Klanghelm DC8C released, advanced compressor for WIN and OSX 32&64Bit [UPDATED: ext. sidechain]

[tonhelm]

any updates on the au sidechain eq monitoring bug i reported months ago Tony?

I've updated all Klanghelm plugins in the past few weeks. The sidechain EQ in listen mode is working now. I'll release the updates in the next few days. To be honest, it all took far longer than expected because the RTAS ports were quite time consuming. I'm still not sure if I'll release all RTAS versions now or if I exclude them from the update and release them later on. BTW, if anyone wants to check out the RTAS beta and is willing to give me some feedback, just drop me a line.

Regarding the VST3 presets in Studio One: This seems to be a common issue in S1. I just didn't get my head around it yet.

Tony

[vata44]

Can this sound like an 1176 or dbx 160? Is it honestly better than FabFilter C? I need some convincing here, but I am on the fence.

[A.M. Gold]

I know it's hard to decide without a demo, but I personally wouldn't advise getting this in order to try to sound like an 1176 or a dbx. Tony can address, if he wants, whether any of the parameters allow shaping of the sound to come close to those units.

You are going to get something that is similar to the free plug-in, but that allows much more shades of sound and many more technical features. If you really like the free version, but want more flexibility, I'd say get the full version.

[Resonator63]

Regarding the VST3 presets in Studio One: This seems to be a common issue in S1. I just didn't get my head around it yet.
Tony

Thanks for the info regarding VST3 in Studio One.It may be a problem with S1 as other people have reported problems with other VST3 not showing presets.
It's seems fine with VST3 such as Fabfilter which have their own preset browsers but not with those that don't

Anyhow DC8C is a fantastic compressor,glad to have bought it and be on board.Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

[Resonator63]

Can this sound like an 1176 or dbx 160? Is it honestly better than FabFilter C? I need some convincing here, but I am on the fence.

It's not better than Fabfilter Pro-C.But it is different from Fabfilter Pro-C.
I think they both have their place and can be used in different situations(or the same situations).They are great alternatives to one another.It's always good to have a choice.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Can this sound like an 1176 or dbx 160? Is it honestly better than FabFilter C? I need some convincing here, but I am on the fence.

You can achieve similar kinds of compression, but it's not going to sound like either unit. If you want that, look at offerings from Softube, UA, Waves, etc.

Is it honestly better than Pro-C? I think so. I certainly use it more than Pro-C. That said, Pro-C probably has the best GUI I've ever seen on a compressor. It really explains well how each parameter works better than anything I've ever used, and it's still got a nice sound.

However, where I think where DC8C excels is at smooth transients. Transients don't collapse within this compressor, instead they come out sounding great. And if something's off, go into expert mode and adjust as needed. Same for the release. You can control the overall compression behavior in a fairly intuitive way and come up with some great results.

Just remember, the four modes on the front of the unit are four unique modes, and expert mode is a fifth sounding unique mode. At first I thought that expert mode was there to tweak the existing mode, once I realized it had nothing to do with the four modes on the main page things opened up.

Anyway, give it a whirl. It's probably in my top 4 or 5 compressors just because it's so useful on so many different tasks.

[A.M. Gold]

Just remember, the four modes on the front of the unit are four unique modes, and expert mode is a fifth sounding unique mode. At first I thought that expert mode was there to tweak the existing mode, once I realized it had nothing to do with the four modes on the main page things opened up.

Wow, I had no idea, and I was thinking as you also originally did. Thanks for the heads up (and chalk up one more reason to RTFM).

[dusted william]

Just remember, the four modes on the front of the unit are four unique modes, and expert mode is a fifth sounding unique mode. At first I thought that expert mode was there to tweak the existing mode, once I realized it had nothing to do with the four modes on the main page things opened up.

Wow, I had no idea, and I was thinking as you also originally did. Thanks for the heads up (and chalk up one more reason to RTFM).

me too.

dw

[Agreed]

Can this sound like an 1176 or dbx 160? Is it honestly better than FabFilter C? I need some convincing here, but I am on the fence.

No to the first two, and "different, but at least as good" to the last question.

There are some really nice 1176 emulations out there, I think IKMM's is a really solid one, mimics the real thing's feature set extremely well (down to the wacked out metering in "British" mode, nice touch you sly boots at IK!). Softube's offering is certainly no slouch either, they make quality plugins all around. Competition is healthy (I choose IKMM, though, personally - it does lovely things to the sound, and the price is very right!). I haven't acquainted myself much with dbx 160 emulations so I don't feel comfortable speaking there.

With that "forward" out of the way, the deal with DC8C is that it's just a freaking amazingly useful, versatile, GREAT compressor. It's digital and isn't ashamed of that fact, it makes the most of it. No effort at emulating a particular piece of gear that is well-suited to a particular task or has a recognizable fingerprint in the mix. The closest DC8C comes to emulation is as follows, quoting the manual:

When using the saturation, keep in mind, that I've also
modeled the noise and small fluctuations found in
analogue circuits. These are barely noticable. And
compared to the real world the noise floor is really low.
So don't panic
When the saturation is off, the fluctuations and the noise
are completely gone.

And he's got the Voxengo SPAN analyses to prove it

So no, it definitely isn't going to sound like the aforementioned hardware comps, but if you change the question to "can it be used really well on drums? Okay, how about vocals? What about guitar? Bass? What about on the whole rhythm section, with side chaining and all that? What about on the master bus?" the answer to each is yes. Yes to everything. It's a great compressor and one of the best values in my whole collection for sure.