Acustica Audio Compressors

[plexuss]

Hey. Not too much AA action on KVR but I thought this might be of inerest. I put together audio samples from each of the compressors in each of AA Acqua products I own. 20 to be exact. Here's the playlist. Downloads are on.

https://soundcloud.com/plexus-productio ... ompressors

what is the desired effect of applying compression in this
setup? and what are roughly the settings in terms of
fast/slow attack/release and GR? I assume similar settings
were used across all compressors?

I overlooked copying the notes from the soundcloud playlist to the first post. They are there now and answer all your quesitons.

[simmo75]

Hey Plexuss, have you any experience with Ivory 4?
I own Scarlett 4 so i'm not sure I need it, but at this price it's tempting

[plexuss]

Hey Plexuss, have you any experience with Ivory 4?
I own Scarlett 4 so i'm not sure I need it, but at this price it's tempting

Well, the EQs are similar but slightly different. To my ears Ivory has more heft/forward and generally less subtle/transparent than Scarlett. With Ivory you get the comp and dynamic EQ as well. Ivory's EQ has 4 bands and all can be shelfs or bells.You should demo Ivory to help decide. Ivory to me is like a cross between a mastering EQ and mix EQ. I haven't used the dynamic EQ yet- it gets good reviews.

[plexuss]

delete

[cfanyc]

Hey. Not too much AA action on KVR but I thought this might be of inerest. I put together audio samples from each of the compressors in each of AA Acqua products I own. 20 to be exact. Here's the playlist. Downloads are on.

https://soundcloud.com/plexus-productio ... ompressors

what is the desired effect of applying compression in this
setup? and what are roughly the settings in terms of
fast/slow attack/release and GR? I assume similar settings
were used across all compressors?

I overlooked copying the notes from the soundcloud playlist to the first post. They are there now and answer all your quesitons.

got it; thanks for clarifying

[plexuss]

Thanks for the overview! Super helpful to get an impression about the general colour of each module and compression feel.
One thing I found very difficult though: the phaser on the material. TAN for example comes across as extremely smeary, but I have no idea if it's the Acqua or the phaser.

If you compare the DRY clip to the Acquas and you feel its smeary on the Acqua clips, then it's the Acquas causing the smear because that would be the only difference compared to the DRY clip. This is why I think the flanger effect on the drum mix is useful in these comparisons because it adds a different real-life context to the test clip that is useful in evaluating the compressors.

[dionenoid]

You forgot to do all the different compressor types in various Aquas

Anywho, i did some tests myself with the ones i own, really like the Coral2 compressors (a few of the different types) for clean compression, works very well on kicks. Ivory4 is okay too.
For a more darker, oldschool sound i prefer the ones in Ebony (first type) and Water2 (this one can really fatten things up when used parallel). Perfect to beef up digital synths.
For the master ofcourse the 2500 type in Pink3, sounds better to me than the UAD one.

For SSL type bus compression i still prefer Slate VBC and DMG Trackcomp (SSL Bus) ones over the Sand3 ones. Not a big fan of the compressors in Gold3, the power of Gold3 is really in the eq's.

But that's all tested on my own stuff, results may vary for everyone ofcourse. But all in all the Aqua compressors became much more useable over the years. Good stuff.

[plexuss]

You forgot to do all the different compressor types in various Aquas

I didn't forget. RTFM. I just didn't do them. The project was a lot of work as it was and I felt I should focus on at least 1 compressor from each product. Perhaps sometime I will render out clips for the other compressors in each product, but for now... enjpy.

UPDATE: I've added all the alternative compressors/limiters for most of the Acqua models. Reload the playlist in the first post to see them all. More to come...

[plexuss]

I updated the list on soundcloud with the alternatives of many of the Acquas. More to to come! Reload the playlist in the first post to see them all.

[Beatworld]

Out of interest, why did you use the delay/reverb, whatever it is ?

[plexuss]

Out of interest, why did you use the delay/reverb, whatever it is ?

The whole drum production is a preset in BFD3. I wanted a good drum track with a lot of bandwidth and dynamics. But also with context, as you might find in an actual mix in a mix buss scenario. The quieter nuances also help to tell us about the character of the processors. I think... anyway...

[Beatworld]

Out of interest, why did you use the delay/reverb, whatever it is ?

The whole drum production is a preset in BFD3. I wanted a good drum track with a lot of bandwidth and dynamics. But also with context, as you might find in an actual mix in a mix buss scenario. The quieter nuances also help to tell us about the character of the processors. I think... anyway...

I see, thanks for the reply and thanks for taking the time to do it.
I will need to be in my studio feeling fresh to really appreciate this.
I have nearly all the AA compressors you have used and TBH many sound very similar to me right now on little desk top speakers at low level.

[plexuss]

Out of interest, why did you use the delay/reverb, whatever it is ?

The whole drum production is a preset in BFD3. I wanted a good drum track with a lot of bandwidth and dynamics. But also with context, as you might find in an actual mix in a mix buss scenario. The quieter nuances also help to tell us about the character of the processors. I think... anyway...

I see, thanks for the reply and thanks for taking the time to do it.
I will need to be in my studio feeling fresh to really appreciate this.
I have nearly all the AA compressors you have used and TBH many sound very similar to me right now on little desk top speakers at low level.

It might take some critical listening to be able to hone in on the vibe of each. The kick is most telling do try focussing on that, as well as the over-all groove and how it's affected. Granted the settings I used are subtle with 2-4dB of GR for the most part. 20ms of attack so they aren't being too grabby with a slightly fast release to get some sense of bounce. It was a decision to go with this subtle approach or more squashed - the latter I felt wouldn't give as much of an over-view of the sound of the compressor and since these get used for subtle to not-subtle purposes, I felt going with subtle will tell us more. Thoughts?

[Beatworld]

Yeah that's what I'm saying, I will need to feel fresh for some critical listening.
Not sure when that will be in the very short term.
cheers

[Beatworld]

Liking El Rey and Cream 2C (after an further non-critical devil-may-care listen )