Cytomic 'The Glue' Compressor

[bmanic]

So Andy, any idea (if you want to share) on what's next? The Glue is absolutely perfect and I'm stoked for whatever else you're going to be doing. It's amazing how quality a compressor this is and it's ending up all over the place here.

Did anybody do an A/B with the SSL bus compressor yet?

I've done some A/B with UAD SSL, The Glue and an enhanced SSL clone built by Michael Kingston (his unit sounds "better"/cleaner than the real SSL bus comp due to higher end components). Unfortunately the files I posted are down but when I get the time and my new server properly up and running I will repost the results. Provided that I get a re-initialized demo of UAD SSL (I'm not planning on buying it) I should do a new shoot out and this time actually write down the exact settings! The Glue version I used was a bit outdated (one of the first betas) and Andrew asked me to do a new take, which I will for sure.

The conclusion of the first test was that most seemed to prefer the hardware, it being more "effortless" and punchier. UAD SSL being the second preference because of it's smoothness (Kingston himself thought the UAD clip was his hardware) and some liked The Glue for it's edge. It also got some critique of feeling slightly nervous and shrinking the stereo field a bit. Some of this critique has apparently been addressed which is why it deserves a new shoot out.

There is however no doubt about the extreme bang-for-the-buck with The Glue. It is an awesome compressor for a ridiculously good price. One can not go wrong with it, that's for sure.

Cheers!
bManic

[electro]

So Andy, any idea (if you want to share) on what's next? The Glue is absolutely perfect and I'm stoked for whatever else you're going to be doing. It's amazing how quality a compressor this is and it's ending up all over the place here.

Did anybody do an A/B with the SSL bus compressor yet?

I've done some A/B with UAD SSL, The Glue and an enhanced SSL clone built by Michael Kingston (his unit sounds "better"/cleaner than the real SSL bus comp due to higher end components). Unfortunately the files I posted are down but when I get the time and my new server properly up and running I will repost the results. Provided that I get a re-initialized demo of UAD SSL (I'm not planning on buying it) I should do a new shoot out and this time actually write down the exact settings! The Glue version I used was a bit outdated (one of the first betas) and Andrew asked me to do a new take, which I will for sure.

The conclusion of the first test was that most seemed to prefer the hardware, it being more "effortless" and punchier. UAD SSL being the second preference because of it's smoothness (Kingston himself thought the UAD clip was his hardware) and some liked The Glue for it's edge. It also got some critique of feeling slightly nervous and shrinking the stereo field a bit. Some of this critique has apparently been addressed which is why it deserves a new shoot out.

There is however no doubt about the extreme bang-for-the-buck with The Glue. It is an awesome compressor for a ridiculously good price. One can not go wrong with it, that's for sure.

Cheers!
bManic

Well, post the dry .wav so someone else can run it through the actual SSL 4000 Bus comp. Run the plugin input through the same A/D you use for the hardware version. Save the .fxp file instead of writing down settings.

[A.M. Gold]

UAD did a good job with theirs and I'm amazed at how little processing power it uses.

[andy-cytomic]

With regards the bmanic tests, this was with one of the early copies of the Beta, since then there have been several bug fixes to the core dsp algorithm, so until further tests are completed no conclusions can be made. I look forward to when bmanic has time to do further tests.

I will be doing some audio examples myself with a G-Series SSL X-Logic compressor in the near future and posting the raw and processed wave files for people to compare.

Andrew Simper

[andy-cytomic]

I've hopefully fixed peoples dual monitor troubles with displaying menus and the file load / save dialog boxes. I couldn't actually get the menu or dialog boxes to dissapear as reported, but I did spot some possible causes and have fixed them.

I have also added the suffix "SC" (for sidechain) to the second second menu item in the Pro Tools plugin selection menu. I could remove the non-sidechain version but this would break peoples projects since Pro Tools won't automatically swap over to the version with sidechain. If there is enough of a shout out that in the long run having only a single menu item outweights the pain of transferring old projects I'm happy to do it - whatever the majority of users want is fine with me.

I still have to look into the following:

* mouse offset issue in RTAS
* the mono version crashing nuendo 3
* needle freezing and crash on exit on some systems

I will release v1.0.14 with as many bug fixes as possible this coming week.

Andrew Simper

[adl]

I've hopefully fixed peoples dual monitor troubles with displaying menus and the file load / save dialog boxes. I couldn't actually get the menu or dialog boxes to dissapear as reported, but I did spot some possible causes and have fixed them.

I have also added the suffix "SC" (for sidechain) to the second second menu item in the Pro Tools plugin selection menu. I could remove the non-sidechain version but this would break peoples projects since Pro Tools won't automatically swap over to the version with sidechain. If there is enough of a shout out that in the long run having only a single menu item outweights the pain of transferring old projects I'm happy to do it - whatever the majority of users want is fine with me.

I still have to look into the following:

* mouse offset issue in RTAS
* the mono version crashing nuendo 3
* needle freezing and crash on exit on some systems

I will release v1.0.14 with as many bug fixes as possible this coming week.

Andrew Simper

Great Andy! Take your time to wipe out those bugs. Really looking forward to the next update, even I have no problems with the glue and Ableton Live 8.0.4 on Windows.

[SWAN808]

So Andy, any idea (if you want to share) on what's next? The Glue is absolutely perfect and I'm stoked for whatever else you're going to be doing. It's amazing how quality a compressor this is and it's ending up all over the place here.

Did anybody do an A/B with the SSL bus compressor yet?

I've done some A/B with UAD SSL, The Glue and an enhanced SSL clone built by Michael Kingston (his unit sounds "better"/cleaner than the real SSL bus comp due to higher end components). Unfortunately the files I posted are down but when I get the time and my new server properly up and running I will repost the results. Provided that I get a re-initialized demo of UAD SSL (I'm not planning on buying it) I should do a new shoot out and this time actually write down the exact settings! The Glue version I used was a bit outdated (one of the first betas) and Andrew asked me to do a new take, which I will for sure.

The conclusion of the first test was that most seemed to prefer the hardware, it being more "effortless" and punchier. UAD SSL being the second preference because of it's smoothness (Kingston himself thought the UAD clip was his hardware) and some liked The Glue for it's edge. It also got some critique of feeling slightly nervous and shrinking the stereo field a bit. Some of this critique has apparently been addressed which is why it deserves a new shoot out.

There is however no doubt about the extreme bang-for-the-buck with The Glue. It is an awesome compressor for a ridiculously good price. One can not go wrong with it, that's for sure.

Cheers!
bManic

I definitely think its worth re-looking at The Glue since those tests because there were some changes made to the way in responds to the slower attack times - it was greatly improved IMO and bought it in line with the UAD model - although there are some difference between the two...Before this tweak the response to slow attacks was very clunky and unmusical under heavy compression - but its much smoother now.
In that test I was really impressed by the UA 4k.
bManic - can we get Duende versions in this test? Maybe Vieris can provide...and the hardware of course.
Andy looking forward to your tests...

[andy-cytomic]

The Glue v1.0.14 is out, all customers should receive an email by the end of Thur 30th, so if you didn't get one, or you find any new or existing issues then please contact email support@cytomic.com and let me know. If it's an issue then please also include:

* Operating system and version (eg Win XP sp2 / Mac OS 10.5.6)
* CPU type (eg PPC or Intel Core 2 Duo)
* Host and version (eg Logic 8.0.2)
* Version and type of The Glue you are using (eg The Glue v1.0.13 Au)
* A brief list of steps to reproduce the problem from a blank project with no other plugins but those that come with your host


Bugs fixed v1.0.14:
* Needle freezing in some hosts
* Rtas mouse offset
* Mono versions crashing some hosts
* Preset menu vanishing

New features in v1.0.14:
* Second RTAS menu entry now displayed at The Glue SC for sidechain
* dB values now displayed to 0.2 dB increments
* Shift drag now supported for fine movement
* Show current now highlights the current preset in the OS file browser

I'm putting compiling the new trial version now as well which should be uploaded within the hour.

Andrew Simper

[andy-cytomic]

IMPORTANT NOTE TO CUSTOMERS: the mail server on cytomic.com has packed it in because I sent too many emails within an hour - I am sorting it out with them now.

Andrew Simper

[Mercado_Negro]

Thanks Andrew... copy received. Working fine as usual

Any estimated time for your site?

[djanthonyw]

Got it!

[andy-cytomic]

Thanks Andrew... copy received. Working fine as usual

Any estimated time for your site?

The manual and web page are now #1 priority and I expect to get them done by mid August. It will be such a relief to finally actually have a web shop with automated processing so people can get their download links straight away!

Andrew Simper

[Mercado_Negro]

Great! Thank you very much for the info. Looking forward to both manual and web page. Take care!

[jpga]

[meloco_go]

Hi!
I have received the e-mail, but I can't download the files, when I try I receive "Error: file not found 5" message.

Got second e-mail, everything works fine now! Thanks!