Distressor vs DBX 160 vs UAD 160 vs Waves & elysia

[HandsOfDespair]

I'm going a bit against the major opinion here. A seemed the most meh to me. Not bad, but it didn't really get me excited. D was really nice and punchy, but there's something about the snare's decay that doesn't sound right to me, and IMHO it doesn't fit the context that well. A healthy, big sound, that's for sure, but for this mix I'd like something a bit snappier... Which brings me to B and C. It was a really tough choice, but in the end I chose B because I felt it had a tad more attack and punch to it. B was my favorite when quickly listening through the clips the first time, and it remained the winner when I did a re-run, so B it shall be

Mind you, I based my judgment mostly on the snare since I find it easier to concentrate on compression that way, and how the drums complimented the mix otherwise without paying as much attention to the kick.

Listening again this morning on my monitors, I have the same opinion as you, I now prefer B than C. B seems to keep the transient a bit better than C.

D works good on the slow parts but I don't like it on fast parts. D would be great for a doom band or something a music style more ''dirty''because of that snare decay. I think this style calls for a more polished and ''articial'' sound.

 

[462studio]

D works good on the slow parts but I don't like it on fast parts. D would be great for a doom band or something a music style more ''dirty''because of that snare decay. I think this style calls for a more polished and ''articial'' sound.

I'll add, I didn't pick D because I thought it worked best for this material or sounded the best. I picked D because I think it would have the best potential if it were on the project sitting in front of me and would be the right starting point.

 

[greyskull]

snare on d has the most 'spread' and body. Thats my favourite.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

from the first very brief listen D wins by a mile.
B has the "pop" I associate with SSL but it's somewhat tubby.
A sucks balls.

 

[guitarguru777]

Voted C as the snare seems a lot tighter and that's just my personal preference. The snare in D just gets to big imho, but the kicks sound great. The snare just seems too loose in the faster sections with D and in the slower section its about right, but still to big imho. In C it seemed to work in both the faster and slower sections better.

So C for snare and D for kicks

EDIT: (god i need to think through things before hitting "post" ...lol) A B and C also sound similar to one another while D is the most distinct of the bunch as far as the snare goes.

 

[lolzgreg]

D is definitely doing it for me.

 

[mr.L.]

Voted C as the snare seems a lot tighter and that's just my personal preference. The snare in D just gets to big imho, but the kicks sound great. The snare just seems too loose in the faster sections with D and in the slower section its about right, but still to big imho. In C it seemed to work in both the faster and slower sections better.

So C for snare and D for kicks

+1

Really interested in the results. C and D both sounded very good to me.

 

[AllanD]

The snare POPS on B, damn it sounds good.

 

[Boerboel666]

A . for me weakest of the four
B&C . similar , started of liking C but came around to B (better snare) think I prefer kick on C.
D . I like very pokey and powerful , overpowers the mix in places though.

Vote B suits this mix best .

 

[-Noodles-]

For me, D is the best for kick and snare.

D had the best frequency width between the snare and kick - followed by C.
A and B I struggled to really pick out each "note" on the kick and snare, whereas C had a much larger sounding snare but ate into the kick.

Good test though.

 

[kev]

Im gonna a do a gear slutz, the dbx is definitely D!!! I have millions of pounds in rack compressors and its definitely D!
In all seriousness,

My rank would go:

D (By a metric tonne)
B
C
A

Now dude, please tell me D is a plugin and I will sleep well for many moons haha. Comparing D with A again now and its like night and day. I hope im not getting confused by any great volume fluctuation though!

(I've a sinister feeling this is going to be Ermin inspired dbx GAS for all )

 

[El_Gato]

D at 1st listen.

 

[Mesa4x12er]

I think overall I like the kick on B the best and snare on D the best. A sounded like it had the most body (almost tubby compared to all the others) and not very punchy. B immediately caught me with the kicks because they were still full but really quick in comparison to A. I like the snare on B but I wanted a little more snap/crakc out of it. C reminded me of B in character but I didn't like it as much as B. D the kick also sounds nice but not as quick and punchy as B which I dig for this stuff. The snare was my favorite as it still has good body but had more of the snap and top end I was wanting to hear. Here's hoping B and D are plugins!

 

[Joematthews]

D for sure, I felt C worked best on the fast stuff but left the snare a bit sharp and thin sounding on the rest.

 

[Kazrog]

I definitely prefer D here. However, I think all of these sound acceptable, especially with some simple fader automation in some places.

 

[Ermz]

More or less with Shane on the 'all of these sound acceptable' thing. I just love compression, and it's interesting to hear all the different flavors. There is one there that I originally 'built' the mix with, so I'm pre-disposed to liking it, as it retains the integrity of the drums as I intended, but I also like how they come up through the other comps. I think you guys will be very interested at the reveal, I'm getting a bit antsy!

Not going to vote here myself because I'm obviously biased, knowing what each is. The verdict is down to you guys, though it seems one is already winning by a landslide...

 

[HandsOfDespair]

I think you guys will be very interested at the reveal, I'm getting a bit antsy!

 

[MetalSound]

don´t like the snare on D. at least on my small pc speakers.

 

[Boerboel666]

Curious ?

 

[Soundlurker]

Time to post these