Are Compressor Plugins a Scam? (Part 1/3)

[@APMastering]

As per the title, this is PART ONE. This is just the intentionally conspiratorial/dramatic/entertaining warm up video, intended to follow on from my EQ series in which countless people requested a "compressor scam" follow up. Audio examples, discussion of saturation and typologies (the heart of the discussion) are all to be found in PART TWO. The results to the blind ABs from part two are in PART THREE. If you only watch the first 10 seconds of part 1 before leaving an outraged comment, you completely miss the point of the video series and are likely arguing with nobody.. Comments like "u stoopid cuz saturation" and "dude trusts a line more than his ears" all completely fail to engage with the substance of this discussion on compression, as these things are all discussed in part 2, here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5LNYoqpgL19iKM

[@Comprendre.vst3]

Get the full featured compressor you were looking for, even with an analyze capability to do what was needed in this video.

[@survivorisland]

Fact: My advice to the novice and intermediate users of software "mastering" tools, from someone with 35 years of audio engineering and mastering, Software compressors are destructive, reducing dynamics in a limited digital realm, eating up bit depth, and losing definition. Rules about Software Compressors: 1. No point using them on acoustic, real-world instruments. In this case, you should be using analog gear before digital sampling. Software Compressors will reduce the depth of your analog sounds (guitars, drums, vocals, anything used for the purpose of Music or Motion Picture. SO DON'T USE IT) 2. Software Compressors are fine for simple digital production, like Podcasts, Radio Shows, and things not related to high-fidelity music or cinema. 3. Software Compressors are not needed for synthesizers AT ALL. If you want to fatten up your bass or punch in the synth, you need to tweak the amp envelopes. Remember, a good mix is balanced without touching a compressor at all. 4. Software Compressors are handy for sidechain compression, often very useful for talk shows, live speeches, or as an extra effect known as "ducking," which involves using one signal to reduce the signal of another channel. --- Hardware, Analog Compressors: 1. Ideal for all music and cinema-related tracking and mastering. 2. When tracking, a Compressor could be used slightly to boost the gain of a signal but not to compress it to death before it hits the tape or the hard drive. First rule again, always make sure your mix sounds good with simple volume & EQ'ing. Remember, the compressor was initially invented for balancing an instrument (a real-world instrument) volume throughout a track. The method is based on increasing the gain but stopping the highest peaks from "red-lining." 3. For hi-def electronic music, bussing your tracks through an external analog compressor can add color, punch, and depth while aliasing the bits in the depth field for natural, "rounded corners," also known as analog dithering. The Conclusion: Software compressors are only suitable for podcasts, KZbin videos, or things not related to hi-def music and cinema production. While you can get away with it, be aware that you are "destroying bit depth" (losing the definition of your sound). Never, EVER run a vocal, guitar, or any instrument through a software compressor unless you don't really care about your music having any depth. Go buy the cheapest stereo tube or solid-state preamp with a basic compressor simply to get a hotter signal. If you get one that has a shelving EQ, then you can use it for mastering to splice the highs, mids, and lows for specific compression of the frequency ranges, merge them back together, and dephase them. --- My personal trick for natural compression, mixing, and panning is using a convolution reverb like Altiverb that allows for the 3D placement of tracks onto a stage or setting. The depth of field from the sound source to the virtual microphone provides the closest form of natural compression without losing the loudest parts of a song that are necessary for full-range depth. This provides a 3-dimensional colorization of your mix in a digital realm that is more realistic than any other software. Understand the simple fact: Air and the spaces (room, venues, locations) have their own natural compression to sound wave dynamics.

[@survivorisland]

Audio Ease Altiverb 8 XL

[@APMastering]

@@survivorisland i just disagree. software compressors can have vastly superior dynamic range. johnson noise limits DR to around 100db. with digital your DR can be larger than you can imagine

[@Whiteseastudio]

I love this! Comparing (and debunking) compressor plugins has been super challenging! I really appreciate the effort you put into this!

[@APMastering]

thanks for watching! have seen a fair few of your vids too and appreciate your work!

[@blimey48]

Why? Do you believe there is some kind of conspiracy behind it all?! 😂

[@hanakejason]

Lesson: Keep gear basic. Focus on song-writing

[@APMastering]

YES

[@tonyrapa-tonyrapa]

I agree to for the most part but good mixing and production play their part too. I think the point of this video is that you don't need to pay large sums of money on your gear and you certainly don't need to keep buying the latest whatever.

[@rmselector]

💯

[@MajestyStudioPro]

Just invest in hardware. You need a good mic and guitar with a good interface to record and oh don't forget the pc or better still just a mixer. That should do it.

[@MichaelForbes-d4p]

I think the truest wisdom is that producing, engineering, songwriting, and arranging are all art forms in their own way. The best results will always come from a team of experts. I produce and mix all my own stuff and I see exactly where I could do more if I had the time.

[@joeldollie5826]

As a plugin dev currently building a compressor I think you're oversimplifying a bit. Looks like you're mostly trying to match with some impulse response but there are so many variables, and many ways to code program dependency for example. (as I'm sure you're aware). Saturation aside (which is also a big one). RMS window and its length, peak vs rms compression, hybrid of the two with different weight, most of the sound of a compressor will depend on how that's implemented. If you decide to have two compressors in a row internally that will also change the character I don't feel like you can judge that with one impulse.

[@drrodopszin]

Good luck with your efforts! If you are looking for inspiration I recommend watching a couple of Dan Worrall's latest videos when he talks about suggestions for the compressors (mix knobs, ratios, etc.).

[@whawha9016]

He was specifically referring to analog emulation compressors, which also tend to model the harmonic distortion / saturation stages of their analog counterparts. Matching the gain reduction for one static signal is one thing, but recreating the "box tone" of the device is an entirely different endeavour!

[@APMastering]

sure you can do whatever you want. my plug has no rms or impulse based stuff. it's literally just a straight peak comp. i'm just modifying the gain reduction curvature mathematically. im not trying to clone, just achieve the same attack character and those 3 modifiers (convexity, inertia and feedback) get me pretty close to all the classic types

[@danivalles7638]

@@APMastering If after matching those curves you try a null test it will probably show that there is something more going on.

[@APMastering]

@@danivalles7638 100%, stay tuned for the next video (3 parts)

[@thevi_olin]

Please, i have no talent, but i prefer to believe its because i haven’t found my magic compressor. I like fancy marketing, fancy gui’s and newer means better. I am a plugin collector, and enjoy it. Let me spend my money o the newest compressor plugin without regret. So please, just use unbiased affiliate links and sponsored content and get in line. Thanks in advance!

[@APMastering]

thanks for the advice. i guess i should also do biased product reviews for stuff in my affiliate stores and cash a 6% commission on every sale of a $10k shadow hills unit. i do sell courses but i'm extremely transparent and up front about that

[@pupai89]

People do worse for happiness ..like marriage etc 😂

[@Zer0Spinn]

Money? do vsts cost... real money? 😮

[@mark-yj5sg]

@@Zer0Spinn Digital facsimiles of real gear (VSTs) can be bought with digital money (credit cards) Q. What is real money?

[@APMastering]

@@mark-yj5sg real money is tangible commodities like gold, wheat and real estate.

[@N8oRMusic]

Can't help but to keep going back to the stock Logic compressor.

[@heerobigby]

its all I use and all I need lol

[@onteraction8294]

Funny you say that. I thought maybe cause I’ve used it before all these modelled plugins came out. After trying and loving so many new ones I can’t help but revert back to logic compressor to get the job done. I use the first setting that comes up, adjust to task, done. And it does sound better than many others.

[@AndrewYac]

Same but with Maximus or OTT

[@N8oRMusic]

@@onteraction8294 exactly

[@ronallen2458]

9 times out of 10 - same here

[@drrodopszin]

Someone please summon Dan Worrall here, he's no bullshit.

[@errmable]

Why? Dan Worrall isn’t selling you these plug-ins, the manufacturers are and it’s for them to convince you to buy it. If you don't trust what he's sying then continue spending your money and move on.

[@drrodopszin]

@@errmable You assumed a bit too much out of thin air. I was curious on Dan's opinion about a) if really the curve is the only important part of a compressor or these emulations have some non-linearity in them that would mean, say, different level of harmonics appearing at different levels and b) if it is really cannot be null-tested (or nullish test it, when the difference is inaudible or doesn't matter in a mix) and c) he usually is quite skeptic with plugins, and what is his opinion on this plugin, d) he usually has great suggestions regarding UI functions.

[@AdamsOlympia]

​@@errmable It's not disrespectful to want to hear other experts chime in on the guys methodology. He even sounds like the type who'd welcome having his work put to the test of peer review. It's part and parcel to the scientific method, after all!

[@APMastering]

FWIW i'd love dan to peer review this. to be clear, i don't think my plug is the best comp on the planet, i'm just a dude who spent a few days writing a plug, a mature software company could take my ideas and make a better plug in every imaginable way. also, i'm deliberately excluding the saturation discussion, that's the elephant in the room but i'll address it in my next video

[@LEVRAN]

​@@APMasteringpls do! Because i thought it all that matters

[@APMastering]

windows version of APComp is now up. WINDOWS USERS PLEASE NOTE! if you get instant crashes when trying to load the plugin, your computer might be missing the c++ system files. You need to install "Latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Version" learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170 Since I dont know which computer you have, I can't say which exact download you need but there's only 3 possible choices. This is only in the case that you are: 1. running windows 2. get instant crashes when opening the plug or the plugin doesn't even come up after you have made sure it is in the correct folder

[@davidasher22]

whats the chance of getting the CompView as an AU?

[@APMastering]

I can compile that for you now. check the google drive link in half hour

[@APMastering]

done it. Should be there now. send me an email if its not working for you

[@nicholascastucci4547]

Quickly becoming my favorite audio engineering KZbinr next to Dan.

[@ileryon4019]

bro your so talented 🤟👿​@@APMastering

[@DmitryPuffin]

Wow, amazing work. I was also analyzing my compressor plugin collection and found out that I can stick Ableton's stock compressors and not caring about anything else.

[@JJaxxon]

The glue compressor is also pretty good and easy to use

[@DmitryPuffin]

@@JJaxxon I said compressors because I meant all 3 - Compressor, Glue and Multiband :) They are extremely good, and I am waiting for 12.1 release (not beta), to get my hands on updated limiter.

[@JJaxxon]

@@DmitryPuffin didnt read that well

[@KeenanCrow]

You got bonked on the last one because your nulls weren’t actually nulls. Now you’re trying to convince us that just because the gain reduction responses are the same that it’s somehow a scam. Didn’t even compare harmonic distortion, and noted in the video that workflow and feature sets are all radically different. I agree with you in principal, that compression is compression, but I think pitching it as a “scam” is inaccurate. That said, love the free comp! It’s cool! I will be using it for sure! And the fact that you programmed an entire analysis plugin for the video is sick.

[@APMastering]

i couldn't come up with a better word. something like "illusion of magical sound character which doesn't really exist". do you have a suggestion for a better word? RE nulls, i'm assuming you didn't watch my third vid with the more exhaustive methodology where i discuss JND?

[@marksaxon]

@@APMastering Smoke and mirrors? I agree "scam" sounds a bit clickbait (although it's what KZbin wants you to do).

[@coolwatersmusic]

Thank you so very much for what you said, because that was exactly my thought that you posted… I have several friends in the industry who purchase various compression plug-ins more so for the character they part and not to get any sort of specialized compression curve.

[@KeenanCrow]

@@APMastering no I will check that out, thanks!

[@APMastering]

I agree scam is a bit clickbait. I was sitting there with chatgpt asking it for better words and I was getting con, swindle, hoax, deception, rip-off, scheme etc. Like I literally couldn't find anything that fit better and anyway, I'm not trying to intentionally make my videos less sensational. I'm looking for a bit of entertainment value as the majority of audio content is kind of dry and boring.

[@AtticusFinch.]

Thank you,Alain, for the time and effort you've put into this subject. I've allways trusted my ears over some fixed complex algorithm, in regards to digital compressors, equalizers e.t.c. My approach to recording music is: If it's a studio productions with a band, record it live in three takes. In regards of mastering: NO AUTOMATION and NO AUTOTUNE. To me, music is a vibe,created by human beings and no amount of plug-inns or AI's can replace it. I dig your aproach to plug-inns and looking forward to use your compressor.@Old School

[@Qmayb]

the TDR Kotelnikov is great beacause of his stereo and frequency (sidechain) sentitivity

[@APMastering]

Im a big fan of TDR stuff

[@KBrumend]

I would like to see whether, and to what extent, they do something (like distortion) to the material, aside from gain reduction.

[@Lilly24244]

This, I was really wondering about harmonic content because that's what a lot of companies are selling their plugins with

[@esSKay25]

This is where phase cancellation would show the differences.

[@KBrumend]

⁠@@Lilly24244Exactly

[@tomgodsall1317]

Get plugin dr and have a look for yourself.

[@APMastering]

you can see harmonic distortion in plugin doctor very well. from my perspective, distortion is an separate bundled feature. I would rather apply distortion to my taste in a dedicated plug rather than simply being subjected to unspecified mystery distortion with zero control

[@sonysoni5079]

Brilliant video! Thank you. And particulary thanks for the plugins as well ! I'm going to download them as soon as I finish with typing this message. Analyzer looks super useful , and your compressor looks like how's my perfect dream compressor should look like. Subscribed. Sorry on my bad English.

[@iwiggs6870]

This is awfully reductive. Compressors aren't just about attack elease\knee. Different compressors will emphasise different frequencies\timbre as they squash things down. Some will make the mids punch out, some will strangle the low end, some will get pummeled by bottom end which means the bass ends up dominating everything. To focus on just the attack elease\knee is looking at about half the picture. It's fair to say that there's a huge amount of snake oil when it comes to plugins, but this is kinda bollocks.

[@APMastering]

yeah most of that is addressable with side chain EQ and preemphasis

[@iwiggs6870]

@@APMastering I mean sure there's always 10 different ways to skin a rabbit, but instead of jury-rigging a hammer, sometimes it's faster, better and easier to just use a hammer isn't it?

[@APMastering]

@@iwiggs6870 sometimes it is. sometimes you don't need a hammer.

[@jimmythebold589]

OTT, is that you?

[@mr_whyy]

@@APMastering with this logic, you don't need a single plugin, why not write vst's in c++, but wait you don't need c++ because you already have assembly language, so why not use that !

[@sickassbeats]

DUDE ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! I was watching and everything you know, and when you said (basically) "You know what I couldn't find a cool analyser SO BAM I MADE ONE MYSELF" that is one of the baddassest things ive ever heard coming from an audio specialist. AND THEN EVEN CRAZIER, you said "i couldn't find a compressor either that suits my needs SO I MADE ONE MYSELF" BRO THIS IS EVEN MORE BADASS. For you to give this content away for free, make this compressor free, and provide easy access for such quality education is high verge of freaking awesome!!! I love that there is a transparency in your content parting away from that other famous audio specialists that try to get you to buy more unnecessary compressors because of their vintage vibe. I also kind of feel that a lot of people are butthurt that they spent so much money on different compressors for their vibe that they try to gaslight themselves by commenting! (Whats crazy is that this applies to ME having spent so much money on different compressors and my favorite one is a $3 one from HoRNet plugins!)

[@APMastering]

ha ha thanks. i am impartial but i do have a product to sell... my educational courses. they are there and people can buy them or not but yeah i have no bias to sell snake oil through affiliate links

[@agork]

Yeah this guy is seriously talented

[@rafaelocandof]

Attack characteristics are only a part of what makes a compressor a compressor. Different compressors also react differently to gain structure, different transients, and that is without considering the second and third order harmonics that different compressors add. This only tracks if you think about gain reduction as compression's only purpose, which is a bit reductive IMHO. I do agree that you only need a handful of compressors to do the job and not a billion plugins, I just think this isn't the whole picture, especially if you're leaving out release times which are responsible for how the source "fits" in the context of the mix, whether it is brought forward or tucked down. In my eyes it just feels like a very clinical way of thinking about audio as opposed to being in service of the source material artistically speaking.

[@APMastering]

its a conscious decision to exclude saturation and i'll discuss that in a follow up. in terms of release, release time is exceptionally important but release CURVATURE is much less sexy than the attack curvature which is why i didn't focus on it. it's a short form youtube video and the first of a couple i planned, ill start to expand the topic in future videos

[@dnkreative]

Wow! Finally someone said that. As an audio programmer I was straggled with this "boogie woogy true nalaog modeling warm sound" shit and never found any info on what they actually do besides regular gain reduction/filtering and different algos for gain measurement.

[@APMastering]

yeah just random eq and small gain boosts to fool the user

[@khyNasty1]

I see what you’re saying but it’s impossible to say that all these compressors sound the same. While they may have similar compression curves a La-2a is still gonna sound a lot different than a 1176. And an 1176 will sound a lot different than a cl 1b. I typically don’t reach for a compressor because of features, I reach for the sound and vibe they can create based on the song I’m making. With that being said, your product looks nice, and I’ll for sure give it a shot!

[@APMastering]

1176 and la2a have drastically different envelopes

[@millenniummastering]

That would be true if you are talking about the actual analog hardware. The plugins are however, just digital gain reduction envelopes with pictures.

[@pongamissi7123]

@@millenniummastering most hardware compressor are also changing frequencies, just like the dbx 160, I love for its transient work in the highs. I also never received any good distortion with compressor plugins...

[@Gamervidsman2000]

Awful argument, especially since both provide different colour (saturation) and envelopes, but as compressors alone, they're doing the same shit. In-fact, if you must colour, you could actually just compress and put a saturation plug-in before, or after it (before it would be more analogue if I'm not mistaken), and adjust the warmth and settings of that saturation, and bing bang bong, you have a compressor with added harmonics (but, but they're two different plug-ins; yeah and a compressor that colours is doing two primary things, compressing and saturating, it's almost the same thing).

[@TracingFlares]

Yes... can absolutely confirm this from my side. The best thing is to ask pros if they blindfolded can hear the difference between hype expensive and free... and they can not or are sometimes favoring the free version. (me included) its the fancy interface that draws us in.. i quitted Ozone Subscription because i checked their plugs and found better substitutes!!! one example is ozone low end focus... i analized it and got the Pro MB dialed in and sounds much much better. I dont buy over 20-40 bugs of any plug because of that. For example Goldclip.. can be replaced easy with lots cheap or free options. For the mojo (because its not only the eq or envelope) you can use Satutation distortion or any coloring you want. Thanks for speaking out and reviewing this. I will check your compressor and see your other videos😊

[@APMastering]

i think specifically chosen plugs are the way to go. some people download 1000 cracked plugs and then have everything but don't know how to use anything

[@marksaxon]

While I agree that most of these plugins with their fancy GUIs are hype, there is something to be said about familiarity. I have collected way too many plugins (more than I like to admit) but through the process I landed on about 5-6 compressors that end up on most of my tracks. I know what moves to make to get the sound I want to hear. Sure you can make a free compressor and use a tone generator to mimic one of the big time compressors, but it seems like you will be constantly hunting down whatever "magic" curves their plugins make. I'm not saying your video is wrong but I can say there is a reason why I do prefer the few compressors I like. It's all good to discuss and be critical of anything on the market!

[@esSKay25]

Not speaking for him, but I believe the point he’s trying to make is that one free compressor can do the work of many many expensive plug ins, which are artificially limited in their range and scope to appeal to familiarity and also brand loyalty. The same can be said about a lot of instruments frankly. Bottom line here is that all he’s gotta do is add some preset capabilities to his free plug in and you’d basically have every compressor plugin on the market with just a click for the price of free 99.

[@APMastering]

i do and don't agree. i agree IF you aren't intimately familiar with a "benchmark" compressor and can dial in any vibe in 2 seconds, and as there aren't that many benchmark style compressor plugs, that can't really be expected, but given such a benchmark, everything would be possible quickly with a single plug

[@marksaxon]

@@APMastering I love the discussion and I’m certainly all ears when it comes to trimming up my plugin manager. Lol. Certainly this topic would be very helpful for the young ones starting to record on their own. I already have some regrets in terms of duplication with functionality in my compressors folder.

[@atilavictorio]

@@marksaxon simplify your decision process by only keeping the 5-6 that you use frequently and remove the others.

[@marksaxon]

@@atilavictorio I'm basically heading in that direction. Every week I slowly look at the my plugin manager and weed out the ones that I haven't opened in 6 months. Maybe not delete but remove them from my favorite folders. As a fun exercise, I went through my compressor fav folder and picked out 8 that are must haves but then it left about 20 others off the list. Lol.

[@mattwright466]

This is another landmark video I'm going to be having virtually all of my students watch. Amazing analysis!

[@APMastering]

be sure to watch part 2 though, this is only the first part and is oversimplified

[@mattwright466]

@@APMastering I did, actually before making the comment! You're right, the issue of how compressors deal with different frequency ranges is very hard to quantify. It could be argued that's what gives them their "character". The reason this will be essential to showing my students is so that I can help them understand the underlying principles of compression.

[@APMastering]

nice one 😎

[@RolandDeschain1]

Reaper's stock ReaComp is still one of the cleanest compressors I've ever used.

[@APMastering]

reacomp is good, transparent, I use it for side chaining

[@HR2635]

a lot of Reaper stock plugins are really good. Just dont have a fancy GUI. A bit like AirWindows that makes plugins that are very impressive and way beyond many expensive plugins.

[@HollerAtcherBoi]

I did a shootout of about 50 different compressors on a kick drum and also an 808 both set at -18dBfs. I set all compressors as identically as possible: with slowest attack, fastest release. 1dB of gain reduction. Same ratio. Then I matched the output of every compressor so they're all at the same exact volume. The sounds of the different compressors were vast. Some choked the lows, some accentuated mids, some reduced highs, etc. Some were very transparent. Some were way punchier than others. Was very interesting. Tested on ATC's in a professionally designed and built, fully treated studio. I narrowed it down to 7 that I'd happily use on any kick, 808, or transient/sub rich material.

[@dabanjo]

AP Mastering Continously Variable Convexity Compressor is the best compressor.

[@APMastering]

ha ha. maybe not but it was fun to develop

[@ennayanne]

I'm amazing to have found a mastering channel that isn't focused on selling shit to me but actually giving useful information and tools to the community. there needs to be more channels like yours

[@APMastering]

i sell courses but that makes me impartial because i'm not biased to sell through affiliate links

[@timpetherick3365]

I think maybe you need to study what compressors do a little more before you come to these conclusions. There are many different types of program dependencies that can be seen. You can’t simply use a single test to quantify any of this. Attack could be compression dependent, time dependent external input envelope dependent, frequency dependent. There are more. You’ll have to trust me on this one as I look at compressors from a topology standpoint and analysis standpoint… none of the test you are doing show any of this… The test you are doing is looking at one single point with no time domain tests. Take for example a feedback compressor, your release will literally be changing depending on your material. That would mean you’d have to change your release time every transient and every sustain..

[@APMastering]

i will discuss this stuff in my follow up video. it's a 3 part series

[@cedricblomhof1269]

I agree 😊

[@v.v.v.v.v.7273]

Tim Petherick in the house!

[@eento06]

Do not watch his part 3, this is a scam

[@AnodyneHipsterInfluencer]

Good lad. That second "bad?" example of your "AP Mastering" compressor, right on to add the "?" to it because that can be a _very_ cool, _very_ useful sound when used in parallel to give your drum buss some swing and movement. I've often gone after compression effects like that to achieve this result. The producer Rudolph Steiner (I believe that's his name) has long used a that kind of compression "trick" on his drum track.

[@APMastering]

isn't he also the guy with the sausage mic?

[@julianmorrisco]

That haircut has a hysteresis curve! Also, yes. In the box sound is pretty much a commodity these days. The amount of guff spoken about how guitar amp modellers almost but not quite match the real thing, for example. After 20+ years of this, I find it boring. Modellers do their job perfectly and can get amazing guitar sounds the equal of even the best amp setup. I still use an amp, however. Because playing into an amp ‘feels’ better while I’m playing, even if it doesn’t give a better sound when playing back. Same with compressors and eqs. I came up with a lot of outboard, even plenty of valve stuff like Pultecs and Fairchilds. 1176s were our standard outboard when we weren’t using the SSL with its own channel dynamics. Now, saturation makes a difference, no question but apart from that, the only thing that makes a real difference is workflow. User interface, user experience. And that can’t be underrated. I don’t use external rack gear anymore but the interface is important to me. When you’ve used an 1176 a thousand times, having an interface where making the same tweaks I would have made on the physical box (and getting the same results) is important. And for stuff that doesn’t rip off physical equipment, the design, location, type of knobs/faders, metering etc., is very important to me.

[@APMastering]

enjoy the haircut while it lasts! Part ii will feature a new hair character... warmer, more assertive, engaging, clear, open, transparent, exceptionally clean with a sparkle imparting an air of fairy dust.

[@APMastering]

in terms of hardware vs software, guitars are the most extreme example. no matter how good the Japanese make high end realistic dolls, I will chose my wife every time ha ha.

[@mateuszzawocki1405]

Good video. I think the main problem is that so many options can be overwhelmed, expecially for non experienced users. People who learn on their own from KZbin in many cases don't need to go in depth with why compressor do certain things. They want quick solutions, which is delivered by product discriptions. For example if you want punchy kick - go for 1175 etc. It's so much easier to apply 1175 when someone knows only basics of compression than use a versatile compressor, which can do everything as you showed in the video, but user do not understand how to achieve the desire sound. So what in that case is better - buy more expensive tool you can use, or get a free or less expensive tool you can't use? When you are experienced, some kind of ultimate tool can be better, because you know how to dial the knobs but if it is really better? Maybe you prefer to choose 1175 and dial two knobs instead of 13, or whatever because it is quicker solution. Point is to invest in skill not in equipment. If you can use 1175, ssl compressor etc and you know it well, you achieve great sounds it's OK, you just paid more money to be on that level. You can either spend more time and gain knowledge how to achieve desire sound with compressors like yours it is ok too. In this video you proved that compressors do mainly same thing and yes, they are different. You just create tool that can replicate the behavior of many units. Cheers.

[@APMastering]

bear in mind, back on the day, most medium and small studios just had a few compressors and that's it. nobody but the most high end studios had fairchilds and 1176s and neve whatever coming out of their ears. and the best records were still made

[@mateuszzawocki1405]

@@APMastering yeah, of course and that's OK. At the end all we want is good sounding songs not good sounding sound. :) I just disagree with your statement that all compressors are the same. They all have similar main purpose but they are different and you confirmed it in the video by developing ultra flexible tool first for measure and second for tweaking :) Your video proves that you can use one tool instead of many. But not proves that all tools (different compresors) do the same thing or sound the same. You have clearly showed the measures of how every compressor types behaves. There are a slope, which shows how different compressors behaves during specific time period. There are different curves, and that shows that during specific time period different compressors reacts differently and that means sound will be different from one to another that's obvious. I'd love to have ability to tweak one compressor and go with the sound I want, but for sure I'm on lower level of experience :) Making music, tweaking knobs is fun. At the end joy is what we want from that. Personally I find to be fun look at nice looking interface of some kind hardware emulation I can't afford. It is not my job so I don't need to spend ridiculous amount of money for hardware. Imaging that I have some kind of that studio feeling in my monitor gives me some kind of happiness. I think it matters more than another $ spend for plugins :) I appreciate your point of view and your will to share your thoughts with people. Have a good day.

[@APMastering]

but I didn't say all compressors are the same, Im talking in the video about how they are different in terms of features, time constants etc and finding a benchmark is so hard. I say at the start that they all do one thing (gain reduction). That gain reduction can be quantified and we can theoretically match it.

[@vigilantestylez]

Hardware is a scam too. Those compressors are no different than your stock Reaper compressor. You can match the compressor response curves by using plugin doctor, and the harmonics with a simple distortion plugin. Hardware is a scam from NASA. 😂

[@APMastering]

and NASA is a scam too (Operation Paperclip)! But seriously, I actually kind of agree with you but I think hardware offers some benefits in certain situations... extreme example... I want my guitars, guitar amps and pedals to all be hardware. No software guitars for me! In terms of analogue hardware EQ sounding better than stock plugins... hmmm. I still love working with analogue EQ. But I think you are probably right. I'll get on the case at some point and do THE HARDWARE SCAM ha ha

[@vigilantestylez]

@@APMastering I think your videos really prove what we like about plugins and hardware. We like the curves, we like the non linearities whether they are genuine or not. We like the character. Can we do this with stock plugins? Perhaps with a lot of work, and time, or just get the plugin and use it. I think your titles are clickbaity, and these plugins are not a SCAM as you say. It just proves with enough time, and effort, we can get the same sound from tools we already have. But this is like building a house with a hammer, nails, and a hand saw. You can build a house with those tools, but a nail gun, table saw, etc can get it done faster and easier.

[@vigilantestylez]

@@APMastering About the guitars... Why can't you simulate a guitar amp, pedal, etc with stock plugins from Reaper or Fabfilter Total Bundle? Maybe guitar amps, pedals are scams too?

[@APMastering]

don't want to be a smart arse at all but i actually love framing and carpentry and one of my favourite framers who passed away but has great instructions videos which you can find on yt always used to use a hammer to frame houses. watching him work was something else. but point taken and i agree to a certain extent but in the case of my eq videos for example, i can dial in the sound i want in 2 seconds and using the modelling plugs takes much longer so i'm actually wasting my time with the so called time saving plugins

[@whawha9016]

Some hardware is scam (the one that uses cheap circuitboards and generic components) and sells it at inflated prices. But actual analog hardware built with quality components is not a scam. It's certainly overpriced as well, but not a scam. The interaction of real life physical components is really impossible to recreate in every nuance algorithmically.

[@MakesBadNoise]

I’d love a follow up where you post samples of how the comps sound next to each other when they measure the same

[@psychesonic1]

This is a bit like saying all pianos sound like pianos.

[@APMastering]

what if you are comparing digital pianos and you have knobs that vary piano size, upright, grand, wood density, % open etc

[@psychesonic1]

@@APMastering yes of course. It was more a metaphor than a measurement. I choose a certain compressor over another because I prefer the results I get.

[@gigglthewiggl]

​@@psychesonic1but if you can get the same results with a free one, why is somebody charging 500 dollars for another

[@schleppvideos]

@@gigglthewiggl because its not exactly the same and this guy is quite simply full of shit

[@MichaelForbes-d4p]

​@@APMastering have you ever been serious about buying a nice digital piano? They all sound 100% different. As do these compressors.

[@joyboricua3721]

It's not ugly; it's simply useful. The beauty is in the numbers within, not in the UI

[@whawha9016]

Matching the gain reduction curve is only part of the equation. Especially if you want to nail analog sound (as opposed to generic digital compression), you need to model the saturation as well. Not just static saturation, but actual state dependent saturation!

[@APMastering]

i'm not interested in saturation since if i wanted distortion i'd add it as a discrete process. i understand many other people want that and that's fine but i'd rather control it myself

[@whawha9016]

@@APMastering That's fair. But your claim (as I understood it) was based on the premise that analog modelling compressors are a scam, since they can easily be replicated with generic "benchmark compressors" like Pro-C or your AP Comp. Yet, you only prove that the gain reduction curve can be approximated with generic tools, while failing to prove that the other main component of analog emulations can be reproduced: the non-linear, state-variable saturation behaviour!

[@APMastering]

sure. the way I see it, a compressor does gain reduction. if it happens to have additional bundled unspecified mystery distortion, that's maybe something other people care about but I'd rather not have that at all and control it from a separate plugin, or have knobs for that saturation so it is overt and no longer mysterious and untweakable. Now, I COULD add more features like saturation and then we'd have an improved general benchmark compressor where we can model saturation of other units but ive got to draw the line somewhere, I can't put my day job aside for a year to make a free plugin

[@whawha9016]

@@APMastering I'm not referring to your plugin, but to your claim. Your fail to prove the point that analog emulation compressors are obsolete. Instead of replicating their sound, you only replicate (not even accurately in some instances) one aspect of their sound: their gain reduction curve. You fail to prove that you can also easily replicate the rest of the equation, the harmonic distortion. Without replicating saturation / harmonic distortion, you are missing a crucial aspect of what makes an analog emulation an analog emulation. So you should rather say: "I can match the gain reduction curve of analog emulation compressors" as opposed to "I can replicate the sound of analog emulations". You don't replicate their sound, you are only approximating one aspect of the sound. So you only finished 50% of your assignment.

[@APMastering]

@@whawha9016dude it's a youtube video i can't do everything. if you want to pay me a million dollars to spend a year developing the greatest compressor of all time, with 100 knobs that nobody is able to use, i'll take you up on that. otherwise, that's all i've got for this video 😂

[@valoelios40]

I like the UBK-1 from Kush Audio a lot. Gets used farily often in my mixes. It is a diverse compressor with some properties not found everywhere. Whatever works for you should be fine. I use the Logic stock compressors very often too. For bus processing I have lately fallen in love with the Sonible smart compressor. It offers spectral dynamic processing and some other features most other compressors do not.

[@stepanloffelmann8916]

I see your point, but this is a pretty misleading comparison...to me, it kinda sounds like you're saying all of the compressors do the same thing, just get one and match the curves, yeey! That's bs obviously, in most cases, I go for compressors that do something extra than just compression, it's the distortion and saturation and the vibe that each compressor gives me, when I use compression just for the dynamic control, I will use something clean that doesn't produce any distortion ect. When I'm mixing, I don't want to think about matching a curve on a compressor to match another compressor like you showed in your video, I want to work quickly - I want more bus type compression? I'm grabbing the ssl, I want a fast compressor with some cool distortion vibe? I'm grabbing the 1176, I'm not going to match a compressor to sound like another one, I'm just gonna grab the "real" thing that will allow me to be quick and creative. I see the point, but saying plugin compressors are a scam is bullsh*t. It's more than just a compression curve, it's about a vibe, distortion, harmonics, ease of use, cool gui, I want to be quick and creative and get to the finish line as quickly as I can.

[@APMastering]

I dont disagree with you. but im hardly going to sit there in the studio and first match my plugin to another one and then use it. the point is, if you become proficient at using a single full featured compressor, you can dial in any tone you want in 2 seconds and having a bunch of different plugins with severely limited parameter ranges is a hinderance

[@stepanloffelmann8916]

​@@APMastering Right it's really important to know your gear, you can absolutely use sort of all-around single eq and a single all-around compressor, dial in your curves and make a record with it, that's really boring though and I bet the record will be boring too, If the point of the video was to learn your plugins better instead of always buying the next new thing, that's a great message right we all need that reminder, but compressors from various manufacturers definitely don't sound the same, I really did liked your video and your ideas that's why I'm commenting, obviously you put a lot of time into making it, no one just uses compressors only for the curves though, literally for anyone try and use as many weird compressors you can get your hands on and see what it does for you, my mixes have gotten significantly better when I bought the, on this topic "high-end" compressors not only because of the sound but also for the confidence it gave me to use the gear, it's not only about a curve but saturation and distortion of the compressors cleverly used to get a killer mix, cheers 🫡

[@corybergeronrecordings]

Plug-in marketing always felt slimey to me. After looking into how plug-ins were made, I had a hunch this was the case. Great video and great explanation.

[@jrgroberts]

Funny. I had come to the same conclusion quite some time ago. I have a real Compex which I know well, and plugin models of it, which sound different. But they don't sound different to each other. I have found I can use almost any compressor plugin and get a good sound out of it. It's still easier to reach for a plugin model that I know will quickly get what I want... and I like what hardware does better, at times.

[@francobuzzetti9424]

2:07 I'll never forget this moment just use whatever you like people

[@ObeloMusic]

You are way off base here. Perhaps many plugins do have generic processes that can be comparable under many conditions, but this does not account for ALL TYPES of non linearities, or what is happening in the frequency domain. if signal x is our input, and f(x) equals the function to generate y, our output, f(x) can be an immensely complex function. asymmetry, saturation, non linear responses, entropy simulation functions, frequency bias, filters, multi stages, recursive propagation, opto sim, tube sim, and much more. you can't just stick something that runs a sine blip or an impulse through a plugin, get the dynamic response in the time domain and think you have analyzed what something does.

[@APMastering]

although you are right to a certain extent with some of the other stuff you mentioned, a dynamics processor by definition should not significantly affect the tonal balance of a source. i also personally feel that a compressor should also not additionally increase thd outside of its inherent internodulation distortion, as that is literally unrelated additional unspecified mystery bundle feature code, which id prefer to have control of myself. so i personally consider such non linearities to be a moot point

[@ObeloMusic]

@APMastering You can't impart certain nonlinearities in certain ways, especially harmonic distortion, body vs peak, and the transients, without a compressor. You don't always want to separate the two. Take something that is tonally and percussively rich as a rap vocal, that choice of how a compressor saturates and handles the transients is the whole shabang. Also, some of the most famous hardware compressors, like the SSL, has a frequency dependant bias. I definitely know where you are coming from, but sometimes you gotta cook in the sauce, not just use it as a topping after you grill.

[@APMastering]

ha ha, I like the analogy. in terms of frequency bias, you can do this by merely EQing your side chain signal. in terms of the kind of distortion you describe, I would be interested in investigating the exact kind of thing you are talking about and then ABX testing it

[@ObeloMusic]

​@APMastering some recipes are for the talk show, some you keep in the family cookbook...

[@hansmemling2311]

My man, doing the lord’s work. Thank you :). I hope someone can help you build a graph based compression plug in.

[@APMastering]

thanks, I've already had a couple of developers show some interest, let's see what happens! 😀

[@marcfrank7446]

Waiting for "The loudspeaker industry scam", "Microphone manufacturing's a big lie", "All snare drums sound exactly the same" and of course "Ears are massively overrated, just look at analysers".

[@APMastering]

that's actually a good idea. I could imagine a monitor scam, there is genuine content there. There is also some interesting stuff with the transducers used in dynamic mics and I have recorded some real nice music with some super cheap mics but ultimately a U87 is a good mic. My father is a drum maker, specialising in snares and so I know a thing or two about bearing edges, plies, hoops, wires... A well tuned cheap snare that has freshly sanded and shaped bearing edges sounds WAY better than a poorly tuned expensive drum. The last point about ears is just bullshit, if you've watched my content you'll know that this is antithetical to my message.

[@abrakadeep8810]

@@APMasteringWhat a wonderful reply! :)

[@lilwombat]

search "Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In A Microphone" it's basically just the capsule. he also did one for amps and cabs and electric guitar. basically everything is hype lol

[@MichaelLenz1]

@@APMastering I’m very curious to see your loudspeakers and monitors debunking video. As a man who calculated, evaluated different design options and built couple of pairs, for me it will be very interesting to see your observations and discoveries :)

[@HR2635]

@@APMastering as a drum maker and drummer for 45 years I would love a snare comparison ;-).. but off course you need to compare well tuned with well tuned. That said the snare has great importance in a drum recording. Probably the biggest in the kit. And even minute details will change the feel of the drummer and how he is inspired to play. Although the real difference is very small it does change some details that might just be what you need in the mix. Also good snare respond well to EQ and compressors. Price is rarely the reason if a snare is good. Its all about tuning, heads, response from the wires, the room but MOSTLY the drummer. I have snare ranging from 50$ to 1500$ and I use them all without looking at the price tag. Same with plugins. I dont look at what it says it can do, the price or the GUI. I look at my work flow. Which one gets me the result I want the easiest and fastest. I dont care if its actually just doing gain reduction or saturation or what have we. Also the sound like a snare drum inspires me to take sometimes more interesting decisions. But I am sceptic about expensive plugins as they in 90% of the cases are not worth the money.

[@nardeccs4452]

So glad you made this, mind blowing!

[@pipelineaudio]

We make plugins and would like to team up. Our representative has already contacted you, hopefully we can get some more skeptical, reason based movement going.

[@APMastering]

to do a LUT compressor? that would be wild.

[@pipelineaudio]

@@APMastering are you getting my emails?

[@time8162]

Scam is the closest word to the truth 🙏🏻 Just curious how would a Hardware compressor may fit in with them tests? Be interesting to see the differences ! Excellent channel !

[@APMastering]

i will do hardware at some point but most of my hardware is weird bespoke stuff so id need to literally go out and buy stuff

[@djtripnosys]

Paul Third meltdown incoming.

[@APMastering]

ha ha, i welcome all feedback even from my harshest critics

[@5adb0iMusicOfficial]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I wonder if the Cenozoix Compressor (same devs as Kirchhoff EQ plugin) has enough features for the kind you'd need for the rests you're running? As far as LUT approaches in compression go, I know these wouldn't be enough for what you're trying to accomplish, but some good reference plugins would be Maximus, a stock multiband plugin in FL Studio (you can draw your own transfer curve per band) and perhaps the sonible smart:comp in which you can shape the attack and releases in interesting ways (attack has a hold and release can tempo sync on top of the adjustments you make to the shape). Can't wait to see what you got coming next!

[@APMastering]

that comp is very cool but not quite advanced enough. many cool things out there but nothing that did exactly what i wanted hence my plug

[@5adb0iMusicOfficial]

@@APMastering wow okay, cool! Are you working on a full demonstration type video to showcase this plugin the compressor features?

[@APMastering]

i already did an expansion video. when you email the compressor address you get a link to that video. it's unlisted so only available there

[@danielpool2039]

So you’re saying that just because all compressors offer gain reduction, that compressor plug-ins are a scam? There’s a tremendous amount that your graphing program doesn’t account for. The main things I can think of are harmonics at the input circuit, output circuit, and detector circuit. But I haven’t found a plug-in that reacts to audio in a way that’s even close to how a real diode bridge compressor does. I also haven’t found a Fairchild emulation that doesn’t let through way more transient than a real Fairchild does. If I were to make a video with your Clickbait title, I might consider focusing on these areas.

[@APMastering]

Well I have a part 2 coming in a couple of days in which I mention vari mu and zener diode typologies (I'm a big TG1 fan). I've never had the pleasure of working with an original Fairchild but I've worked with a lot of the familiar gear. Some of the plugins are pretty good. UAD isn't too shabby. But my point isn't that my analyser and comp faithfully emulate every single compressor under the moon perfectly. Should be a lot more clear by the end of part 2 why my videos aren't simply clickbait. This first one was just the warm up. If I have one single hour long video, it will get no views.

[@BrendanCescon]

Loving this series... and loving people getting mad about it lol

[@Studio22mix]

😂😂😂

[@EzyoMusic]

I have three go-to compressors: Kotelnikov, Molot and DC8C. They don’t model anything specifically, but they’re versatile and I like what they do. I love their work in general.

[@APMastering]

i like TDR too

[@MichaelLenz1]

What I hear in this video, approximation, matching, until it hits some wrongly interpreted psychoacoustic thresholds of human hearing limits, or graphs will look “pretty close”. Also wrong statement about “eq sound the same”. You failed to answer on my questions about my experiments regarding analog modeked pultec eq’s. Gaining popularity using loud pseudoscience claims seems is popular tactics nowadays

[@APMastering]

I literally get hundreds of comments on my videos and so although right now I'm still attempting to reply to most of them, I can't reply in extreme detail and thoughtfulness to every comment. Either I give you a quick reply or I don't reply at all. I dont know what it is you talked about before but I am not wrong about EQ. if you fail an ABX test, I dont care whatever else you say, that's all that matters.

[@MichaelLenz1]

@@APMastering in case of waves pultec we found that null test results not the complete silence, cancelled only around 36 db, while there -37 db left still what scientifically this doesn’t means the both signals are equal. Also I want to point on analysis tools you use. What averaging is been applied when you compare graphs? There is also the precision aspect. Bevause distribution of amplitude values are not allways gaussian, it can have two most frequent or more values. This called multimodal distribution of magnitude per frequency. What for human hearing is more significant. See distribution types, and regular arithmetic averaging in case of multimodal distribution will give not very precise value. That’s why I’m saying your claims are not very correct. No doubts that filter itself can’t have “sound “. Two eq filters with the same filter type will affect the signal equally. But you have very strong claims that analog modeling is a scam, while there in these plugins are more than just filters, like in pultec eq, there’s a tube simulation which adds harmonics.

[@RipperTheEntertainer]

Stock compressors works for me. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@betteroffdead79]

The only scammer here is your hair dresser

[@betteroffdead79]

"This new cut is called THE SLAP"

[@APMastering]

part 2 contains a new hairstyle, it's more transparent, lush, warm, open, engaging and assertive

[@Zet237yt]

I love your approach of being curious and simply testing things out! I remember struggling with much simpler concepts and finally understanding them after doing a small experiment in my DAW or creating a Max MSP patch for it. I still think it is okay to have multiple compressor plug-ins for "different" needs installed, as long as you know how and when to use them and that they help you achieve your goal quicker. The same way I could build a ton of creative plug-ins with "builders" such as BIOME or Enrage, but in the flow of creativity prefer much more to grab a ready to use tool than create my own just for a quick effect. :)

[@APMastering]

sure. its a workflow thing. I will discuss workflow in the next instalments of this series

[@MxlxSxntx]

no way this dude made his own "industry standard" compressor and made it free 💀💀💀 what a king

[@Cubebass]

Great Video!!! thanks for all the work you put into it!

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

u shud sell the presets of all the compressors you matched!

[@APMastering]

ha ha, that's kind of the opposite of my intentions here

[@Godisgood137]

@@APMastering give them away for free then?

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

@@APMastering hahah i mean im not like a major capitalist but you already made this video and the plugin for free so ya know, good on ya!

[@APMastering]

@@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.ndon't get me wrong, i don't have a problem selling stuff, i sell courses, but the point of the compressor was to be an advanced plug. if you add presets then you bypass the skill required and in that case i'd make a different kind of interface with simpler controls

[@lukasgruber1280]

it would be like AmpliTube for Compressors :)

[@wennferreira]

Have you checked the TBT CENOZOIX compressor by Plugin alliance? It has an overwhelming amount of options , it's ridiculously tweakable.

[@APMastering]

no haven't seen that

[@tangente00]

your dedication is wild

[@lukasgruber1280]

Huge respect for just making the tools you need!

[@ArtEntity]

best plugin video ive seen in a long time

[@kimseniorb]

great ideas. I always wanted a graphical editor with nodes to draw in guitar or reverb IRs or tweak the existing ones how I want, removing resonances etc.

[@WilliamAshleyOnline]

haha, no they arn't the same. Also they totally are often different some are similar for sure but no there are different compressors. Like compressing with my SSL 4000G strip includes dynamics filter and eq, is different from my LA2A, silver they have a HP filter section on them maximus has 3 band eq section and other stuff, some has side chaining, the list goes on and on, so no they totally arn't he same. Some have totally different styles of gain reduction filtering, and banding, etc..

[@APMastering]

Im not sure you watched the vid. I spend a lot of it talking about feature richness of different compressors.

[@DavidBraun-k4j]

Great video! I love, that you put this much effort in it and don't just yell your opinion out there. Only one thing, that I would be interested in: You're using some kind of burst signal to measure the attack curve, right? Could the attack curve be dynamic, in other words: change with volume. When you match two compressors, would they still match on a louder/quieter signal?

[@APMastering]

there could be all kinds of differences. my goal was to emulate the attack characters, which i'm happy with. the rest is like trying to match two trees... the closer you look, the more differences

[@DavidBraun-k4j]

@@APMastering Yeah, sorry english isn't my first language. What I meant was: could there be any differences in the attack curve between two matched compressors, if you test them with bursts of varying level? If so, then there would be a huge difference in the sound of the two compressors, even if you get them match them, because you obviously use compressors on dynamic material.

[@APMastering]

@@DavidBraun-k4j yes... im going to discuss this in my next video, its a 3 part series

[@jongriffin2608]

Like your previous claim, I find this to be too hyperbolic and cynical. I think there are developers out there that WOULD scam its customers if they thought they could get away with it, but the vast majority are geeks, nerds and audio enthusiasts who I genuinely believe try to make better sounding and innovative products. It would be shortsighted to simply make an attractive gui and shove in a freebie algo, you would ruin your reputation and destroy your business overnight to try. From personal experience, I go to various compressors regularly and for certain sonic diversity, I can’t say how your testing model is flawed, but my intuition is you must be missing something, this wouldn’t make sense to me.

[@APMastering]

i agree with most of what you wrote and my video is oversimplifying but i will add more nuance in future videos

[@SylvanPaul]

Broadly speaking I agree, but there are about 10 or so that actually do some shit that Fabfilter Pro-C just ain’t gonna do. Here are ones I use that are actually doing something unique/interesting (to my ears): UAD Fairchild, UAD Valley People Dynamite, Slate Digital Monster, Slate Digital Custom Opto, Plugin Alliance Acme Opto, Waves TG12345 (dry/wet knob blend insanely useful), Plugin Alliance Lindell Channel 69 (smash mode), SSL X-Comp, Plugin Alliance Amek Mastering Compressor, UAD Shadow Hills Comp (sometimes), Slate Digital E-Dyn To my ears, each of these plugins have a unique and useful sound and/or a unique and useful gain reduction profile. Broadly speaking though I agree with you

[@APMastering]

my plug can get sort of a similar vibe to some of these with the right setting

[@profbx5258]

I’m actually starting to get really sick of how irresponsible your videos are. You don’t actually measure harmonics, distortion, etc. The things that “analog modeling” actually model. Like, technically a modded Alesis 3060 can sound the same as an 1176 can sound the same as a DBX 160 in terms of compression settings. The difference is in the actual character of the audio in terms of distortion, harmonics, etc. There ARE plugins that totally use an interface to trick you into thinking that there is something happening in terms of component modeling, but you don’t test that. You aren’t actually testing any of that. You could insanely easily by just running audio with a virtual audio driver pass through and REW, but no, you don’t. You can say sure, the compression style you want can likely be gotten on most basic free plugins, but you aren’t actually testing out the differences in how the processing works beyond “eq/compression happens”. It’s beyond irritating. The worst part is that you get so close to almost getting it when you are talking about the minor differences in the null, but you aren’t actually measuring WHAT THOSE DIFFERENCES ARE.

[@APMastering]

sounds like you missed the 3rd video in my 3 part series on EQ. also, this is the first of another 3 part series and some of the things you mention are literally in the second video, so you might be jumping the gun a bit. I didn't plan to use REW, I have a waterfall in my next vid, but I might consider using REW. Haven't used it probably for 10 years. However, a waterfall also cannot adequately represent what is happening with a comp because it lacks a 4th dimension. Depending on which factors are important to the enquiry, even a 5th dimension may be necessary

[@profbx5258]

@@APMastering I did watch part 3, but I had hoped that you would either figure it out pr stop milking the clickbait. This video is why I finally responded. Firstly, why would you even use a waterfall? I was specifically calling out THD/Harmonics, which REW has some great tools to measure. Otherwise you could just use an oscilloscope. The point is that you aren’t actually measuring like an engineer, you are measuring what you think makes sense based on the fact that you are a user. This isn’t bad per se (most of us who are engineers are such because we would love to be able to use the product to the same level as you), but you aren’t actually measuring the things that make different hardware and software special. The reason why I suggested REW is that it is the poor man’s AP machine, if you ignore the things that are for room measurement (which is effectively useless for these kinds of measurements). That said, even just pushing the plugins using an oscilloscope and RTA and looking at changes to the waveform/even and odd order harmonics/etc would be light years better than just saying “eq/compressor make same”, and then giving out a plugin like it’s actually useful instead of confirming the least interesting behaviors of a piece of software. Also, for what it’s worth, I am an engineer. I mainly work in hardware and embedded. I have worked for plugin makers in the past, however I haven’t done so for about 15 years. Also you haven’t called out any plugin makers that I have friends at, so basically I don’t have a vested interested aside from a real dislike of misinformation.

[@RealHomeRecording]

The biggest troll of his videos is that he doesn't play music based audio through the different plugins. Just test signals... And he tells us to not be tricked by the look of things while just using graphs LOL😂 I give him a lot of credit he knows how to bring in the views and get engagement however disingenuous he may be. Then again ignorance is bliss so... I do look forward to more of the videos though, because saving people time and money is a good thing. And maybe it will help people appreciate the software they already purchased instead of trying to get the next big thing and expect to have their music played on Saturday night live like Taylor Swift does.

[@profbx5258]

@@RealHomeRecording the saddest part is that if he actually tested properly then test tones would work

[@daved9665]

👍Very nice Alain! Thanks for all the hard work on this. Not knowing how all these emulations "get there", all we have is the knob and our ears. With your work, and at the very least, we can see what makes them different and why we might want to use one type over another in our mixing DAW. I am also an engineer, but I am coming from the hardware engineering side and would love to be able to "debunk' or confirm these emulations. I've been thinking of starting a new channel to compare plugins too. You have a good head start, and a younger mind, I might add.

[@APMastering]

id love to see any video where you compare the hardware to the plugin emulation and some of the tools for that could be my analyser but also plugin doctor and eq curve analyser

[@daved9665]

@@APMastering Thanks for the response. Your tools certainly will be a welcome resource. The gap is too large for me right now for real hardware comparisons without sponsors, so that will have to wait.

[@ArtEntity]

The whole audio plugin industry is a scam

[@mel.b.coolin]

The frequency response of the internal sidechain also plays a big part in a compressors sound

[@APMastering]

sure, you can eq the side chain input. i could make an EQ in the feedback loop but i think the plugin will do for now

[@constantinranis]

Great series and appreciate the effort. I have a question since im not that experienced, does the "flavor" of an analog emulation plugin , weither is compression or eq, by the function options or the way it saturates the signal based on what hardware its designed? Because in that term there shouldn't be a need to have all those different options on the hardware world either, right ?

[@APMastering]

a lot of hardware is designed NOT to saturate

[@constantinranis]

@@APMastering just trying to understand whats the purpose of having different models weither are plugins or hardware if everything is the same

[@APMastering]

@@constantinranis there are many different flavours of compression, unlike EQ, mostly because of the complexity of the attack curve. But this can be emulated if you know what features to look for. That's why many comps offer different character modes more commonly than EQs

[@vicneve1169]

A LA2A sounds totally different than a 1176, than a DBX160, than a Fairchild, than a PRO-C2. I mostly use the PRO-C2. But if I want color I use emulations. Often without compressing but driving the input.

[@APMastering]

then why not just use a distortion plugin? The LA2A for example has two knobs, one is overdrive gain, the other is compression. Just use an overdrive. I show exactly this in part 2.

[@vicneve1169]

@@APMastering I do. But compressors gives me extra flavours. They have their own sound.

[@hazedtape]

Im sure its true cause i did some tests and results where negligible, still not sure why some developers arent blowing whistles

[@samwiseganja4071]

The amount of effort you put into this video and the free give away is insane, well done you've earned a sub

[@cjhickspe1399]

As an electrical engineer that did his senior design in signal processing, I find this all kind of amusing.

[@APMastering]

nice! i've got some interesting projects planned, i'm going to make a "vibe console" at some point and do videos on how to make it. i'm planning to offer PCBs and assembled but i think i'll take a while to get around to it

[@mr_guy661]

I did think those fancy interfaces and the lack of range in the parameters was kinda sus Thank you for making this

[@jrileyhill]

This is an interesting video and I really appreciate the work you did here but one thing that kept thinking the entire video is, The interface of a compressor (or any music equipment) and the range of possible values that that interface gives you IS part of the sound of a compressor. Dialing in settings is a dynamic process. Just because it’s possible to achieve the same sound doesn’t mean you will. If it takes you 5 seconds to dial in the sound you want with one compressor you’re going to use that one over the version that takes 5 minutes. People like 1176s, dbx 160s and LA2As etc because it’s easy to find a sweet spot for a particular style of compression.

[@APMastering]

i'm not sure why it's any slower using my compressor. you can just turn the threshold knob down

[@jrileyhill]

@@APMastering Yes, but what happens when you turn the threshold down is dependent on all the other controls. A “flavour” of compression is defined by the whole range of all the controls a particular compressor gives you. I’m certain you can, as you’ve demonstrated, achieve pretty much any type of compression with your compressor, and while that’s certainly an valuable tool to have in the toolkit, I turn to different compressors, and enjoy having a wide variety at my disposal because the UI and parameter sets of those compressors are often dialled into a particular style of compression. The UI and range of every control is part of the type of sound thats easy to get with a particular compressor.

[@APMastering]

just don't touch the other knobs. there you go. same as a plugin with one knob

[@jrileyhill]

@@APMastering I don't think you are engaging in my comments in good faith, you seem to be ignoring most of what I'm sayin. I don't WANT a one knob compressor, and I'm acknowledging the value of the compressor that you've built, but I think different compressors with different controls and parameter ranges are useful and valuable.

[@benjaminmichaut9996]

Would you agree that some type of compression are easier / faster to dial on some types of compressors ?

[@APMastering]

some compressors have less parameters, in which case that is faster than those with many parameters. However, if you have one decent plugin which you know well enough, you will be faster dialling in a compression sound (less than 10 seconds) rather than twiddling knobs on a bunch of different ones not knowing exactly what you are doing

[@benjaminmichaut9996]

@@APMastering but even with the most versatile compressor, let's say yours, you wouldn't be able to achieve all types of compression. As other says, it lacks saturation, program dependency, but also soft knee, upward compression, RMS size. My point is not that I cannot achieve SSL type glue with my stock reacomp, but it will be faster and easier to use an SSL bus compressor emulation, and I may get better results, or at least, differents one. And you don't need to spent money to have these emulations. TDR labs, Analog Obsession and Variety of sound are already making so much of great ones, it's too much for me to handle them all. Single analog emulation with no extra feature and over let's say 50$ are, indeed, scams. Similar reasoning apply to eq.

[@APMastering]

i disagree. there is no such thing as sn ssl sound. what you mean is probably a moderate slew with a low thd amplifier. you can easily do this kind of sound with a sufficiently advanced compressor. in terms of eq, if you have pro Q or something similar, there's absolutely no need to use another and there's no benefit for sound if you know how to use it. for very distorted compressed tones, you can add distortion to your compression. i don't see the problem

[@benjaminmichaut9996]

@@APMastering @APMastering what I mean by "SSL type glue" is the sound of a G series SSL compressor with slow attack, fast release, ratio on 2 to 4, applying 1 to 4 db of gr. What does it mean exactly in technical terms ? Iirc, it's peak compression, attack is about as claimed by the knob, but release is program dependant. If I want this sound in reacomp, I could match the settings, including reducing the RMS window to peak, maybe save this as a preset, and have similar thus very good results but the release may still differ (and I'll argue release is critical in master/bus compression). Then if I want to tweak it the scaling won't be appropriate and I may take my time to fine tune it. With the free emulation buster by analog obsession, this sound is three clicks away, and the scaling and/or program dependency make the plugin hard to sound bad. + I don't want to go to deeply into technical details while mixing, I may just happen to want some "glue compression ". So, master/bus compression is a perfect exemple where your video would not convince me to reach for my favorite (free) emulation. But at least you convinced me to try to do SSL type glue with reacomp, I'll see if I get close. About saturation, well now I'm doubtful, so I'm waiting for your next video. But I'm pretty confident that some analog es emulations plugins provide some saturations that are different from external full band saturation. (Like TDR slick eq or graph hack by analog obsession). About interfaces, I am not quite getting your point. Would you agree that a plugin interface impact how easy and how fast it is to dial ? Not only prettiness or skeumorphism, but more importantly size and position of knobs, scaling, etc.

[@yofrantovar9463]

Man but what about the harmonics? The eq curves inside those compressors? The way they shape the sound beyond attack/release?… I still have my own doubts but thanks for the effort! 🙏🏻

[@APMastering]

part ii coming soon!

[@BojanBojovic]

Pffffff.... 😁🤣 This is brilliant! 👍😃👍 This gear religiosity when people claim they hear some 3d or similar nonsense, it got out of control. The worst are those on the Gearsnobs forum, it is impossible to grasp that amount of nonsense. 😃 Great video, thanks. 🖖

[@RaunoPaananenAudio]

Well, compressor its not only gain reduction, they are much more. Saturation, release and attack curves etc. They reacting totally differently in coplex dynamic audio sources . Audio is not static thing.

[@APMastering]

read pinned comment

[@MrMoviePhoneEx]

I do own several software compressors but only because the best value for money is to buy plugins as collections or packs and they’re always part of the sale. The only compressors I actually use are the fab filter ones, sonible’s smart comp for a quick starting point, or the stock Nuendo/steinberg one that’s built into my DAW of choice :)

[@djboriginal]

I've never seen so much outrage in the comments over compressors. Use whatever helps you make great music.

[@UnicornWaves]

You’re not right. I tried everything and nothing sounded as cl 1b. I think same with la2a and 76 but at least they have more emulations.

[@APMastering]

cl1b is opto. just has a different curve. a vactrol isn't a magical component built by Santa's elves. it's just an LED glued to a photo resistor.

[@Michaelvan-x1r]

Me? I basically don't give a crap 😄 I won't spend a dime on plugins!! All of mine are freebies..... I love Analog Obsession, TDR, Fuse, Klanghelm.... etc... yadda yadda..... If they "sound" good to me at the time, I use 'em. I'm not an expert, so I don't make a big deal out of it... just a bedroom creator of "music", and having fun!!! But, I love your videos... interesting and seemingly educational

[@dropLove_]

That value. Thank you for doing all this.

[@val_de_mez]

Nice! Much appriciate your dive into it. I put my wallet towards a decent sound libraries if anything at all, plugins like compressors come capable enough with Cubase or really any DAW I think. Creative process and good sound. 😍😇

[@APMastering]

many stock plugs are very capable. most are not so exciting though. that's why daws like fruity took off because they have cool stuff even despite being otherwise not that pro

[@val_de_mez]

@@APMastering just my curiosity what do you think it is, that FL studio is sort of missing from being a bit higher pro level?

[@MaxYourTracks]

I genuinely just download stuff that adds something i can’t find in logic, like the TDR plugins

[@bakerlefdaoui6801]

What about the harmonic content induced by these compressors ? Do they have the exact same response to a signal ? People are looking for color as much as gain reduction in a compressor, which is odd tbh since we have dedicated saturators these days. But still, do all these compressors sound the same to your ears ?

[@APMastering]

stay tuned for part ii

[@Lilly24244]

This is golden, I'm definitely nabbing that compressor plugin. Seems like I've been paying way too much 😔

[@sparella]

Thanks for the measurement tool AP.

[@FelixArchive]

8:10 with maximus you can graphically set any curve that you want, although i think it is exclusive to fl studio

[@APMastering]

afaik it's not a compressor but an enveloper

[@FelixArchive]

@@APMastering never heard that, what's the difference?

[@marcoose777]

Compression is possibly one of the most tricksy things to get right (alongside eq), I have 1 paid for compressor plugin: U-He Presswerk, which comes with an awesome collection of presets and gives a damn good impression of doing something concrete... it also come with a selection of pretty UI's and some nice reduced complexity views (drum comp and easy compressor) ;) I shall take a look at your compressor, and coerce it to work on my Linux box

[@APMastering]

let me know if you get it to work. im considering a linux compile but it will be a bit of effort

[@marcoose777]

@@APMastering Will do

[@marcoose777]

@@APMastering Hi Alain, the plugin crashes in Renoise and Reaper, but the Bitwig (don't ask) sandbox can run the plugin using the builtin default UI, which works fine. If I try to view your fancy UI then the plugin crashes. I used Yabridge to manage the installation (it's a wine vst plugin wrapper). Incidentally I've had good success with many Windows only vst's usiung Yabridge, including TDR Nova ;) I've run Reaper from a console and the debug information suggests that there is an incompatibility with the Direct X rendering of the UI interface: 0340:fixme:d3d11:d3d11_device_context_SwapDeviceContextState D3D10 interface emulation not fully implemented yet! I have the full output if you're interested, but I suspect it boils down to the same, and that is: the version of Yabridge/wine that I have installed hasn't caught up with your D3D libraries yet.

[@marcoose777]

@@APMastering Hi Alain, it crashes off the bat in Renoise and Reaper but Bitwig can be persuaded to run the plugin in the default Bitwig plugin UI. I have run Reaper from the console and have some output from there which suggests the `d3d11_device_context_SwapDeviceContextState D3D10 interface emulation not fully implemented yet!` -- which should just fallback, but perhaps not. And there's also another known issue with net licencing/registration (WMI) `[Wine STDERR] 0340:fixme:combase:RoGetActivationFactory (L"Windows.UI.ViewManagement.UIViewSettings", {...}, ...): semi-stub`

[@algorix8420]

My question is, how much of the actual resul is given by just the volume envelope? I believe that the compression colors do not depend only by the way the volume changes, but also how the frequencies change over time, distortion, etc.

[@APMastering]

stay tuned for part 2!

[@matt_nyc_audioengineer]

The compressor is running great in Logic! It sounds good man, nice work!

[@APMastering]

excellent! glad to hear!

[@APMastering]

be very gentle with the settings, negative convexity and some of the other settings can have explosive loudness etc because the knob ranges are ludicrous. In fact, in the internal code, some of the settings are so loud that the variables go literally to infinity LOL

[@monkmusic5994]

Have you saved the various compressor type settings as presets??? Would be awesome.

[@APMastering]

no, i don't care about presets. that's not capturing the essence of my plugin.... i'll explain in part 2! 😀

[@jdl2180]

I think you're right cuz the ones that I compared with each other all sounded exactly the same to me even though some of them were supposed to be way way better than the other one 😁

[@cryptonios]

reaper has a built in compressor that you can draw the curve

[@APMastering]

what's it called?

[@cryptonios]

@@APMastering general dynamics compressor

[@nickdenardo6479]

definitely above and beyond in your approach and effort. very impressive