What's your cleanest compressor plug-in?

[philbrown]

I've been trying dozens of them. This is for some live-recorded spoken word material and there is a slight bit of what I'll call 'spittiness' in the main (headset) mic. Compressors with any 'character' whatsoever seem to accentuate the spitty quality so I'm pretty much searching for the cleanest/smoothest comp I can get. There's an arguable balance between 'smooth' and 'transparent' but that's what I'm after. Ones I've found that work OK are PSP Mastercomp and OldTimer, Native Instruments Solid Bus Compressor and Waves Linear Multi-Band. There are some others that I've tried that are pretty transparent but the timing and grab didn't quite work with this particular material. I'm not compressing hard, just smoothing out peaks and a slight bit of gentle leveling. Most of the work is volume automation and LOTS of it.

I've tried a lot of different EQ's too, but for general sculpting I'm really digging Waves Linear EQ for this task. Masterworks EQ is good too and the different curves and notching work well. Working with this spoken word stuff is more challenging than might appear– trying to get it the best it can be from whatever you're handed.

TIA,
Phil

[billf]

Phil, Have you tried the Fabfilter Pro MB Compressor?

[philbrown]

Phil, Have you tried the Fabfilter Pro MB Compressor?

Looks great, downloading now - I just hope I don't like it!

Seriously, I think the right multi-band would be the thing.
I need to look into the depths of my arsenal too.
Always nice when "Hey, I own it already!" happens.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Don't ignore the Dynamic Equalizer built into DP!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imx6GK39vEo

Dynamic Equalizer
Precise control of frequency,
volume and dynamics

Dynamic Equalizer combines multi-band EQ with dynamics processing and volume control. Three parametric bands and two shelving bands each provide both volume control and a full-featured compressor, complete with lookahead that can be set to different values for each frequency band. Use the realtime FFT display and solo each band as you perfect the balance and dynamic response across the frequency spectrum. The result? Clarity, balance, and punch, especially for broad-band audio material, such as a drum set or full mix.

[EMRR]

The dynamic EQ won't mimic what the de-esser does either, I find they have to be used in combination at times.

[billf]

Looks great, downloading now - I just hope I don't like it!

I made that mistake with their EQ.

Seriously, I think the right multi-band would be the thing.
I need to look into the depths of my arsenal too.
Always nice when "Hey, I own it already!" happens.

Definitely. Between Waves, PSP, and stock, there should be something that works well.

[philbrown]

Thanks for the recommendations!

EDIT: I know quite a few people here own Komplete, and if you're like me, when you think of 'Native Instruments' you don't think of high-quality comps and EQ's but their Solid series of processors are really good and worth giving a try. I like them better for some applications than some I've bought separately and paid good money for.

[mikehalloran]

I'm happy with the ones in the various Izotope plugs I own, especially Ozone. The ones in DP work well for me, too.

[Phil O]

Phil, I'm not sure what you mean by spittiness. Is it the over emphasis of consonants at the beginning of a word? Are your compressors not fast enough to catch those? (I'm just speculating, here.) If by chance you do need something faster, try Rocket from Stillwell. It's got attack times in the microsecond range. It's also got side-chain capability. There's a free demo and I think it costs about $50 for individual license.

There's also a nice compressor in Melda's free bundle. It can be adjusted to be quite transparent. I think the upgrade to paid version was around $50 as well (for the whole bundle).

Phil

[philbrown]

Phil, I'm not sure what you mean by spittiness. Is it the over emphasis of consonants at the beginning of a word? Are your compressors not fast enough to catch those? (I'm just speculating, here.) If by chance you do need something faster, try Rocket from Stillwell. It's got attack times in the microsecond range. It's also got side-chain capability. There's a free demo and I think it costs about $50 for individual license.

Phil

The 'spittiness' is hard to describe verbally and I can't post anything. There are some consonants as you describe, but it's more of a general 'over modulation' of high mids and highs. You could sum it up with 'harshness in the mids-highs' I guess.

I'm a huge Stillwell fan, and The Rocket is THE deal for fast compression, Phil's agree! But the faster comps (I used The Rocket in earlier years on this stuff) and 1176 styles haven't worked for me on this material as they tend to accentuate the harshness that I'm trying to describe. I may try some of these again though, as I'm way more light-handed with compression than years past (combined with a ton more volume automation these days). I'm dealing with everything form barely a whisper to shouting on this stuff and if you try to compress it into submission it gets really ugly. The way-more volume automation I'm doing these days with lighter compression- it's a whole different thing with more subtlety than SLAM! I SQUASH YOU, UNRULY SIGNAL! And there's a lesson there for music as well for unruly dynamic tracks, as many here know very well! Also, combining two compressors *occasionally* is a wonderful thing if you can get some the timing and grab differences to make friends with each other.

Right now I'm using Native Instruments Solid Bus Compressor into Waves Linear Multi-band both used sparingly and it's sounding pretty good. Still more stuff to try next week on the next job. I can really hear the difference between the linear and 'normal' EQ's/Multi-band comps these days, although that's another one that's hard to describe verbally and the math overshoots me as well.

Many thanks for the great input from you fine MOTU Nation'ers!

[billf]

Phil, one I just found out about yesterday is Klanghelm. It's only $25 but looks like it is a beast. There is a free cut down version, so that is one more option for you.

http://www.klanghelm.com/MJUCjr.php

[Robert Randolph]

Phil, one I just found out about yesterday is Klanghelm. It's only $25 but looks like it is a beast. There is a free cut down version, so that is one more option for you.

http://www.klanghelm.com/MJUCjr.php

+1 Klanghelm is awesome

MJUC is quite awesome, but DC8C is my favorite compressor plug-in of all-time. You can do so much with it in advanced mode (read the manual!) that it's my goto compressor any time I don't have a very specific sound in mind.

DC8C allows some exceptionally clean sounds, however you do have to know how to operate it. It's one of the most tweakable compressors out there.

[rnappi]

Phil, one I just found out about yesterday is Klanghelm. It's only $25 but looks like it is a beast. There is a free cut down version, so that is one more option for you.

http://www.klanghelm.com/MJUCjr.php

+2

Tony's genius is only outdone by his generosity.

rich

[billf]

Phil, one I just found out about yesterday is Klanghelm. It's only $25 but looks like it is a beast. There is a free cut down version, so that is one more option for you.

http://www.klanghelm.com/MJUCjr.php

+2

Tony's genius is only outdone by his generosity.

rich

His saturation plugin looks incredible too. These are the sorts of companies I like to support.

[monkey man]

Phil, I'm not sure what you mean by spittiness.Phil

The 'spittiness' is hard to describe verbally and I can't post anything. There are some consonants as you describe, but it's more of a general 'over modulation' of high mids and highs. You could sum it up with 'harshness in the mids-highs' I guess.

My 2 cents' worth:

Spittiness, IMHO, is epitomised by what T-Racks used to do to the vocal high end back in the early days. This manifested as high-end crunchiness in cymbals. Can't speak for today.