Plugin Compressors

Denalihighway

Hi guys

I was going to ask u to expand on Omen's thread below about compressors but didn't want to hijack it since Omen was asking about hardware.

just wondering if you guys could recommend some plugin compressors you use that I could do some research on?

the stuff i'll be recording is vocals, guitars, bass, soft synths and sampled drums. it'll be across various genres, alt rock, ambient, dance etc.

thanks

dyer

i tend to stick with abletons compressor which can also be used for sidechaining. the fundamentals of any compressor are going to be the same for the most part so any further reading you do should cover the important aspects of using a compressor.. ratio / threshold / knee etc.

Robin Ball

The best group of compressors that I've come across is the CLA Classic compressors from Waves. I use them in every mix.

DamagedTrax

UAD 33609 or the new brainworx vertigo vsc-2 are my favourites. i love the cla-76 but i prefer the uad la-2a to the cla-2a.

madtheory

Robin Ball wrote: »

The best group of compressors that I've come across is the CLA Classic compressors from Waves. I use them in every mix.

I'm lazy, so I like the Waves Rennaisance compressor, and the Ren Axx for instruments. 90% of the time the relevant preset is spot on, just tweak the threshold. If the thing is not working, it's time to ride the fader. I also like to use limiters, they're usually more transparent.

Paolo_M

I can hear compression (especially pumping), and I've really gotten to understand compressors but my ears are not trained enough to hear the tonal variations in different compressors so I'll be sticking to ReaComp in Reaper for now.
I haven't even close to met it's limitations yet so I can't really justify spending the cash.
In ProTools the 1176 emulation and the standard compressor set with a fast attack and release time sound roughly similar to me.
I'd imagine there's many beginners/amateurs in my boat if they were honest.

Paolo_M

Paolo_M wrote: »

I can hear compression (especially pumping), and I've really gotten to understand compressors but my ears are not trained enough to hear the tonal variations in different compressors so I'll be sticking to ReaComp in Reaper for now.
I haven't even close to met it's limitations yet so I can't really justify spending the cash.
In ProTools the 1176 emulation and the standard compressor set with a fast attack and release time sound roughly similar to me.
I'd imagine there's many beginners/amateurs in my boat if they were honest.

Man, just sit down for an hour with a few tracks (drums, bass, vocals etc)...set up all the comps you have as inserts..set them all to roughly the same settings,mute them all and unmute one after the other, listen to the tonal variations..i much prefer the MC audio purple76 to the bf76..because of the tone..and there's something with the threshold too..

Paolo_M

Deleted User wrote: »

Man, just sit down for an hour with a few tracks (drums, bass, vocals etc)...set up all the comps you have as inserts..set them all to roughly the same settings,mute them all and unmute one after the other, listen to the tonal variations..i much prefer the MC audio purple76 to the bf76..because of the tone..and there's something with the threshold too..

I did try that, but when I tweaked the settings to match the sounds I was getting very close to the point that I couldn't really hear a difference.
ReaComp lets you adjust pretty much every parameter.

I'm not saying there isn't tonal variations, I'm just saying that my ears aren't trained enough to hear them. I suspect most beginners and amateurs would be in the same boat.

madtheory

I tested MC76 and BF76 ages ago, they can be made to sound the same very easily.

woodsdenis

The Glue by Cytomic

FearComplex

Waves SSL bus comp
Waves CLA76
Softube FET
Brainworx VSC-2
PSP OldTimer

madtheory

madtheory wrote: »

I tested MC76 and BF76 ages ago, they can be made to sound the same very easily.

Ah well, ya, they do sound similar enough, but there is a tonal difference..the mc76 has a kind of higher tone that you cant get from the bf76..maybe you've to push them a bit to hear it..there is a distinctive difference though, which is what he wants to be able to notice..

old gregg

madtheory wrote: »

I'm lazy, so I like the Waves Rennaisance compressor

me too, also use the Rennaisance reverb. It makes my music sound like it was mixed by Leonardo

madtheory

Ha! You silly punner you. But seriously, I don't rate RVerb at all. Always got better results with Truverb, which needs a lot of tweaking to sound good.

Recently sampled my Lexicon and sold it, using IR1A for the impulses now. Great for total recall.