in order , i like: 1. acoustica : most realistic saturation etc 2. slate : very good overall 3. t-racks: solid but less 4. klive: a little flat thanks! I hope u do more reviews and use the span to compare the frequencies.
The Xtressor is a fantastic clone, and also the Arousor from the OG's themselves Empirical Labs. Not sure why you didn't include that one (Emp. Labs) in the demo instead of the Fatso clone, which is a VERY different type of compressor. Just an FYI for anyone using this type of compressor, you WANT to slam it, like the meter should be going into the yellow / almost red. Its designed to slam things and give that punch, and with the plugins now you have a mix knob so you can SLAM IT and then mix back the dry signal for easy paralllel punch. Can still sound good doing just light compression but dont be scared to push this sucker.
Good video!! And I'd say that having 2 or a few of these versions is useful, because they are in a certain effect 'family', even if they sound a bit different than one another. These days, I use plugins like synth 'patches', not only because I have so many but because of their useful differences. 🙂
The Acustica example is a Fatso, not a Distressor. IK Comprexxor smeared the transients, you need to adjust the A/R perhaps. Slate sounded good with transients but Kiive Xtressor did that plus brought more ambience to the table in Distressor rock style. Thanks for showing the harmonic profile of each plugin !
yes but the kiive as well has the tape head that the Fatso has. but totally agree with you. I will try to continue showing the harmonics plus EQ curves to see that move that this harmonics made to the spectrum.
yes you are right is what I discuss in some of the comments below. but the kiive as well has the saturation part that is why I integarated this one. really appreciate your comment thanks.
@@chrisaudio Oh no worries. Just had a chance to use both, and they are apples and oranges, to start with, Fatso is stereo by design, I think it is FET while Distressor is VCA, has a lots of different colour and possibly more limited application. I love both but again, very very different, so it beats the purpose to compare details in different emulations, when one is clearly modeled according to the different circuitary etc.
@@chrisaudio Oh definitelly I prefer Distressor, simply because I used it more often and the applications are endless. I have a few tracks though that really sparked up because of Fatso. both are great compressors and would work well on almost everything, but Distressor has that quality i can't even put into words. I used Fatso once in a most crazy way possible, on a movie ADT post. What started as a joke almost ended up with an amazing enhancement to the ADT. But I wouldn't normally do it :) My fav compressor is Tubetech though.
Span is free. Why vol. ducking due to demo? I highly doubt the settings on each plugin bcz drums were way different for each developer. Totally different outputs
because by mistake I got the span plus and it says that one is not free. talking about the outputs I calibrated the plugins to unity gain at -18DBFS as I showed, attack4, release 1 for drums 6db GR. and that is why I always left the VU meter each test. thanks for the comment.
@@chrisaudio actually, i know you kept the output compensated so that actual compressor tone can be monitored. but i was saying that in drums the settings seems different on each compressor because some a extremely squashed and characterful while some are soft/less
@@gangsterdistrict1154 yes I notice that but they were all at the same settings. my thoughts are maybe even they have the same attack and release settings they take different the transients.
@@chrisaudio then thats really a question mark. Who emulated hardware correctly There can be minor and subtle differences in actual analog hardware but this is totally different.
kida a mixed bag. I think Ik does everything just fine, sometimes the neb is to much punch on drums, mix bus neb was the best I thought. Slate was good, and KIIVE was coolest tone, but also sounded like it broke the depth of the master. maybe to much saturation in that one
Your missing the point with acustica stuff as they are sampled not just pretty curves hence why they will be close to the actual hardware sound than pure DSP plugs attempting to emulate analogue gear.
The kiive audio has nothing to do with the distressor, sounds like a simple compressor you can build from the example library "how to build a comp". The best is the slate, comes very close to the original. But I miss the arousor plugin in your test.
T-racks sounds the most analog & natural, honestly.
Would love to see update with softube and arousor
in order , i like:
1. acoustica : most realistic saturation etc
2. slate : very good overall
3. t-racks: solid but less
4. klive: a little flat
thanks!
I hope u do more reviews and use the span to compare the frequencies.
The Xtressor is a fantastic clone, and also the Arousor from the OG's themselves Empirical Labs. Not sure why you didn't include that one (Emp. Labs) in the demo instead of the Fatso clone, which is a VERY different type of compressor.
Just an FYI for anyone using this type of compressor, you WANT to slam it, like the meter should be going into the yellow / almost red. Its designed to slam things and give that punch, and with the plugins now you have a mix knob so you can SLAM IT and then mix back the dry signal for easy paralllel punch.
Can still sound good doing just light compression but dont be scared to push this sucker.
The AlexB Fa-Tzu is a completely different unit, Fatso not a Distressor at all. Sounds completely different too
The T-Racks sounded closest to a real unit ✌
Good video!! And I'd say that having 2 or a few of these versions is useful, because they are in a certain effect 'family', even if they sound a bit different than one another. These days, I use plugins like synth 'patches', not only because I have so many but because of their useful differences. 🙂
The Acustica example is a Fatso, not a Distressor. IK Comprexxor smeared the transients, you need to adjust the A/R perhaps. Slate sounded good with transients but Kiive Xtressor did that plus brought more ambience to the table in Distressor rock style. Thanks for showing the harmonic profile of each plugin !
yes but the kiive as well has the tape head that the Fatso has. but totally agree with you. I will try to continue showing the harmonics plus EQ curves to see that move that this harmonics made to the spectrum.
Amazing, So many good points !
Who mixed this song. I would like a mix breakdown
Hi thanks for your comment, which of the 2 mixes? the Rnb or the pop/rock? I mixed both.
Mate, Fatso and Distressor are two very different units.
yes you are right is what I discuss in some of the comments below. but the kiive as well has the saturation part that is why I integarated this one.
really appreciate your comment thanks.
@@chrisaudio Oh no worries. Just had a chance to use both, and they are apples and oranges, to start with, Fatso is stereo by design, I think it is FET while Distressor is VCA, has a lots of different colour and possibly more limited application. I love both but again, very very different, so it beats the purpose to compare details in different emulations, when one is clearly modeled according to the different circuitary etc.
@@earlsfield but for your taste which one did you like more?
@@chrisaudio Oh definitelly I prefer Distressor, simply because I used it more often and the applications are endless. I have a few tracks though that really sparked up because of Fatso. both are great compressors and would work well on almost everything, but Distressor has that quality i can't even put into words. I used Fatso once in a most crazy way possible, on a movie ADT post. What started as a joke almost ended up with an amazing enhancement to the ADT. But I wouldn't normally do it :) My fav compressor is Tubetech though.
Kiive
Kiieve Xtressor all the way to the bank best clone plugin it beats the arouser, t-racks, and slate digital
Span is free. Why vol. ducking due to demo?
I highly doubt the settings on each plugin bcz drums were way different for each developer. Totally different outputs
because by mistake I got the span plus and it says that one is not free. talking about the outputs I calibrated the plugins to unity gain at -18DBFS as I showed, attack4, release 1 for drums 6db GR. and that is why I always left the VU meter each test.
thanks for the comment.
@@chrisaudio actually, i know you kept the output compensated so that actual compressor tone can be monitored. but i was saying that in drums the settings seems different on each compressor because some a extremely squashed and characterful while some are soft/less
@@gangsterdistrict1154 yes I notice that but they were all at the same settings. my thoughts are maybe even they have the same attack and release settings they take different the transients.
@@chrisaudio then thats really a question mark. Who emulated hardware correctly
There can be minor and subtle differences in actual analog hardware but this is totally different.
@@gangsterdistrict1154 I totally understand your point, taking all this in mind if you only could have 1 of them, which would be your first option?
kida a mixed bag. I think Ik does everything just fine, sometimes the neb is to much punch on drums, mix bus neb was the best I thought. Slate was good, and KIIVE was coolest tone, but also sounded like it broke the depth of the master. maybe to much saturation in that one
Your missing the point with acustica stuff as they are sampled not just pretty curves hence why they will be close to the actual hardware sound than pure DSP plugs attempting to emulate analogue gear.
The kiive audio is best, less articulation, subtle colour
The kiive audio has nothing to do with the distressor, sounds like a simple compressor you can build from the example library "how to build a comp". The best is the slate, comes very close to the original. But I miss the arousor plugin in your test.
wtf are you talking about the Xtressor is an amazing Distressor clone lmao, ugh some people. slate is the new Waves...