The tests were made using a pure sine wave of 110 Hz normalized to -30 dB. I chose this specific frequency so we can have more free space on the spectrum to observe the upper harmonics in action. The metering was done in dBFS, with the frequency spectrum ranging from to 20 Hz to 20k Hz and the amplitude ranging from -180 dB to -35 dB. I tested six different compressors from various developers, all of them were as closely matched to the following settings as possible within the emulations:
- Threshold: maximum possible
- Ratio: 4:1
- Attack: >1 ms
- Release: 40 ms
- Makeup Gain: none
Below are the complete list of plug-ins that I used on this test:
- FabFilter Pro-C 2 (not an emulation, a very clean and transparent compressor, here for the sake of comparison)
- SSL Native Bus Compressor
- Lindell Audio 254E
- Waves CLA-76 Compressor / Limiter
- IK Multimedia T-RackS Vintage Tube Compressor/Limiter Model 670
- Empirical Labs Arousor
Pure Unprocessed Sine Wave
FabFilter Pro-C 2
SSL Native Bus Compressor
Lindell Audio 254E
Waves CLA-76 Compressor / Limiter
IK Multimedia T-RackS Vintage Tube Compressor/Limiter Model 670
Empirical Labs Arousor
Thank you for any feedback! I'd be glad if you guys could contribute with some thoughts on this.