If you could only have one compressor plugin to use for everything, what would it be?

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

Haha, definitely not allowed.

I find this whole issue very interesting. So many great records have been made using just the basic compressors built into the desk with none of the fancy outboard ones at all, or with barely any compression at all, I find it odd that so many people seem to obsess about using the Right Compressor (or indeed the Right EQ). Is much of this simply a result of marketing by the manufacturers?

I imagine that LA2As or 1176s etc were often used on what are now considered classic recordings simply because that's all the studio had? And is a lot of this not just part and parcel of the current obsession with all things 'vintage' which seems to say "If it was designed in the 50s with great steaming valves it MUST sound better!"

[Guest]

There's so much mystic nonsense surrounding all things audio that you would think choosing a compressor like choosing a court wizard.

That's inevitable, there are a lot of non-functional rituals and superstitions around the creative arts. It's nonsense to be scared of flying and spiders but lots of people are. I know from session players that famous producers will have their own inflexible methods of working, favourite instruments and equipment, which is irrational but it makes them feel secure - it worked for them before so they keep using it. We are fallible, imperfect humans, not microprocessors.

When I write text for spoken voice to be played back to an audience as part of a concert I go to the same studio, by the same route, and take the same chocolate to have with coffee, and ask the engineer to use the same valve compressor and analogue eq etc. Sure it is "mystical nonsense" and if I spent sometime under psychotherapy I could probably be cured of it, but as yet it doesn't worry me. My wife who studied psychology thinks these things are perfectly normal.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I find it odd that so many people seem to obsess about using the Right Compressor (or indeed the Right EQ). Is much of this simply a result of marketing by the manufacturers?

Partly, yes -- but also the copious amounts of unfounded nonsense spouted as absolute fact on so many forums (and magazines). And it covers everything from the type and model of microphone, to cables, to consoles, to all manner of outboard, to converter chips, to software, to monitors and so on...

You can't record vocals without a U67, or record drums without API preamps, or track a bass without an 1176 compressor, or mix without an SSL G-series bus compressor...

It is all complete nonsense, and anyone who really knows what they are doing can deliver great results with whatever comes to hand -- as evidenced by all those fabulous recordings from the days when the equipment choice was very restricted.

But it's an easy excuse to fall back on when things aren't working out as you'd hoped. This would sound so much better if only I had a U67... or an 1176.,.. or a Neve console....

H

[muzines]

So many great records have been made using just the basic compressors built into the desk with none of the fancy outboard ones at all

Sure (with a "generalisation" warning) - the SSL desks were the first big pro desks with inbuilt compression/gates per channel and bus compressions, and certainly a lot of records were made this way. SSL had a kind of "pop" reputation, and the compressors certainly have a sound in themselves. SSL comps don't really sound like 1176/LA2A/Fairchild/Neve stuff.

The more rocky crowd often preferred the Neve type consoles, darker/warmer, and those records often used a lot more 1176/LA2A type stuff for rock-centric instrumentation. (Again, generalisations remember, but there is some kind of truth in there...)

, or with barely any compression at all, I find it odd that so many people seem to obsess about using the Right Compressor (or indeed the Right EQ). Is much of this simply a result of marketing by the manufacturers?

People obsess about all kinds of things - and no, everything is not the fault of marketing, it's more a fault of being human!

I imagine that LA2As or 1176s etc were often used on what are now considered classic recordings simply because that's all the studio had?

Studios had them because they were desirable and useful tools that people wanted.

And is a lot of this not just part and parcel of the current obsession with all things 'vintage' which seems to say "If it was designed in the 50s with great steaming valves it MUST sound better!"

There is certainly some of this going on, for sure. The audio industry is full of people using stuff because other people use them, or they were used on other records, but I don't think this is a problem as such. People use what they want to use, and what gets them the desired results. There are always people that only look-backward, people that prefer to only look forward, and every kind in between when it comes to tools.

We are spoilt for choice - choose your own path.

[muzines]

Partly, yes -- but also the copious amounts of unfounded nonsense spouted as absolute fact on so many forums (and magazines).

Might I suggest a sig update?

Hugh Robjohns
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound
Quasher of Unfounded Audio Nonsense

Or, maybe just, "HR (QUAN)"...

[Hugh Robjohns]

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

It is all complete nonsense, and anyone who really knows what they are doing can deliver great results with whatever comes to hand

Thanks Hugh. That might just be my favourite post of all time. I think I will print it out (in an ecologically caring and sensitive way of course) and stick it to my computer monitor to be re-read every time I consider a new plugin (especially ones with a faux-retro GUI).

Re your Sig, how about Quasher of Unfounded and Mystic Nonsense

[Watchmaker]

I dislike the LA2A and 1176 compressors myself - at least the emulations, they never sit right to my ears. and I've wasted more mixing time under the delusion that I needed compression at all in the digital realm. and...I think a lot of the sound people are looking to get from squishing the dynamics is really tape compression and those plugins are variously useful. I have one template with every track going through a 2" Otari emulation then into an ATR 2 track and it sounds great on skiffle and ska but not much else

But to the question, I am now using the native Console 1 SSL compression most often, both for ease of use and because it compresses without feeling the need to add a bunch of color.

[The Elf]

I feel it necessary to point out that I wasn't being critical of this thread, or anyone posting here! This thread represents a reasonable question, and reasonable answers.

But I must also point out that what I specifically said was "As long as a compressor has sufficient attack and release ranges, and does the maths properly then anything else is not about compression.

If a compressor plug-in chooses to model other aspects of a compressor, such as distortion or other non-linearities, then that is not about compression. It may sound nice to certain ears, but that a different story.

So much nonsense around - it's nice to hear some zero-BS words for a change!

[Bob Bickerton]

........And when a pro on the forum accuses you of being stupid for merely raising the topic, your confidence in your sonic choices is, of course, further undermined.

Errrr.... if you’re referring to my post - apologies if it caused offence. To be clear, there was no accusation stupidity, just a nudge at your stated prescription on restrictive answers!

I agree there’s a huge degree of nonsense surrounding such things. However the three compressor emulations I use allow me to get the results I need with minimal knob twiddling. Yes, I’d probably get similar results using Logic’s built in compressor, but it would take more time and I’d need to engage my brain....... something which I try to avoid at all costs.....

Bob

[Drew Stephenson]

but it would take more time and I’d need to engage my brain.......

I don't think this can really be stated enough.
Most compressors will do the same job for the bulk of their useable range. In 90% of cases the 'best' compressor is the one that gets the job done quickest - which will probably be the one you use most - so you can move onto the next job.

[CS70]

If a compressor plug-in chooses to model other aspects of a compressor, such as distortion or other non-linearities, then that is not about compression. It may sound nice to certain ears, but that a different story.

Indeed. it's like putting the Pultec on a track, you don't necessarily do it because you want to equalize anything

[OneWorld]

DC1A from Klanghelm tends to get a lot of use. East to use. Sounds great. And is free.

I am in the process of quitting the UAD platform and go native but their LA2A and Fairchild renderings are fantastic and I have used them a lot in the past.

When I don’t need ‘character’ I tend to use the standard ones that come with Logic and Reaper.

I too am sort of invested in their (UAD) products, including the hardware, and like yourself have come across the Klanghelm products and am convinced

[Kwackman]

In the first "proper" music studio I was in, the choice of compressor was "in" or "out".
In my first home studio for many years, it was the same choice!
I now have more software compressors with more controls than I can easily count.
Do my mixes sound better?
Have a guess!

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

I didn't even know what a compressor was when I had my first cassette 4-track. I had rudimentary eq on it (or tone controls as we used to call it, still a more meaningful description than 'equalisation') plus an outboard spring reverb.

[ConcertinaChap]

However the three compressor emulations I use allow me to get the results I need with minimal knob twiddling. Yes, I’d probably get similar results using Logic’s built in compressor, but it would take more time and I’d need to engage my brain....... something which I try to avoid at all costs.....

(Italics added by me).

That hits the nail on the head for me and it's why I like the LA-2A and -3A so much. The UAD package comes with four (count them) different emulations of the LA-2A. At least, they say they're different and certainly they each come with a different set of emulated nicotine stains but I have to confess I've never been able to hear a difference between them. Still love them as compressors because they make the job so easy.

CC

[Aled Hughes]

For me, currently, its the stock Softube Console 1 compressor on individual channels, because that's what's always in front of me, and usually IK's T-Racks Dyna-Mu on the master bus.

I'm usually in the same room as a couple of real 1176, two LA3As and an Avalon optical stereo compressor... but I don't bother patching them in all that often, such is the convenience of the plugins! Its the recall/portability that does it, as I rarely use the same room for the duration of a project.

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

That hits the nail on the head for me and it's why I like the LA-2A and -3A so much.

Exactly my reason for gravitating towards the DBX160. And I'll be revisiting the Klanghelm one to after this thread reminded me I have it somewhere.

[Guest]

I greatly enjoy questions like this. I made my first records in a studio where the only compressors available where two of the cheapest Drawmers. That's 4xmono or 2xmono and the mixbus. You must choose wisely. Nowadays, as Bob B. observes, it's all rather moot considering the choice available. In the spirit of the OP, I'd still plump for the stock Compressor in Logic 8. Money saved on other compressor plugins could go on the incontinence pads I have buy for my aged system.

The potential for the stock Logic comp to match any paid-for compressor up to a level that will not affect sales is demonstrated by some SSL bus comp presents knocked up by the very able Lagerfeldt over on Gearsltuz. Dunno if they sound like the genuine article, but they do sound bloody good.

[muzines]

With all this talk about using any old available compressors, I just dug out my old Behringer Composer from the roof, which I haven't used for many years, stuck it on an insert on a drum track in Logic, and tried some tasteful drum smashing, rock 1176-style - and I was pleasantly surprised.

It's not an 1176, and the behaviour is not as complex, but it wasn't a bad sound at all.

I rigged up a Logic Compressor Studio VCA plugin with similar settings to the Berry, and they actually sounded *very* similar.

Makes me want to hang on to it now. I do need to fix one of the input meters, though, it's dead...

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

I look forward to the launch of your series of Logic presets for 'vintage' Behringer compressors, then. Naturally, you'd model the dodgy input on the GUI, for extra realism.

[Eddy Deegan]

I just dug out my old Behringer Composer from the roof, which I haven't used for many years

Ha, the first hardware compressor I ever bought was a Behringer Autocom in 1994. I was a little late to the 'have a working home studio' thing, as previous to that all my recording work was done using workstation sequencers.

Subsequently to that I bought a Behringer Composer, and Behringer Multicom (I think that was the name - it had 4 compressors in 1U which I used as group inserts). I have no idea what happened to the Composer and the Multicom... I think I gave them away when I bought my first DAW but I really can't remember.

For those of us on a really tight budget at the time, Behringer were pretty handy actually.

Edit: Ha, found an old picture of them I took while setting up my home studio in my old house a few years later in 2002



It was quite a nice space for synth work actually (due to the panoramic camera, the space between the monitors was less than it appears to be):



Nowadays, that house is a holiday cottage of all things. They kept a bunch of the renovations I'd done on the place as features though (including the rainbow lights, which I rather miss to this day). My old studio is now just a bedroom!



And to tail off the diversion down memory lane this is what it was like before I started (I'd only just bought the house):

[muzines]

It's a copy of the Drawmer DL241 internally, apparently - that one retails at about £600...

The controls are a bit fiddly to use, but it came off sounding much better than I was expecting (or maybe the Logic Compressor is just not very good... ).

Edit: Eddy, the Composer there with the coloured buttons is a later generation, where the manufacturing and build were much cheaper, with surface mount components. Mine, the MDX2100 version with black buttons, was the last of the through-hole construction phase and is pretty solidly built...

What were you recording to in that studio pic? Straight to DAT?

[Eddy Deegan]

Eddy, the Composer there with the coloured buttons is a later generation, where the manufacturing and build were much cheaper, with surface mount components. Mine, the MDX2100 version with black buttons, was the last of the through-hole construction phase and is pretty solidly built...

Phew, I feel less bad about having lost it/given it away now

[Eddy Deegan]

What were you recording to in that studio pic? Straight to DAT?

Sometimes, but more usually to the Fostex D2424 which is hidden behind the desk in the pic above. Here's a better view:



It was a really nice little setup actually. I really wish I had the space to re-create it. Even though my current house is much bigger, all the decent sized rooms are spoken for (wife and children!) thus I'm somewhat crammed into a (nicely) converted single garage which serves as both office and studio, though at some point I'd quite like to bite the bullet and convert the loft, in which case I'll have an 8m x 6m open-plan space with a nice view, but I suspect that I'll end up putting the money into my next house move.

I have plans to buy (and retire to) a smallholding in the middle of nowhere in Wales in 2 - 5 years depending how things go, but at that point I'll be buying with a view to having a dedicated, and hopefully fairly large, studio space again