New from FXpansion - D.CAM Dynamics [A suite of Four Dynamics Plugins]

[Angus_FX]

In "Hi Def" mode they are oversampled. Switch that off if you're short on CPU.

BTW, web server is back to normal now (*everything crossed*) so those waiting on authorization or trying to get the freebie should try again now.

[evo2slo]

The original concept behind Crosscomp was to give people much of the tone design potential of a multiband, without the massive plethora of controls and the tendency to sound like a broken EQ if you're not very methodical with it.

So whereas we'd see a true multiband comp having its typical use case being careful, methodical adjustment late in the signal chain (very often the master bus), Crosscomp was intended for more extreme tone design early in the signal chain, with a considerably lower knob count so you've less potential to go wrong.

Really it can be used any time it's interesting to adjust the envelope characteristics of one part of the spectrum & leave the rest alone. It's nice on individual drum tracks - especially acoustic kicks and snares, set the crossover frequency to just above the fundamental and have independent control of the "oomph" and the "air"; on bass guitar, especially those with a decent amount of twang in the upper mid; and it's great inserted after a reverb on an aux return to do weird and wonderful things to the room character.

Other things it's good for? Get a drum loop, acoustic drum part, or an ambient drum bus; put the compressor on a high-ratio, squash-the-heck-out-of-it setting, set pass-thru to "IN" and comp to "high", and crossover frequency to 1.5k. Then just mix in a bit of squashed, saturated HF with the thru signal.

Great tips, thanks Angus!

Curious... why is ChannelComp the only compressor without a saturation button? I think it would be great to have one on there.

[CT]

I guess the servers are still hit by demand for the freecomp. Im trying to download a Geist expander, but its really slow.

[itsclipping]

Other things it's good for? Get a drum loop, acoustic drum part, or an ambient drum bus; put the compressor on a high-ratio, squash-the-heck-out-of-it setting, set pass-thru to "IN" and comp to "high", and crossover frequency to 1.5k. Then just mix in a bit of squashed, saturated HF with the thru signal.

I just actually downloaded it a few hours back before stumbling upon this thread, and had tried it on a buss insert of a few drums and was getting great results. So, thanks for the tip you've given, and for giving away this freebie. Good stuff.

Off topic: I also have recently aquired Etch filters and DCAM Synth Squad, all of your stuff I've touched or heard so far is top notch. Cheers!

[Paul_FX]

I bought reeder for £0.69, and have had many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Did it come with a spellar?

If you are referring to the spelling of reeder, that is the correct spelling.
See here ->
http://reederapp.com/

In terms of the ChanComp not having saturation, in my tests i didn't find putting the saturation circuits in there sounded particularly nice - It tended to make the signal 'flabby' and a bit 'mushy' (sorry, its hard to describe exactly how it sounded!)

-Paul

[jsp1979]

I bought reeder for £0.69, and have had many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Did it come with a spellar?

If you are referring to the spelling of reeder, that is the correct spelling.
See here ->
http://reederapp.com/

A big fail for the grammar police.



Thanks for the freebie, FXpansion!

[evo2slo]

In terms of the ChanComp not having saturation, in my tests i didn't find putting the saturation circuits in there sounded particularly nice - It tended to make the signal 'flabby' and a bit 'mushy' (sorry, its hard to describe exactly how it sounded!)

Thanks for the explanation.

The bias control to dial in varying capacitor settings from different versions of the hardware is genius!

Very impressive work - congratulations!

[munchkin]

I've asked a number of times if people more experienced with compressors could do some comparisons or comment on the sound quality..

Instead it's turned into a silly 'what you can and can't complain about' thread just because a couple of people moaned about having to auth a so-called "free" plugin.

I've noticed on other forums this growing phenomenon of attacking anyone complaining about marketing strategies. This phenomenon seems to be primarily of US origin...

So, to summarize:

I wanted to hear about the plugins, but people are complaining about the marketing, so let's blame the U.S., cast them all as stereotypes of one minority political party, and complain about that instead?

How about we all just keep our senses and talk about the plugins?

I'm parodying the myth that KVR is being taken over by "complainers". Anyone can come on here with their own personal and political axe to grind and inflate that into a so-called "trend". Having been at KVR quite awhile it's pretty much like it ever was despite all the changes over the years. Same as it ever was...

[billcarroll]

I'm parodying the myth that KVR is being taken over by "complainers". Anyone can come on here with their own personal and political axe to grind and inflate that into a so-called "trend". Having been at KVR quite awhile it's pretty much like it ever was despite all the changes over the years. Same as it ever was...

I guess when you sit in a room and fart at some point it smells normal to you.

[munchkin]

...a considerably lower knob count...

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Thanks for more info about the compressors Angus and to evo2slo for your thoughts and comparisons. It really helps to understand what they might be used for and to put them in context with other compressors that are available.

[Amberience]

Recently our drummer set himself up with a DAW and some microphones in his spare room - thus he can send me drum-tracks to write to. So I thought I'd do a bit of processing on said tracks to illustrate the Dynamics stuff.

So... 8 microphones, each processed with a CrossComp followed by an EnvShaper. The original:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/630473/DCAMDYN ... 282%29.mp3

The processed:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/630473/DCAMDYN ... 282%29.mp3

Now I've deliberately pushed them quite hard to really make it obvious. They can be more subtle than this, but the first thing I noticed was I managed to clean up tons of the low-end, purely through using the CrossComp. No EQ needed. I improved the transient "up frontedness" with the EnvShaper and then dialed back the mix so that I got a good blend for each microphone.

Oh, I normalized both clips too, so you can focus purely on the tonal differences.

So if you've got a drummer in a very small box room, who is audacious enough to think he can replace your recording skillzzz, you may need these plugins!

[cyphersuit]

Hm, but the original sounds better to me..

[Amberience]

Hm, but the original sounds better to me..

In a mix, I wouldn't want that woofy low end the kick has. Anyway, as I said, I pushed them hard to make the effect obvious.

[antithesist]

I bought reeder for £0.69, and have had many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Did it come with a spellar?

If you are referring to the spelling of reeder, that is the correct spelling.
See here ->
http://reederapp.com/

A big fail for the grammar police.



Thanks for the freebie, FXpansion!

It was a joke. Lighten up or light up, if you got 'em.

Yes, thanks for freecomp. I bought Etch on special, too. I like it.

[Rozzer]

CrossComp tip - there are actually several places where you can overdrive the signal in a really pleasing way. You can do this without even applying any compression, so CrossComp can also be a frequency selective distortion device (or both at the same time).

Try pushing the Makeup Gain right up and bringing the Process level down to compensate. This will overdrive the processed signal. Sounds really nice on 808 kicks