Any other LA-3A compressor plugins besides Waves, UAD?

[bmanic]

Hmm i read from bmanic that nebula compression just doesn't sound right, and to be honest, although we have our differences, he knows compression and i would tend to believe him pretty much above most others when it comes to that.

It's been a while since I wrote that though. Nebula compression has come a very long way.. but having said that, it still has a lot of issues. Many of those can be avoided if the program has been sampled and "programmed" properly (Tim Petherick knows his stuff.. his compression programs are in my opinion the best by quite a margin).

Quite a few programs still suffer from weird noises in the bass region or at harsh transients (kind of "chirp" noises) and some programs are just tonally completely off (for instance some AlexB libraries) as they seem to affect only a certain part of the frequency spectrum.

A lot of these not-properly-working programs can be tuned and tweaked by the user to some degree but ultimately I'd still categorize Nebula as a very niche, very secret weapon. It's used by a select few only and takes quite a bit of patience and understanding to work with. However, when it works, it's GLORIOUS and so far ahead of everything else that it isn't even funny.

Cheers!
bManic

[bmanic]

Nebula is being improved literally every month. And TimP creates better compressors than anyone else in the Nebula world. Personally, I just cannot imagine coming back to the algo comps anymore. I just prefer the sound of the newer Nebula comps so much more. Nebula is not fully there - that's true - probably about 90%. But algo comps, IMHO, do not get higher than 80%.

i disagree.. some of my algo comps are 98% there

My opinion is that the actual compression action itself seems still to be a bit better on carefully programmed algorithmic compressors.. but the "realness" and lack of "mush" or whatever you want to call it, is something Nebula absolutely nails. There's just something way more tangible with Nebula programs and it goes a very long way offsetting the compression action itself, especially in utilitarian roles. When it comes to total sound-shaping type of compression, I never reach for a nebula compressor. Always algorithmic or hardware.

Having said that, Tim Pethericks latest programs and a few things I've tweaked myself are starting to change this aspect. I think it may be time for a new "Nebula Compression - 2016 - Is it any good yet?" kind of thread. Last time I did one of those (I think it was way back in 2011 or 2012) the consensus was "not really but the mojo is awesome!".

[bmanic]

Nebula is being improved literally every month. And TimP creates better compressors than anyone else in the Nebula world. Personally, I just cannot imagine coming back to the algo comps anymore. I just prefer the sound of the newer Nebula comps so much more. Nebula is not fully there - that's true - probably about 90%. But algo comps, IMHO, do not get higher than 80%.

i disagree.. some of my algo comps are 98% there

My opinion is that the actual compression action itself seems still to be a bit better on carefully programmed algorithmic compressors.. but the "realness" and lack of "mush" or whatever you want to call it, is something Nebula absolutely nails. There's just something way more tangible with Nebula programs and it goes a very long way offsetting the compression action itself, especially in utilitarian roles. When it comes to total sound-shaping type of compression, I never reach for a nebula compressor. Always algorithmic or hardware.

Having said that, Tim Pethericks latest programs and a few things I've tweaked myself are starting to change this aspect. I think it may be time for a new "Nebula Compression - 2016 - Is it any good yet?" kind of thread. Last time I did one of those (I think it was way back in 2011 or 2012 or something) the consensus was "not really but the mojo is unreal!".

EDIT: Here's just a few examples of where Nebula compressors are in 2016 (note: quite a few of these are my own tweaks to existing programs).

Original Drumloop
Zodiac Compressor (custom tweaks) - a free nebula program from HERE
Tim Petherick's u76v2, 8:1 ratio, hard smashed
AlexB 4KD G.Comp, custom tweaks, 30:1 ratio - I like this one a lot. Very useful on almost everything.
Titanium 1B compressor (single band version), the Aqua plugin from Acustica Audio themselves - Highly underrated plugin in my opinion. Very easy to use and awesome results (as long as you don't look at almost useless gain reduction meter).

These are just a few examples. There's an almost infinite variety of color and compression in the Nebula domain now and as long as you aren't after 100% nailed emulations in the actual compression department, you'll find that these compressors have something of an edge over algorithmic compressors in the way they feel "real" and how weirdly transparent they can be (notice in all my examples, even the smashed ones, how clean and detailed the cymbals remain.. there's no "mush", no "veil" pulled over the details).

[Mercado_Negro]

TimP's Opto3a and Sum100a are really great. I used both units for many years and in my very personal opinion they're incredibly close (both in character/tone and behavior).

Both Waves' and Softube's are actually very good and nail the compression behavior but once you hear the weight in TimP's versions you understand what's missing in those two.

[simon.a.billington]

I was going to suggest IK, but somebody here just reminded me they just did a 2A and a 76.

Unfortunately the only cats I know that do a 3A is Waves and UAD. The Waves flavour being the only one if those two that will run native.

If you keep an eye out for their sales you can pick it up for between $50-$100 US. Actually I think I've seen the whole suite of CLA Compressors go for $150 very recently. It will be a wile before that happens again though.

But then there are the other suggestions here

[bmanic]

TimP's Opto3a and Sum100a are really great. I used both units for many years and in my very personal opinion they're incredibly close (both in character/tone and behavior).

Both Waves' and Softube's are actually very good and nail the compression behavior but once you hear the weight in TimP's versions you understand what's missing in those two.

It's very possible actually.. TimP's programs are by far the most usable as they have no odd behavior even at extreme settings. I've never actually had the pleasure of using a Summit Audio 100 for real so I have no reference for that one.. and the LA-3A I have used was many years ago in pretty much preset configuration ("holy settings" in the studio, always patched in on electric guitar channels ) so I don't have much reference for that one either.

My main issue with Nebula compressors comes from my own attempts at sampling things. Especially quirky gear that is pretty program dependent doesn't seem to translate all that well.. not yet at least. But it's also entirely possible that my sampling skills are not up to par and that there are some advanced tricks that Tim uses.

[Mercado_Negro]

TimP's Opto3a and Sum100a are really great. I used both units for many years and in my very personal opinion they're incredibly close (both in character/tone and behavior).

Both Waves' and Softube's are actually very good and nail the compression behavior but once you hear the weight in TimP's versions you understand what's missing in those two.

It's very possible actually.. TimP's programs are by far the most usable as they have no odd behavior even at extreme settings. I've never actually had the pleasure of using a Summit Audio 100 for real so I have no reference for that one.. and the LA-3A I have used was many years ago in pretty much preset configuration ("holy settings" in the studio, always patched in on electric guitar channels ) so I don't have much reference for that one either.

My main issue with Nebula compressors comes from my own attempts at sampling things. Especially quirky gear that is pretty program dependent doesn't seem to translate all that well.. not yet at least. But it's also entirely possible that my sampling skills are not up to par and that there are some advanced tricks that Tim uses.

The Summit Audio TLA-100 and LA-3A are by far my favorite compressors for basses, any type of bass. I also used them a lot for tracking vocals and guitars. I gave Tim a hard time when he was working on both and by the end of the beta cycle I was really impressed with the results. Tim's skills are impressive, he does a lot of manual tweaking to the sampled files and programs stuff in a very advanced way.

[bmanic]

Indeed! I've taken a peak at how he does the programming and it's definitely very different to the more traditional method.

The cool thing is that there are so many new advances coming in the future of Acustica Audios technology. I just wish the Acustica team would get Tim on board the development team and do a proper launch of for instance Nebula 4 or future advanced AQUA plugins. His attention to detail is what makes his programs so unique.. and his relentless pursuit of perfection.

Come on Giancarlo, get Tim on your team.

[DCrown]

Hard to find a sweet spot with Tim petherick Opto 32. There's also Apogee LA 3A

[vitocorleone123]

Thread necro.

Overloud makes one of the best/most accurate to hardware. The 2A is good as well.

[martinjuenke]

Hard to find a sweet spot with Tim petherick Opto 32. There's also Apogee LA 3A

IMG_9270.jpeg

[Lerian]

Deleted. Wrong thread.