I know little about 1176 which is best please

[Liero]

I think TrackComp completely misses the point of good engineering design. It's great that it can do everything, but it's pretty useless if you have to figure it out for yourself. Good design is all about limiting choices to only the most useful options, and guiding the user towards the best results.

.. no, TrackComp works just fine if you only want to tweak the basic controls. But if you want to actually MATCH a specific hardware unit, you need to dig deeper.

If you just tweak Threshold, Ratio, Attack and Release it works just as easily as any other compressor. But it gives you the OPTION to mimic the behavior of almost infinite amounts of different 1176 models.

It's up to you, the user, to either use that capability or not. I'd argue that it's quicker to explore some of the advanced features in TrackComp2 than it is to try 10 different 1176 plugins to get exactly what you are after.

I agree that the controls aren't that complex, but I do agree with the notion that opening up TrackComp and getting face to face with the UI never feels very inspiring or engaging. I don't enjoy the layout of the controls and the feel is very "user experience design made by an engineer". Good sound, can't disagree with that. But now that we're absolutely spoiled by choices the bar keeps getting higher and higher...

[discogsaddict]

I really do think the UAD 1176 are the best. I've tried out many myself over the years and always gone back to UAD.

Before people would have argued saying they're expensive and the hardware is needed.
But now they do native versions and seem to have constant sales making them within reach for everyone.

There is a mindset people have always looking for something new, is brand xxx doing this better than what I have etc.
My honest opinion is to get top quality well regarded tools such as UAD 1176, LA2A etc and just get back to work

[MystikDrift]

thx and great i now will test all.

[Rivertropic]

Personally I am using the softube MkII right now.

Made a shootout some time ago and ended liking Arturia the most at the end, the response and synergy with the meter is really something.

Unfortunately I really can’t stand their skeuomorphic GUI, seeing a wooden table and a bokeh background keeps me from mixing, I can’t watch at them personally.

At the end between the OG Uad, the classic Waves, the elegant PsP and the tweaky Softube, I chose the tweaking option. They are all good and you can’t really go wrong with these.

I like to tweak but not to lose my hair so melda is not an option for me.

[Vortifex]

..

[roman.i]

UAD gives you 3 flavors of 1176 for $39.

[Uncle E]

1176 is when you need a really fast compressor, and the LA-2A is for when you need a really smooth, transparent compressor.

Use cases for 1176 would be drums, bass, electric guitar.

LA-2A would be vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, sax.

Though people use 1176 on vocals a lot as well. And then there is the trick of using both on a vocal.

Perfect. I would just elaborate that the 1176 is perfect when you want to smash the attack and elongate the sustain. So instead of a drum going POP, it goes PAWP.

[Igro]

That's really what makes the 1176 and LA-2A such great compressors. Either one can only do one

Thats what ?
a short explanation -for an uninformed dude- would be much welcome.
At what -typical- usecase scenarios would each be good for ?

LA-2A would be vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, sax.

Oftentimes, from many reviews I hear that LA-2A release time is not that optimal for the voice. I mean, it does the job, but not perfectly. The volume gain upon the release time might be too obvious.

[Uncle E]

Oftentimes, from many reviews I hear that LA-2A release time is not that optimal for the voice. I mean, it does the job, but not perfectly. The volume gain upon the release time might be too obvious.

It's pretty magical when you're comping vocals or blending background vocals. All the little variances between takes disappear.

[cptgone]

That's really what makes the 1176 and LA-2A such great compressors. Either one can only do one

Thats what ?
a short explanation -for an uninformed dude- would be much welcome.
At what -typical- usecase scenarios would each be good for ?

1176 is when you need a really fast compressor, and the LA-2A is for when you need a really smooth, transparent compressor.

Use cases for 1176 would be drums, bass, electric guitar.

LA-2A would be vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, sax.

Though people use 1176 on vocals a lot as well. And then there is the trick of using both on a vocal.

In case you want info on a broader range of compressors, I find the article linked below very informative.

Which compressor you go to is going to depend on the source audio and what you want to do with it. Knowing which compressor is best for the particular job is key. If you have just one “go-to” compressor for everything you might not know what you’re doing.

https://www.stockmusicmusician.com/blog ... ompressors

[jamcat]

That's really what makes the 1176 and LA-2A such great compressors. Either one can only do one

Thats what ?
a short explanation -for an uninformed dude- would be much welcome.
At what -typical- usecase scenarios would each be good for ?

LA-2A would be vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, sax.

Oftentimes, from many reviews I hear that LA-2A release time is not that optimal for the voice. I mean, it does the job, but not perfectly. The volume gain upon the release time might be too obvious.

This is the 1176 → LA-2A trick for vocals (from Universal Audio):

“The most common combination is to put the 1176 first and set it up as a peak limiter. To do this, set a high compression ratio, like 12:1, and a fairly fast attack and release. The point here is to just flatten the higher peaks. This compressor should not be doing a whole lot, just knocking 2 to 3 dB off of the loudest peaks.

The input gain needs to be adjusted carefully to do this. Usually it is best to find a part of the track with the highest peak or peaks and cycle that, and adjust to get the effect I described. Then use the output gain to match the level. To do this, disable the compressor and listen to the average level of your track, then enable it and adjust the output gain until you can’t really hear a difference in level.

The LA-2A should be set up just like you would if it were being used alone, with the Compress/Limit switch set to Compress, and Gain Reduction and Gain set to taste. But the 1176 knocked the big peaks down, which would have thrown the LA-2A into quite a bit of compression.

https://www.uaudio.com/blog/chaining-11 ... mpressors/


With this technique, your LA-2A isn't going to work nearly as hard, which should result in the release being more subtle.

[Winstontaneous]

So instead of a drum going POP, it goes PAWP.

So it sends the drum over the Connecticut state line into New Yawk or Massachusetts? At low latencies? Can it be set to go JAWNP if sent West to Philly instead? Sorry, a little East Coast US humor.

I have recorded in real studios through real 1176s but rarely find that ITB versions work for me.

[zerocrossing]

Having owned quite a few different 1176 revisions over the years and a few clones, in my opinion the most flexible and also perhaps the most "hardware like" sounding plugin for this particular compressor is DMG Audio Trackcomp 2. The downside of all that flexibility is that you need to tweak it to whatever hardware spec you want it to do and then save that as a preset.

The good thing about DMG Audio Trackcomp 2 is that it also comes with amazing renditions of other hardware compressors. It's a real Swiss army knife compressor plugin and can cover almost all the bases.

If you just want a simple set and forget authentic 1176 experience then UA plugins are the best for that. Also the Purple Audio 1176 emulation from Plugin Alliance is extremely close to the hardware (yes, I had access to a Purple Audio MC77 about 15 years ago and the plugin really does trigger some memories from that time).

I really like TrackComp too. I think the non hardwarish look puts some people off, but it sounds really nice to me, and there’s a lot more to it, as you mentioned.

The UAD emulation is very good too. Maybe a bit more color to it.

[briefcasemanx]

That's really what makes the 1176 and LA-2A such great compressors. Either one can only do one

Thats what ?
a short explanation -for an uninformed dude- would be much welcome.
At what -typical- usecase scenarios would each be good for ?

1176 is when you need a really fast compressor, and the LA-2A is for when you need a really smooth, transparent compressor.

Use cases for 1176 would be drums, bass, electric guitar.

LA-2A would be vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, sax.

Though people use 1176 on vocals a lot as well. And then there is the trick of using both on a vocal.

I'm definitely not picking an LA-2A if I want a transparent compressor.

[Igro]

Arturia and Sonic Academy takes on 1176 would be my choice. Brainworx Purple MC77 a third one. Anyway, those without the sidechain highpass filters are not considered anymore by me.

I have a feeling, that the Sonic Academy one has a problem with its HP filter. You slightly crank it (say 5%) and it's already passing a huge chunk of lows. Very hard to deal with that filter. Might be a bug though.