KVR Audio

xybre · Post by **xybre** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 6:23 am

I'm on a journey through sound, I started looking for something that seemed rather simple and then opened up a can of worms for myself.

Compressors are more varied and nuanced than I ever considered, especially for something whose job is essentially "turning down the volume when it gets too loud".

EDIT:

Demoed and tested:

Code: Select all

Stillwell Rocket
Stillwell Bombardier
Stillwell Major Tom

DMG Audio Compassion

Arts Acoustic CL-1
Arts Acoustic CLMS-1
Arts Acoustic CLMS-1 XL

FabFilter Pro-C

Focusrite Midnight Compressor

Sonalksis SV-315 Mk2 Compressor

Cytomic The Glue

Image-Line Maximus

MixControl Pro

Nomad Factory et al

Mellowmuse CP2V

Eareckon SD-Comp 87

Martin Eastwood Audio Compressive

VladG Molot

Electric-Snow jsCompShaper

Demos downloaded but not yet tested:

Code: Select all

Mellowmuse CP1A
Mellowmuse CP3V

Sonalksis Uber Compressor
Sonalksis CQ1

Toneboosters Compressor

Voxengo Deft Compressor
Voxengo Crunchessor
Voxengo Marquis

Samplitude Vintage Compressor
Samplitude Analog Modeling Compressor

I won't be able to demo everything, but I will try to keep an open mind.

I also own these already:

Code: Select all

AudioDamage RoughRider

de la Mancha GTS
de la Mancha GTX
de la Mancha GTO
de la Mancha Bathtub (new)
de la Mancha Sidearm (new)

Original post:

I love RoughRider, is there something similar with a sidechain?

manducator · Post by **manducator** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 6:37 am

Stillwell The Rocket, perhaps?

http://www.stillwellaudio.com/?page_id=68

It has sidechain.

xybre · Post by **xybre** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 7:30 am

Of course! I'll do some comparisons.

hivkorn · Post by **hivkorn** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 8:26 am

db audioware sidechain comp , not multiband but it rocks!

xybre · Post by **xybre** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:03 pm

hivkorn wrote:db audioware sidechain comp , not multiband but it rocks!

I don't even need multiband, just the original RoughRider. Thanks I'll check it out.

xybre · Post by **xybre** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 1:13 am

Okay I've spent the majority of the last few days (seriously, I've done little else) playing with compressors.

I've demoed all of these (some with external sidechain, some without):

Code: Select all

Stillwell Rocket
Stillwell Bombardier
Stillwell Major Tom

DMG Audio Compassion

Arts Acoustic CL-1
Arts Acoustic CLMS-1
Arts Acoustic CLMS-1 XL

FabFilter Pro-C

Focusrite Midnight Compressor

Sonalksis SV-315 Mk2 Compressor

I also downloaded these demos but haven't fully explored them yet:

Code: Select all

Image-Line Maximus

Cytomic The Glue

MixControl Pro

Sonalksis Uber Compressor
Sonalksis CQ1

My ears are all tired so I'm taking a break to write this.

I noticed that I'm more drawn to increasing the dynamics of drums rather than reducing them with compressors, giving them a ridiculous "overbite" on the front end and then warping back up a bit during the fade. I can be tricky to make some of the milder compressors do this, some refuse entirely. (Midnight, Bombardier)

Some compressors can get completely wild with the volume and lack enough gain reduction on their output that something else has to be added after them in the signal chain to reduce the gain and prevent clipping - luckily I put a limiter on my master. (SV-315 Mk2, Compassion)

I think I'll end up needing a cleaner compressor for more mild duty, as well as one that can add some nice coloring when things aren't so rosy - and still sound good and musical when it does, I have enough distortion units already.

Currently, my favorites are the Arts Acoustic CL Series compressors. As one KVRian said of them they "Phluck". And damn do they Phluck good. They certainly do get into the "distortion unit" realm if you push them hard enough, but if you keep things under control the color and harmonics from them is amazing. The UIs are nice, not impressive to me, but they are still pleasing. There's a great level of control and opportunities for sonic exploration besides basic gain/dynamics duties.

I'm really impressed by the Stillwell compressors, The Rocket is very versatile, and Major Tom sounds great too. EDIT: After more playing around I'm becoming even more fond of Major Tom, what a great plugin.

I love Pro-C's UI, but I really just don't "feel" the sound. It's nice and clean but.. maybe that's what I don't like about it?

I really just didn't dig the Sonaksis SV-315's interface, I mean it looked nice but as far as workflow I did not like it at all. The sound had some good points, it could add a subtle punch that I really liked. I don't know, I'm just not sold on it.

Midnight and Bombardier were just too subtle for me. I like to be able to sculpt sounds in an extreme way sometimes, but I will keep them in mind when I get to the point that I only want subtle changes and my other compressor(s) can't do the job.

That leaves Compassion. It can be a beast, it has a cool and informative UI, and external sidechain. It doesn't Phluck like the CL Series, but my biggest complaint is its issues with gain reduction. It gets *loud* to the point that even with input and output gain all the down, it's still miles in the red zone.

I'll check out the rest on my list, and report back.

Thanks to bmanic and brok lander's posts about compressors on KVR they were a big help and I read many many posts by them in particular on the subject to help me know what to even look for. I'm by no means an expert, but I feel I can determine what sounds good to me (and that base line is constantly changing).

loopdon · Post by **loopdon** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 1:20 am

if just the cl series was cheaper. so very impressive comps!

xybre · Post by **xybre** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 1:45 am

loopdon wrote:if just the cl series was cheaper. so very impressive comps!

I didn't look at prices, I figure I'll get whichever one feels best whatever the cost. Though I did avoid the Flux plugins because of their expense (but also their copy-protection sucks).

Well, there's three of them in the CL Series, and the price is $229 for the bundle.

Pro-C is only $30 cheaper.
Compassion is about $3 more.
The SV-315 is about $30 more.
Maximus is about $40 cheaper.

Midnight is quite a bit cheaper, by around $130, but I think it clearly shows.
The Glue is around the same price as Midnight, but its supposed to be really good.

The Stillwell plugins are just a steal. They're competing on a level with plugins many times their price and they sound amazing (and look great). Both The Rocket and Major Tom are only $49.

Overall the CL series seems to sit snugly in the middle of the higher range compressors. Not everyone can be Stillwell unfortunately.

Speaking of Stillwell, The Rocket is probably the closest thing to the CL Series, you should check that out if you haven't. Oh yeah, and RoughRider (the free version) is great too, and has been my main compressor for quite a while, its pretty brutal though.

dalor · Post by **dalor** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 1:53 am

Check also out elysia mpressor.
CL is very nice indeed, can't go wrong with that.

sadkin · Post by **sadkin** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 4:27 am

Looks like you have at least come to terms with needing two compressors...but for many of us, even more are required - like a swiss army knife.

my faves:
Waves CL (1176, la2a, la3a) and API 2500
Abbey Road RS124 & the Chandler ('05)...gorgeous but peculiar/fickle
IK Multimedia 670
Softube Tubetech CL1B
Mellowmuse CP2V & PSP Oldtimer are "dark horse" goodies too.

I have a UAD2 solo card too - but I generally find the more recent Waves & IKMultimedia versions of the 1176 and La2a more tasteful - I suspect the modeling technology has just improved since UA first released their versions some 5, 6 years ago. I now basically use the UAD card for the Studer A800 - yum!

Clearly, I am not a fan of "transparency" (until the mastering stage anyways).

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sadkin/187941174621504

have fun; those moments when one matches the 'right' compressor for the right application and the whole semblance just gleams - well, that is in a very tech-geek way, very rewarding.

@midnight · Post by **@midnight** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 4:42 am

Well, you know what I'm going to say. Sonalksis SV-315. Fabfilter Pro-C is pretty good too, those are the best native compressors.

Kr3eM · Post by **Kr3eM** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:15 am

xybre wrote: That leaves Compassion. It can be a beast, it has a cool and informative UI, and external sidechain. It doesn't Phluck like the CL Series, but my biggest complaint is its issues with gain reduction. It gets *loud* to the point that even with input and output gain all the down, it's still miles in the red zone.

... are you sure you didn't have 'Auto - make up' activated on the output?
... and why has nobody given any love to the Deft Compressor by Voxengo? It's not fair at all

Fritze · Post by **Fritze** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:31 am

From what you said about the AA CLs I think you might like the compressor in MixControl Pro. You could read my KvR review of it to get a more in depth description of why I like it. It has a group buy right now and the price is already quite low, so...

oneshotdeal · Post by **oneshotdeal** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:33 am

In before this guy hears The Glue and instabuys...

manducator · Post by **manducator** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:46 am

xybre wrote:Midnight and Bombardier were just too subtle for me. I like to be able to sculpt sounds in an extreme way sometimes, but I will keep them in mind when I get to the point that I only want subtle changes and my other compressor(s) can't do the job.

Remeber them when you want to master your songs. When you use a comp on a total mix, you don't won't to change the feel of the song, just tame some peaks or glue the mix. Then you need something subtle.

Thanks for the fine explanation of your experience, nice to keep in mind.

My search for the ultimate compressor