List of the best compressors

[Masta Cress]

I only use 4 compressors. (ONLY LOL)
My genre is Progressive Psytrance.

After testing MOST of the compressors on the market i
picked and bought one after another:

Brainworx/Vertigo - VSC-2

It adds harmonics without distorting the sound source too much.
Turning the Gain Knob up sounds a bit like the "Harmonic" knob of
the SPL Twin Tube in comparison. I put it on the master bus on every
track i make. I'm letting the peaks through.. making the quiet parts
louder. Its a very clean and thin sounding comp. Amazing module!

And it doesn't f*** up my CPU!

vladgsound - Molot

My newest addition. In Alpha Mode its a peak eating monster....
In Sigma Mode the Attack of the comp is pushing the transients.
My first choice for coloring single sounds!

Softube - Tube-Tech CL1B

This is my first choice when I want to press the level down. Its
behavior is hard/analogue in my opinion. Even when the ratio
is low i'll get the level down. I think i've never turned the
threshold more than -20db. It distorts the signal in a "tube-way".

Its outstanding in my opinion!

Elysia - mpressor

My Go-To-Comp! When I don't want to colorize the signal and
just want a straight comp I use this baby. It features a signal clipper
and a "Tilt-EQ" besides the fantastic sounding compressor.
The fastest attack/release-times I EVER heared.

(most compatible for Sidechain-Compression IMO)

But when its pushed to hard its not that good anymore compared
to the CL1B.


Thats my compressor-setup. Hope to read some other opinions
after letting this thread live again.

Cheers!

[Robmobius]

Here's a few that I Couldn't live without (okay I can but you know what I mean).

Vertigo VSC-2
Elysia Alpha
SSL Duende
Softube Cl-1b
PSP

My personal favorite is Vertigo, because it breaths life into just about anything especially my drums. The SSL is just a solid workhouse!

[schnapsglas]

I had a heavily opinionated list of 15 compressors with two tiers bordering on "why would you get something else" and how I felt about them but there was divine intervention and I clicked a link for no reason. Oh well. I guess it will forever be a mystery...

[osiris]

I like Molot quite a bit.

[theodore_whitmore]

I remember dreaming of having £200 to buy a Behringer Composer. I eventually got the cash together to buy one and-put your cynicism aside-it was ok, if you stayed within its' strict operational limits. That was for real cash I could have spent on useful stuff like d*#*s. Now look what I've got for free. Molot is great, VOS Thrillseeker and and Density are great, TDL feedback compressors are great. Not just good for the price, but straight up top quality dynamic range tools. If you can't get good results using those comps you need to look at your skill-set because the tools lack nothing.

[robogone]

I like Molot quite a bit.

Me too. Actually there's quite a lot of red wines I like...

[schnapsglas]

I like Molot quite a bit.

Me too. Actually there's quite a lot of red wines I like...

[digitalboytn]

I remember dreaming of having £200 to buy a Behringer Composer. I eventually got the cash together to buy one and-put your cynicism aside-it was ok, if you stayed within its' strict operational limits. That was for real cash I could have spent on useful stuff like d*#*s. Now look what I've got for free. Molot is great, VOS Thrillseeker and and Density are great, TDL feedback compressors are great. Not just good for the price, but straight up top quality dynamic range tools. If you can't get good results using those comps you need to look at your skill-set because the tools lack nothing.

[bduffy]

You guys gotta check out this bit of kit:

http://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-feedback-compressor-2/

Seriously solid, pro-grade compressor. For free.

[Masta Cress]

I played along with the Feedback Comp 2... Sure... its nothing for single
channels - the RMS detector is variating which results in different compression
ratio every time the f.e. snare hits in it. But on the sum its reacting quite nice.

But I don't need it! (deleted it now)
Im not going to clutter my vst folder with plugins again.
The four comps i mentioned are enough (for me)! I love its operational limitations.

I do not have problems with the "price thing" of commercial plugins. I simply
put the cash aside ... (on another batch than the cash for d*#*s)
Its gone and I don't need another "comp to test". Same with the EQ and so
on. My testing phase is over.

Testing new s**t is annoying to me! Im just going to use it in a project which
means it needs to stay in the folder. Its >messy behavior<!

Have fun while debugging beta software!!!

[bduffy]

Ooh la la. Well, good for you.

[Sparky77]

DMG Compassion, which can emulate darn near anything as far as I can tell

I have to agree, I've been using this for some time now with good results.

[Kaboom75]

DMG Audio Compassion - it does it all.
Cytomic The Glue
Slate Digital VBC will be great if it does what it says on the tin.

[Masta Cress]

Ooh la la. Well, good for you.

Thanks! I didn't wanted to write this here,
but in this moment I just needed to write something
in this forum because i want to get to the 20 post-mark.

Sorry for the bad english in pre.
I always wonder why the people (including ME)
oh no this time I resisted against it. I wonder
why the people don't write the words of their "genre(s)"
within the text besides the "this code is good compared
to this code and IMO better".

Its a different Thing to mix a Metal song or an
acidpop song. I would need different Vibes, Rhythms,
Instruments ect. pp and... Effect-Plugins. Even when
the thought goes around the dynamics and frequencies... yo kno ay meen

EQ a 65Hz Kick/Bass is different from a layerd HipHopKick
or a stumpy house flop. I dont need a pultec kick trick i need
a colour EQ or a MEqualizer for most things. I need to compress
the percussion a lot so i need a thing that colors like the CL1B.
But for general compression it should be clean. When I want dirt..
i bitcrush or distort the sound - in hiphop - i would first use a
clean eq to cut out and a coloring eq, saturation and comp f.e.
Not squash that hard - i have a different "material" here. Mellow not
nasty. Small hall rooms....

You get the drift what I am up to.

There is the difference with the genres AND the art of work/work of art AND
our personal music taste/our inner ear calibration AND our monitoring AND
our.... to mention the genre would be a good >starting point< and
would help everybody.

I know... in the plugin-news forum ARE only the people which are interested
in the specific one. But here we write in the same way but sometimes ... from
different directions.

Maybe Im wrong and you're thinking: get away with your rules you german
bureaucrats!

I don't know.

[kylen]

... I wonder
why the people don't write the words of their "genre(s)"
within the text besides the "this code is good compared
to this code and IMO better".

Its a different Thing to mix a Metal song or an
acidpop song. I would need different Vibes, Rhythms,
Instruments ect. pp and... Effect-Plugins. Even when
the thought goes around the dynamics and frequencies... yo kno ay meen

Yes - that's true, genre and if you are talking about a single instrument, sub, or master stereo buss. Sometimes folks get specific, many times you get to wonder...

on towards 20 (if you reply)