sonimus Tuco. Sounds great and it's very versatile, but every company says that about their stuff, don't they?

[Zexila]

[DPhil]

ProC from fabfilter is very transparent but versatile. Presswerk is great too. Didn't know if it was mentioned before but powair from Soundradix is worth a look too!

[xx JPRacer xx]

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.

best advice

[VariKusBrainZ]

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

[rod_zero]

I like Supercharger GT, to me it is versatile and specially good for busses.

[Kr3eM]

/image

LOL ...

[VariKusBrainZ]

V2 of ELI Arouser is now out for Windows and and can be had for $221.61 with coupon FORUM at JRR
Regular price is $299

[donkey tugger]

V2 of ELI Arouser

Compressors, not condoms.

[VariKusBrainZ]

V2 of ELI Arouser

Compressors, not condoms.

Sorry, should be Arousor

[VariKusBrainZ]

https://youtu.be/M_ll4k4Aqdo

[acousticglue]

or just get Tracks max

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

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.

Same. It's a fantastic compressor. Easy to get good sounds, hard to make sound bad, wide tonal range. Just a pleasure to use. Arousor or FG-Stress would be high up on my list too. TrackComp is versatile and can suond great but is difficult to use. Same for DC-8C IMO. Novatron works best IMO because it's so easy to get great results.