Recommend me a good multiband compressor

[JerGoertz]

Hey y'all,

I'd like to add a multiband compressor to my arsenal, but don't know which would be a good fit.

First off, I'm a bona fide "vintage fetishist" , but I'm not even sure multiband comp's existed before the digital age, so there may be no hardware to be modeled here. If there is though, this is something I'd give consideration to. Otherwise I'd like one that's moderately priced (definitely less that $100) and has at least 3 bands.

I also noticed that JRRShop has Metric Halo's multiband at $69, is this a good one for the price?

(Oh, no Waves, and iLok is okay.)

[Boone777]

MMultiband Dynamics from Melda is currently at 111$. A little out of your price range and I can't think of no Multiband compressor that has a 'old school look' it's all pretty much ITB models. Reaper has a free multiband comp. Don't know about Metric Halo.

[Naenyn]

First one that came to mind was Pro-MB, but out of your price range... then thought of Pressit. Definitely modern...

[JerGoertz]

Thanks guys. Boone777, what's your opinion of MMultiband Dynamics?

[pheeleep]

I use the Waves C4, the MeldaProduction MMultibandDynamicsLarge and Image-line Maximus. The Melda one is my fave out of those because of its advanced feature set, but I enjoy and use all 3. Maximus is best known as a Maximizer but it works very well as a transparent Peak/RMS multiband compressor if "you turn off all the mojo" (Eg: Reduce the saturation to 0). Maximus is only 3 bands, but if that's what you need... Great visual feedback implemented. You also get the maximizer features as well if you want them so with Maximus you get a multiband compressor and Maximizer (and more) all in one. Plugin boutique has it for $125.61 at the moment.



I also have the Ik Multimedia T-Racks Quad Comp (which I briefly tried but have not yet used). It's basic in terms of features. The Melda one is quite the opposite. The Melda has 6 bands, dynamic sidechain (with Sidechain Eq as well), Peak/RMS, 2 compressors and a gate for each band. No latency. Auto release. Automatic gain compensation. 2x, 3x... up to 16x oversampling. Mid/Side. Nice visual feedback. You can customize the visual display any way you like to show what you are interested in seeing for each one, a few (or all) of the bands (eg: gain reduction, Input, Output, Sidechain, etc..). As with all Melda plugins, there are advanced customization options (Attack/Release shapes, for example)

Keep in mind that you can customize the GUI style and colors to a certain extent. This is how mine looks at the moment:



There is also the free XFer OTT (which I have downloaded but not yet tried). It gets a lot of praise. I know you said "No Waves" but C6 is on sale for $99 right now.. FabFilter Pro MB is a very good contender as well and one of the best, but also over your budget.

Maximus and Quad Comp have a few ms latency. The Melda one and Waves C4 do not.

[Boone777]

I'm a big Melda fan and for compression I never found any comp that can compress so much without being noticeable. Tons of options wich makes it the most versatile...but that's the opposite of old fashioned though ! When I do side chain, for kick and bass(rock,metal) as much as side chain for dance, electro Melda compression is my go to because I find 'clean' comps work best for this type of application and also you have a lot of parameters to tweak to make it sound right wich makes a big difference when you want to dial in 'pumping' to taste. I do however find the Fabfilters interface beautifull a bit more user friendly and a bit quicker to work with at times. But Melda has more bang for the buck to offer and once you get over the Melda learning curve it's parameters/tweaking heaven.

[JerGoertz]

Good information guys, thanks again.

I actually already have Maximus from FL Studio (I never used it so I didn't know what it did! LOL) so I think I'll give that one a whirl...

[stillshaded]

If you have fl studio, you can easily create a patcher preset that is a multiband version of any compressor you want. I've done it with "the glue" with really great results.

I use instances of maximus with the compressors turned off for the crossovers. You can use "control surface" knobs to map to parameters you like. I usually at least do this with the crossover points.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Hey y'all,

I'd like to add a multiband compressor to my arsenal, but don't know which would be a good fit.

First off, I'm a bona fide "vintage fetishist" , but I'm not even sure multiband comp's existed before the digital age, so there may be no hardware to be modeled here. If there is though, this is something I'd give consideration to. Otherwise I'd like one that's moderately priced (definitely less that $100) and has at least 3 bands.

I also noticed that JRRShop has Metric Halo's multiband at $69, is this a good one for the price?

(Oh, no Waves, and iLok is okay.)

in this case just buy blue cat mb-7 and choose 1 to 7 bands and ANY compressor you like on any band!

Perfect solution no?

[Zombie Queen]

I like Soniformer. They don't say multiband, but it's a 32 band compressor where you can draw parameter curve over the bands, so to say. I bet Fabfilter one is fabulous (love Pro-C), but at that price, I don't even demo.

[do_androids_dream]

I've settled on Reaxcomp after trying many. For what a multiband comp is generally used for (apart from correctional duties) - which is mainly going to be subtle enhancements - it does the job just fine.

[Turello]

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2010/10 ... t-plugins/

[Obsolete236871]

TDR Nova is the one! Yes, it's actually a dynamic equalizer by definition, but it does what a multiband compressor does.

[woodsdenis]

Fabfilter or get the Waves one when on sale

[manducator]

http://ddmf.eu/lincomp-multiband-compressor-plugin/