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Don't Buy Another Compressor Plugin Until You See This Tier List! — Transcript

by Andrew Chapman Creative · 12,292 words · 1,711 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00All right, friends. I started to work on
0:02this video and I was going to do all of
0:05the plugins that I've ever used and then
0:07I looked at my EyeLock licenses and it
0:09was something like 800 in some change
0:12and we're not doing that. I'm not
0:14putting you through that. That would
0:15take like 12 hours. So, what I've
0:18decided to do instead is to break it up
0:20into categories. So, we're going to do a
0:21few of these videos, but today we're
0:23going to focus on compressors. So, these
0:26are all of the the plug-in compressors
0:29that I've used that I think are worth
0:31talking about. It's not all of them
0:33because, believe it or not, even if we
0:35just did compressors, we would still be
0:37here for hours. So, I narrowed it down
0:41into just a bunch that I felt were
0:45worthy of talking about. And so, if
0:47anybody is in the comments like, "What
0:49about this one or this one?" Uh, some
0:52are just, you know, so we're just going
0:55to stick with these today. Um, now with
0:57that being said, the other thing, this
1:01is YouTube fun. It's garbage. It's It's
1:03just Come on, I'm not saying that any
1:06plugin sounds bad. Let me repeat, I am
1:10not making a claim that any plugin
1:13sounds bad. These are just my personal
1:15preferences after taking a microscopic
1:18zoom in. So, shut up.
1:21Oh my god. Don't take it so seriously.
1:23These are plugins. Plugins. But I know
1:26it's it's the audio community and
1:28everybody loves to get ruffled about it.
1:32So with that being said, I also need to
1:34make this just abundantly clear. I have
1:36no sponsors. No singular plug-in company
1:38is paying me to say any sort of nice
1:40words about their plugin. Here, let me
1:43prove it. First plugin, UAD
1:46Fairchild.
1:49I'm over it. That's right. Let's jump
1:51right in. Well, before we do that, let's
1:54define our terms. Up top, we've got god
1:57tier because god tier. Um, below that,
2:00excellent choice, Dan. I only know a
2:02couple of Dans and they're all good men.
2:04So, uh, excellent choice, Dan. Below
2:07that, that'll do. That'll do. It's a
2:11tool. It's usable. It does its job.
2:15That'll do. Uh, below that, I'm over it.
2:20The Fairchild. And really, truth be
2:23told, I might not be a big Fairchild
2:25guy. Again, let's define our terms
2:28first. Uh, and below that,
2:30I'm not going to reinstall once I
2:32replace my computer.
2:33[laughter and gasps]
2:34Listen, I've been doing this for a
2:36number of years. Uh, the first session,
2:38I was thinking about this earlier today.
2:40The very first session that I was
2:42working on as like part of the
2:44production team uh I wasn't the engineer
2:47but I was one of like the producers on
2:49the session uh was 2004 and I was 19
2:54years old which is kind of crazy to
2:57think about. So I've gone through a
2:59number of computers which is also how I
3:02have so many freaking plug-in licenses.
3:05And so like over the years when you
3:09replace your computer, you know, if
3:11you've gone through this, it's it's like
3:13a day, sometimes multiple days of just
3:16making sure everything works and got
3:18transferred over and everything's fine.
3:21You have to like carve out time. It's a
3:23big pain in the butt. And whenever I do
3:25that, whenever I switch computers,
3:28I I just go through and I'll trim the
3:32fat on the plugins. It's like if I
3:34downloaded a plugin and I was just like,
3:35eh, it's not really for me. I don't
3:37really ever use it, I won't reinstall
3:39it. So, some of these plugins will
3:43actually fall into that category. So,
3:45let's discover which ones. But, let's
3:47talk about the Fairchild. Okay, so
3:50Fairchild compression, the the hardware
3:53Fairchild compressor is the most
3:55expensive compressor on the planet. I I
3:58think I found one online that was going
4:00for like a quarter million dollar, which
4:03to me is offensive
4:06that any singular piece of gear could
4:08ever get that expensive. It's crazy.
4:12There, that thing better make sure it
4:14better guarantee that the music that
4:16you're working on turns into a number
4:18one hit. That's what that needs to
4:20promise in order to fetch that price
4:22because that's insane. With that being
4:25said, I've never heard a real Fairchild.
4:29I've heard like uh other like hardware
4:32copies. So like the um I think it's the
4:36unfair child or the grandchild which is
4:38made by Heritage Audio. There's the Stam
4:41Child. I've heard that one. And they're
4:43all great, but here's the deal. It's
4:45just not my preference for that type of
4:47compression.
4:49Uh, the only thing that I've ever really
4:51used this the UAD Fairchild on is like
4:55smashing drum rooms. That's kind of the
4:59number one job that I give this. And to
5:02me, I'm also just thinking like if
5:04that's the only thing I do with that
5:07style compressor, am I going to keep it?
5:10Probably.
5:12I don't know. But I'm just kind of over
5:13it. So, I don't know. It's It's hanging
5:15on by a thread. Okay. And uh before we
5:19you know make everybody at Universal
5:21Audio very mad at this channel, I also
5:23need to be totally fair. This is the
5:25distressor. It's going straight to god
5:27tier. Listen, I've said this before on
5:30my channel. If I could have one
5:32compressor plugin, one singular
5:35compressor plugin that would do it all,
5:37it would be the uad distressor. It's so
5:40good. It's crazy. Yes, it is that good.
5:42It's got so many different tonal
5:44options. You've got different distortion
5:46options that give you different
5:48characters. It's got you can, you know,
5:51have it be triggered by like the
5:53mid-range instead of the lows. Uh, which
5:56is super useful. You've got the parallel
5:59compression knobs that they give you.
6:01Uh, it can do the optical thing. It can
6:03do the fast thing. It can you can you
6:06can nuke it. You can give it gentle
6:08compression. It's so versatile. It's
6:10crazy. If I only had one compressor,
6:14specifically a plug-in compressor that
6:16would do everything,
6:19that would be the one that I would
6:20choose. It is so good. Okay, let's keep
6:24moving on. We got Oh my god, that amount
6:26of plugins left. Oh jeez. Okay. Uh Waves
6:30VC comp.
6:32The story is that is actually based on
6:36the Neve compressor is what they say on
6:39their website. I've used it a number of
6:42times. I think it sounds generally good,
6:45but it's not like the first one that I
6:47reach for if I'm thinking about a Neve
6:50style compressor. That's that's not
6:52really it for me. But, uh that'll do.
6:55It'll work. It'll work. I just got to
6:58jump in real quick. I've got two things
6:59for you. Thing number one, you know how
7:01you like it when I'm just honest about
7:03stuff. I like that, too. I get to tell
7:05you my genuine thoughts and feelings
7:07about plugins and gear and all the stuff
7:09that I've used over the 20 years of
7:11doing this. One of the things that makes
7:13that possible is the affiliate links
7:15that I have down below. Uh listen, if
7:18you use those affiliate links, it costs
7:20you nothing. It gives me a tiny little
7:22kickback, but those tiny little
7:24kickbacks essentially help me to
7:27continue to say no to the emails that
7:29get sent to me every 3 days, it seems
7:32like, where somebody wants to pay me
7:34money to say nice words. So, uh, using
7:37those links helps keep me honest. I also
7:39just very much appreciate you for doing
7:41that. So, if you want to say thank you
7:42to the channel, again, it costs you
7:44nothing, gives me tiny kickback. I
7:46appreciate it. Thing number two, uh, you
7:49should subscribe to this channel. Uh,
7:51reason why, I've got a lot of cool stuff
7:53coming up. So, cool thing number one,
7:55I've got a vocal session coming in
7:57tomorrow. I'm actually staying up super
7:58late tonight editing this video and
8:00getting ready for that vocal session.
8:02I'm going to film everything behind the
8:04scenes. I'm going to give you the
8:06behindthe-scenes look into not just gear
8:08choices in Cool Mic sounds cool, but
8:11also the thought process behind the
8:14production and the creative decisions
8:17that I will make along with the artist
8:20to help to shape the sound of that
8:22record. Subscribe so you don't miss that
8:25amongst other really cool stuff too.
8:27Okay, let's get back to the video. This
8:28is the Purple Audio MC77. It's an 1176
8:33style compressor that I think originally
8:35was made by Brain Works. Um, excellent
8:38choice. It does the 1176 thing really
8:43well. The crispiness on the top end, uh,
8:46it's it's super responsive. It's
8:48aggressive, but it's it's not the most
8:51aggressive 1176 plugin. Uh, but it is
8:55good, and I do like to use it. Uh, great
8:58on bass DI, great on vocals, great on
9:01guitar amps. U, it's an 1176. They're
9:04great. This one sounds super good. Uh,
9:07okay. Fab Filter Pro C1, I think, is
9:11what it is. Um,
9:14uh, okay. So, I'm actually in between.
9:16I'm going to put an excellent choice
9:17because it is it's a compressor that
9:21does compression, [laughter]
9:24of course. Look, it's a compressor that
9:27doesn't necessarily add in like a bunch
9:30of character. Honestly, I'm going to say
9:31it's it's pretty transparent. It doesn't
9:33add in much of any compressor, but it
9:35does what you want a compressor to do.
9:38And if you're looking for a transparent
9:40compressor, it does it pretty well. The
9:42only thing, and I actually will remove
9:44points on this, is just that it's so
9:46expensive because it's Fab Filter.
9:49Oh man, it does sound good though. It's
9:51got great fidelity.
9:55but it's so expensive. Uh there are
9:57other plugins that I like more, but it
9:59does sound good. Oh man, it it lives in
10:02between, but I'm going to keep it an
10:03excellent choice because it does sound
10:06good, but it's so expensive that I want
10:08to knock it down a peg. All right,
10:10moving on. UAD LA3A
10:14god tier. Listen, it's not like it's the
10:17most versatile compressor on the planet,
10:19but it has a few jobs that when I want
10:22this sound, this is the exact compressor
10:25that I reach for. Uh, heavy electric
10:28guitar cabs, uh, even sometimes like
10:31pushed clean electric guitar cabs, too.
10:34This is my go-to. This is my goto
10:37compressor. Very frequently, you will
10:40see one compressor. You know, a lot of
10:43people will stack up compressors. which
10:45on guitar amps, especially high gain,
10:47like don't compress too much. The gain
10:49is doing a lot of that compression for
10:51you, only compress if you feel like it
10:54needs it or if you're looking to bring
10:56out specific harmonic content, which is
10:58what I think this does so well. It
11:02increases the harmonic content in the
11:04mid-range that I love to work with on
11:07electric guitars. So, it is my go-to
11:11electric guitar compressor. It also can
11:14sound great on a vocal. It can sound
11:17great on an acoustic guitar. It can
11:19sound great on like a miked up piano.
11:22Uh, but it's hit or miss for those. But
11:24the electric guitar is like an always
11:27my go-to for that. So, for that reason,
11:29because I use it so frequently and I do
11:32really enjoy the sound of it, uh, god
11:35tier. technically a limiter, but the Fab
11:40Filter Pro L2,
11:43man, we're putting a lot in gods here.
11:46It is good. It is good. And it is that
11:50good. I I've gone through a lot of
11:52limiters. I've done the Oxford limiter
11:54uh by Sonics, uh which is great. uh the
11:57Waves ProL2, which we will get there
12:01eventually,
12:02uh and a number of others, but uh this
12:05one is probably the most used out of all
12:09the limiters that I've used in the past.
12:12It it just it's so good. It does the
12:15thing. You know how sometimes you put a
12:16limiter on like your mix bus or like
12:19your instrument two bus or something
12:20like that and it'll make your mid-range
12:23sound really exciting but at the
12:25sacrifice of your low end sometimes.
12:27It's so frustrating when that happens.
12:29Like the low end either gets pumpy or
12:31flubby or or sometimes the highend gets
12:34distorted or just like harsh or
12:36whatever. This tends to not do that. And
12:41because of that, I love it. I typically
12:44like a little bit more transparency in
12:46my limiters. I don't love a ton of
12:48character in my limiters. And that's the
12:50reason is because I'm not a mastering
12:52engineer. I am a mixing engineer for the
12:55most part. I'll do mastering on some
12:57stuff every now and then. But truth be
13:00told, when I'm getting my mix to sound
13:03how I like it, I put the ProL2 on the
13:06transparent side and and and that
13:09usually gets me where I want to go. It
13:13sounds really good. And again, it does
13:14the exciting thing to the mid-range, but
13:17without sacrificing the lows or the
13:19highs, which I do really like. Uh, okay.
13:23This guy, Yum Audio. This is the crispy
13:26clip. Um,
13:29I like it.
13:31I like it. I'm It's to me it's in
13:34between. It's a clipper, so like what
13:36are we really judging? Here's the thing.
13:40It brightens up the top end on some
13:43sources. It sounds really nice. I do
13:45like to use a clipper on individual
13:48tracks sometimes, like on kick drum. Uh
13:51clipper on the kick drum can really get
13:53it to like knock sometimes, which is
13:56pretty cool. So, uh for kick drum, I
13:59like it a lot. For drum bus, it's a
14:01little bit too crispy. For mix bus, it
14:04can be good. I did use it on a couple of
14:08mixes and I actually really liked how it
14:10turned out, but if your mix already has
14:12an exciting sounding top end, that can
14:15push it into harsh territory. So, it's
14:18something to be aware of. But if you
14:20want the brightness, it does it well. It
14:24does it well. Okay, this is the SPL
14:28iron compressor. Um,
14:32oh
14:33man, this may anger some people cuz this
14:36does have like a cult-like following.
14:39This is one where it truly lives in
14:41between these two. It's in between
14:43that'll do an excellent choice. And like
14:46here's the deal. I'm going to put it in
14:48That'll do. And the and the reason why
14:51so the the way that it saturates and the
14:54way that it gives character because
14:56there's two things that I think of when
14:58I think of using a compressor and the
15:00first is control dynamics. Don't be
15:03pumpy or weird unless you're going for
15:05pumpy or weird. And like you know you
15:08want to find the right compressor with
15:10the right attack and the right release
15:11and the way that it grabs the audio and
15:13controls the dynamics, all that kind of
15:14stuff, right? So dynamic control is kind
15:16of category one and I look for that. And
15:18then the other thing that I look for is
15:20character out of my compressor. And this
15:24compressor has a character that is very
15:28similar
15:30to, and I know this is going to sound
15:31crazy, but it sounds very similar to the
15:34Avalon channel strip by UAD. And I kind
15:38of like the Avalon channel strip by UAD
15:41and the character that it adds a little
15:42bit better. I like this compressor on
15:46acoustic guitar. I like it on piano.
15:48It's okay on vocals. It's okay on
15:51guitars. It's not the type of character
15:53that I typically go for. And because of
15:55that, it's in the category that it's in.
15:58It sounds good. Oh my god. Before I just
16:01insulted your setup, I'm not insulting
16:03your setup. If you own this plugin and
16:05you're excited, I am so excited for you.
16:09It's just not for me. So, that's where
16:11it lives. Uh, okay. Uh, next up, Shep's
16:15Omni Channel. And we are not judging the
16:17entire channel strip on this. Just the
16:20dynamics processing of this channel
16:22strip. If we are judging the entire
16:24channel strip as a whole, god tier for
16:26the dynamics, excellent choice. The
16:28dynamic section on this thing is really
16:30good. The FET does the FET compressor
16:33thing. It's got the crispiness. It's got
16:35the uh the the slight more the
16:38aggression. Slight more. Wow. Uh the VCA
16:42sounds good. It's a little bit smoother.
16:43it it it tends to agree with a lot of
16:47different sources and it's really
16:49versatile and sounds good and has great
16:52fidelity. So, it's like because of those
16:54things and it's not harsh on the top end
16:57like sometimes FET compressors can be on
17:00plugins because of that I'm putting it
17:04up there. Excellent choice and really
17:06just a great plugin. Just a great
17:08plugin. Okay. Soft tube VCA compressor.
17:12I'll be honest, I downloaded this for
17:14free. It's going right there. Excellent
17:16choice, Dan. And Dan, that was a good
17:19choice. Uh, I downloaded this for free
17:22like a year and a half ago. They were
17:24doing like a giveaway of like a couple
17:26of their plugins. And that's the other
17:28thing I will say this, plugins get
17:30expensive. Like, side rant with me real
17:33quick. Um, plugins get real expensive
17:36and you never get your money back. It's
17:38the downside to plugins. Like if I buy
17:41an expensive piece of hardware, like I
17:44get criticized for having nice hardware.
17:47And the thing that I think about
17:49hardware, it's kind of like a savings
17:51account sometimes. Like you can you can
17:54buy that piece of hardware and if it
17:56doesn't work out for your studio or if
17:58you just find yourself on troublesome
18:00financial times, you can sell it and you
18:02can get your money back. Uh, often times
18:04you can sell it for even more than you
18:06paid for if you picked up that item used
18:09and you found a good deal, which I buy a
18:12lot of what I do used.
18:15It's just a great way to go about it.
18:17And again, you get your money back. But
18:18with plugins, you download a plugin, you
18:21don't like it, if you're past that
18:23return window, sorry,
18:26you're you're out of money. It's it yes,
18:28it's less money than buying hardware.
18:30like a plugin sometimes is 30 or 60 or
18:33$100 or whatever it is. But again,
18:36you'll never see that money again. So,
18:38one thing that I always tell people is
18:41keep an eye out because uh plug-in
18:43companies are always giving away plugins
18:46for free. And this one I was able to
18:48download for free uh just on some
18:51promotion that they had and it was
18:53great. It was great. Uh, but this VCA
18:56compressor, um, I feel like it's modeled
18:59after a dBX160,
19:01to be honest. It does the DBX160 thing.
19:04It's got the hard knee, the way that it
19:06grabs the audio. It accentuates the
19:08punchiness, so it can be really good on
19:10drums. Um, but at the same time,
19:15it can also be like smooth on certain
19:19spoken word and things like that. So, it
19:21it can also work well on on like uh like
19:24voiceover type stuff, too. Like, it it's
19:27a it's a good versatile compressor when
19:29you push into it. It's got a decent
19:30amount of punch, though. So, I I do like
19:32it for that. So, it's going an excellent
19:34choice. Uh it was worth every penny that
19:36I paid, that's for sure. Uh okay, UAD
19:41LA2A, the We're going to do all their
19:44LA2As. Uh the silver edition.
19:50Ooh, unexpected. Right, here's the deal
19:54with the the silver edition of the LA2A.
19:58It has a top end. It's Some people will
20:00describe it as a sparkle or a character.
20:03I describe it as harshness. And it
20:05really does when you really dig into it,
20:09it it comes out more and more. And I
20:11love digging into an LA2A. Like I love
20:14pushing into that compressor a little
20:15more. And like because of that, it just
20:20doesn't agree with a lot of the stuff
20:22that I do. So, I'm over it. Honestly,
20:27am I going to reinstall it?
20:30Wow. I don't think I will because
20:33honestly, there's better LA2As. There's
20:36better LA2As. Uh I'm Yeah. Wow. I can't
20:40believe it. That one lives there. All
20:42right. So, that's probably going to
20:43surprise some people. And then we've got
20:45the regular LA2A, the Teletronics LA2A.
20:50Uh, this one is excellent choice. Great
20:54on vocals, great on acoustic guitar,
20:56great on piano, a lot of stuff that you
20:57like your LA2A. It does the LA2A thing
21:01and it does it well. Uh, good tube like
21:04saturation on the amplifier stage. Uh,
21:07the way that it grabs the audio and lets
21:09it go. Very much true to the optical
21:12compressor thing. So the dynamic control
21:14checks that box, the fidelity checks
21:16that box, the character checks that box.
21:19Why is it not god tier? Because this one
21:21is. That is the LA2,
21:26which is different from the LA2A. And
21:29really only because I like the LA2
21:32better. I'm going to put it in god tier.
21:34It's It's so good. It's crazy. I love it
21:38on vocals. I love it on spoken word. I
21:40love it on acoustic guitar. The top end
21:43on that one is open and sparkly and has
21:47character, but it almost never gets
21:49harsh or too much. Uh, unless you've got
21:52a really bright sounding microphone
21:54that's really sibilent, that's the only
21:56time that I feel like it doesn't work.
21:58And often, sometimes it still works with
22:01those. It It's just such a good
22:03compressor. It's very versatile.
22:06The only thing I'll say is with with
22:11some sources, the way that the audio
22:14grabs and lets go, it can be a little
22:18pumpy and the release can be just a
22:20little slow. Um, so for that you need
22:24there's like a hold on. Am I using it on
22:27my voiceover chain right now? I believe
22:30I am. Yeah. So, like what I'll do is
22:34this HF plus or minus button. You just
22:37got to roll that around and find like a
22:40sweet spot so that you can get that the
22:44way that the compressor grabs the audio
22:46and what it lets through and all that.
22:48It just it changes the character and the
22:50way that it handles everything and it
22:53sounds great. So, uh for that reason,
22:56god tier. I use it all the time. All
22:59right. This is a stock compressor for
23:03Logic. Um, this is going to surprise
23:06some people, too. People think that
23:07stock plugins are garbage. They are not.
23:10I need you to understand stock plugins
23:12are not garbage. We're going to put that
23:13in excellent choice. Here's the deal
23:17with um the Logic Stock Compressor.
23:19You've got so many options. You can do
23:21the FET or the VCA thing. You've got
23:23like tonal characteristics that you can
23:25bring out of it. It it's it's very
23:27versatile. It works on a lot of stuff
23:29and I can't believe it's free and it's
23:31for that reason that it's in excellent
23:34choice Dan. Uh because like if we are
23:37going just by audio and audio alone,
23:40it's probably that'll do. Well, I don't
23:42know. It's honestly it's pretty good.
23:44But the fact is is that it comes for
23:46free with Logic. And you guys are so
23:49lucky that that plugin just is in Logic.
23:54Um, I really like the FET setting on
23:57that uh compressor. That sounds really
23:59good. A couple years ago, I was actually
24:01over at a buddy's house and he was like
24:04showing me a mix that he was working on.
24:06And he was like kind of going through
24:08some of the tracks and kind of showing
24:09me what he was doing. And I kept seeing
24:12this compressor pull up all over like
24:14all these different tracks. And I was
24:16asking him, "Hey, what's the compressor
24:17you got on the kick? That actually
24:18sounds great." And he was like, "Oh,
24:21it's just the stock Logic plugin." And I
24:23was like, "Wow,
24:25that's actually super good." And I was
24:28really impressed with it then. I'm
24:30continuously impressed with it. I I
24:33mean, Logic, well done. I applaud you.
24:36That is in the running for the greatest
24:39stock plugin of all time for compressors
24:42anyway. So, this is great. Great stuff.
24:45All right. This is the Universal Audio
24:48175 and 176. Um,
24:54here's the deal. I'm going to put it and
24:56that'll do. I I like the character.
25:00So, like again, the two things I look
25:02for in a compressor is like one of them
25:04is the character and what it does to the
25:05audio. This thing has great character. I
25:07really like the character that it gives.
25:09Um, the dynamic control element of this,
25:12I just haven't found
25:16the sweet spot for it. I I it's I mean I
25:20guess I have I've used it a couple of
25:22times, but it's like the sweet spot for
25:24that thing is microscopic. Like figuring
25:26out the attack and release on that. Like
25:28sometimes it works and you have to push
25:30into it just this amount and it sounds
25:32good, but there's so many times where
25:34I'll start using this and the character
25:35sounds good, but it just feels like it
25:37flattens the track, you know? Uh, so
25:41because of that and because I haven't
25:43really used it on a lot of stuff and
25:46loved it, it's in that'll do. I want to
25:48get to know it better because there's so
25:50many people that swear by it, but I'm
25:52just I haven't gotten along with it. So
25:55maybe I'm just dreaming that I like it
25:58because I might just be over it, but I
26:00honestly I'll put it and that'll do
26:03because I still feel like I need to just
26:05give it more. I need to give it more
26:07chances
26:09because I love UAD's compressors for the
26:12most part. But yeah, that one. All
26:15right, this is the Brain Works Clipper.
26:18Um the Oh, man. That one is I Oh god, it
26:22Okay, so as far as Clippers go, it's
26:25hard to put any Clipper in a higher tier
26:28because it's a Clipper.
26:30I'm putting this one in god tier because
26:34at for for clippers anyways that's the
26:37one I go to the most.
26:40Yeah, there's like gold clip and and
26:42like crispy clip and all the other
26:45clippers and things like that. Truth be
26:47told, I just like what the brain works
26:50clipper does. It's got FET and diode
26:53mode on it. And honestly, every single
26:57mix that I that I use a clipper on the
26:59master bus, like when I'm trying to
27:00really like control those those dynamic
27:03peaks, I I'm one of those guys that puts
27:06a clipper and then my limiter towards
27:09the end of the mix. Like I'll put the
27:11limiter like kind of like halfway
27:12through the mixing process because
27:14mixing into a limiter can change the
27:17balance of the tracks, right? And then
27:20further towards the end of the mix, I'll
27:22start putting my clipper on. And
27:25sometimes it goes on drum bus. That's
27:26rare. And then oftentimes it'll go in
27:29master bus right before the limiter to
27:32control just the highest peaks. And so I
27:34don't like push into clippers super hard
27:37usually. Again, I'm not usually
27:40mastering so I don't need to do that.
27:42And so just shaving off a couple peaks
27:45on like some some kick and snare hits
27:47like like that kind of thing. It's great
27:50for that. It's really great for that.
27:52And it sounds
27:55Brain Works stuff which is I think it's
27:57Plug-in Alliance if I'm not mistaken,
27:59but the Brainworks stuff always has
28:02great fidelity. That is something that
28:04you can always check that box like they
28:06just sound good and because of that I
28:10use them frequently. So, as far as like
28:13clippers go, that's my personal
28:15favorite. I know that there's other
28:17clippers that people love. I'm also just
28:19somebody that refuses to pay more than
28:22like, [clears throat] God, I I don't
28:24know that I'm ever going to want to
28:25download a Clipper ever again. And I
28:28forget how much does gold clip even
28:31cost. Or is it orange clip? What is it?
28:35Yeah, this is the Black Friday. This is
28:38not sponsored, of course, but the Black
28:40Friday sale is it's got it on sale for
28:44175.
28:48I I just I cannot justify a clipper
28:53for that cost. And so I use the Brain
28:56Works because it does what I wanted to.
28:59I'm also not a person that gets plug-in
29:01gas, you know, like like as far as the
29:04marketing for plugins goes, I'm pretty
29:06immune to it for the most part. Like
29:09I've just I've seen so many plugins and
29:12I've seen them come and go. I've seen
29:14the trends. I've jumped on the trends
29:16for some plugins and I and I fell for
29:18that marketing and hype [snorts] and all
29:20that and and I've seen so many of those
29:24marketing campaigns and hype campaigns
29:26that I'm just like, "Oh,
29:28you got a clipper? That's cool." I just
29:32I can't justify it. So, I'll I'll most
29:35likely never ever use any of those
29:40expensive clippers cuz come on, it's a
29:42clipper. I use it to shave off a few
29:44transients and I don't want it to sound
29:45bad and and the Brain Works Clipper does
29:48exactly that. Everything else I get all
29:52my other plugins to do the work that I
29:54want to do. So, it just it's not for me.
29:56Okay. Uh disclaimers out of the way
29:59because I know I'm sure that that
30:01probably offends somebody. Again, if
30:03you, you know, paid $300 for your
30:06Clipper and you're excited about it, I'm
30:08excited for you. Uh, okay. Let's dive
30:10into the SSL stuff. So, I got a bunch of
30:12SSL plugins lined up here. Uh, starting
30:15with this is the Waves
30:18SSL bus compressor.
30:22That's going in god tier. Um,
30:25I like the Waves SSL bus compressor. I
30:28love that it is smooth. There are a lot
30:32of bus compressors that tend to hype the
30:34high-end, which some of them can sound
30:36nice. We will get into that. Uh, but as
30:39far as bus compressors go, the Waves is
30:42one of the smoothest of all of the bus
30:45compressors. And so if I am going for a
30:47smoother glue kind of compression that
30:51does it really well. I love using it on
30:53drum bus especially.
30:56And here's the deal. I oftentimes work
30:59with like sessions that are sent to me
31:02that were recorded at home. And so,
31:04like, if they don't have really nice
31:06mics, like overheads, like cheap
31:08overhead mics with cheap symbols is
31:11typically um a pretty gnarly combo from
31:14time to time. Like it just brings out a
31:16lot of harshness in that like 7k to 12k
31:19kind of range. The Waves bus compressor
31:23smooths things out really nicely, and
31:25it's that smoothness that I like and
31:28that I use it for.
31:29>> [snorts]
31:29>> It may not be the most used SSL bus
31:33compressor that I have, but when I go
31:36for smoothness, it does it really well.
31:38So, for that, I applaud Waves for the
31:40fact that I've had to pay twice for that
31:42plugin. I denounce Waves. Um, that's a
31:46thing. They got to figure that out.
31:48Like, I hate paying for plugins twice.
31:51And that is unfortunately a thing that
31:52will happen with some Waves plugins. And
31:56I have had to do that a couple of times.
31:57Okay, moving on. UAD SSL bus compressor
32:02also god tier. And I'm put they're just
32:06going to live right there next to each
32:07other.
32:08I I like it for all the reasons that I
32:12might choose the Waves SSL bus
32:14compressor, but without the smoothness.
32:16This does hype the high-end a little
32:18bit, but I don't hate the way that it
32:20hypes the high-end. Another side rant.
32:22Join me on a side rant quest one more
32:24time. Um, a lot of UAD plugins, not all,
32:29but a lot of UAD plugins will do this
32:31UAD thing where they will saturate and
32:35distort and give like harmonics to like
32:38your upper mids. It's very universal
32:41audio.
32:43And oftentimes I'll know when somebody
32:46gets like their their UAD plug-in pack
32:48and all of their mixes all of a sudden
32:50have that same kind of saturation and
32:52character in the upper mids. I'm like,
32:53"Oh, yeah, that's like I can hear it
32:55from a mile away now. I'm like, "Oh,
32:56that sounds like uad. It doesn't sound
32:59bad. It sounds great, but it is very
33:02UAD." And so, it's like with the SL bus
33:05compressor, I I do like the smoothness
33:07that the Waves offers, but if it if it's
33:09smoothing out the top end a little too
33:11much for me, I will go to the UAD. And I
33:15really like the character and the sound
33:17of the UAD bus compressor. It does the
33:20same glue that you look for out of the
33:22SL compressor, but just a different
33:26flavor. It It's great. I both of them
33:29fantastic. All right. And I'm not just
33:31going to do a ton of SL bus compressors.
33:33I honestly just didn't want to talk
33:34about the other ones that I've used. Uh
33:36but we're going to move on to the SSL
33:38channel strip and again speak
33:40specifically about the dynamics. We are
33:42not going to judge like the preamp
33:45sections or or or like the EQs or
33:48anything like that. Just the dynamics
33:51sections alone. SSL.
33:55Uh this is their or I'm sorry, Waves SSL
33:59channel strip.
34:01I'm over it. Um
34:06I haven't had to pay for it twice.
34:09Here's the deal. If they make me pay for
34:11it again, I'm I'm not doing it. I'm
34:13uninstalling it. I just I'm not going
34:15to. No. But for now, it'll stay on. No,
34:19it won't. I don't think I would
34:20reinstall it if I upgraded my computer.
34:22Hm. Yeah. Uh Okay. Yeah. No, I'm I'm
34:26pretty much done with the Waves SSL
34:29stuff. They're um the compression on
34:32their channel strip is like
34:35it's just nothing to write home about.
34:38Like there there's nothing about it.
34:39that gives me
34:41everything that I look for. Like it it
34:44controls dynamics, okay, but it gives me
34:47none of the character is how I feel. And
34:49so because of that, if we're if we're
34:51speaking again specifically about the
34:53dynamic section, I would not reinstall
34:55it. The EQ I would still use every now
34:59and then, but
35:01to stick with kind of the theme of just
35:04judging the dynamics, I would I I would
35:07go without it. I No, thank you. Uh, all
35:10right. Uh, what about the Brain Works,
35:12the SSL 4000, and I I typically like the
35:15E. Uh, you know, it's funny. I um was
35:19actually talking to um someone on TikTok
35:22that I follow. Um, and he was asking
35:25like why I like the E as compared to the
35:28G or the J. And they're all a little bit
35:32different. I feel like the E has a
35:34little bit more like aggression to it
35:36and a little bit more like coloration
35:39and distortion and and and that kind of
35:42sound. It's just got some hair to it
35:45that I that I enjoy and because of that
35:48I like the E series the most. So that's
35:50the one I'm always going to talk about.
35:52But the other ones are good. They're
35:53just a little bit smoother in some ways.
35:57Um, the J is the most like hi-fi
36:00sounding and the G kind of sits in
36:01between if you ask me. But, um, the E
36:04series, uh, we're going to go tier with
36:07that one. I love the energy and the
36:11punch that I get from the dynamic
36:13section of that SSL channel strip. It is
36:15so good. I have used it a number of
36:17times on a snare drum track. And I uh,
36:21will use the gate because the gate, the
36:23way that it grabs and lets go is very
36:26musical. It's very easy to use. You can
36:28fine-tune it. It's It's glorious. I
36:31really do like it. And the compressor is
36:34punchy. It's It's really good. It hits
36:37you in the chest when you're looking for
36:38that sound that the SSL dynamics
36:42sections will give you. And for that
36:45reason, god tier, it's so good. That is
36:47also, just side note, one of my favorite
36:50channel strips that I use in in the
36:53plug-in world. It's so great. All right,
36:56moving on. All right, waves renaissance
36:59stuff. So, this is going to be, you
37:01know, like the R comp, the RB base, the
37:04RV vox, like all that fun stuff, right?
37:08Um,
37:10I'm going to go with excellent choice,
37:12Dan. Um, that sounded aggressive the way
37:14I said it. Excellent choice, Dan. Um,
37:19yeah, it's okay. Renaissance. I said
37:21this in my like Black Friday plug-in
37:24deals video, but um [clears throat] the
37:27Renaissance stuff is when you are
37:30looking for fidelity and transparency.
37:33Uh it's so good for for just like
37:37transparency but more fidelity than a
37:39lot of stock plugins offer. like there
37:42is a hi-fi sound that you get from the
37:44Renaissance stuff, the R stuff and and
37:48the the dynamics characteristics of it
37:50are always just topnotch. I always love
37:52the way that it handles dynamics and the
37:54characteristics of that, but um it's not
37:57full of character, but I guess the
37:59character that it has is the lack of
38:01character because you're not always
38:02looking for more saturation or more
38:07harmonic content to be added in, right?
38:09Like sometimes you just want it to sound
38:13natural and clean and transparent. And
38:15when you want that, the Renaissance
38:17stuff does that really well. And the
38:20Arvox is uh I forget who said it, but
38:23they said it was the most influential
38:25vocal compressor of all time. And I kind
38:29of agree
38:31like that is the the compressor that
38:34that has lived on so many vocal chains
38:36for years. Like there's there's
38:39especially in like the hip-hop and rap
38:41worlds like those guys still
38:45consistently use the Arvox and for good
38:48reason. They sound great. So excellent
38:50choice. There are other compressors that
38:52I like more. I love character
38:55compressors and only for that reason is
38:58it down here an excellent choice.
38:59Otherwise, it would probably be god
39:01tier. All right, this is the Arteria.
39:03Look, I've got so many plugins on this
39:05thing, you can't even see the whole like
39:08tier list. Um, this is the Arteria uh
39:11the tube stay or stay tube, I always
39:15forget. Um, this guy,
39:19uh, it's going up here. Excellent
39:20choice. It's a good sounding plugin. I
39:22like it a lot. Great on vocals, great on
39:24acoustic guitar. Um, it looks like it's
39:28just packed full of vibe and sauce. And
39:32truth be told, it's a little more
39:34subtle. And I typically only reach for
39:37this if I'm going for subtle compression
39:40anyways. Uh I like the character of the
39:42compressor.
39:44The way that it like grabs and lets go
39:46of audio. You don't have a ton of
39:48control over. So it either works or it
39:50doesn't. That's kind of a downside. Uh
39:53and then like these were originally like
39:56the hardware units were originally made
39:58for like broadcast in like the 1950s.
40:00And so, of course, with that specific
40:04job alone, there's going to be some
40:07limitations with music. If you use it as
40:09a vocal compressor, you're probably
40:11going to be stacking it along with other
40:14compressors, like maybe something to to
40:16catch peaks. And truth be told, if you
40:20are recording like a more aggressive
40:22vocal style, it's probably not your
40:25compressor. It's more of the sweet,
40:27smooth, and gentle type of stuff.
40:30Usually, of course, there are exceptions
40:32to every rule. Uh, the one time that I
40:36will reach for this every time is if
40:39I've got, this is oddly specific, but
40:42bear with me, uh, a pbase with flat
40:45wounds and he's hitting it with a pick.
40:47And the reason why is it lets the
40:49transient through. And the transient
40:51that it lets through, it kind of gets
40:54this soft clipping kind of thing that
40:56happens. And I really like the character
40:59that it adds in to just the pick attack
41:01on a a Pbase with flat wounds. It could
41:05probably be a Jbass as well, but like
41:07that kind of sound, that thumpy bass
41:10kind of sound, I think it does really
41:13well for that. And I I remember stacking
41:16this up with the um soft tube saturation
41:20knob, which is a free saturator,
41:23uh and in this compressor, and just like
41:25sitting back and listening and going
41:27like, I'm done. That sounds perfect. And
41:32it's, you know, of course, song
41:34specific. There are often times that you
41:36want to control like those blooms that
41:38happen in the bass signal, like
41:40especially if you're mking up like an
41:41amp, the the the bass can kind of bloom
41:44on certain notes and so you want to
41:46control that so it's not distracting. In
41:49those cases, this is maybe not your
41:51compressor or you might want to put like
41:53other compressors with it. But there are
41:56sometimes where it's just like just this
41:58and we're just going to we're going to
42:00push into it just a little bit and and
42:02it's perfect. And that's exactly exactly
42:05what it needs. Uh for a lot of other
42:08stuff, it sounds good. It sounds nice.
42:10It's just not the most versatile
42:12compressor, but it sounds great. All
42:14right. This is the Baby Audio Parallel
42:17Aggressor. And with a name like that, um
42:23I'm over it. Um listen, Baby Audio makes
42:27some fun plugins. They really do. I
42:29talked about their their tape plugin.
42:31tap plugin, which um also I thought was
42:36really funny. Little side note on this.
42:37When I mentioned that in my last plug-in
42:39video, somebody was like, "Oh, the the
42:42way that they spell tape is because it's
42:44used with AI. I get it." And I was like,
42:46"Oh, I had no idea." I was like, "I
42:50don't know why they spelled that plugin
42:51to sound like Borat was saying it." But
42:54anyway, Baby Audio, they make a lot of
42:57fun plugins. They do. Um, I'm a big fan
43:00of like their Comeback Kid and the Super
43:03VHS is pretty cool and like a couple
43:06other plugins are great, but the
43:08Parallel Aggressor
43:11like
43:12chances are if I'm reaching for that
43:14because it typically a lot of people
43:16talk about it going on like the drum bus
43:18and chances are if I'm reaching for that
43:21plugin on the drum bus, I just need to
43:22remix my drums. Truth be told, um the
43:26the controls are intuitive. It works
43:29well, but it's almost always too much.
43:33But again, with a name like parallel
43:35aggressor, what are you expecting? But I
43:38don't know. I'm not a big fan of like
43:40overly
43:42processed and saturated sounding drums,
43:46you know? Like I I like them to sit
43:49where they need to sit. And if I need
43:50more punch, I'm I'm going to remix the
43:53drums a little bit. But I may change the
43:54compression that I'm going to use. I may
43:56change a couple things. But yeah, this I
43:59don't know. I'm just kind of over it.
44:01I'm I'm keeping it around. I'll still
44:04install it next time.
44:07I've used it a handful of times, but
44:09it's just not something I use a lot. All
44:11right. Uh UAD
44:15API 2500.
44:20That'll do. It's good.
44:23It doesn't sound bad, but it's not the
44:26compressor that I go for. Um, API 2500
44:30is a great drum bus compressor. The UAD
44:34version.
44:36I almost never use it on drum bus. I
44:39will sometimes use it on the full
44:41instrument two bus and it sounds pretty
44:43good. Uh, sometimes I'll use it on high
44:45hats and that sounds or not high hats,
44:47overheads, and that sounds pretty good.
44:49Um, I've even used it on like some
44:52stereo sources, like stereo acoustic
44:54guitar, and that sounds pretty good. So,
44:56it's a usable plugin. It sounds good,
44:58but from what I want out of that
45:00compressor, I just don't get. So, it's
45:03usable, but also weirdly a
45:05disappointment.
45:06So, it'll do. It's a tool. It works. I'm
45:10just not over the moon about it. Okay,
45:12this is the sound of the early 2000s
45:17indie rock. Uh, this is the Waves L2
45:20Maximizer. I'm putting that in excellent
45:22choice. Here's the deal. It's hated by
45:24so many people and you're valid. The
45:27reasons why you hate it. Perfectly
45:29acceptable. I understand. I know. I know
45:33the complaints. Let me know in the
45:34comments down below how I've offended
45:36you, of course. But like the L2
45:40is interesting to me. And the reason why
45:42it's interesting, you remember what I
45:43was saying about like the Pro L2 by Fab
45:46Filter? It makes your mid-range exciting
45:48without sacrificing your lower high-end.
45:51This does a few things that's kind of
45:53crazy. If you put it on your mix bus, it
45:56does a magic trick where it makes your
45:57snare disappear.
45:59And like sometimes
46:03it can it can distort things in your
46:06upper mids that are just so unpleasant.
46:08But it is that specific type of
46:11distortion and excitement that happens
46:13in your mid-range that kind of makes it
46:16perfect when you need it. I almost never
46:19use it on an instrument two bus. I love
46:22using it on bass guitar. I love using it
46:25on bass guitar DI after I hit it with
46:28like a blue stripe 1176
46:30and most likely
46:33maybe an LA2A. I might just like kiss an
46:35LA2A and then I'll send it in the L2 and
46:39I know that's three levels of
46:41compression and that's crazy, but I'll
46:42I'll have it hit at different stages and
46:45it just
46:47it gets the grittiness of the bass to
46:50stick out without anything else just
46:54overwhelming the signal. It I love it
46:57when it's when it's the right tool. It's
47:01the right tool. Uh, same thing on
47:03guitars. Like on guitar bus
47:05specifically,
47:07uh, that thing can actually sound great.
47:10Uh, it brings out the mids a whole lot.
47:13Um, and again, only when you're looking
47:16to really slam something with a limiter
47:18and to to shave just a couple dB. It's
47:21not something that I get like six or
47:24seven or 10 dB of reduction out of.
47:26Like, no. No. Uh, fun story, those
47:30things used to be in rack mount units.
47:34Like back in the day, the L2 Ultra
47:37Maximizer was a rack mount unit. And
47:40when I say it was the sound of the early
47:412000s indie rock, like those rack mount
47:45units were used all over the place. It
47:48was one of those like studio standards
47:51for a lot of mixing rooms and a lot of
47:54places used it and it gave you that
47:56sound and
47:59yeah it just to me it sounds like the
48:01early 2000s which again using the tools
48:04from those eras if you're trying to
48:06capture certain sounds it can do that
48:09it's a usable tool and I understand why
48:12you hate it. All right. DBX160
48:15by UAD.
48:18Um, I, you know, it's hard for me to get
48:22overly excited about like a dbx160 style
48:26compressor plugin. So, it's excellent
48:28choice, but it is really good. I do like
48:30that one a lot. Um, I would recommend
48:33getting that if you find it at a good
48:35price. Uh, there's a couple times that I
48:38use it. Uh, kick drum. I I love front
48:42loading that compressor with lowend
48:45because how it handles the signal with
48:47extra lowend like pushed into it is
48:51pleasant. Almost no other compressor
48:53sounds great when you shove a bunch of
48:56lowend into it, but that one I really
48:58like what it does. The way that it grabs
49:01the audio is fantastic. Very punchy. It
49:05does the dbx thing. And again, smooth
49:08when you want it to be smooth, like on
49:10spoken word and stuff like that. It it's
49:12it's a great compressor. It's a dbx160.
49:15What more can you say? Punchy,
49:17wonderful. All right, now we're getting
49:18into FET style compressors. So, okay,
49:22this one a lot of people won't recognize
49:24and it looks super cool. And I chose
49:26this version of this plugin. The Mark 2
49:29version that they've come out with looks
49:31totally different, but I miss this. It
49:33looks like an old hi-fi machine, which
49:35is just cool. Uh, but this is by Soft
49:37Tube. This is their FET compressor.
49:39We're going to put that in. Excellent
49:41choice, Dan. I like this [snorts]
49:45compressor. I The fidelity is great. It
49:48adds a great character. The only reason
49:50why it's not god tier is because if I'm
49:52thinking about a FET compressor, I'm
49:54typically thinking about 1176.
49:57And there's some other compressors that
49:59I just like a little bit better. So,
50:01it's not in god tier for that reason.
50:03But one thing I do think it does really
50:05well is when you are slamming that
50:08compressor. If you are going for
50:10overcompression as an effect, it does
50:14that
50:15really well. I was working on a mix once
50:18that had like these like octaves that
50:21were just these slow like I almost said
50:25diminishing but just like you know like
50:28just going down like a flight of stairs
50:30just like these low octaves on an
50:32upright piano and I just slammed into
50:35that compressor so that it would almost
50:38do the thing of where the attack kind of
50:40comes through and then you get this like
50:42swell of the note and it just I loved
50:47that sound on that mix so much. It was
50:52dreamy. It was weird, but in all the
50:55right ways. And that's actually quick
50:57little side tangent again. Uh there is a
51:01difference between a mix that sounds
51:03technically correct and a mix that
51:05sounds cool. Don't be afraid to make a
51:08mix that sounds cool and different. Some
51:11people may say, "Oh, that piano is
51:14overcompressed." like you should you
51:16shouldn't overcompress that. That's I
51:18was going it was intentional. That's
51:20what I was going for. And ultimately
51:22that's all that matters. We are making
51:24creative decisions. We are not trying to
51:26make it sound exactly like a hit song or
51:29exactly like this or that. That's what
51:30makes boring ass music. Make cool mixes.
51:35And that means don't follow the rule
51:38book. And that is a compressor that I
51:40think does a great job at not following
51:42the rules.
51:44Or at least that's the tool I use when
51:46I'm not trying to follow the rules. So,
51:48for that reason, it's an excellent
51:50choice. They have moved on to the Mark 2
51:52of this. It sounds the same, but man,
51:54doesn't that one look cool? All right.
51:56Uh, UAD 1176s. We're going straight up
52:00here to god tier. I like UAD compressors
52:04and I feel mixed just like a lot of
52:06people do about UA like Universal Audio.
52:09I'm not like a fanboy and I'm not one of
52:11those people that hates everything they
52:14do either. I'm in between. I feel mixed,
52:16right? Uh I trust them as far as I can
52:19see them. Like I, you know, but here's
52:22the deal with their 1176 compressor. It
52:26is, in my opinion, the best reproduction
52:29of an 1176 on the market right now. If
52:33you know of an 1176 that you think
52:36sounds better that I am not mentioning
52:38here today, let me know. An 1176 is one
52:42of my favorite compressors on the
52:44planet. So, I would always love to at
52:46least download a free trial and try it
52:47out. I'm always looking for a really
52:50good 1176. And I even own two different
52:541176s in hardware version. I've got the
52:56Bluey 500 and the Lindell Audio LIN76.
53:00I've made videos about both of those. Go
53:02check those out if you want. I even did
53:04a shootout between the UAD 1176 and the
53:09Lindell Audio. That was an interesting
53:12video. A lot of people had some very
53:14complex feelings about that. Uh, but
53:17with that being said, I they are my
53:19favorite 1176 plugins. I think that they
53:23do a great job and they stand up to the
53:26hardware. Do they sound worse? No.
53:30They're different. That's the thing.
53:33Like hardware versus plugins. Do they
53:35sound different? Yes. Oh my god. Yes.
53:39But that's not the question. It's do
53:41they sound better? And that only you can
53:44decide. choose carefully. All right,
53:46Slate Digital. Uh, that'll do with the
53:50Slate Digital stuff. It's It's good. It
53:53sounds good. You can make a hit song
53:55with those plugins, right, for sure. But
53:59I just like other compressors more.
54:02Generally speaking, it handles dynamics
54:04well and it's got decent character. It's
54:07just not the character that I look for.
54:09And sometimes, this is going to insult
54:11some people and I don't want it to, but
54:13sometimes with some of their
54:14compressors, especially on their FET
54:16compressors, it just flattens the sound
54:19too much, which happens with
54:21compression, especially digital
54:23compression. Just the sound gets
54:24flattened a little bit, right? And and
54:28because of that, I don't like the slate
54:30digital stuff as much. It's not that I
54:33don't like it or it sounds bad. Keep
54:34that in mind. If you're excited about
54:36it, I'm excited for you. I just don't
54:37like it as much as other options. Like
54:40the UAD, in my opinion, blows it out of
54:44the water. The soft tube blows it out of
54:47the water, but that is just my
54:50preference. I think it handles dynamics
54:52well. I think it's got a decent
54:53character. It's just not the character
54:54that I go for personally. Um, one thing
54:59I will say is that um, like the blue
55:03stripe of their 1176, which is pictured
55:06here, sounds a little thin. I didn't
55:08like it so much. Uh, the one that's all
55:10blue, it's got a little bit better bass
55:12response, but again, just the character
55:14of it, I just didn't get along with
55:16quite as much. So, they're not for me. I
55:19know a lot of metal guys really like
55:21them. Um, which is interesting. It's not
55:24the first thing that I would reach for
55:26for those tones, but that's cool. Uh,
55:29sounds like we make different music. Uh,
55:32okay. And the last of, no, it's not the
55:35last, but second to last of the 1176s.
55:37This is the CLA76.
55:41I feel the same about the CLA76 as I do
55:45the Slate Digital.
55:48It sounds good. It's just not the
55:50character that I go for. And I'm not
55:52going to repeat everything that I said.
55:54Uh, I will say I do like the blue stripe
55:56version of the CLA76
55:58a little bit more.
56:02That one may live in between. So, yeah,
56:06I guess these do live in between. I like
56:09the blue stripe 1176 from Waves. Um, but
56:13yeah, that'll do. That's where it lives.
56:15All right, last of the 1176s. This is
56:18the Universal Audio and this is the what
56:23is it? 6176.
56:26Uh it's not the LA610. Yeah, it's like
56:28the 1176 style compressor that's
56:30attached to the to the 610 preamp.
56:34Uh yeah, that that goes right there,
56:38too. That'll do. It's if I'm if I'm
56:40going to put an 1176 plugin on anything,
56:45I'm gonna put an 1176 plugin on it. It
56:47just doesn't necessarily
56:50I don't know if for no other reason it
56:52could sound the exact same but just for
56:53the controls. If for no other reason,
56:56just the controls, I I would put it in
56:59that category. H it's just, you know,
57:02whatever reason you like your tools,
57:04right? You know, maybe you like the VU
57:07meters on something. That's a legitimate
57:09reason to like something. That's fine.
57:11Does it have knobs that are in places
57:13that you get along with? That's a great
57:16reason, too. All right. Manly variable
57:19MW stereo compressor. Uh, it's going
57:21right up here to excellent choice. Uh,
57:25listen, it does what it does well.
57:28It sounds good. I like it a lot on mix
57:32bus. That's where I get the most use out
57:34of it. Occasionally acoustic guitar or
57:36piano or something like the gentle
57:38acoustic instruments. I think it does a
57:40great job with subtle compression. shave
57:42off 2dB, 3dB here and there. Uh, but
57:46honestly, I typically use it on mix bus
57:49or instrument bus. It It sounds great.
57:52It does give you some character. It does
57:56have a sound to it. One thing I will
57:59say, like many UAD plugins, I notice
58:01that when I put it on my signal and I
58:03engage that compressor, it automatically
58:05adds a dB or two or three of of like
58:09level. And so because of that, you're
58:12gonna think it sounds great. So make
58:14adjustments to it to make it so it's
58:16exactly level matched and then turn it
58:18on and off to see if you like what it's
58:20adding. Just saying. It's it's a mistake
58:24we all make. Even the pros at the
58:26highest levels will put a compressor on
58:28and be like, "Ah, it sounds great." And
58:29then you'll AB it and you're like,
58:30"Yeah." And it's also giving you volume.
58:32And so it's we all do it. [snorts] Uh,
58:36okay. Wave CLA2A. I'm putting it right
58:38there next to the CLA76. I feel the same
58:42way about that as I do about the 76.
58:45It's good. It sounds good. It's got
58:47fidelity. It's just to me, if I'm
58:50thinking LA2A or LA2, I'm going to go
58:54for those compressors. I typically just
58:57won't reach for the CLA, but that one
58:59sounds great. All right. This is the
59:01old, the archaic, the ancient Wavesc C1
59:06compressor. This is like in the in the
59:09in the early days of waves.
59:12Um,
59:15honestly, that'll do. There's a lot of
59:18Waves, like early Wave stuff that I
59:21actually really like. The DSer is one of
59:23my favorite DSer plugins of all time.
59:26Uh, great fidelity, shaves off
59:28harshness, or works also as a DSER.
59:31Those are great. The C1,
59:35it's a tool. It does a job. It sounds
59:37good. It's It's got good fidelity again,
59:40but it it it doesn't really give me
59:42anything that I am looking for out of a
59:45compressor compressor other than just
59:48dynamics control. And if I'm going to
59:50give a transparent compressor
59:54the time of day, I'm going to reach for
59:55either the Renaissance or the Fab
59:58Filter. So yeah, it just, you know,
1:00:02there's other ones that beat it out, but
1:00:04it's it's
1:00:05it's not like it sounds bad. It sounds
1:00:07great. And honestly,
1:00:10if you've got it, try it out.
1:00:13All right. This is a compressor that
1:00:14almost no one will recognize except for,
1:00:17and if you do recognize this, like
1:00:21your lower back is probably disagreeing
1:00:23with you at this stage in the video
1:00:25because you've been sitting for this
1:00:26amount of time without stretching. Uh,
1:00:28that's a joke about you being old. Uh,
1:00:30okay. This is the Synalis. I I hope I
1:00:34pronounced that correct. Also, I don't
1:00:36care. I don't even think this company
1:00:37makes this this compressor anymore. I do
1:00:39weirdly still have it on my system and
1:00:42it will still work.
1:00:44I'm putting it right there. That'll do.
1:00:46This was the first plug-in purchase that
1:00:50I made. I paid real money and real
1:00:52dollars for a plugin and I couldn't
1:00:54believe it. Um, and again, this is for a
1:00:58time uh in a place that is very
1:01:01different from today. When I Oh god,
1:01:03this is going to age me a lot. When I
1:01:06first [clears throat] was working in a
1:01:07studio and I was interning, we were
1:01:10talking about how one day plugins will
1:01:12be just as good as the hardware and more
1:01:14people will use plugins than they will
1:01:16hardware. And that's crazy.
1:01:18And look at us now. And now we use
1:01:21hardware almost never. And we use
1:01:23plugins for almost everything, right?
1:01:27Like I have a couple pieces of hardware,
1:01:30but I mean when we talk about, you know,
1:01:32the hundreds of little bits of
1:01:34processing that you do on a mix, the
1:01:37hardware that I use is maybe
1:01:402% of that, 5% at most, right? So yeah,
1:01:44but anyway, so it was like back in that
1:01:47time where like plugins were getting
1:01:50better, but they were only just getting
1:01:52up to to snuff of like being worth using
1:01:56on a mix at all. And this was the first
1:01:59compressor that I heard that I thought
1:02:01actually sounded
1:02:03pretty good, like compared [snorts] to
1:02:06like the stock like Steinberg plugins
1:02:08because I was a Qbase user back then,
1:02:11too. because that first studio that I
1:02:12worked in was using Q-base. So, that
1:02:15ruined me forever. Um, but this was the
1:02:19first like plugin that I purchased and
1:02:21it sounded good and it did have some
1:02:25analog characteristics in the way that
1:02:27it handled the dynamics and I really
1:02:29enjoyed it. I when I purchased that uh
1:02:33plugin I I just remember thinking like
1:02:36oh my god this immediately made my mixes
1:02:38sound like 7% better and it was just a
1:02:42gamecher and it really did sound a lot
1:02:47better than a lot of the stock plugins.
1:02:48So I was impressed with that. Synoxis.
1:02:52Uh, I don't even know if like these are
1:02:55supported anymore or if you can even
1:02:58download them anymore, but yeah, just a
1:03:00fun trip down memory lane. Why not? All
1:03:02right, manly vox.
1:03:05Let's put this one. And again, we are
1:03:08just judging only the dynamics
1:03:11processing. So, the compressor and the
1:03:13DSer. So, not the preamp section, not
1:03:15the EQ or anything like that. Just the
1:03:18compression and DSing. I'm I'm going to
1:03:21put it an excellent choice. If it was
1:03:23just the compressor, I might be in
1:03:27that'll do. I don't use it a whole lot.
1:03:28It sounds fine. It sounds nice, but
1:03:30there's I don't know, nothing really to
1:03:33write home about. I I think you can
1:03:35choose 3:1 ratio or 10 to1 ratio and
1:03:37you've got a threshold control and then
1:03:39you've got attack and release, but just
1:03:41like preset like slow, medium, fast, and
1:03:44then a couple that are in between. Um
1:03:47the DSER is great though. I do like the
1:03:50DSER and I actually use that DSER and
1:03:53sometimes I will pull up that entire
1:03:55plugin just to use the DSER because I
1:03:58really do like the DSer on that. Uh so
1:04:00because of that it goes up here in
1:04:02excellent choice but I mean honestly
1:04:07yeah other than that just the compressor
1:04:09that'll do but yeah the DSER actually
1:04:11makes it a little bit more worthwhile.
1:04:13So all right here's another fun one.
1:04:16This uh has a cult-like following and I
1:04:20will sing the praises of this. Uh this
1:04:22is the Clanghelm
1:04:24MJ. I'm going to put that an excellent
1:04:27choice, Dan. Uh Clanghelm is an
1:04:32interesting compressor. It's got a lot
1:04:33of character. It's got a lot of vibiness
1:04:35to it. Uh and it actually gives you
1:04:37three compressors in one. And the thing
1:04:40that I also love about it is it's just
1:04:42dirt cheap. like I don't remember how
1:04:45much I paid for it, but you can usually
1:04:47get this thing for around $30, $40,
1:04:51something like that. Uh, but they're
1:04:53great. They're great compressors. Uh,
1:04:55you get uh three compressors in one. And
1:04:58then the little panel that's down below,
1:05:01you can actually like drive, you can
1:05:03like uh turn it a little bit more hi-fi
1:05:06or a little darker sounding. the drive
1:05:09characteristics actually adds in a good
1:05:12amount of drive. Uh so it can get a
1:05:16little distorty. So it is kind of cool
1:05:18for that. Um and they just sound great.
1:05:21I do use that compressor on a lot of
1:05:23stuff. It sounds great. It sounds cool.
1:05:25It's cheap. It probably is worth the
1:05:28download. I've kept mine around for I
1:05:32think going on about 10 years now. It's
1:05:34a great compressor. All right. soft
1:05:37tube, the uh CL1B, the tube tech. Um,
1:05:42I'm going to put that one in excellent
1:05:44choice as well. Uh, great vocal
1:05:46compressor when you are looking for the
1:05:48CL1B type of thing. It does that job
1:05:52really well. Uh, I mean, it sounds like
1:05:54a CL1B in a lot of ways. Of course, it's
1:05:57not going to sound exactly like the
1:05:59hardware, right? But Soft Tube in
1:06:01general, they do a great job with
1:06:03emulating hardware. So, excellent
1:06:05choice, Dan. Let's move on. All right.
1:06:08Avalon 737 channel strip. And again,
1:06:11we're not judging the preamp or the EQ,
1:06:13just the dynamic section alone.
1:06:16[sighs]
1:06:17Um,
1:06:20I I do like it. I do like it. And I do
1:06:24find myself using this compressor a lot
1:06:27again on gentler sounding instruments.
1:06:30The acoustic guitar, the piano,
1:06:32occasionally a vocal if it's a very
1:06:34gentle vocal. uh spoken word, uh a lot
1:06:38of those types of things. The compressor
1:06:40works really well. I don't typically go
1:06:43for it on bass or guitars or punchier
1:06:46stuff like drums or anything like that,
1:06:48but I I I do like it on a lot of the
1:06:50other stuff. So, softer stuff. Singer
1:06:53songwriters, this is a decent plugin to
1:06:56have. All right, back to the soft tube.
1:06:59This is the Chandler Germanmanium
1:07:02compressor. I spoke about this in my
1:07:06Black Friday weekend plug-in deals
1:07:08video, uh, which a lot of those deals
1:07:10are still going on today. Today is
1:07:12Monday, which I think is Cyber Monday.
1:07:14So, go watch that video. I did point out
1:07:17a lot of plugins that are honestly on a
1:07:19really good sale. So, uh, okay, the
1:07:21Chandler Germanmanium compressor, I am
1:07:25going to put that in, hold on, I need to
1:07:27do this in stages. uh in god tier. I
1:07:31honestly think that is one of the better
1:07:35plug-in compressors that I have used in
1:07:38like the past few years. It's a very
1:07:42character
1:07:43full kind of compressor. It does a
1:07:46distorted thing really well. It crushes
1:07:48drums really well and that's honestly
1:07:50what I use it for the most. But it is
1:07:52all the time all the time. It is a great
1:07:55compressor. Really good fidelity. Um,
1:07:58and I mentioned this in the last video
1:08:00too, but the two knobs at the very end
1:08:02are really where the magic happens with
1:08:04this compressor. And one is the
1:08:06germanmanium drive and then the other
1:08:08one is feedback.
1:08:10And there it's kind of like a push and
1:08:13pull. Like if you if you really gain
1:08:15into the drive, come back on the
1:08:16feedback because what the the feedback
1:08:18does is it actually sends some of that
1:08:21signal back to the input of the
1:08:24compressor and it processes that again.
1:08:27And so you can kind of do the thing of
1:08:30where you gain it up, but you keep the
1:08:31feedback low, but then do the opposite
1:08:33of where you turn the gain down, but you
1:08:35turn the feedback up and you kind of get
1:08:39like a different character out of the
1:08:41compressor. It It's really cool and
1:08:43makes it more versatile than you might
1:08:45think. It does sound good on a lot of
1:08:47different sources. Uh it sounds great on
1:08:49guitars. It can sound kind of cool on a
1:08:52vocal if you're going for like a special
1:08:54thing. Uh, but it is my favorite drum
1:08:58smasher. I love it for that. It's It's a
1:09:01great compressor. All right. Waves. Uh,
1:09:04H comp. Uh, that'll do. It's It's not
1:09:07bad. Uh, it's got good fidelity.
1:09:11Yeah, it's just again, it's one of those
1:09:13things. There's a lot of compressors.
1:09:16You're starting to hear me sound like a
1:09:17broken record. They they give you the
1:09:20dynamics control that you're looking
1:09:22for, but the character of the compressor
1:09:25just doesn't really
1:09:27give me a lot of the character that I'm
1:09:29looking for out of a compressor. So,
1:09:31they're they're fine. They do a good
1:09:34job. They sound good. You can make a hit
1:09:36record with it. I just prefer other
1:09:39stuff.
1:09:41All right. And uh API vision channel
1:09:45strip. This is going to again to just be
1:09:47the compressor on this channel strip.
1:09:50Um, man, I love that channel strip and
1:09:54that channel strip lives in god tier for
1:09:56the preamp and the EQ, but the
1:09:58compressor I don't use as often. Uh, I
1:10:02don't typically like it as much. So, for
1:10:05that it's going in that'll do. I So, I
1:10:08love using the vision channel strip on
1:10:10drums. And if I am mixing drums,
1:10:14I typically go for other compressor
1:10:17sounds. 1176s, DBX160, the Germanmanium
1:10:21compressor, um, you know, FET
1:10:24compressor,
1:10:26assorted different FET compressors, like
1:10:28that kind of thing. Uh, but not really
1:10:31the API vision. It just, yeah, that'll
1:10:34do. All right. And we finally made it.
1:10:36Oh my god. Um, this is the capital
1:10:39mastering compressor. uh by UAD.
1:10:45Um I'm over it. Here's the deal with the
1:10:48Capital Mastering Compressor. It's got a
1:10:51sound and it's and the sound that it has
1:10:54is it's kind of got this roundness to
1:10:56the low end and it extends your low end
1:10:59into the sub lows like a lot honestly.
1:11:03Uh but it does change the sound of the
1:11:06mix and so you need to be aware of that.
1:11:08And again, I'm the type of person that I
1:11:10like the mixes that I make. And since
1:11:14the type of stuff that I work on is
1:11:15typically like, oh, here's, you know,
1:11:17the drum tracks that were recorded. So,
1:11:19kick drum, snare drum, toms, overheads,
1:11:21room mics, etc., and guitar amps and
1:11:24bass DI and vocals and all of that. I'm
1:11:27typically doing a lot of hands-on stuff
1:11:30where I'm tone shaping a lot of how the
1:11:32session comes together. Uh, I don't work
1:11:36with a whole lot of MIDI instruments and
1:11:39like those types of tracks. And so if I
1:11:41put something on my master bus and it is
1:11:44changing the overall signature and sound
1:11:46of the entire mix, chances are I'm not
1:11:49going to be a huge fan of that sound.
1:11:51And the capital mastering compressor, it
1:11:53does that. It changes the sound
1:11:55signature. And it does add a lot of
1:11:57saturation. And again, there's this like
1:12:01low-end thing that happens to where it
1:12:03just turns into too much. Um, I actually
1:12:07did use it on one mix and the client the
1:12:10the first email that I got back about
1:12:13the mix because, you know, you go
1:12:14through couple stages and and you may
1:12:17get revision notes, uh, mix revision
1:12:20requests and all that. And one of the
1:12:22revision requests was, "Hey, the lowend
1:12:24is epic and needs to be turned down."
1:12:27And sure enough, it was like, "Oh, turn
1:12:29off the capital mastering compressor."
1:12:31And that actually fixed it. It It does a
1:12:35lot to your low end and a little bit to
1:12:38your high-end, too. And I have never
1:12:40used it with more than like one and a
1:12:43half dB of compression before. I felt
1:12:46like it was too much. So, it's a
1:12:49compressor that is It's kind of cool and
1:12:53it sounds kind of cool and I keep it
1:12:55around in case it ever works. I'll try
1:12:59it on stuff every now and then, but I
1:13:02don't know. For the most part, I feel
1:13:03about that kind of the way that I feel
1:13:05about the Fair Child compressors. It's
1:13:07just like h I'm kind of over it. Kind of
1:13:10over it. So, uh all right, let's take a
1:13:13look at this list and see if I need to
1:13:15make any changes here. Oh my god, it's
1:13:17so big. I can't even fit it into the
1:13:19entire screen. Uh, okay. I love the god
1:13:23to your stuff.
1:13:25The BX Clipper. Uh, yeah, Clippers are
1:13:28just funny. Uh, okay. Let's see.
1:13:35Yeah, I mean, truth be told, I'm pretty
1:13:39confident in locking this one in. This
1:13:42is This is epic. Um, I'm going to do
1:13:45more of these plug-in tier lists. I'll
1:13:48do EQs. I'll do like reverbs and other
1:13:52processing. Like maybe I'll do like all
1:13:54my favorite like ox send uh plug-in
1:13:57chains for like reverbs and delays and
1:14:00and space echoes and fun stuff like
1:14:02that. Uh but listen, if you got
1:14:03something out of this video and you
1:14:05enjoyed this video, I need you to do a
1:14:07few things for me. Hit the buttons that
1:14:09you see down below. Um the subscribe to
1:14:12this channel if you've not done so
1:14:13already. And uh yeah, click the links
1:14:16down below. I I've got a link to Plug-in
1:14:18Boutique down below. It cost you
1:14:20nothing, but if you do decide to make a
1:14:21purchase of any of these plugins, it
1:14:23gives me a small kickback, which allows
1:14:26this channel to exist without having to
1:14:29take sponsors. So, I very much
1:14:32appreciate you and uh yeah, I'll see you
1:14:34in the next one.
1:14:37>> [music]

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