MTurboComp Clarification

[Mrs_Midi]

I'm currently looking to move from Slate Digital and stumbled upon Melda via facebook group and one of the plugins mentioned was MTubroComp.

I must admit, the idea sounds good, but some of the wording on the page confuses me a bit

https://www.meldaproduction.com/MTurboComp

From the site
Emulations Designed By Machine Learning

Developers usually simulate the vintage compressors by analyzing the circuits and test signals. That way it takes a long time to emulate a single compressor and it is prone to all kinds of errors. We took a very different approach - we designed a dynamics processor so versatile, that it could simulate almost anything. And we definitely didn't dare to set it up manually afterwards - we let the computers do that for us!

It took the computers a long time and didn't spare us days of listening tests and manual work, but it still got us to a great emulation of more than a dozen classic compressors in a record time . They don't sound exactly the same, after all not even the originals don't sound exactly the same to one another. But maybe MTurboComp sounds better then the originals. Just try and listen for yourself.

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Sounds a bit confusing to me. So, what exactly was emulated; curves, sound, character etc? Are we taking test 100s recordings of the compressors and feeding the data into the computer for it analyze?

Were the real units present or maybe the specs/behaviors of the models pulled and coded in?
I have no idea how this works, I saw a video of Amplitube 5, the recordings of the IR's made sense.

Sorry, just trying to understand what went into the development of the plugin. Will be pulling the demo today. While I don't have a great deal of experience with all the of the compressors, there are 2-3 that I have worked with.

Please and thank you.

[MeldaProduction]

Basically developers usually analyze the analogue device at hand and try to simulate it virtually "the same way", but simulating individual components... I personally believe that's a nonsense. Digital and analogue domains are very different and we should stick what our domain does best. And that's what MTurboComp does. Digital systems are extremely capable, so we created a model, that should be able to simulate virtually any classic compressor. Then we took test signals taken from these devices at various settings and let the computers do the job by trying to mimic their behaviour. It does NOT emulate any noise generated by the original devices. It only mimics the behaviour. Imho it mimics the "good stuff" and leaves the bad stuff produced by analogue devices.

But of course, this is a highly "religious" area. The best way is to just try it and check if you like how they sound and how they are handled, because we also standardized the controls (since in most analog models it just didn't make much sense).

[Mrs_Midi]

Ok, so when you say it mimics the behavior what does that mean exactly? Does that mean the plugin doesn't mimic the color or tone of the compressors?

That's a bit important to me, I just want know what to expect before I jump in and make judgements without understanding the intent.

[Soundplex]

I tested it when it came up roughly 4 years ago with chains I knew for years including some LA2A or 1176. The presets do not sound the same regarding the overall sound, I think what's missing is just *the* character we're used to from these classics. Also if you're used to setting up such compressors, the percentage parameters and generalized UI will definitely kill your workflow. I would compare the mimicking more to envelope shapes like they can be setup in ProC2 (vocal, classic, drums...).

[Mrs_Midi]

Also if you're used to setting up such compressors, the percentage parameters and generalized UI will kill your workflow. I would compare the mimicking more to envelope shapes likey they can be setup like in ProC (vocal, classic, drums...).

Ok, I see what you mean. That's a shame. Those my favorite compressors too! I like the flexibility I'm seeing in the TurboCom, but the character seems like something I'd have to tweak to get kinda similar.

Thanks for your insight.

[MeldaProduction]

I have to personally disagree, but it's certainly a matter of preference. At the end you need to use your ears and decide. What discourages users, who are used to the classics, is exactly what I (and many others) consider great about MTurboComp - the GUI standardization. The compressors just don't look like the originals and don't have the controls of the originals, and that's the point. Whether you like it or not, that's the question.