A very unscientific compressor comparison

[Lasse Lammert]

I've got like a million compressor plugins, I actually have no idea why I bought them all, I'm really only using one or two of them...not necessarily cause I like those better, but just because I kinda got used to using them....there are many compressors like the Vcomp etc that I hadn't even tried before....
so I just tried some of them in an extremely unscientific comparison...
I just used a "tracking mix" (not even a roughmix) and put those compressors on the CLEAN vocals...I used 30 seconds MAXIMUM to dial in each compressor, some of them are extremely versatile, so I don't claim to have found the perfect setting for each compressor...this comparison is not fair or scientific by any means!
I just wanted to find out the overall character of the comp and how easy it is to use.....
There were only two or three that really did something that was nice and immediately noticably for me, and that's what I wanted to find out, not some subtle differences between the various 1176 emulations etc.

I didn't mean to post the results, but I thought you might be interested, so here they are:

BF76

CLA76

CT4

FC660

Hcomp

PhatC

Purple77

Rcomp

Vcomp




Damn, I think I like that CT4 a lot, I think it has just replaced the CLA76 as my goto plugin....PhatC is pretty nice, too.,,oh, and the Rcomp of course...no idea why I haven't used that one more often....probably gonna be a lot more CT4 and Rcomp in my mixes now.
Is the CLA76 overhyped? I mean, it's certainly good, no question about that...but I knida preferred the Rcomp and CT4 this time

 

[Skinny Viking]

Can't speak for the others but RComp has always been one of my absolute favorite compressors ... its just sooo fucking easy, intuitive and sounds smooth and sweet

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

Really liking the CT4 and the MC77 here, and that comes from an Rcomp user. For these vocals I think the Rcomp sound too fat at least in the settings you used. The CT4 and MC77 seem to have a more open, less pumping sound to me.

 

[Nimvi]

I really liked the CLA on this. It had a nice presence. So did the PhatC, but different. I liked both of those though. Some of those comps were a bit TOO smooth for my tastes; almost muffling even. But I must admit that after listening to 5+ of those different samples, my mind was starting to play tricks on me

As usual, thanks for this comparisson Lasse. Scientific or not, it's nice to hear how different the characters of software comps can be. And I think that workflow might be one of the most important reasons many of us keep returning to 1 or 2 favourite comps and EQs, even if they aren't the most stellar sounding ones. Seeing what you can get within 30 seconds isn't a bad idea at all when you think of it that way.