Hopefully, this will allow you to focus on the character and tone of the sound rather than just any hike in the overall volume.įinally, these are obviously limited tests, and utterly subjective, but I always find these kinds of comparisons interesting and intriguing nonetheless. One further, but important, point to note is this: our ears and brains typically perceive ‘louder’ as ‘better’, so having dialled in my key compression settings, I’ve done the best I can to match the overall level (volume) via the make-up gain controls on offer. Other developers make very worthy emulations too, but as I know these ones particularly well it made sense for me to use them here.įor each of the four solo instruments (drums, bass, guitar and vocals), one audio example is based around some gentle compression settings, while a second pushed each compressor plug-in harder so you might hear the ‘character’ more, but without getting into ‘special effect’ or ‘deliberately crushed’ territory. These include three from Cubase itself (Compressor, Vintage Compressor and Tube Compressor) and two from Waves (CLA-76 and CLA-2A). To keep things simple, I’ve used a number of individual instrument sources and, in each case, processed them using five different plug-in compressors.
I will explain something about the results here, of course, but perhaps the best thing if for you to judge this having heard the results - with that in mind, I’ve created eight audio examples for you to audition (you can download the Zip file in the righthand sidebar of this article). Not being lucky enough to possess either of the hardware units, I compared these two stock compressors with some other plug-in emulations performing a range of typical ‘we want character’ compression tasks. While it’s not a slavish emulation, the Tube Compressor draws inspiration from the Urei Teletronix LA-2A. These are echoed by the Tube Compressor’s input and output controls, but there’s also a Drive control, which gives the user separate control over the amount of emulated tube saturation. In the LA-2A, the Peak Reduction control governs how hard the compressor is driven and the gain knob provides make-up gain adjustment. Cubase’s Tube Compressor mimics both the fixed compression ratio and the limiting option, but it also offers a useful side-chain feature, and attack, release and mix controls, which aren’t found on the hardware. The hardware has a very minimalist control set, with a fixed compression ratio (around 3:1) or a ‘limiting’ mode (a much higher ratio). The LA-2A heritage of the Tube Compressor plug-in is a little less obvious.
Steinberg’s Vintage Compressor, inspired by the classic UREI 1176. The attack, release and output (make-up gain) controls do exactly what you’d expect on any compressor, but the rest of the control set is akin to the 1176: you get a choice of four fixed compression ratios and an input control that adjusts how hard (or not) the audio hits the compressor against a fixed threshold.
The 1176 homage is plain to see in the Vintage Compressor. They’re certainly decent enough to use in a mix, but how do they fare when compared with paid options from third-party developers? Classic Compressors Various plug-in developers have spent a lot of time trying to emulate some of these more esoteric hardware designs, with varying degrees of success, but what about the compressors bundled within Cubase? Can any of them do ‘character’?īack in the day, Cubase’s stock plug-ins (and, indeed, those of many other DAWs) were perhaps best described as ‘vanilla’, but in later versions, Cubase has gained a couple of more characterful compressors: the Vintage Compressor, which is broadly speaking (they’re not intended as out-and-out clones) a Urei 1176 emulation, and the Tube Compressor, based on the UREI Teletronix LA-2A. Partly that’s due to their attack and release behaviour, but it’s also due to the attractive-sounding harmonic distortions they add.
Perhaps it’s not the most characterful software compressor, but it’s perfectly capable for routine gain-reduction tasks.Ĭan you do ‘character’ compression with Cubase’s stock plug-ins? Let's find out.Ĭompression is one of the most important processes when constructing a mix, but while control over the dynamic range of a sound lies at the heart of all compressors, many hardware units have reached ‘classic’ status more due to the way they add a certain character to the sound.