What Does The Jury Say on Uhe Presswerk?

[HobbyCore]

HobbyCore, try the "Vintage" patch folder... those presets are meant as initialize ones for certain characters... so in most cases, all you need to do is bring up the input level or bring down the threshold, this will probably help you realize certain relativity with Presswerk's feature set more easily.

I have tried that, but it doesn't help much. There is still the issue of 'immediacy' that I seem to have with the product.

I wish I could elaborate more with specifics, but it really boils down to 'there's too much on the screen, and I rather be thinking about the music, not how to operate some complex plugin'. I definitely think I would be well-served by the alternative views that they removed in the beta. Even if they do not present emulations, they do make it easier to quickly reason about the result you will get.

I feel like there is probably a very good reason that most of the classic compressors have very simple interfaces. ~2-3 knobs and maybe a switch. In many workflows, that's all you have the time to experiment with.

It still is a great product when you put the time into it, or if you have the luxury of being a 'tweaker'. I work with other people playing "real" (no offense intended) instruments. The sessions rarely have time for messing around with stuff.

Regardless of all that, I still would label it as an indispensable part of my plugin arsenal. The few times where it has been the correct choice to load up presswerk, it was absolutely worth it.

[HobbyCore]

HobbyCore, try the "Vintage" patch folder... those presets are meant as initialize ones for certain characters... so in most cases, all you need to do is bring up the input level or bring down the threshold, this will probably help you realize certain relativity with Presswerk's feature set more easily.

I have tried that, but it doesn't help much. There is still the issue of 'immediacy' that I seem to have with the product.

I wish I could elaborate more with specifics, but it really boils down to 'there's too much on the screen, and I rather be thinking about the music, not how to operate some complex plugin'. I definitely think I would be well-served by the alternative views that they removed in the beta. Even if they do not present emulations, they do make it easier to quickly reason about the result you will get.

I feel like there is probably a very good reason that most of the classic compressors have very simple interfaces. ~2-3 knobs and maybe a switch. In many workflows, that's all you have the time to experiment with.

It still is a great product when you put the time into it, or if you have the luxury of being a 'tweaker'. I work with other people playing "real" (no offense intended) instruments. The sessions rarely have time for messing around with stuff.

Regardless of all that, I still would label it as an indispensable part of my plugin arsenal. The few times where it has been the correct choice to load up presswerk, it was absolutely worth it.

Quoting my own post here to point out my own hypocrisy of using other plugins with a similar number of controls as presswerk.

I really don't know why I find presswerk more difficult to use easily, but I do.

[Elektronisch]

I can add that Presswerk is a money saver wich doeant stop your creative workflow.

With vintage emulations is like that:

You put a compressor on a track. You like the sound you use it, you dont like it on that particular track, you use another one, if you dont like it too...well you buy another famous emulation. And it makes more a headache to think wich to get.

With preaswerk is easy:

if you dont like the sound, you tweak it.

[AC222]

Ok. So I'm "almost" sold on getting this But I gots to know... Would anyone of you replace one of those SSL 2bus compressors with this? Can it cop the same/similar sound? To be clear, I don't care for advice like go out and buy the Glue because it's based on an SSL. The Glue doesn't sound like a hardware comp even if it has certain character elements that might vaguely resemble an SSL bus comp.

To be honest, whenever I tried any of the other SSL compressors (I've had experience with all of them I think) and the a/bed it with hardware, I was invariably disappointed. I found the IK one still very useful though but in general they just didn't have that satisfaction that I hear with hardware i.e. - that magic/depth/fatness/punch. At least in the clips I am hearing from sound samples, it seems to respond more like hardware.

[Elektronisch]

Demo the product. Urs makes very reasonable demos. No ass hasling white noises every 5 seconds.

At least for me the demo was enough for me to buy it

[AC222]

I would but right now I am in limbo and in the process of reconfiguring my whole setup which is a complete mess. So I'm hoping to rely on the smartypants opinions of those like yourself. The collective KVR brain has never steered me wrong

[transmetropolitan]

Would anyone of you replace one of those SSL 2bus compressors with this? .

I have experience with the Waves SSL plug and the hardware.

I hate the Waves plug. Presswerk is a big step up in terms of the way it preserves the soundstage. You can compress way more without nasty artefacts.

Still think it's hard to beat a great hardware comp if you've got great conversion to pair it with. But we're getting closer and IMO Presswerk is as good as anything out there sound wise. If like me you find it intuitive to work with and like the GUI, it's a no brainer.

[zlatan]

I would but right now I am in limbo and in the process of reconfiguring my whole setup which is a complete mess. So I'm hoping to rely on the smartypants opinions of those like yourself. The collective KVR brain has never steered me wrong

I think it really depends on taste and what you're after.Presswerk is a super creative compressor and the presets are excellent starting points if you just want to work fast with minimal tweaking.
It can change the sound of a track drastically which give nice surprises sometimes , but it can also do excellent "classic" style (bus) compression.

If all you need is a good sounding and easy to use bus compressor I can also recommend Slate VBC , but if I had to pick one it would be presswerk.

I currently have hardware Smart C2 and API 2500 compressors which I barely use nowadays.

[Skorpius]

It's good but not distinct enough (or better sounding) than other compressors that I own so I passed.

+ 1

To me it sounds just like many others on the market. Why spend so much money if I get the same quality and sound for far less?

Also, I can't confirm u-he's advertising statement that it "blends the warmth of classic hardware models with many modern touches". I wasn't able to detect any more "warmth" in the plug-in than in most other emulations.

Which doesn't mean that it's not of a good quality. But not special (or individual) enough for me to justify the price.

[4damind]

I would prefer some of the Waves compressors every time over Presswerk (eg. CLA) not to mention UAD or Slate, Softube etc. stuff which plays in their own league.
IMO it's more a interesting technical concept to separate parts of a compressor to have something like a toolbox to built completely different compressors. I have no usage for this type of plug-ins because I don't see a improvement in the workflow, the mix results or the sound.

[Arrested Developer]

Presswerk is a beast.

i have to add that i use lots of different compressors (ik-multimedia bus-, precision-, 760; sonalksis; DC8C2 etc), and quite often it's a rather intuitive decision which one to pick for a situation. Or to choose another way of treating the sound (transient designer; multiband compression or dynamic eq-ing; limiting; clipping, nor compression but different leveling etc.)

Like DC8C also presswerk needs a bit of time for exploring it. But it's definitely worth the effort.

[scintillator]

To be clear, I don't care for advice like go out and buy the Glue because it's based on an SSL. The Glue doesn't sound like a hardware comp even if it has certain character elements that might vaguely resemble an SSL bus comp.

Hmmmmm

[kenobi77]

I feel like there is probably a very good reason that most of the classic compressors have very simple interfaces. ~2-3 knobs and maybe a switch. In many workflows, that's all you have the time to experiment with.

The good news here is that U-he are going to re-introduce come concept of simplified / Macro controls at some stage. The early betas had three layouts mimicking the 1176, LA2A and Fairchild but where scrapped latter as they felt it gave the wrong impression as they weren't strict emulations. So Urs announced that they were going back to the drawing board with that one.

[xx JPRacer xx]

How it is compared to the TDR comps?

[AC222]

transmetropolitan and zlatan, You guys rock! Just sold me on this baby.

I know exactly what you mean, transmetropolitan about the stereo image thing. When I tried the Waves SSL it was like the stereo image collapsed or something and made everything sound more 2dimensional for lack of a better description. From what you described this is exactly what I want: a decent algorithmic compressor that I can feel comfortable putting on my 2bus for a couple of db of compression and something that adds something extra with few if any artifacts.

That's a tall task but it seems like this delivers. I don't care if it's not "exactly" like the SSL but if I can get some of the benefits that the SSL has and in that territory with better compression action than the rest of the algo comps out there, then this is just what I am looking for.

I'm really intrigued by mr zlatan's comments on using in the box comps when he has some impressive outboard gear. That must be a testament to the quality of this comp. Nice to know that the Slate comps are working for you as well. I have heard that Slate's 1176 interpretation (yes I know he made it more of a hotrodded version) can get pretty darn close to the real deal and much closer than most of what else is out there.

But yeah, I am psyched about this Uhe piece. It's nice to know that in 2015 we are inching closer to parity with Hardware counterparts. Woohoo!
Consider me sold!