SSL compressor shootout!

[aramism]

waves ssl g series buss comp. vs. ssl fx g384 "greyface" hardware buss comp.

i always hate when i was on the other side of these blind shootouts but now it's my chance to hopefully throw some people off. once the compressors are revealed i can discuss my thoughts on them because there are some noticeable differences. about the technicalities, this was summed in analog and recorded with x series apogee converters. these are just some incomplete parts of a mix i was working on. lead vox and some other instruments are missing. the mix was started before i purchased the 384 with compression on the mix buss from the start but with the waves. these are wav files i uploaded to soudcloud.

i did my best to match levels and sound. they are set nearly identical with threshold and makeup gain. ratio is 4.1, 30ms attack, auto release on both.

with the almost same meter movement and virtually identical threshold setting there is a drastic difference in the sound and the amount of compression. on the most active parts there is about 6.5db peak compression and the average on kick and snare hits the meter is hitting 4.5db approx gr.

again, i did my best to match them as closely as possible. took me a little while. also did the same test with other mixes and sources and had the same differences in reactions where it was difficult to really match them exactly.


you guys can be the judge


waves vs. hardware

[scruffydog]

yawn....do excuse me....

[yotonic]

A is the hardware.

[Michael E]

MIX A - hardware
MIX B - sounds like a monday morning after booze party

[Aaron Rash]

A is without a doubt the hardware, B sounds thin

[John Paul]

The output levels don't sound matched at all. B is much lower in output. It's mismatch even if the settings are exact. The real SSL compressor could be B the listener can't tell the output is so much lower. The lower output lacks the definition needed to distinguish the two.

[kaiO]

B is more compressed?

[Beyersound]

B is just plain cloudy, murky, dull, yuck................

[Sotsirc]

A all the way

[yerusalan]

I like A better

[ghostwriter]

It sounds to me like B is the hardware compressor being driven too hard.

Yes, A sounds better, but....

[aramism]

ok so here is the deal... A is waves. B is the hardware.

shocked? there's a reason. i wrote an email to someone so will just copy and paste it:


"ok so here's the deal. i did this version of the shootout as an "apples to apples" technical comparison. this song was mixed initially with the waves compressor.

so i set the hardware ssl to match the obvious (ratio, attack, release) but this is where the similarities ended.

at the same threshold level, and the same GR level on the meter, they sound different. what you are hearing is like 99% matched with the meter and the threshold. however the "B" is more squashed thus the transients are not as slappy or bright. in order to achieve the same level of transients on the hardware i'd have to back down quite a bit where it is no longer a 1:1 settings comparison. so in order to keep it to a true apples to apples i allowed this differential to occur.

the conclusion drawn is that the hardware ssl is more sensitive. however something interesting happened. by pushing the waves harder to get this level of squashing, the mix broke apart more and sounded less pleasing than the hardware in version "b".

however, by backing down on the threshold a bit and allowing those transients to pop through on the hardware, it kicks the waves ass lol.

even in these versions as they are, you can hear how the hardware is a bit darker, has a more crunchy vibe to it, more even and open through the midrange, and allows SIGNIFICANTLY more low end to pass, and this is at all levels of compression.. more, less, and equal.

i will post this same clip but with backed down compression on the hardware to match the sound and by matching transient response the whole mix will sound much better.

again, this shootout was not a 1:1 sound comparison. it was 1:1 setings. but same settings do not yield the same sound."



so i basically backed off on the hardware comp so that it sounds more similar to the plug in but shows a little less compression on the meter:

Hardware mix2 by studiosixsound on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

as you can see. the transients are more similar now but the hardware still sounds slightly different. to me, i like it more, it's much more stable and balanced, a bit "warmer" and also the low end passes A LOT (like a lot a lot) more so the mix is much fatter. keep in mind this song was mixed a few years ago (never 100% finished for varying reasons) with the plug in. on newer stuff i can hear the value of my investment with the hardware much more as i usually mix through the compressor.


just for shits and giggles, here is the whole song passed through the hardware:

Mahavatar - Broken Wing (MIX IN PROGRESS) by studiosixsound on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


ps: i never got to finishing this because there were a few bad vocal lines, and i didn't finish some automation, effects, and makes the kick a bit brighter. the kick mic i think was an LDC like a foot away lol.
__________________

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by aramism

ok so here is the deal... A is waves. B is the hardware.

shocked? there's a reason. i wrote an email to someone so will just copy and paste it:


"ok so here's the deal. i did this version of the shootout as an "apples to apples" technical comparison. this song was mixed initially with the waves compressor.

so i set the hardware ssl to match the obvious (ratio, attack, release) but this is where the similarities ended.

at the same threshold level, and the same GR level on the meter, they sound different. what you are hearing is like 99% matched with the meter and the threshold. however the "B" is more squashed thus the transients are not as slappy or bright. in order to achieve the same level of transients on the hardware i'd have to back down quite a bit where it is no longer a 1:1 settings comparison. so in order to keep it to a true apples to apples i allowed this differential to occur.

the conclusion drawn is that the hardware ssl is more sensitive. however something interesting happened. by pushing the waves harder to get this level of squashing, the mix broke apart more and sounded less pleasing than the hardware in version "b".

however, by backing down on the threshold a bit and allowing those transients to pop through on the hardware, it kicks the waves ass lol.

even in these versions as they are, you can hear how the hardware is a bit darker, has a more crunchy vibe to it, more even and open through the midrange, and allows SIGNIFICANTLY more low end to pass, and this is at all levels of compression.. more, less, and equal.

i will post this same clip but with backed down compression on the hardware to match the sound and by matching transient response the whole mix will sound much better.

again, this shootout was not a 1:1 sound comparison. it was 1:1 setings. but same settings do not yield the same sound."



so i basically backed off on the hardware comp so that it sounds more similar to the plug in but shows a little less compression on the meter:

Hardware mix2 by studiosixsound on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

as you can see. the transients are more similar now but the hardware still sounds slightly different. to me, i like it more, it's much more stable and balanced, a bit "warmer" and also the low end passes A LOT (like a lot a lot) more so the mix is much fatter. keep in mind this song was mixed a few years ago (never 100% finished for varying reasons) with the plug in. on newer stuff i can hear the value of my investment with the hardware much more as i usually mix through the compressor.


just for shits and giggles, here is the whole song passed through the hardware:

Mahavatar - Broken Wing (MIX IN PROGRESS) by studiosixsound on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


ps: i never got to finishing this because there were a few bad vocal lines, and i didn't finish some automation, effects, and makes the kick a bit brighter. the kick mic i think was an LDC like a foot away lol.
__________________

Wow, the snare really comes to life in "Hardware mix 2", there is also a lot more 3d "air" around it. Nice one. The meters on the hardware don't always tell the true story.

[TranscendingM]

The 384 inherently is a darker, "browner" compressor. It has for lack of a better word a vintage vibe to it where as the G is that modern exciting "silvery" sound () lol I like to use colors to describe sound.

[kraku]

Originally Posted by TranscendingM

The 384 inherently is a darker, "browner" compressor. It has for lack of a better word a vintage vibe to it where as the G is that modern exciting "silvery" sound () lol I like to use colors to describe sound.

Synesthesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TranscendingM]

Originally Posted by kraku

Synesthesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Haha yea definitely interesting stuff but I don't think I have that condition. In other words it's not like I'm inundated with colors any time there's a sound or frequency present. It's more that if I focus on a sound and I want to keep a mental grasp of it, I'll use colors as a mental visual tool by how that sound invokes a particular color to me. Who knows though may be that's some form of it