Clean analogue compression...

[Chris Bauer]

Hello Barry,

I had similar thoughts to you, so I decided to give the FCS P3S ME a go. For whatever reason I got on with it very well right from the start and I decided to keep it. In fact, I would not want to work without it now. It gives me the kind of compression I am looking for with minimal effort. Press a few buttons, turn a few knobs, listen, compare and Bob's your uncle.

There is no doubt that plug-ins have their uses, but for compression tasks I normally get better results with hardware. The downside is the significantly higher overall cost and repeatability compared with software. However, ultimately those are factors which pale into insignificance once you have found a tool you can work with well and which produces the kind of results your clients are happy to pay for.

Best regards

[octave]

i second the remarks on the fcs p3s ME. great piece of gear, has prooved to be a good investment so far.

[yeloocproducer]

The Foote, as mentioned, has proven to be the most transparent compressor I've tried out of STC8, MLA2, and P3S ME (the ones that are known for being transparent). Great piece, +1.

[JP__]

Can recommend ADT Audio. Their products are special.
They have the expensive V700 series with a lot of very interesting modules. Quality is top notch.
And they have the cheaper toolmod series with also very good quality. They have a lot of new modules that are not mentioned on their website yet. And a bunch of other modules will come soon.

Dynamic wise they (will) have for example: VCA-Comps, MS-Comps, Limiter, upward-comp, Decompressor... All with complete parameterset.
Also Tape-Sims, Saturators, a lot of EQs and phase-tools...

Worth a look!

[SASMastering]

Thanks Chris for your input. I was rather hoping for some personal answers on why clean compression has a basis at all in mastering from other mastering engineers, not recommendations for specific products. FWIW I actually preferred the before samples with regard to the Foote, the example did not even need compressing. Not that one sample is a good way to make a choice. It also has robust competition in Europe at it's price. Just wanted to hear some reasoning for specific use of analogue clean compression at minimal GR.

[RogerFoote]

Originally Posted by SASMastering

FWIW I actually preferred the before samples with regard to the Foote, the example did not even need compressing. Not that one sample is a good way to make a choice.

Please forgive the intrusion,

I was just wondering which sample those were?

Thanks!
Roger

[bendermastering]

Try and demo the elysia Xpressor, it does clean very well!

[inflater]

Originally Posted by SASMastering

I am in 2 minds about 'clean/uncoloured' analogue compressors, why do you use an analogue one ?

I am trying to work out what the benefit over a good plug in is, bearing in mind the tasks at hand in mastering rarely need a dB or 2 off. I have 2 compressors capable of colouration and I am considering my 3rd, clean or coloured is the question.

Of course the gain reduction is one thing and the basic pass through another.

I appreciate the definition of clean is debatable and that most equipment even that considered clean can add or take something away as it's character. And of course it is part of an overall chain (though the actual contribution of a clean compressor is the subject of the debate) I am interested in your take on why the analogue counterpart is superior in mastering.

cheers

I do have a very clean master chain,I use an MLA3,Museq,Xpressor,Phoenix, and the reason why I choose thorse machines is because I found clean analogue more easy to incorporate in a master chain.
Coloration can sometime be difficult to manage,what I mean is,I receive a lot of tracks with far to much bottom end and if all my gears had a transformer in them it will be difficult to manage.
Also I use clean gears because they don't slow the transiens down, and for the music I master (Electronic dance) it's great.
I prefer clean analogue to plugins cause of the power that it deliver,for example the museq as powerfull bass and high no plug can do what it does,and its the same with the MLA3
Saying that I do miss some sweetness in my chain, but I don't know yet what gear to had.

[SASMastering]

Hi Roger, I am only aware on 1 set files and it's on the original thread on this forum. Hi inflator sounds cool, you know what you want and thats a good place to be and I think I might understand where you are coming from, clean but it does not lose anything including 'weight'. I am looking for a range of options and as one expands you tend to become more and more discerning and wish to fill potential gaps in flavour. I am just wondering if clean analogue compression can be money ill spent these days. In any event something nice is gonna be added to the rack in the not too distant but I am just weighing up options, no rush really but every decision counts. In any event it's got to be fast but it might be coloured or otherwise

[Joelistics]

Most transparent analog compressors weren't really for me but there are a few that just offer something very different to digital. I have a matched set of NTPs that just do something AMAZING on the drum bus (and in rare cases in mastering). Very punchy and lively sounding.. Man it's hard to put into words... Maybe it's the fact that they let more transients through than digital compressors.. I don't really know tbh, you should try a few different ones and see for yourself..

I do see where you are coming from with this dilemma/question.. I mostly use colored compressors (when I do use them) in mastering..

[wado1942]

I'll say from experience that until recently, plugin compressors SUCKED! I mean, they SUCKED... at least, all the ones I've tried did (dozens)! That was reason enough to stay with analogue a few years ago. While there's now plenty of decent options, there's still the fact that analogue compressors won't add alias distortion, but plugin types still do. It may be small if you watch your settings and use higher sample rates (or if they're oversampling plugins), but it's still there. I'll take a little bit of noise over a little bit of aliasing any day.

[SASMastering]

With the 'clean' software I use I only ever hear improvements and they are always in OS mode (many are by default these days). I think the aliasing thing is over egged a little, there are cheap software compressors which are exemplary in this regard. You have to remember that the THD will likely go up using analogue compressors too.

Well I appreciate the responses and I will ponder further. There are a few boxes in the running.

[polybonk]

Clean analogue "feels" different. I am yet to hear a software compressor that even comes close to what the Alpha can do for example. I am convinced there is something going on in the nonlinear reaction to electrical energy that imparts a different feeling or quality to the transient front edge.

There is something going on in high end analogue compression that is far more powerful than just rendering digital signal at a lower volume level.

IMHO this is money well spent at the mastering stage.