Unbiased review : Softube Germanium Compressor (Chandler Limited)

DESCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO (Two parts : Rock / Synth pop) :
** ROCK PART ** :
- 00:08 : Intro and explanation of the features/sound expected.
- 03:35 : Clean compression on mixbus.
- 04:24 : Dirtier compression on mixbus.
- 05:20 : Even dirtier compression on mixbus (Michael Brauer preset).
- 06:34 : Holding the bass in place.
- 08:22 : On electric guitar (pretty amazing).
- 10:00 : On vocal, 2 compressors in series and parallel.
** SYNTH POP PART **
- 12:25 : Bypassing all instances at once.
- 13:38 : On the mixbus (round and tighter).
- 14:30 : On drums (drum machine, tight and obvious compression).
- 16:53: On 808-Bass aux (pushing the 808 while taming bass synth).
- 18:45 : On Synth Keys (similar impact as on electric guitars).
- 21:16 : CONCLUSION and honest opinion about it.
- 21:20 : Pros.
- 22:58 : Cons.
This video features a review of the Softube Germanium FET compressor plugin emulation the original hardware by Chandler Limited.
Pro Tools 12.6.1

[@justingodwin5215]

Very good review. I thinks this compressor really shines on the guitars, vocals and keys. I couldn’t resist buying it. Definitely going to use this a lot.

[@WheelieMix]

Thank you Justin ! It indeed really shined and guitars and keys. On vocal, it works very well too with that 8 to 12khz kind of boost it got ! Pretty amazing how it can fattens up the lows, pushing the highs without cluttering the midrange !

[@divisionsoundworks8316]

Thanks for a fairly detailed review video. I regret that I missed this compressor at intro price.

[@WheelieMix]

Thanks a lot ! Indeed it's one of the best colored software compressor I tried for now !

[@joeblack007forever]

Hi Division Soundwork, how much was the intro price?

[@d.m.ebeats9013]

This compressor has a way it handles the low end I have never heard any compressor brings out low end power in this manner ❤❤❤

[@WheelieMix]

Yes it is very unique and impressive in that sense!

[@marklholloway]

Would love it if Softube release Chandler Germanium Tone Control EQ to pair it up

[@nichttuntun3364]

It turned out fantastic on a final group-track where I glued the drum/rythm section and the bass-section together. Very nice controllable and indeed it sounds special. There is only one I know which also has a Zener-emulation and thats DMG Trackcomp2 which is a beast of its own. I think the Germanium Comp is a very special and most useful plugin. Cheers.

[@WheelieMix]

Yep Germanium comp does sound very different from the Zener. I love the Zener outboard so I can tell you ;). I think this Germanium is more than compressor, but can be a serious tone shaper indeed !

[@nichttuntun3364]

@@WheelieMix cool. Yes indeed.

[@XiyuYang]

Pretty sure Kiive has one, interested to hear how people think of it

[@wesleyleigh4063]

irrespective of the obscurity of the knobs, I do like this compressor, and what I've personally found is that it has a particular sound, but one that I only rarely reach for. basically, the saturation profile or harmonic colouration is just not as familiar or recognisable as an LA2A or 1176, both of which i'll use 4.5/5 times over this. Granted, it still has a colour or a charm, even if said charm is quite heavy and hard to be convinced of what it would suit most. Also because of how unique it sounds I want to say I wouldn't buy it again but I may as well have to bc I honestly don't know any other comp that sounds similar to this (and i've tried hundreds). I will say I prefer the Softube Zener Limiter, though that is to be expected given its pedigree.

[@WheelieMix]

I 100% agree ! And as much as I love the Zener (especially the hardware, the software is a bit old to me), the Germanium is just unique. It has some big low-end boosts that is hard to imitate. I recently rediscovered how amazing it can sound on mixbus. Blended in parallel and dialing up the feedback and drive for the right amount of low-end. I do have a few software/hardware compressors. But none that I got do what it does. On another hand, I found the Chandler Limited Germanium Pre “Thumb” switch to be quite similar (but I found the preamp to be a little bit too colored for me most of the time).

[@stupidusername38]

Be very careful with this compressor, it has a big bass boost when added. I find it too much on the mix bus

[@WheelieMix]

Oh yes I def agree ! I don’t think I ever used on the mixbus yet. Except for the purpose of this video haha ^^. But it’s quite amazing on drum tho’.

[@bedtimeread]

... oh I know how to destroy a mix, trust me 😂😂... thank you for the review!

[@WheelieMix]

Hahaha then be careful with this compressor. Also well dialed in, it's pretty amazing for a software compressor (I am still using it a lot today). My pleasure, glad the review was useful to you :). Thanks for chiming in :).

[@bedtimeread]

@@WheelieMix oh yeah same here, using it a bunch, thank you for all of the content! 👊😎

[@WheelieMix]

@@bedtimeread My pleasure !!!

[@carlosp.1846]

Agree. Too expensive. Softube in general. And with all the choices I end up going for another brand.

[@WheelieMix]

I can understand ! Although I haven't found a compressor plugin that sound like this (yet).

[@danielkisel5661]

To be honest, I was thinking this way too, and bought couple plugins from Plugin Alliance on sale and they are great, but I always come back to the Softube ones because I just love how they sound and they truly can bring some life into a lifeless digital mix... To be fair I absolutely love MC77 from plugin alliance, it is totaly unique 1177 style comp, Bx console SSL4000E and G and NEVE also to name just a few plugins. But for reasons I mentioned before I very often go for Softube stuff. Softube is the king of warmth of the sound, harmonic distortion, high quality modeling. I bought Softube Tube-Tech collection that contains both PE1C and ME1B legacy and new version MKII as well for 69€, because it is on sale, regular price is 199€ for this bundle. But now it is for 99€ for a few days and if you give them subscribe you will get another 30% discount voucher. Before that I bought Softube drawmer 1973 again for about 70€. And from 26.3.2020 their Summit Audio TLA-100A will be for I hope 69€ or less with subscription code, so I will definitely grab that one as well! If you have watched Wheelie's video where he compared real hardware with Softube TLA-100A Softube was like 99% there soundwise...

[@WheelieMix]

@@danielkisel5661 I agree with you, some of Softube emulation are, in my opinion, one of the best I have heard. The TLA100A, I bought it just because I was impressed when comparing it to the hardware (which I love !). This Germanium compressor blew my mind and I think it is the only software compressor that impressed me so far. I am glad you liked my vide on the TLA100A too, thanks for sharing :D

[@danielkisel5661]

@@WheelieMix No problem ;) If you think about it 69€ for plugin emulation which is really close to the real hardware, plugin that has some added features like low cut filter and parallel knob isn't bad right? Btw, if you haven't checked the Softube Drawmer 1973 yet, I would suggest you to demo it out, because from the day I bought it, I use it daily... Some people say it's also pretty close to hardware.

[@WheelieMix]

@@danielkisel5661 True ! I will check it out (but I need to go slow as I'll buy this Germanium first, it really blew me away).