Vari Mu Mastering Compressors...?

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

fix

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Mu's work really well on complex program material. I generally really dig them on pianos (about the only type of compression I really like on piano), drums, and mixbus.

But forget about the word "best", there's no such thing. There are only degrees of, "I will like this thing more on this material, than I will like this other thing on that same material". Other completely different styles of compressor/limiter may end up on the mastering chain. Something like Unisum from Tone Projects, where you've got control over so much of the action, might be the perfect compressor for some mastering engineers or tracks, while other tracks may not need compression, but rather limiting. It could also depend wildly on whether the mix was created with compression on the mixbus, which doesn't really have anything to do with mastering.

But yeah, Mu's can work really well on the mixbus depending on the track.

Neold U17 on piano is 'best' to my ears - tubes,transformers,all i need is there.
Some gentle saturation from Bigal or V76U73 - these guys know what they do.
Vari mu sounds more like mixing tool to me or maybe i just can't use it right way on mastering stage.
Uad Fairchild 670 sometimes is irreplaceable with Time Constant 4 and fine tuning,but not always is ok interconnecting with other fx.
And not all 670 are equal as sonic pleasure and results.
Best saturation on slow instruments like pads imo i have from la2a tube,which is free now.
Cheers

[legendCNCD]

Still using Pulsar Audio M... VM-Comp when needed.

[whassup]

Don't forget this classic.

Too cheap, can't be good.

[yzcoruhT]

Don't forget this classic.

Too cheap, can't be good.

To be honest; It's pretty bad. Cheap. Few knobs. Only 3 flavours. Developed by one person, not a team. GUI does not look like the real hardware 1:1, so it doesn't have VariMu mojo.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

my fav
https://ddmf.eu/magicdeatheyestereo/

My favourite too..
Uad's capitol master compressor second.
rsp

Tested both,side by side and MDE is really impressive,definitely will add it as mastering comp.
Very clean and nice,made for mastering.
Capitol is opposite,full with character,especially with saturator on.
Both work well with uad 670 and elysia alpha on master buss.
Cheers

[simon.a.billington]

Mu's work really well on complex program material. I generally really dig them on pianos (about the only type of compression I really like on piano), drums, and mixbus.

But forget about the word "best", there's no such thing. There are only degrees of, "I will like this thing more on this material, than I will like this other thing on that same material". Other completely different styles of compressor/limiter may end up on the mastering chain. Something like Unisum from Tone Projects, where you've got control over so much of the action, might be the perfect compressor for some mastering engineers or tracks, while other tracks may not need compression, but rather limiting. It could also depend wildly on whether the mix was created with compression on the mixbus, which doesn't really have anything to do with mastering.

But yeah, Mu's can work really well on the mixbus depending on the track.

Neold U17 on piano is 'best' to my ears - tubes,transformers,all i need is there.
Some gentle saturation from Bigal or V76U73 - these guys know what they do.
Vari mu sounds more like mixing tool to me or maybe i just can't use it right way on mastering stage.
Uad Fairchild 670 sometimes is irreplaceable with Time Constant 4 and fine tuning,but not always is ok interconnecting with other fx.
And not all 670 are equal as sonic pleasure and results.
Best saturation on slow instruments like pads imo i have from la2a tube,which is free now.
Cheers

Oh I forgot about those!! Yeah, they are great sounding compressors. Maybe not the kind to "shape" your audio with but, they ooze tone and vibe.

[billinder33]

The Vertigo is technically a dual-VCA topology, but the Ratio has a 'Soft' mode which supposed to mimic a Vari-Mu's variable ratio response.

For mastering, I recently shot out PA's Vertigo (currently on sale for $25) with the very pricey Pulsar Modular P11 Abyss ($275). I configured the Abyss to my tastes on an existing track where I already had the Vertigo configured and bypassed, then A/B'd it to the Vertigo, then further refined the Abyss.

While the Abyss is really nice and a far more flexible compressor than the Vertigo, the Vertigo was my preferred mastering comp because it does a much better job of retaining the low end 'thump' of the kick. Whereas the P11 was softer on the low transients while being little more lively on the top end. Obviously preferences may change given the source material. Also, the Vertigo's reduced set of options provides the vibe with limited clicking about, whereas the P11 and it's logically laid out but vast config options, is quite a bit more fiddly when starting from default setup.

Again, neither of these are true Vari-mu's but the both can be quite Vari-mu'ish when set up properly.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

The Vertigo is technically a dual-VCA topology, but the Ratio has a 'Soft' mode which supposed to mimic a Vari-Mu's variable ratio response.

For mastering, I recently shot out PA's Vertigo (currently on sale for $25) with the very pricey Pulsar Modular P11 Abyss ($275). I configured the Abyss to my tastes on an existing track where I already had the Vertigo configured and bypassed, then A/B'd it to the Vertigo, then further refined the Abyss.

While the Abyss is really nice and a far more flexible compressor than the Vertigo, the Vertigo was my preferred mastering comp because it does a much better job of retaining the low end 'thump' of the kick. Whereas the P11 was softer on the low transients while being little more lively on the top end. Obviously preferences may change given the source material. Also, the Vertigo's reduced set of options provides the vibe with limited clicking about, whereas the P11 and it's logically laid out but vast config options, is quite a bit more fiddly when starting from default setup.

Again, neither of these are true Vari-mu's but the both can be quite Vari-mu'ish when set up properly.

Love Vertigo,one of my favorite mixing compressors - super easy comp and such a character.
Haven't use it on master buss so far ,but will check,thanks.
Usually i use 2 or 4:1 ratio,but with soft ratio,just to touch could be nice.
I like and use Elysia Alpha and uad 670 on master buss mostly,immediately wide solid sound.
So far uad manley doesn't satisfy demands,but will try it as mixing comp,definitely add energy and pump everything,so will find it's corner.
Not so many great and easy mastering compressors actually.
Cheers

[djanthonyw]

I like the UnFairchild plugin from UTA.

https://digital.undertoneaudio.com/prod ... -mkii-v1-0