My search for the ultimate compressor

[xybre]

Image-Line Maximus sort of bills itself as a compressor, but sonically and visually (looking at the Spectrum and Oscilloscope) it's really more interesting as a multiband limiter. And unless I'm trippin' there's no dedicated compression threshold - that threshold knob is for the saturation. It "zips" horribly when tweaking the Attack knob, nothing else I've tested does that, its very unpleasant. It seems like a great multiband limiter though, and its damn beautiful, its just not at all the tool I'm looking for right now.

Cytomic The Glue is a cool little tool in its own right. The minimal number of settings is interesting but seems to reduce its versatility quite a bit. Don't get me wrong it sounds great and I love watching the gain needle thwack against the wall, but it definitely falls into the more mild category of compressors, but its not a precision compressor either. It's a sort of in-between a few categories, but something about it I like. I might need to get this one, but it didn't completely blow me away. (don't flame me bro!)

de la Mancha Bathtub I forgot I just picked this up in dlM's winter bundle. First of all, beautiful UI, the knobs could be a bit bigger, but thats dlM for you . On the downside, a lot of the presets clip hard on output, but I was able to fix that with a little gain reduction. The raw internal clipping of the plugin is generally not pleasant, so I wouldn't recommend pushing the gain up too high. However playing with the ratio and threshold you can absolutely shred incoming sounds for some pretty creative effects that bends the input into something completely new. Even more fun is there's actually two compressors that can be used in series or parallel, dual-band or mid-side configurations possible too and that total sum can be mixed in with the dry signal.

de la Mancha Sidearm is a weird creature. It can be pushed to harsh digital extremes that are basically unusable, but it can also be pushed into some really musical obliteration. I don't know what to make of this one, but since I already own it I guess I'll be getting to know it pretty well. I think its very purpose-built and thats why I'm getting the weird impression. I'll need to try it on some complex material for it to really shine.

de la Mancha GT Series are some I've had for a while. There was a time I was using them constantly, but once I got into RoughRider they sounded pretty "squashy" in comparison. I did like being able to dial up the mojo over 9000 if I so wished though. With my new-found compressor knowledge, I'll need to go back to them and play around (they're not currently installed due to new-computer-having).

I love the sound of the rough rider free compressor from audio damage. I love what it does to drums. Definitely worth checking out!!

http://www.audiodamage.com/downloads/pr ... pid=ADF002

That's the compressor that started this discussion actually. I've been using it for ages and figured I should take a look at the market for something similar with more features. Things have taken a decidedly more involved turn since then .

[xybre]

MixControl Pro has a pretty cool compressor too. I went for the empty rack and played with just the compressor. It actually kind of reminds me of Bathtub, with its high level of versatility and multiple abilities to alter the sound. I can get it to scream, to pulse, to distort, and to be pristine. Using a creative combination of Compressor setting 2 and the C-156 detection algorithm can result in some truly bizarre lo-fi artifacts that are really fun to play with.

I'm constantly going back and comparing plugs to others and tweaking them all. I've kept The Glue, CL-1, Compassion, MajorTom, and The Rocket at the ready for comparing all the other plugs I've tested.

During the course of all this I realized that Compassion is noisy. It outputs quite a bit of hiss during the course of its duties. That reminds me of dlM's GT Series of compressors, one of my favorite things about them was the grungy fuzz you could get out of them, enhanced by chaining it through another compressor like RoughRider or another of the GT series, it really added a nice pumping sound that added to the overall energy of the track. Honestly, I prefer the GT Series fuzz over Compassion's simple hiss (in Compassion its more noticeable if you turn the input down and crank up the output).

[dickiefunk]

I'd also check out compressor by IK and Voxengo. Also the free Molot compressor is excellent!

[guppi]

Compassion is not noisy, but you could add noise in the sidechain eq.
For makeup gain behaviour check the auto gain level in global settings, works perfect
And the limiter itself is an ultra transparent beast, more "upfront" than Elephant.......
To me it's scary sometimes how much Compassion rules!

[3ee]

-For a potential all purpose compressor try the NF liquid II compressor.
I got the Bundle no-brainer mainly for the compressor and another module...

-For the SSL vibe, the recently released jsComp really needs some attention, even if you have Glue.
I'm testing it again and again to reassure myself that I'm not experiencing some kind of placebo. So far I think that compressor is great (the shaper could do some better IMO, but you don't have to use that if you don't want)
http://www.kvraudio.com/db/jscompshaper-by-jsaudio

-VOS Density MKII: hmm don't really know why, but I still use that

-One of the most recent and best sounding, vintage style compressor from the Antress pack is the Polo Killer.. give that a shot, maybe you'll like it.

There are some more... but these are what I use atm + a Zebrify compressor which you can download for free from the Zebrify mixing tools thread, u-he forum.

I can't believe that some of the freeware compressors are almost equal, equal and in some cases better than the payware compressors...

I'm afraid that Blockfish doesn't get much use from me these days!

[kelldammit]

those cl comps are sweet. while they're perhaps a bit pricier than some of the competition, i think they're excellent value for the money.
those and compassion are all i own currently, and i'm happy enough that i'm not interested in accumulating more.
also, re: compassion noise...i'm pretty sure you can just turn it off altogether?

k

[Resonator63]

Try PSP Old Timer
http://www.kvraudio.com/db/3971

PSP Mastercomp
http://www.kvraudio.com/db/psp_masterco ... paudioware

PSP Squad
http://www.kvraudio.com/db/511

[hibidy]

It looks like its still C/R, but still it means I can actually try them out.

It's actually a very odd system, but it works. I'll have to consult others opinions but seems more like a keyfile system that c/r

[lotus2035]

Did anyone mention Compressive?

The dev told me a 64bit version is in the works..

http://martineastwood.com/wordpress/?page_id=153

[JD Gaffe]

I commend this thread and will be reading all the posts.

[scalawag]

Free: Molot, Rought Rider
Paid: Stripbus

[bezusheist]

...During the course of all this I realized that Compassion is noisy. It outputs quite a bit of hiss during the course of its duties...

[guppi]

...During the course of all this I realized that Compassion is noisy. It outputs quite a bit of hiss during the course of its duties...

It's a feature (sidechain noise for more analog behavior) and not a bug
Some presets have this engaged....

[hibidy]

Rough rider free is still the best "flavor" crush o matic comp I've personally ever heard.

[ariston]

Compassion requires a bit of work. There are good presets (and macros) to get you started, but keep in mind that Dave designed it to be extremely flexible. It's not a point-shoot-forgetaboutit-tool. And it's not "just" a compressor either: it can be a transient designer, a limiter, an expander... it's basically an all-round dynamics processor. The downside is: you can really f**k with your sound, and you need to know what you're doing in order to preserve clarity - if clarity is what you want.

On the other hand: I'm not in any way schooled in the ways of mixing or mastering. Everything I know (which is little enough as it is) I taught myself by trial and error. Even saying this, I find Compassion easy and fun to use - so I don't think you need to be a master engineer in order to profit from it. It's been in heavy use on all my tracks since I bought it, and the only other ones I've used since then are Rough Rider Pro (for ludicrous compression effects), PSP Oldtimer (for that quick fix) and The Glue (as my mastering compressor).

Point being: Compassion is a deep, deep plugin with a great sound. It's also very educational. If you want quick results and don't really feel you want to bother with the niceties of compression, then there are other, maybe better options. If you want to dig deep, then go for it. I find it to be immensely rewarding.