Compressor with an alternative compression algorithm

[QCGroove]

Here's the link to the page offering 80% off, by the way. https://iballroad.audio/promo

Also, you've got it listed for $59 on KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/developer/iballroad-audio

Now its $59 on the iBallRoad website: https://iballroad.audio/buy

[SKyzZz]

Does that mean that you need individual licenses for each computer you use, or can one license be used on multiple computers?

This compressor seems to be aimed at high-end mastering guys primarily, at least that's the impression I get from the marketing and pricing angles, so I'd recommend some (20?) high quality downloadable 24/96 wav audio demos to showcase the plugin, rather than just a couple of video walk-throughs with all the inevitable talking and explaining.
Audio comparisons to well established hardware and software compressors would help a lot too.

Thanks for explaining what ADT stands for. That should be on the website too otherwise it just seems like made up hoo hah.

Mostly, give us the chance to judge with our ears first without having to navigate a potentially crashy demo. If the audio is amazing people will be more likely to put up with little inconveniences to get the tool.
But if the little inconveniences are the first impression, people are much more likely to just walk away.

1 license = 1 computer

but this is online licensing and you can use it without being tied to a PC at a studio with friends or at home, you just need to deactivate and activate it, it doesn't hurt as much as it seems. the key sign is the presence of an Internet connection and 53 bit/s will be enough

[SKyzZz]

Here's the link to the page offering 80% off, by the way. https://iballroad.audio/promo

Also, you've got it listed for $59 on KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/developer/iballroad-audio

Now its $59 on the iBallRoad website: https://iballroad.audio/buy

I sent you promo code to PM

[QCGroove]

Here's the link to the page offering 80% off, by the way. https://iballroad.audio/promo

Also, you've got it listed for $59 on KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/developer/iballroad-audio

Now its $59 on the iBallRoad website: https://iballroad.audio/buy

I sent you promo code to PM

Thanks, but after installing both mac versions (mac trial and mac trial old), and AU and VST3, none of the 4 plugin files work. Neither of the VST3 plugins show up in Reaper or Ableton, and both of the AU plugins crash both DAWs. For now this is a hard pass from me. Good luck!

macOS 10.14.6
Reaper 6.47
Live 11.0.12

[SKyzZz]

Here's the link to the page offering 80% off, by the way. https://iballroad.audio/promo

Also, you've got it listed for $59 on KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/developer/iballroad-audio

Now its $59 on the iBallRoad website: https://iballroad.audio/buy

I sent you promo code to PM

Thanks, but after installing both mac versions (mac trial and mac trial old), and AU and VST3, none of the 4 plugin files work. Neither of the VST3 plugins show up in Reaper or Ableton, and both of the AU plugins crash both DAWs. For now this is a hard pass from me. Good luck!

macOS 10.14.6
Reaper 6.47
Live 11.0.12

Screenshot 2022-03-13 at 16.57.08.png

Screenshot 2022-03-13 at 16.57.08.png

Reaper is not declared in support due to problems with channels...

[QCGroove]

Here's the link to the page offering 80% off, by the way. https://iballroad.audio/promo

Also, you've got it listed for $59 on KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/developer/iballroad-audio

Now its $59 on the iBallRoad website: https://iballroad.audio/buy

I sent you promo code to PM

Thanks, but after installing both mac versions (mac trial and mac trial old), and AU and VST3, none of the 4 plugin files work. Neither of the VST3 plugins show up in Reaper or Ableton, and both of the AU plugins crash both DAWs. For now this is a hard pass from me. Good luck!

macOS 10.14.6
Reaper 6.47
Live 11.0.12

Screenshot 2022-03-13 at 16.57.08.png

Screenshot 2022-03-13 at 16.57.08.png

Reaper is not declared in support due to problems with channels...

Nice looking gui but it doesn't load for me in ableton.

[SKyzZz]

Here's the link to the page offering 80% off, by the way. https://iballroad.audio/promo

Also, you've got it listed for $59 on KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/developer/iballroad-audio

Now its $59 on the iBallRoad website: https://iballroad.audio/buy

I sent you promo code to PM

Thanks, but after installing both mac versions (mac trial and mac trial old), and AU and VST3, none of the 4 plugin files work. Neither of the VST3 plugins show up in Reaper or Ableton, and both of the AU plugins crash both DAWs. For now this is a hard pass from me. Good luck!

macOS 10.14.6
Reaper 6.47
Live 11.0.12

Screenshot 2022-03-13 at 16.57.08.png

Screenshot 2022-03-13 at 16.57.08.png

Reaper is not declared in support due to problems with channels...

Nice looking gui but it doesn't load for me in ableton.

Code: Select all

cd /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine .
cd /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine .

Most likely, he sends our plugins to quarantine and we need to figure out why, if that's the case, then just try to get them out of quarantine and we'll start investigating why legal software gets quarantined. Certified by Apple!

[bmanic]

Get ready for comments on your pricing model.

1. Unique algorithm
2. Salary to employees
3. Rent of premises
3. Equipment
4. Advertisement
5. Consultations with leading experts in the field of sound
6. Product testing
7. Mathematical calculations
8. Website hosting and licensing systems
9. Software Protection
10. Technology patenting and legal subtleties

Is it worth writing this in the cost calculation?

Not to be a party pooper but the above and your website absolutely screams "scam/not-reliable". The 'About Us' page doesn't actually tell anything that gives confidence. You don't disclose your name or anything else that is needed for taking a complete unknown company as serious. You also say that IBallRoad Audio was founded in 2013 when no google search can verify that at all. The earliest LLC registration I found was from late 2020.

Also, it doesn't much help that your user name here on KvR audio allows us to read all your previous posts since you joined KvR.. thus we have access to all your questions and inquiries over at the DSP forum. These don't much correlate to the description of professionalism on the website.


This whole blurb from the website and manual:

"The DSC/L-01 was created by IBallRoad Audio.
Compression itself is a unique way of giving a certain character to
audio recordings that are liked by listeners all over the world. We
spent about 8 years investigating these processes in electrical
devices and their behavior to build unique algorithms that were not
available for working with audio recordings before. Having
investigated a lot of devices and their modern derivatives, both
analog and digital, we gradually developed our new algorithms step
by step.
When implementing these algorithms, we were not tied to stylistic
features. In other words, we strive to maximize the compression
efficiency under all conditions in order to meet your needs."

.. absolutely screams "I don't know at all what I'm doing so I'll just invent some marketing words and hope for the best!"

Sorry to be this critical but you asked for opinions. Considering the price of 199$, this is just a hopeless fail from the get-go. There's just no way this is worth even investigating considering the complete lack of audio material, videos and the extremely vague and bad descriptions of everything on the website. It just doesn't hold up at all.

Also, is it _really_ a team of people or is it just you? I suspect the latter but it's often falsely though by some people that portraying a "team" is more confidence inspiring. Whatever the case, your absolute everything just comes off as extremely suspicious. We've seen scams and high claims before. To not fall into that category, if you are an actually serious coding talent and want into the plugin market, you need to 100% completely re-do your marketing strategy and start with honesty.

Audio + Video demos. Easy to install demo without any need for registration (this is a 100% no-go with such a shady website). Real transparency and removal of completely ambiguous pseudo bullshit audio marketing sillyness. Use real words and real descriptions of things. What makes this compressor actually good? What makes it unique? Write honestly and back it up with audio/video.

[imrae]

but this is online licensing and you can use it without being tied to a PC at a studio with friends or at home, you just need to deactivate and activate it, it doesn't hurt as much as it seems. the key sign is the presence of an Internet connection and 53 bit/s will be enough

Always-online activation? That’s another “yikes”.

[SKyzZz]

Get ready for comments on your pricing model.

1. Unique algorithm
2. Salary to employees
3. Rent of premises
3. Equipment
4. Advertisement
5. Consultations with leading experts in the field of sound
6. Product testing
7. Mathematical calculations
8. Website hosting and licensing systems
9. Software Protection
10. Technology patenting and legal subtleties

Is it worth writing this in the cost calculation?

Not to be a party pooper but the above and your website absolutely screams "scam/not-reliable". The 'About Us' page doesn't actually tell anything that gives confidence. You don't disclose your name or anything else that is needed for taking a complete unknown company as serious. You also say that IBallRoad Audio was founded in 2013 when no google search can verify that at all. The earliest LLC registration I found was from late 2020.

Also, it doesn't much help that your user name here on KvR audio allows us to read all your previous posts since you joined KvR.. thus we have access to all your questions and inquiries over at the DSP forum. These don't much correlate to the description of professionalism on the website.


This whole blurb from the website and manual:

"The DSC/L-01 was created by IBallRoad Audio.
Compression itself is a unique way of giving a certain character to
audio recordings that are liked by listeners all over the world. We
spent about 8 years investigating these processes in electrical
devices and their behavior to build unique algorithms that were not
available for working with audio recordings before. Having
investigated a lot of devices and their modern derivatives, both
analog and digital, we gradually developed our new algorithms step
by step.
When implementing these algorithms, we were not tied to stylistic
features. In other words, we strive to maximize the compression
efficiency under all conditions in order to meet your needs."

.. absolutely screams "I don't know at all what I'm doing so I'll just invent some marketing words and hope for the best!"

Sorry to be this critical but you asked for opinions. Considering the price of 199$, this is just a hopeless fail from the get-go. There's just no way this is worth even investigating considering the complete lack of audio material, videos and the extremely vague and bad descriptions of everything on the website. It just doesn't hold up at all.

Also, is it _really_ a team of people or is it just you? I suspect the latter but it's often falsely though by some people that portraying a "team" is more confidence inspiring. Whatever the case, your absolute everything just comes off as extremely suspicious. We've seen scams and high claims before. To not fall into that category, if you are an actually serious coding talent and want into the plugin market, you need to 100% completely re-do your marketing strategy and start with honesty.

Audio + Video demos. Easy to install demo without any need for registration (this is a 100% no-go with such a shady website). Real transparency and removal of completely ambiguous pseudo bullshit audio marketing sillyness. Use real words and real descriptions of things. What makes this compressor actually good? What makes it unique? Write honestly and back it up with audio/video.

In fact, what do you expect from us, we can reveal the last name of the team members and who is who, but it seems to me that everyone just doesn't care about it. Look at how many companies are covered by trustpilot, and in fact you can create positive reviews for money. In the future we will make a couple of audio examples so that you can listen and see how it works. The fact that the company was founded by one person in 13 and registered legally in 20, do you expect us not to talk about it?

If you are ready to criticize, then tell us point by point what we can do and we will do it in order to be better. I think it's reasonable!

[SKyzZz]

but this is online licensing and you can use it without being tied to a PC at a studio with friends or at home, you just need to deactivate and activate it, it doesn't hurt as much as it seems. the key sign is the presence of an Internet connection and 53 bit/s will be enough

Always-online activation? That’s another “yikes”.

License validation only when the project is uploaded. If the Internet disappears or something else, the plugin will remain working. Piracy forces us to invent all sophisticated methods. We deliberately don't want usb-dongles, codemeter containers and etc....

[Ploki]

well i demoed it.
i'm not sure what to think about it.
- there appears to be a soft-clipper on the input, that's independent of the actual input trim knob. this feels counter-intuitive, as it distorts simply based on how loud you hit it without any way to control it aside having a separate gain plugin before it.

- ADT with fast attack/release times is really touchy. You can make it sound like distorted crap reaaaly quickly by using fast release/attack. The curve sounds more like a ducker than a compressor when you're at 3x ADT.
x5 and more is useless with slower release than 5 and attack faster than 40 unless you're using really gentle threshold.
I dont see how R3 (ADT x9) is "soft limiter" because the curve sounds like a ducker (loud sounds are muted and really quiet sounds are very loud)

- Fast attack/release (near zero or zero and release 5) just sounds like distorted mush

- the knob response is really slow (twice as slow as any other plugin i have, it makes up for a lot of mouse travel)

- I don't think the interface is at all intuitive for what it's supposed to do. there's little feedback aside the analog VU meters.
Analog VU meters are fine when dealing with a straightforward compressor like a FET clone which everyone know what it's supposed to be doing and how it sounds at certain GR stages. With this one and the complex interaction of ADT with other parameters, i'd want to see a transfer curve display. Not want, NEED.

I can't test it in plugindoctor because it doesn't display anything aside input clipping correctly in plugin doctor for some reason so i can't even guesstimate what ADT does.

i have trouble dialling it in to make it sound good, and this isn't my first rodeo.
Reading the manual didn't help.

[SKyzZz]

well i demoed it.
i'm not sure what to think about it.
- there appears to be a soft-clipper on the input, that's independent of the actual input trim knob. this feels counter-intuitive, as it distorts simply based on how loud you hit it without any way to control it aside having a separate gain plugin before it.

- ADT with fast attack/release times is really touchy. You can make it sound like distorted crap reaaaly quickly by using fast release/attack. The curve sounds more like a ducker than a compressor when you're at 3x ADT.
x5 and more is useless with slower release than 5 and attack faster than 40 unless you're using really gentle threshold.
I dont see how R3 (ADT x9) is "soft limiter" because the curve sounds like a ducker (loud sounds are muted and really quiet sounds are very loud)

- Fast attack/release (near zero or zero and release 5) just sounds like distorted mush

- the knob response is really slow (twice as slow as any other plugin i have, it makes up for a lot of mouse travel)

- I don't think the interface is at all intuitive for what it's supposed to do. there's little feedback aside the analog VU meters.
Analog VU meters are fine when dealing with a straightforward compressor like a FET clone which everyone know what it's supposed to be doing and how it sounds at certain GR stages. With this one and the complex interaction of ADT with other parameters, i'd want to see a transfer curve display. Not want, NEED.

I can't test it in plugindoctor because it doesn't display anything aside input clipping correctly in plugin doctor for some reason so i can't even guesstimate what ADT does.

i have trouble dialling it in to make it sound good, and this isn't my first rodeo.
Reading the manual didn't help.

That's what the demo is for, to see if it suits you or not. As far as I understand, this does not suit you. And it's just wonderful because you save your money and time. We do not specify in the user agreement that our plugin must be supported by this software. We deliberately distort the data. Therefore, thank you very much for the negative feedback, do not use our compressors and be happy.

[bmanic]

In fact, what do you expect from us, we can reveal the last name of the team members and who is who, but it seems to me that everyone just doesn't care about it. Look at how many companies are covered by trustpilot, and in fact you can create positive reviews for money. In the future we will make a couple of audio examples so that you can listen and see how it works. The fact that the company was founded by one person in 13 and registered legally in 20, do you expect us not to talk about it?

If you are ready to criticize, then tell us point by point what we can do and we will do it in order to be better. I think it's reasonable!

I just told you what the first impressions of your whole endeavor here + the website is. I'm not going to baby sit you and point you to all the extremely obvious flaws in everything.

Just look at other websites and established companies. Start with the good "small" companies so that you can relate. Look at their marketing, their text, their 'About Us' and FAQ pages.

You are being extremely defensive here even though you yourself asked for help/criticism. I'm a straight shooter so I say it as I see it.

Examples of successful small companies:

https://www.toneboosters.com/
https://www.fabfilter.com/
https://www.toneprojects.com/
https://goodhertz.co/
https://ddmf.eu/
https://klanghelm.com/contents/about.html

.. don't know about you but to me it's very quick and easy to see these companies are serious. They all present themselves and tell you exactly who they are and what their products are. Your webpage tells neither. It just comes off as a bunch of pseudo intellectual non-sense, basically what somebody would say that doesn't know at all what they are talking about. That is the initial impression.

I don't know why but there are just a ton of alarm bells going off. My spidey senses are tingling. Whatever you claim to have as a product just doesn't seem to have any base in reality.. this is my first impression even without demo. Perhaps the lack of any audio and video examples triggers my alarm bells, who knows.

Anyhow, I've given you the information that makes up my first impressions of your company/endeavor. Do with it as you please.

[Ploki]

That's what the demo is for, to see if it suits you or not. As far as I understand, this does not suit you. And it's just wonderful because you save your money and time. We do not specify in the user agreement that our plugin must be supported by this software. We deliberately distort the data. Therefore, thank you very much for the negative feedback, do not use our compressors and be happy.

If you only ask for feedback so you can politely tell people to f**k off when they take their time to do so, just don't ask for feedback.