In light of the big focus shift onto the quality of bus compressors in recent times, I figured it may be a good idea to do a shoot-out of some of today's big contenders. I focused the shoot-out mainly toward those aiming for the classic 'SSL' sound.
The units in the running today consist of two plug-ins and one hardware unit:
Gyraf SSL Compressor: A hardware SSL 4000 series bus compressor clone. I'm not exactly sure which model, whether it be E or G series. This particular one has the turbo kit board, which was engaged at all times during the testing. It essentially alters the side-chain so that the compressor behaves more like the classic SSL.
Waves SSL Compressor: This is a plug-in unit that has become many an engineer's go-to weapon of choice for software bus compression. I've used this one on just about every one of my mixes in the last few years. It is an emulation of the SSL G-series bus compressors.
Cytomic 'The Glue' Compressor: This is a relatively new plug-in, created by a lone developer. I'm unsure which model this one sets out to emulate, but it goes beyond the options of the hardware and offers more tweaking potential via a 'range' knob and side-chain filter.
Now it should go without saying that all these units respond and meter in different ways. As such I established a reference point and all the parameters that I could keep identical between them I did, but others had to be adjusted by ear in order to match the little operational nuances between them. For instance the Waves SSL would start pumping audibly at around 3dB GR, whereas 'The Glue' would be happy to go beyond 5dB and still remain relatively transparent. As such they were all adjusted to provide the same audible level of gain reduction, rather than metered. If you had to estimate, then 3 to 4dB of GR would be what's going on.
There are two track excerpts provided to give you a wider insight into how they respond to different programme material. One is a clean, ambient progressive rock track and the other is a fairly straight, punchy rock track. They are not 'mastered' very hot in order to retain most of the transient punch that the compressors emphasize.
Prog Track Settings:
Attack: 30ms
Release: 100ms
Ratio: 2:1
Gain Reduction: Adjusted to provide roughly 3 to 4dB, taking into account each compressor's likelihood to compress differently.
Rock Track Settings:
Attack: 10ms
Release: 100ms
Ratio: 2:1
Gain Reduction: Adjusted to provide roughly 3 to 4dB, taking into account each compressor's likelihood to compress differently.
Download links:
Prog track
Rock track
The units in the running today consist of two plug-ins and one hardware unit:
Gyraf SSL Compressor: A hardware SSL 4000 series bus compressor clone. I'm not exactly sure which model, whether it be E or G series. This particular one has the turbo kit board, which was engaged at all times during the testing. It essentially alters the side-chain so that the compressor behaves more like the classic SSL.
Waves SSL Compressor: This is a plug-in unit that has become many an engineer's go-to weapon of choice for software bus compression. I've used this one on just about every one of my mixes in the last few years. It is an emulation of the SSL G-series bus compressors.
Cytomic 'The Glue' Compressor: This is a relatively new plug-in, created by a lone developer. I'm unsure which model this one sets out to emulate, but it goes beyond the options of the hardware and offers more tweaking potential via a 'range' knob and side-chain filter.
Now it should go without saying that all these units respond and meter in different ways. As such I established a reference point and all the parameters that I could keep identical between them I did, but others had to be adjusted by ear in order to match the little operational nuances between them. For instance the Waves SSL would start pumping audibly at around 3dB GR, whereas 'The Glue' would be happy to go beyond 5dB and still remain relatively transparent. As such they were all adjusted to provide the same audible level of gain reduction, rather than metered. If you had to estimate, then 3 to 4dB of GR would be what's going on.
There are two track excerpts provided to give you a wider insight into how they respond to different programme material. One is a clean, ambient progressive rock track and the other is a fairly straight, punchy rock track. They are not 'mastered' very hot in order to retain most of the transient punch that the compressors emphasize.
Prog Track Settings:
Attack: 30ms
Release: 100ms
Ratio: 2:1
Gain Reduction: Adjusted to provide roughly 3 to 4dB, taking into account each compressor's likelihood to compress differently.
Rock Track Settings:
Attack: 10ms
Release: 100ms
Ratio: 2:1
Gain Reduction: Adjusted to provide roughly 3 to 4dB, taking into account each compressor's likelihood to compress differently.
Download links:
Prog track
Rock track
