Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor In Action

[@planetclay]

i like the fact that you're actually enjoying yourself running thoroughly through the range of possibilities....outstanding demo.

[@HH-Thorsten]

Those knobs are incredible and its very warm sounding even if its hard compressed.

[@tekis0]

I briefly demoed one of these units, and to tell the truth I didn't really think much of it. But I like what's going on in this demo. I didn't realize how extreme the unit can get. It seems pretty nice after all.

[@Doctormix]

Hi tekis0! I am glad you have come around! ;-) We love this unit!

[@PierreJamerson]

You have the best outboard videos on youtube! keep it up

[@musatuncer6011]

What a Monster Sound! WOW!!

[@Doctormix]

+Musa Tuncer Right? We really love this unit's sound.

[@rot_studios]

And a monster sized unit haha

[@user-ig7nq7pc7k]

Wow is right. At some point it sounded like a Spectrasonics I've worked on before, too.

[@lushkordz6643]

This one is insane o_O This demo just proove the fact that when you have such high quality analog components you dont need anymore a bunch of digital FX or plugins (but still can use some) coz it just sounds so DopE organic

[@AmiliaCaraMia]

5 years old but I hate how true this comment is haha

[@DamienzTheBand]

Loved the sound. Very transparent and confident boosting of all instruments. Especially bass of course, but also the full mix, hence the mastering application. I see why they use it for mixes, the comp is really "riding" the sound, as opposed to squashing it and making it mute, like many compressors tend to do...

[@The-Skyking]

Sounds amazing and this is honestly a great tutorial on how to use it!

[@slimyelow]

After watching this I'll get this for my UA plugin voucher. Thanks!

[@puresonic7568]

This unit is a good example that you can't polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter, meaning that it makes everything sounds wonderful =)

[@i.AmHymn]

LOVED it best on master bus @ around 11:34...was pumping in all the right places to make the mix move, breathe and come alive! Also sounded pretty awesome on certain of your earlier bass fiddlings...again, movement in a controlled bass makes it come alive, at least to my ears. #GoodStuff! Hymn

[@johnnyh64]

I love your style for demonstrating a piece of gear. I wish more people would take your cue and stop with the super sublime one notch adjustments as if they have super sensitive ears and we don't. You actually go from crazy levels to tasteful and you always seem to try to keep the output level. Great demo but I don't have near the cash levels to be able to purchase the unit.

[@Doctormix]

Thanks so much man! I'm glad you notice that. We always put a lot of thought about that :-) Happy New Year!

[@caiostraubhaar8281]

The channel I've been looking for all my life!

[@johnwalter6410]

This and the curve bender are my two dream pieces.

[@walkerproductions9260]

I got to play around with one of these not too long ago and was extremely impressed. Might have to add one to the rack soon.

[@T07N]

that is one freaky good looking compressor!

[@canon5204]

It amazes me how much a single piece of hardware can just make pretty much anything just sound so good

[@soundpurestudio]

the first vid I see that really shows how this comp sounds. less bla bla bla and more "in action" parade. great!

[@Doctormix]

Thanks, I'm glad you appreciate that, we do try to cut to the chase as soon as possible... I can't stand long intros when I'm on youtube!!!

[@riverwalktalesofterror8045]

The only compressor that gives me chills.

[@Nurkomusic]

that sounds amazing!!

[@Normala-music]

Great video, nice to see and hear actual hardware in a world full of plugins. Keep them coming!

[@MySecretSpotrecording]

love love this compressor have it in UAD software and still sounds pretty close for just under 300.00

[@indransubramaniam763]

doctor mix is the best.been following for few years.this guys demonstrates the best.thanks man a lot...api bus compressor my favourite...

[@mikeymumblesreal]

omg, that is amazing, how deep can you go? that opens up such a width of variables. blown away, i want, i want

[@promoted738]

This is amazing sounding.

[@Iofflight78]

One of the most beautiful pieces of gear. I call her Shelob.

[@miladbarikani3591]

I always enjoy watching this video over and over from years ago till now my opinion on sound and gears just change every minute but this piece of art always sound great to me even my love to it is subtle

[@mistaptvz]

your drums sounds great without this gear, with gear it sounds stunning!!!!!

[@blueshiftmusic]

what a beast of a machine!

[@Racingheartrecords]

This video is a mastering compression tutorial! Awesome.

[@FlyingFooBalls]

Thanks for showing a compressor off using a drum track that conatins some ambience. Gives us a better idea of how it effects a drum sound within a mix.

[@raumatatetuanui259]

This deserves more views, nice vid, love it, thank you DM

[@ernestbuckley8671]

Its a beast in every sense!

[@The_Catalyzt]

Listening to this makes me want hardware. I immediately heard that indescribable '3D' effect that my digital plugins mostly lack. That '3Dness' is the only think that plugins just can't seem to fully emulate yet. Be that as it may, I still see this and other hardware units as luxury items only. I would have to have the disposable income six or seven times over to even consider shopping for hardware stuff like this. And you know what...if I could afford it, I most definitely WOULD buy myself an all hardware setup of my fav compressors and EQ's that I use every day in the digital realm. I would love to mix in that '3D' audio environment.

[@RealHomeRecording]

+RUTheCatalyzt Yep...no point in buying something that won't have a return on investment. This toy is for the rich boys and girls.

[@torroidal7545]

+RealHomeRecording.com Who says you always have to make money when buying gear??? Music for me is strictly a hobby and it's satisfying to have gear that I enjoy using just for the fun of it - expensive or not. If I want it and can afford it - even taking loans, I'll buy it. And I'm not a rich boy. :) Making money doing music is just a bonus... :) If you can't make money making, producing etc, music - get a real job. :) But that's just me.

[@RealHomeRecording]

Peter Orre Good for you, no argument from me here about any of your points. If you enjoy making music and can afford this piece of hardware awesome!

[@ario9907]

RUTheCatalyzt I believe your taking about stereo imaging instead of using your term 3Dness but 7.1 stereo imaging is pointless unless you are playing your track in a movie theater and even then if a tracks elements aren't wide enough you can use modern software to give wider freq spectrum. Analog compression can keep the dynamics and wide frequencies pretty well with a analog software Compressor but hardware barely beats software due to built in amp receivers. Computers can't produce amps but sound cards are getting closer and closer.

[@WHITERATPRIME1234567]

I was truly amazing at how fast you can make the attack on this compressor. Truly an amazing beast! I can imagine all sorts of things being pushed through this compressor for some really wild and amazing results!

[@alexsartandmusic]

This is pretty sick! Sounds really smooth and cool

[@nogoogleplus]

Great demo vid....Friggin awesome...and I bought one last night!!!! :)

[@vitsedlacek981]

stellar demo! It would be lovely to do a shoot out with other compressors to hear the differences ;)

[@klidraik]

Absolutely jaw dropping sonics.

[@kevinbeckenham3872]

Good demo of shadow hill masting compressor. Ideal for drums useing steel transformer setting,and reggae / tances music.

[@Doctormix]

Yeah! I agree 100%

[@88adrianopasqua]

Wow that's beautiful! It's really nice to watch those analogs gears working instead of plugins! That's the real deal! Nice channel Congrats!

[@HandsUpDK]

Think about using this beast as a parallel compressor!

[@Doctormix]

Man we do, and it's INCREDIBLE! That's when we get to squash the hell of the signal, and it's a lot of fun!

[@jean-pierredupreez4413]

Superb videos all around. thanks for the uploads and keep them coming!

[@Doctormix]

Thanks!! :-)

[@cadranaline]

Great video. I just got the plugin for free and i thought it was trash. But now i know better. Thank you very much💥

[@smithsonben]

need that in my life! Amazing! Thanks for the video !

[@disectormusic]

Just HOW MANY different transients can you get out of this thing!! Jeez

[@Fwuzeem]

Hurray!

[@Doctormix]

Yayyyyy!!!

[@EmmaVelezMusic]

You’re the master, thanks for this upload

[@artao5]

Okay, I need to check this out more. I got the Plugin Alliance version on sale a few months back and haven't really taken the time to explore it much.

[@motoboy6666]

Does this really work on Macs? Tried to put the .dll in my vst folder but my daw doesnt seem to find it.

[@TheAnimerecords]

I see you had fun! Best Dr.Eddy

[@Doctormix]

We sure do have fun doing this!

[@JohnJonesRocketCity]

Great video! You know how bad I wanted to reach through the screen and grab one of those knobs! Thy look so nice!

[@manos6426]

That was obliterating!!!!!! Man what a sound!!!!

[@dag451]

Beautiful!

[@RealHomeRecording]

I'll buy one when I win Power Ball.

[@salame462]

+RealHomeRecording.com I know right!

[@psysword]

get the plugin now bud!!

[@RealHomeRecording]

@@psysword it's not the same.

[@Kosmo999]

RealHomeRecording.com from NZ?

[@riverwalktalesofterror8045]

I need one now

[@mozartproduction]

Great and unbelievable!

[@caspermaster-com]

eeeeextremely good work of art

[@landstrom27]

Is that a lime slurpee dispenser under the bypass? If so, I'll probably have to buy one of these.

[@trz5rtzrtz45zfghfghrt4]

wow, sounds like my Behringer Ultragain Pro !

[@Sleepysidney]

Nah... more like the Alesis 3630.

[@singyuk]

hahahahaha

[@lushkordz6643]

@singyuk i have a ART Pro VLA + a DBX 166A ....N it's kinda very close 🤩🤟when i stack 'em together

[@MannyXO]

🤣🤣🤣

[@theinternetseekers2436]

Thats incredible!

[@lightenchant7323]

oh incredible!

[@dontrellclay]

Actually, enjoy this channel!

[@Doctormix]

Thanks!! :-)

[@jocomend]

it is funny... Just about everyone you see is trying a new piece of gear, specially dynamics, in almost the same fashion! With variations: 50% Drums, 35% Vocals and the rest devoted to gt, bass and keys...Now getting a 7000 USD compressor and test it in a loop, scapes me I'd love to see demonstrations on acoustic ensembles, instruments and set ups, like a string quartet, a brass quintet, a big band, or in what the unit is supposed to do MASTERING.

[@shreknos]

yep, damn knob turners and 'tweakers' Using this to compress a loop is so pointless. Show us on an entire drum buss or master channel

[@Doctormix]

Hahaha!!! Yup, I confess we are damn knob turners indeed :-) We just try to vary the program material from one video to the other... We got plenty of horns, orchestral pieces and various other music on other videos. If we did all styles for each piece of gear we would end up with 1h long videos! Happy new year ;-)

[@WassupFred]

Awesome Video

[@chandlernigh2913]

Wow.. So crazy good.

[@juankplaysmusic]

Man, I´m sure I would never ever open a vst plugin if I had this kind monster to tweak with my own hands!

[@CharlesBeauregard]

Bypass sounds good.

[@PetrFink]

To be honest, I was ready on the volume knob to compensate the ongoing volume changes, because there were like 30% volume jumps on bypass/in, which changed the perception of the sound a lot. But anyway not that huge difference there - I mean between (my)shadow plugin, vs the real stuff. And if, there is like only 10-20% missing against the HW Shadow, which shocked me. I thought, there will be much much bigger difference, but it is not! Just woow. And if you are precise with your ear and monitoring, you really can be close to the HW sound of it, plus you can color it some more with some saturation in your DAW. Thank you for that video, that showed me a lot, but please, next time, compensate levels (by ear). This helps a lot. Thx for that fantastic HW review!!

[@josue.guevara]

Holy shit man. And that's a pretty solid recording to begin with.

[@Doctormix]

+jagrblood thanks!!!

[@dirkchurlish4074]

Really nice attack/punch on this behemoth. Flavorful. And very classy pumping, if you'll pardon the oxymoron there!

[@infojunkie4989]

Just purchased one for drum bus.

[@papahuge]

Unreal sound. So potent. If only it had M/S control. But I'm sure there's a way to hack this with a couple extra modules.

[@keefrichards5557]

Very nice compressor or should I say compressors. Though the optic compressor is handy, I like the VCA comp better. I would prefer a Manley ELOP or UA LA2-A over the optic compressor on the Shadow Hills. Still it is a monster unit that can improve the sound on many sources. Thanks for the demo. I know the UAD version is not the same, but it is a good substitute for home or project studios to get in the ballpark. But the depth and spacial difference of the hardware units makes it worth it.

[@Doctormix]

Hey Keef! Yes, I think the optical side is specifically designed to help the VCA do its job ;-) I want to experiment more with just the optical side but yes, very different vibe from the LA2-A, I agree.

[@afk1448]

thats beautiful

[@Sylvain_de_Boscherville]

c'est tout ce que j'aime dans la musique !!!! enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Sylvain_de_Boscherville]

kiss from France Doctor Mix

[@jcalla28]

This thing is fucking amazing, lucky you!

[@digitaltrash_]

I want it so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!

[@bitflux2]

i just bought the uad plugin, yeah its pretty amazing, dont know why is not more well known

[@larryjeffryes6168]

AWESOME!!! Icing? I love how each tactile interface looks look like it came from a LP, Teli or amp.

[@DennisBastian]

Man that thing sounds awesome on bass and guitar! They should make a pedal version so I can stick it on my pedal board hahaha

[@gonzalodominguez229]

crazy fatness.. great demo.. have the plugin version and realky happy with it.. Thanks🖖🍀🐙

[@davetone2106]

Magnificent and beautiful! Thanks for the demo!

[@Doctormix]

Hi, glad you enjoy it Dave! ;-)

[@CockpitPress]

I'm coming.

[@onurhankeskin]

Your Best.

[@Doctormix]

Thanks so much!!

[@stumsi]

Great demonstration of compresor's full potential. I'm using Plugin Alliance software version but compares to hardware unit it looks to me there's a huge difference... Hardware unit sounds much more agressive and snapy to me, but my ears are already old and tired, so... It would be interesting to see comparison (hardware and software) of both compressor simultaneously and see the differences!

[@HY-kv3yi]

Nice Test!!!

[@blacklightning7227]

DAM DOCTA..... awesome...

[@mozartproduction]

Unbelievable....great demo,can you make comparison video with the software SHMC by UAD,please?

[@Doctormix]

That's a very good idea! We might do that

[@joeyf808]

Killer!

[@12GMedia]

SO nice

[@drwoe_dnb]

Nice!

[@exinexi]

Looks like you can't make this sound bad even if you try.

[@mannibimmel09]

lol

[@PsychoCaki]

10:08 i so laugh hahaha omg !!! That was really good and realistic change :).

[@cosmoshfa88savant66]

Subscribed,,,,Sounding real good,,,,

[@nilaghkcghnc103]

very nice thanks

[@fazlulhaquenayan4352]

just wow!!!

[@stephenrobinson60]

I really like this review. When you go to forums like Gearslutz you see some disparaging comments about this unit. The opto is too slow, or they hardly use the VCA section.. or they only use it on bass or drums...I guess it depends on attitude and what you feed into it. Comparing this to your review of the Zener limiter for instance.. which is a brilliant unit.. and on electric guitars ..omg wow,,,, but as luxurious and full as the Zener is on your final mix, the Shadow Hills seems to give things a little bit more oxygen in there.. a bit more spatial definition.. an rich organic sound scape. Luv it.

[@markphilpot4981]

This is a very clean compressor. So clean in fact that I heard what I would call an overzealous reverb on the guitar portion. I know, it isn’t my recording, but this effect was clearly to my hearing overdone and it was deterring from the clarity of the playing. It is my opinion. I’m not a musician, so what do I know? I liked the transformer in the top position and the discrete in. It sounds cleanest this way!

[@ladgrove]

This is a great KZbin channel, but (and this isn't a criticism) the source sounds for all these demos are already INCREDIBLE. The vocals on the LA2A demo sound better RAW, than most things most home recorders can achieve after sticking 20 plugins on a track and tweaking for 3 months. Same with these drums. They sound phenomenal RAW, so much so that after processing, they don't sound better or worse to me, just different. Good to remember that the drums for 'Thriller' were not compressed. Raw sound, because it sounded good and they got the raw source sound so tidy and fat and clean. Just a thought. Love these videos though! Good to remember garbage in = garbage out, no matter the compressor, and conversely, amazing source = amazing output!

[@Doctormix]

Thanks for watching, we're glad you enjoy! :) We can only use audio in these demos that we own the rights to, and usually that means audio one of our team has recorded. Unfortunately, that means we aren't left with much poor sounding source material to demonstrate on! haha

[@ladgrove]

All good my friend! Definitely not a criticism! PS: I love your videos, it's beautiful to see real gear in action, and great to hear the real thing :) I think it's just a good reminder that GOOD SOURCE with no processing is better than BAD SOURCE with all the processing in the world, as evidenced by your excellent source files. If you ever get a chance, I'd love a live recording session with and without a compressor, but I'm greedy!! Please keep up the great videos my friend :)

[@BeanYameen]

Amazing, thank you for the demo! Only part I don't understand is the side chain filter. What does it do when it's on and what is the purpose?

[@Doctormix]

Hi Byram! The side chain filter filters out the low end from the signal that the compressor is responding to. For example, if the compressor is responding too much to the kick drum's low end, and thus pumping the mix too much, the side chain filter will cause the compressor to be triggered less by the low end, lessening the pumping effect. Hope this helps.

[@BeanYameen]

Aah, yes I understand completely. Thank you so much!