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mooseherman
Published on 02/09/10 at 20:43
This is a pretty fantastic digital compressor, which is something that a few months ago, I never thought I would be saying about any digital compressor. Setting it up wasn't difficult. The manual pretty much took care of everything, and it was easy to read and follow. I doubt even a novice would have trouble with it. Everything that this plugin can do can be controlled very easily.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
The software is some of the better compression software I've seen. It's got a multitude of features. The signal enters and can be controlled at the beginning with the input control, where you control gain. There's a second section that controls attack, release, and knee values. There's finally an output level control, as well as several dithering options. There's another feature called Enhance which is a godsend; it lets you change the rate at which the DAW samples the audio, allowing you to get a tighter, fatter signal without peaking. This is rare for many compressors, which will often peak just before you reach the sound you want. There's another feature that's great for digital compressors called Recon that will make sure that playing the audio back after compression won't cause the sound to clip.
I've never had a problem with the performance of my computer as long as I've been using this plug-in.
OVERALL OPINION
I really like the flexibility that this compressor has. It doesn't color the tones in the same way that a tube compressor would, but that's not really possible with digital. Instead, it allows you to really shape the sound from various angles. It's honestly more versatile than most compressors out there as well. For about $400, it's a bit expensive, but if you have no compression at all, and can't afford multiple compressors, then I'd say you'd be better off getting this. Eventually I'd insist that everyone own at least a few outboard, but if you can only do one in the meantime, make it this one.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
The software is some of the better compression software I've seen. It's got a multitude of features. The signal enters and can be controlled at the beginning with the input control, where you control gain. There's a second section that controls attack, release, and knee values. There's finally an output level control, as well as several dithering options. There's another feature called Enhance which is a godsend; it lets you change the rate at which the DAW samples the audio, allowing you to get a tighter, fatter signal without peaking. This is rare for many compressors, which will often peak just before you reach the sound you want. There's another feature that's great for digital compressors called Recon that will make sure that playing the audio back after compression won't cause the sound to clip.
I've never had a problem with the performance of my computer as long as I've been using this plug-in.
OVERALL OPINION
I really like the flexibility that this compressor has. It doesn't color the tones in the same way that a tube compressor would, but that's not really possible with digital. Instead, it allows you to really shape the sound from various angles. It's honestly more versatile than most compressors out there as well. For about $400, it's a bit expensive, but if you have no compression at all, and can't afford multiple compressors, then I'd say you'd be better off getting this. Eventually I'd insist that everyone own at least a few outboard, but if you can only do one in the meantime, make it this one.