I don't understand why you don't have more subscribers. You explain this equipment very clearly as well as provide great production quality. Very helpful.
Interested in trying a Distressor from your studio with your music? We can connect you to a robotically controlled Distressor in the cloud via our Analog Matrix plugin - check it out at @t
This is great. Thanks for taking the time. I’m in the market to buy a quantity of compressors and the distressor, although I have an only heard good things about it over the years, wasn’t even on my radar. I’m grateful I came across your video. I’m gonna have to pick me up a pair! The LA3A does something really nice to the voice. Distressor was close but not exactly there however, it was close enough for government work! The lack of brightness is pleasing to my ear and I’ve found using EQ to dampen higher frequencies from compressors doesn’t produce the same result as just running through kit that imparts the sound you’re after. But we all know that, don’t we. Carry on good sir and thanks again.
I have to say you do the best gear comparisons hands down...you really know how to show the gear without wasting a lot of time or in bad quality. You should get paid to do these vids if you don't already hehe. I was wishing you had all the compressors in existence so I could hear them all at their full potential. Thanks!
Interested in trying a Distressor from your studio with your music? We can connect you to a robotically controlled Distressor in the cloud via our Analog Matrix plugin - check it out at @t
Hi. I appreciate the video. I'm questioning your comment at 2:30 about the HP filter. I believe you meant to say that as a high pass filter, engaged this allows "less" of the low frequencies to get through not "more." Engaging the High Pass filter does just that- allows the high frequencies to pass and attenuates low frequencies. Great video and I learned a lot in other sections. Thank you.
Actually it’s a subtle point, but I think it’s stated correctly in the video. Engaging high pass on the detector circuit prevents bass frequencies from triggering gain reduction, which results in bass frequencies not being reduced, which results in more bass getting through during compression. The separate high pass in the audio section does indeed reduce bass frequencies on the audio passing through the unit as you stated. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify!
Gotta say I love all of your videos. I really wish you would continue doing them! How about a video of your Langevin EQ/Pre? This video, and your compressor death match are excellent! You do a good job of showing the items and their features as well as recording what you are doing. As an audio pro for 25 years, I can say THANK YOU for taking the time to do these types of videos the right way!!!
Great comparison video, really enjoyed it. Many thanks! Seemed the 1176 had a bit more depth to the toms, though I could be wrong... listening via a pair of not so great headphones. All in all, the Distressor is obviously a wonderful piece of equipment.
LA-3A nicely presses the top frequencies a little more and it sounds 'smoother' as in less erratic - although that perhaps means it's more audible compression! It definitely makes the audio seem a little closer and more 'up-front' as they say.
With the Genelec's cranked up, it sounds like the 1176 sounds smoother, richer, fuller more dimensional than the Distressor. Not to piss on the Distressor, I have two, but there's no denying the "bloom" that the 1176 imparts ... and hey Hey HEY ... I almost forgot ... thanks for the nice comparisons you made in this video.
Interested in trying a Distressor and 1176 from your studio with your music? We can connect you to a robotically controlled Distressor and 1176 in the cloud via our Analog Matrix plugin - check it out at @t
shits so fucking crazy that your money is actually worth something. in gear shits is so fucking exclusively profound and detailed to the point where ill tell frodo that gollums voice reminds me of miley cyrus on a distressor
this was dope...the la-3a was slightly warmer by a hair, as well as wth the 1176...on the all buttons in mode...the 1176 was a little bit more tight, but its definitely worth the money...its a swiss army knife of compressors and it replicates the modes very well as far as opto and fet
I know this might make a lot of you out-board gear people mad out there but if you are doing a blind test, today's plug in's are either so close, it's pretty much the same or in some cases with tweaking, exactly the same. I know it's not as sexy as the outboard gear where you can adjust the knobs, lights, etc., but thats just my personal opinion. Anyone else? Hey hey hey hey hey hey by the way.
Interested in trying a Distressor from your studio with your music? We can connect you to a robotically controlled Distressor in the cloud via our Analog Matrix plugin - check it out at @t
Thanks for the video! It really explains everything. Just got a free version of Xtressor NUKE by Kiive Audio and was wondering if I got the "right" distressor plugin. Guess, that little one works pretty well, at least for my untrained ears =) For me, less buttons = easier to get used to it, so I'm fine by using only the NUKE mode alone for now. And your video did help me a lot
The comparison between 1176 and distressor. If I'm not wrong, the attack and release on the 1176 is backwards, so attack on 3 is slow! That's why the audio from the distressor loses more attack and sound more compressed while the 1176 sounds more open! But awesome video.
Good video, but would have preferred some other sources to reference and compare like guitar or bass versus your "hey heys". The 1176 did have a bit more of a distinct bottom but the distressor still held it's own.
Should have used singing to demonstrate the compression, there's barely any noticeable difference otherwise because RU-vid compresses video sound anyway.
Pretty cool, not had a chance to shootout either of these units so thanks for contributing. :-D Would be very keen to hear the raw audio before it's crapified by RU-vid, could you host a 320 or WAV anywhere for us people with decent cans / monitors?
I'm looking for a serious compressor in the $500 - $1500 range for my pro guitar rig...I am new to compression and have never done it before. I know this is probably a dumb question, but why do the high-end compressors not have 1/4 jacks, instead going for XLR?
Im confused about the 2:1 ratio. You say because of the 15 db knee that the ratio stays at 1:1 until you start getting up to 15db of GR or more? And with 6:1 you say it's similar? Like I get that its not compressing hard when it's a very low db of GR, But I dont understand how for instance in 2:1 that even at 4-10 db of GR it's still at a 1:1 Ratio. That would mean its not even compressing at all. Can you just clarify this concept?
Mike Sloan Spoken word is not easy to capture! If the tone is even slightly unnatural the human brain notices and is distracted from the story. . Quality gear is worthwhile to have
I suppose you could record the left channel through first, then record the right channel through in a second pass, then marry the two tracks together to get a "stereo 1176" effect. However, I would want to hear the effect of the 1176 on my mix while mixing, so this wouldn't work for me. Part of the magic of having a compressor on your mix bus is not just slapping it on an existing mix, but rather mixing INTO it and hearing the effect of the compressor and adjusting the mix to take advantage of the compression. If I had only the money for one compressor in the 1176-ish price range, I'd get a stereo Manley ELOP or Smart Research C2. Those work for individual instruments as well as the stereo bus.
***** Thanks! Yeah I think I am just gonna get another 1176 so I can track in stereo. I actually use mainly soft synths itb and I wanna run them through the 1176 back into the daw to record them so they get some more punch. Eventually I would love to get a smart research c1/2, api 2500, or other bus compressor for mix bus duties. I thought about the chameleon labs 7720...heard good things about it for the price range. It is actually this video that convinced me to get an 1176 over a distressor lol. I like the distressor but it just seems the 1176 is more full warm and real sounding.
Scott McClure in order to get a good stereo image from compressing the two channels in two consecutive passes, you need to create a mono mix from the two channels and use that to feed the detector circuit in both passes. this will steady the mid image of the mix.
+Daniel White I beg your pardon, my fault, Distressor and 1176 don't have a sidechain input so it is not possible. WIth external sidechain input compressors it is easy, you mix the L+R channels of the stereo material on another channel perfectly time aligned with the original stereo. then you feed the L channel to the mono compressor unit input, select on the compressor external sidechain input and to the sidechain input you feed the mono sum you created. print and repeat with the R channel. this way the compression applied to the both channels L and R is the same so the elements that are in the middle of the mix won't jump from left to right (voice, drums, bass, you name it). Otherwise, if you compress the L and R channels of a stereo mix through two passes and you feed the compressors with separate sidechain signals (as default on any compressor) the differences between the two channels will affect the level of the compression/output and when combined back with the other channel in a stereo mix the resulting stereo image will be ”jumpy”
@@MELOPSMUSIC I have both next to each other and 1176 gets used more. The compression is not nearly as flexible on the 1176 but I like the gritty tone.
@@MELOPSMUSIC I should add that I never track vocals with 1176 by itself. It’s too grabby on a wild vocal for my taste. LA-3A or Vac Rac tame most of the extreme level swings without sounding compressed, and they don’t do anything unexpected even if the vocalist does. Distressor can also do that really well in opto mode. 1176 comes in at mix for the final growl. If I could only have one compressor it would be LA-3A
An LA-2A may start at 3:1 ratio, but the ratio increases with level and then seems to level off around 10:1. I think this is what they are trying to emulate. I like the sound of my LA-3A,’s when the gain reduction needle is swinging way over :)
I can barely hear any difference between the 1176 and the distressor. The LA-3A however is not even close. The distressor sounds more hi-fi or modern than the 3A. I personally prefer the 3A, but point being... definitely not a substitute.
