Icons: The Compressor Collection by SOFTUBE

[fcamp]

I am demoing the FET and the VCA, so far so good. I will buy the FET, for sure, but I am trying to decide about the others, especially comparing the VCA vs. the Arturia one.

[Lbdunequest]

I just tried it again on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, male and female spoken and sung voices.
We clearly hear completely differently.

There is a (desired) saturation in the UAD versions that I hear that are not there in the NI versions.
rsp

UAD comes with 3 different versions, which one you tried?

[zvenx]

The one I use 9/10 times, the LA-2 (not the grey or silver).
Which one did you use?
rsp

[trmupstage]

I use a lot of Softube plugins for my mixes. I own most all of their stuff. A lot of it is great but there are some duds too. FET was my main go to 1176 for a long time. It behaved mostly like a hardware 1176, but I stopped using FET a while ago and replaced it with the Pulsar 1178, which is brilliant. I absolutely didn't need these new compressors from Softube, but I bought them anyway. I'm really hoping the update to FET is worth the price. I think we are pretty spoiled for great plugins now. It's a bit hard to get excited about another LA2A or 1176, since I also own the hardware, but these might be fun and a good distraction for a bit, and best yet, they don't take up any studio space.

I know there is such a wide variety of users here on KVR. Some are young hobbyists that have no money and some actually make a living in music. For the price, there are better bang for the buck options. These are not going to make someone a great mixer, but they might provide a slightly different flavor to a known sound. That's really all I'm looking for from them.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I demoed them last night on a drum mix and was sold. Then tried on bass and Rhodes and they still held up. I've got TrackComp, the UAD versions, Puslar, and more. Why buy these?

First, while I didn't do direct A/B compare, they sounded really good. Even with little to no reduction happening on and level matched, the LA-2A imparted a nice character on the Rhodes that was clearly audible and lost with the plugin disabled. The drums sounded killer, even when level matches.

Second, the workflow! Notice I said level matched in both instances? Softube has a great system for quickly level matching the output gain or pushing things harder. I love those little extender buttons. They're very handy. That's an area where it beats the UA versions, TrackComp, and many others. I'll work faster with these.

Third, the added features. Each plugin offers an extended feature set over some of the competition. Also, oversampling is very well implemented here.

Fourth reason was GUI's. They look great. And sometimes I want something that looks pretty. TrackComp sounds killer but is finicky and not a whole lot of fun to work with IMO. It's the only drawback to TrackComp. These look great and have a great workflow.

Last reason: the $134 upgrade price for Volume 5 owners. I didn't own the NI versions, and these seem better anyway. So $134 for a 3-compressor bundle didn't seem completely outrageous. I'll be annoyed in 6 months or whatever when Softube Volume 6 includes all of them and I get the same upgrade price everyone else gets, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The one I use 9/10 times, the LA-2 (not the grey or silver).
Which one did you use?
rsp

I always assumed the LA-2 is to the LA-2A, what the 176 is to the 1176: a different model/predecessor to a classic. May not be an apples to apples comparison is all I'm saying.

[zvenx]

You are indeed correct:
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/comp ... ction.html

But I find the silver and grey/gray have even more saturation so I would be surprised if the NI match those better, but I can try.
rsp

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

You are indeed correct:
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/comp ... ction.html

But I find the silver and grey/gray have even more saturation so I would be surprised if the NI match those better, but I can try.
rsp

And I have no idea how closely they match the NI one, which I don't own, or even the Softube one. But the Softube one does the LA-2A thing well. I also really like the UA LA-2 and use that a lot. Especially on vocals.

[trackbout]

Second, the workflow! Notice I said level matched in both instances? Softube has a great system for quickly level matching the output gain or pushing things harder. I love those little extender buttons. They're very handy. That's an area where it beats the UA versions, TrackComp, and many others. I'll work faster with these.

It's funny I prefer TrackComp's workflow precisely because Softube doesn't understand how to implement parallel compression correctly. With TrackComp, the input and output knobs do not change the level of the dry signal, as they shouldn't, so you can level match the 100% wet signal to the 100% dry signal, and then use the mix slider to blend the two signals without changing the gain.

With all the Softube comps, the input and output knobs change the level of the dry signal, so it's impossible to level match the 100% wet signal to the 100% dry signal. Every time you adjust the wet level, the dry level changes, it's a moving target. So when you want to parallel compress, every tweak of the mix knob requires a corresponding tweak of the output knob, it's like wack-a-mole, but less fun.

I did just buy the FET Mk II anyway though, because it's pretty, and it sounds awesome, and I'm a plugin crackhead with no self control.

[zvenx]

Yes the uad la-2 (along with one of their 1176's) are my go to vocal compressors.

rsp

You are indeed correct:
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/comp ... ction.html

But I find the silver and grey/gray have even more saturation so I would be surprised if the NI match those better, but I can try.
rsp

And I have no idea how closely they match the NI one, which I don't own, or even the Softube one. But the Softube one does the LA-2A thing well. I also really like the UA LA-2 and use that a lot. Especially on vocals.

[Lbdunequest]

The one I use 9/10 times, the LA-2 (not the grey or silver).
Which one did you use?
rsp

I use the silver one, because thats the model that as i understand is being modeled mostly after original.

[Lbdunequest]

Ok here is LA2A shoutout on a bass sequence:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/guxwkhhpynuya ... t.wav?dl=0

1. Dry
2. VC 2A
3. Softube Opto Compressor
4. UAD LA2A (early model default one)
5. IK White 2A
6. Presswerk
7. UAD LA2A Silver

[zvenx]

At that tempo they all sound alike to me.
I would never use an LA-2A which has a fairly slow attack on anything like this.
rsp

[DCrown]

At that tempo they all sound alike to me.
I would never use an LA-2A which has a fairly slow attack on anything like this.
rsp

I also think LA2A is not the best choice for such a fast and arpeggio-like bass.

[zvenx]

The one I use 9/10 times, the LA-2 (not the grey or silver).
Which one did you use?
rsp

I use the silver one, because thats the model that as i understand is being modeled mostly after original.

I just tried with the silver one.. still couldn't get the NI one to match it on the type of material I use the LA-2A on (typically vocals, electric bass, acoustic guitars)

rsp