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The VSC-2 has a decidedly vintage flavor to it and is great for adding coloration and ‘glue’ to your two-buss and/or masters. UAD and Brainworx nailed this emulation of the very first hardware unit from Germany’s Vertigo Sound. I love the VSC-2 Quad Discrete Compressor from Vertigo Sound for when I am looking for the functionality of an SSL buss compressor, but with a different sonic flavor. Unique feature: The Auto-Gain Compensation feature allows you to really hear if the compression that you’re applying is enhancing your source material, or simply making it louder. The three different modes and mid-side option make it a very versatile choice if you need to add some vintage character to your material. I immediately notice a pleasant bump in the high end when using this compressor. The Vintage Compressor in Ozone 7 does a great job of combining the precise digital controls typical to the entire Ozone 7 Suite with a warm, vibey tone. It doesn’t have as many features or intricate controls, but that doesn’t matter because this compressor makes your material sound better simply with the warm, rich tone it imparts onto the signal. This is definitely the compressor on the list with the most tone.
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It even has an external side-chain option, which is somewhat rare for a mastering compressor. Additionally, it has unique side-chaining options, allowing you to compress more subtly by preventing extreme high and low frequencies from driving the compressor. Unique feature: It has a mix knob (wet/dry control), which as I’ve established, I really love. The metering is also great and includes more detail than most other mastering compressors. It does a fine job of adding intensity without unwanted pumping.
#CYTOMIC THE GLUE MULTIBAND PSP#
PSP MasterComp is mostly transparent as long as it’s not pushed too hard, which is honestly what I’m looking for in a compressor most of the time. It’s also specifically designed for mastering. Here’s another extremely versatile compressor with a lot of controls. Unique feature: As mentioned, The Glue has a wet/dry blend, so if I want to really push it and go for more than 3dB of gain reduction - add some subtle pumping - this allows me to dial back the entire mix for a more transparent sound while still boosting perceived loudness. You’ll find other emulations of this classic compressor from Waves and UAD. The original SSL Bus Compressor has a very simple and functional layout, making it easy to quickly dial in a sound.
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The Glue lives up to its name and really helps your material subtly breathe and “sit” within the same context. The Glue is my favorite of the SSL-style compressors because it has a wet/dry blend knob. Nickel is clean, Iron is subtly saturated, and Steel adds a pretty noticeable low end bump to your material. Unique feature: There are many unique features on this one, but I’d have to go with the Nickel, Iron and Steel Transformer Types. The Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor can be very transparent, or it can be pushed to get a huge, modern, in-your-face sound. I generally use slow attack and fast release times when applying compression to an entire mix, and only want to be applying 1-2dB of gain reduction as to not introduce pumping or compromise the mix. Don’t let the complicated look fool you once you get a feel for the Shadow Hills, it’s extremely easy to dial in a great sound. The hardware unit is a behemoth, consisting of several compressors in one, with many different controls and options. Here’s a roundup of my most used compressor plugins as well as some unique features of each. It can help shape the tone, control dynamics, and boost the perceived (and actual) loudness of your source material. As I cover in-depth in my new online course ( Mastering In The Box), compression is a great tool for any mastering engineer.