Are we close to getting plugin compressors that sound like real ones?

[Dean Aka Nekro]

This thread is mighty cute.

Nearly as cute as this garbage: http://www.myspace.com/rustymagicmusic
Every good troll worth thier salt must have either not have a link to any music they have done or even better something as plain awful as 'Rusty Magic Music'

Best laugh I've had in ages Jens, Cheers

[klinik]

I went back to this test and started playing with some compressors I have, the 1st one I tested reminded me of one of your examples. I don't even know when or where I got the nightshine compressors but it reminded me of of your example G. It sounds just like G even though that's not the one I chose to be closest to slate dragon. G has soft clip as to be expected to be able to get the same level of the slate. Now I think one of your examples has a compressor with the characteristics of the slate driven into the night shine for volume match.

"G" is for "Glue"


Never heard of the nightshine, I see is a (now) freeware comp, I will try it. Interesting...

[Ah Xoc Kin]

Compressors

Comments:
-I used settings that I wouldn't normally use, sometimes too extreme for my taste.
-If some software compressor don't sound as good, it doesn't mean that they're poor compressors. Perhaps they sound wonderful with gentler (or different) settings.
-This was done with headphones.
-I tried to match the levels, and used FG-X as a limiter (-0.3 ceiling).
-I have little experience with some of these comps. For example, it's the second time I use the Summit Audio Grand Channel and the first time it was to check CPU usage for another forum member. I bypassed its eq section for this exercise.

Uploaded to Hotfile instead on SoundClick.

[Ah Xoc Kin]

I'm interested in knowing which ones sound "broken" both from klinik's examples and mine.
Thanks.
(And thanks for your examples klinik.)

[jens]

This thread is mighty cute.

Nearly as cute as this garbage: http://www.myspace.com/rustymagicmusic
Every good troll worth thier salt must have either not have a link to any music they have done or even better something as plain awful as 'Rusty Magic Music'

Best laugh I've had in ages Jens, Cheers

I'm almost forty years old - these days I tend to make music, not noise...


(I guess also the fact that the better you get the less you have to hide behind walls of distortion plays a major role - when I was relatively insecure and felt I didn't really nail it I often slapped a lot of distortion on many tracks - I'm sure you know what I'm talking about)


Anyway: I'm glad you didn't like it - I guess if you did, it would feel just wrong - it would most probably make me feel kind of dirty.


Apologies to all the other thread followers for going diametrically O.T., but I feel you have to treat stalkers sincerely, otherwise their condition might decline significantly (which might end up making me feel guilty) *shudder*.

[Uncle E]

minor diferences as a little more ring in the snare will be the same as between two hardware compressors even comparing the same model.

The differences are not minor. In all of your examples except F, you're compressing far less than the Slate is. F exhibits all the artifacts that Shy is talking about, although it is actually compressed more than the Slate is so perhaps it won't be so bad once you've matched the gain reduction.

I did the test over headphones in my laptop, but I think shows clearly that there a a good bunch of plugin compressors out there without the artifacts Shy is telling, even at extreme settings.

To my ears, none of the software examples demonstrated in this entire thread, including anything I've attempted, sounds like Shy's Slate example.

[Uncle E]

Perhaps they are not sufficient to you, but I was responding to Shy's post and his descriptions of sonic characteristics to look for, and so that was my point of reference.

You're going by the letter, not the spirit. Look, my example avoids the artifacts just as well as yours do but I think we can both agree that it proves nothing, given how far my example sounds from what is intended. Do you see how this also applies to your examples? Your examples are much closer than mine is but they're still not the same, and until they're the same, we're not learning anything.

Why don't you just make the adjustments I suggested? I'll shut up once you nail it!

[Uncle E]

klinik-so many nice examples of good sofware compressors,its very hard to find among them any with that infamous "broken sound" ...maybe X file is the right "broken" example, but most of them sounds good to excellent compared to Splitcomp version...so it appears that there are more usable software compressors than diehard hardware fans ever expected...

Listen again, F has the artifacts. The other examples aren't compressed enough to have issues.

[Dean Aka Nekro]

This thread is mighty cute.

Nearly as cute as this garbage: http://www.myspace.com/rustymagicmusic
Every good troll worth thier salt must have either not have a link to any music they have done or even better something as plain awful as 'Rusty Magic Music'

Best laugh I've had in ages Jens, Cheers

I'm almost forty years old - these days I tend to make music, not noise...


(I guess also the fact that the better you get the less you have to hide behind walls of distortion plays a major role - when I was relatively insecure and felt I didn't really nail it I often slapped a lot of distortion on many tracks - I'm sure you know what I'm talking about)


Anyway: I'm glad you didn't like it - I guess if you did, it would feel just wrong - it would most probably make me feel kind of dirty.


Apologies to all the other thread followers for going diametrically O.T., but I feel you have to treat stalkers sincerely, otherwise their condition might decline significantly (which might end up making me feel guilty) *shudder*.

Wrong old man: http://www.mediafire.com/?22391ogv12uh11t

That clean enough for you No distortion that I "hide" behind, Never have.
You will have to try abit harder next time Jens "the "Musician" whom tends to make music

Is four tracks all you got to show for nearly forty years? I'd no doubt be a useless, bitter troll if I were in the same position

Dean aka noise for music's sake

[Uncle E]

Wrong old man: http://www.mediafire.com/?22391ogv12uh11t

Wow! Very nice! Great lines and some beautifully articulate playing! When did you get into film composing?

[klinik]

minor diferences as a little more ring in the snare will be the same as between two hardware compressors even comparing the same model.

The differences are not minor. In all of your examples except F, you're compressing far less than the Slate is. F exhibits all the artifacts that Shy is talking about, although it is actually compressed more than the Slate is so perhaps it won't be so bad once you've matched the gain reduction.

I did the test over headphones in my laptop, but I think shows clearly that there a a good bunch of plugin compressors out there without the artifacts Shy is telling, even at extreme settings.

To my ears, none of the software examples demonstrated in this entire thread, including anything I've attempted, sounds like Shy's Slate example.

No Uncle E, gain reduction in my examples is not less than Shy's file. To tell you the truth, half of files would be 1-2dB less compression and the other half 1-2dB more than the slate file. Maybe you are hearing the different compression curves and ratios for each plugin, but thats not the point since we don't have a perfect replica for the slate dragon in software. Said that, the examples I posted are tweaked to my taste, and none of them to the closest point for artifacts to emerge. I mean, I could lower the threshold and compress more in each of my files without any artifacts.
F is for "Fxpansion", Busscomp, demo mode. Not the cleanest example (hidef (4x oversampling) mode off) but not so bad as you tell. I used the saturation button so maybe is fooling you too, since the "F" file is in fact one of my examples with less gain reduction... I think I'll try the Crosscomp from Dcam dynamics too
I wish to have my new mastering room finished but I think is still 2-3 weeks away, so my laptop and my 15yo 270 headphones are my rig now
Also, would be great if Shy could tell us what limiter he used for his files. I'm hearing some clipping there, pretty sure he was clipping the AD when recording back from the hardware compressor.

[Uncle E]

-I used settings that I wouldn't normally use, sometimes too extreme for my taste.

Yes, that's the point of this test. The problem is it's a God awful setting.

-If some software compressor don't sound as good, it doesn't mean that they're poor compressors. Perhaps they sound wonderful with gentler (or different) settings.

Yes, absolutely! As said previously, I love the sound of the UAD SSL Buss Compressor to bits, despite the fact that I have to follow it up with an Oxford Dynamics if I want to get dynamics control approaching a hardware SSL.

In your case, every single example is compressed harder than the Slate example. The artifacts are evident in all of them but that could just be due to the level to which you're compressing them.

[Uncle E]

No Uncle E, gain reduction in my examples is not less than Shy's file. To tell you the truth, half of files would be 1-2dB less compression and the other half 1-2dB more than the slate file. Maybe you are hearing the different compression curves and ratios for each plugin

I can only gauge what I'm hearing. I'm hearing much less gain reduction in your examples than in anyone else's.

F is for "Fxpansion", Busscomp, demo mode. Not the cleanest example (hidef (4x oversampling) mode off) but not so bad as you tell. I used the saturation button so maybe is fooling you too, since the "F" file is in fact one of my examples with less gain reduction...

Saturation is a form of dynamics control. It's a clipper. To be fair, the Slate appears to be saturating on its own but it doesn't sound as smashed as your F example, which is extremely smashed and has all the artifacts Shy talked about. Again, if you dial it back a bit, it will probably be a lot better.

Also, would be great if Shy could tell us what limiter he used for his files. I'm hearing some clipping there, pretty sure he was clipping the AD when recording back from the hardware compressor.

I think Shy has (wisely) given up on this thread.

[Ah Xoc Kin]

In your case, every single example is compressed harder than the Slate example. The artifacts are evident in all of them but that could just be due to the level to which you're compressing them.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll give this another shot tomorrow using a bit less compression and trying to get close to the Slate's sound.

[Uncle E]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll give this another shot tomorrow using a bit less compression and trying to get close to the Slate's sound.

Thank you for posting them and for being open to feedback!