New T-RackS Compressor

[JerGoertz]

slate upping competition, selling FG-stress for $49. great times

how good is it ?

You can google the gearslutzspace thread from when it was released. A lot of people were saying it's as good as the hardware. I have no idea, having never owned the hardware, but I couldn't resist for $49, and it does sound pretty f**king good, IMO.

[plexuss]

I demoed Compexxxor and FG-Stress and I wasn't able to dial them in to sound the same. Each seems to have their own Distressor things going on. Buy both I guess. For me, if it came down to one, I think I'd get IK because I already have TRacks 5 Max and Mixbox and I like the added versatility of it. I also have VMR which is ok for it's strengths. It's nice to have multiple tools as long as they offer something different and useful. An arguement could be made for having both.

Another good approach would be what MadDogE134 did: Get FG-Stress now on the premise this is a rare sale, and get Comprexxxor later because likely it will be cheaper. Depends what you want and can afford I guess.

[kmonkey]

i will say i ended up buying the fg stress... i really like fabrice's work he is a good coder and gets his cycle demands pretty low imo if it wasn't for his (FG) work i wouldn't even bother with stevie especially after the lies about fg-x 2 'coming soon' lol years ago.

If you are buying plugins based on someone previous work then well.. you are in for surprise at least when it comes to Fabrice work.

It was revealed just this year that many of the "dynamic" modules inside Slate Virtual Mix (like Slate compressors) rack aren't done by Slate at all. This is common practice in industry and it's called outsourcing. In case you wonder, they were made by Pulsar Audio.

https://pulsar.audio/

In fact if you look few years of Slate releases they are rebranded plugins from other manufacturers.

But the fact that Slate lives on Fabrice "appeal" speaks volumes on Slate marketing.

Note that I am not saying Slate dynamics plugins are inferior or something - just that many of them are not being developed by Fabrice as many people like to think.

I am going to try IK model down the line. When I find some time. I have Slate Stress and UAD Distressor and as much as Slate tries to convince me that his plugins sounds same as UAD this is not the case at all. And it's not different gain structure either. I like both models but with UAD I am getting awesome results in no time. And hate to say this but it's more similar to hardware then Slate. Please (not pointing this to you) spare me his youtube videos.

I spent several days watching his videos, experimenting with FG Stress and trying to convince myself that I finally have Distressor as Native plugin, meaning more power for my other UAD plugins. But no, nope.

Looking forward to test IK model.

[MadDogE134]

did he start up eiosis and code the AirEQ? or was that outsourced too?

[MadDogE134]

well no one is going to get exact between code and circuit imo. analog (actual electricity fluctuates) circuits will not give you the same 'output' two times in a row. not to mention every hardware unit has different components and who knows what unit they are emulating to start with. so basically i NEVER listen to the analog talk when it comes to software... it is all hot air imo the 'analog' sell is only added harmonics... some more musical and appealing as to others... and musical appeal is subjective.

bottom line they are damn close and that is as good as it gets. if one is happy with the sound and the demand (no matter the 'brand') then run with it.

[jamcat]

slate upping competition, selling FG-stress for $49. great times

how good is it ?

FG-Stress is better than Comprexxor. Half the price and not having to deal with IK nonsense make FG-Stress the no brainer choice.

I own quite a bit from both Slate and IK, and I like both. VMR installs all of the modules and you see all of the ones you don't own, just like T-RackS. Plus Slate uses iLok and has a subscription model. (I just own mine outright.)

This seems like just as much "nonsense" as IK, if not more.
With T-RackS, at least you can load the individual modules as Singles outside of the T-RackS shell, which you can't do with Slate VMR.

But neither system bothers me much. It's their products, they can build them as they see fit.

So why so much complaining?
Why so much abuse towards people who don't share your complaints?

Some people own all of the T-RackS modules, so why would they be bothered by T-RackS installing the entire suite? And still other people don't own everything and they're just not petty and so easily triggered.

[ralfrobert]

Has anyone compared the two against Disto-S by Sknote? I ask because I am quite happy with it and want to avoid redundancy.

[plexuss]

Has anyone compared the two against Disto-S by Sknote? I ask because I am quite happy with it and want to avoid redundancy.

I was having trouble getting Disto-S working, but finally its working. I will compare Comprexxxor to Disto-S and FG-Stress and let you know what I find.

[theviirus]

Has anyone compared the two against Disto-S by Sknote? I ask because I am quite happy with it and want to avoid redundancy.

Not so far...which is disappointing. I think I'm the only person to mention Disto-S in this thread but in fairness, my comment was a nonsequitur in regards to my experiences with the bloated IK install process. The new comprexxor might be worthwhile. I don't know, but I'm happy with Disto-S. Been using it for uh 3-4 years? (its still $50 too)

I have a Console1 so I'm frequently using the SSL4K compressor. If I reach for any other compressor, its usually Disto-S because of its versatility. It covers discrete, clean, light, smooth, heavy, all buttons in, aggressive, driven, hot, color, smashing, degradation, and creative. And this is why I make the Soundtoys comparison; its fun to use!

Maybe in the future I'll try out Arousor and Mike-E.

Heres an old video from mixbus tv.
(note, this uses the old version of Disto, but the sound is basically the same; the old version is still included and the only difference is the gui; simplified controls.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JQ4i4Bnxqw&t=1005s

heres a comparison between Disto-S and Arousor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4VY260huVc

[Hink]

not just throwing it - he's painting the walls with its content...

jens, I want to personally apologize to you and all the other citizens of Germany here, this is especially offensive to you...I feel some guilt leaving it as long as I did but before I blast him off of here I really wanted people to know that there is a group of trolls using this same vernacular, same tactics, same concepts against me...You didnt deserve this from and insensitive troll trying to hit all the marks. I am so sorry guys, it's theeir hate for me

going to delete one member and soft delete those posts now

[jens]

There is absolutely no need to apologize for anything, Hink! He did what he did and you did nothing.

Nazi references like these only annoy me because of their sheer stupidity btw. - don't let them wind you up though - everyone with half a sense knows that the kind of ghastly poo guys such as this despicable specimen throw towards you stinks the way it does, because they're rotting from the inside.

I have personally witnessed some forum-moderation once or twice in my life, where potentially an argument might be had whether it could perhaps be considered ever so slightly over the top , but it wasn't here and it certainly wasn't from you.

[jens]

Either way I am glad he's gone too now. I do not assume he had it in him to possibly ever contribute anything of any worth whatsoever to a forum like this.

[plexuss]

I put togeher some demo tracks for Disto-S Comprexxxor and FG-Stress for comparison purposes here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=565493&p=8114567#p8114567

First a poll to see if there is any one which people think is a standout. Then in 3 days when the poll closes I will reveal which is which and post some data about them.

[illegal4Hunna]

Just wanted to comment on comparisons between different emulations and Comprexxor, since I own almost all of them.

FG-Stress sucks when you try to crush things with it. The compression becomes extremely jumpy, the top end gets sharp & hashy and it makes everything kinda thinner. If you use Disto-S, Comprexxor or the UAD you won't get this. They'll make things more solid and heavy, and they'll control the top end in a certain way while consolidating the upper midrange.

FG-Stress probably doesn't show these flaws as much when working with acoustic music or when compressing moderately, but try comparing the options on a vocal parallel or with modern sampled music and you'll hear the difference pretty quickly.

[kmonkey]

did he start up eiosis and code the AirEQ? or was that outsourced too?

I don't know anything about that. I remember 10 or more years ago that he started Eiosis indeed. And I would expect that AirEQ modules in VMR share same code, that would be native expectations.

What I wanted to point out is that contrary to the popular belief - Fabrice Gabriel - isn't developer behind Slate Virtual Mix Rack modules (compressors). It's not even Steven Slate. It is Pulsar Audio. Guys from another continent.

From that fact you can draw your own conclusion about the source of other "Slate" products.

I still remember Steven Slate videos where he's acting like he was developer himself