PSP goes Classic Black, PSP FETpressor

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Yep, it's a very good compressor, I concur.

PSP did a great job with that one. Kudos !

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I'm impressed so far as well.
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Last edited by egbert101 on Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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egbert101 wrote:How close is it to the real thing if anyone has a real one? [1176LN emulation I assume]
I don't think this is an 1176 emulation. At least, not strictly speaking. There's a few differences:

1. 1176 has a fixed internal threshold that's driven by the input gain. This has a variable threshold.

2. This has continuous ratios from 1:1 to 20:1. The 1176 has fixed ratio buttons.

3. The 1176 can have the threshold buttons all pressed at once, that's not an option here.

4. This can do linked and unlinked stereo, or just a single L or R channel. 1176's were mono, most software recreations don't allow for controls for stereo.

5. This has a side chain filter and mix.

6. I haven't driven this very hard yet, but after a quick play, it seems cleaner and smoother than an 1176.

Don't get me wrong, it's clearly "inspired by" the 1176, but this seems different enough to be interesting.

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Last edited by egbert101 on Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bmanic wrote:Wow. Wow. WOW! Holy moly this thing is very impressive! Exceptionally useful mixing tool. Very tweakable, very nice and "clean" sound even at rather extreme settings.

This can definitely nail stuff in it's place.

Tip: When compressing something, make sure you set the release to slowest possible to properly see how much you are truly compressing.. before dialing it back to fast release values. You can easily do up to 12dB of gain reduction without really noticing unless you are careful. The GR metering is a bit slow, like on real vintage units (which is a shame.. yet another example of where precise digital metering with a memory/hold function would be much more preferred).

This is almost a no-brainer for me, after only 5 minutes of testing. Will let it simmer for a few days but I suspect I will have to go for this.
This was my 1st impression as well.
I was surprised by the instant audible pleasing contour.
Not sure yet, but FETpressor feels less pumping and leans towards a LA-3A unit (I do not know HW).
The unlink option was appreciated on drumloops, the default setting is very well thought.
Will give it some time with pauses.
Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: I don't think this is an 1176 emulation. At least, not strictly speaking. There's a few differences
Never try to go purist with PSP, you will miss their own approach :)
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I never care about the "pure" comparison. Will check out later though.

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This might be a mst buy for me. I use Softube FET compressor a lot but I hate the interface. the knobs are very touchy. If this has a similar quality to it, I'm all in.

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Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote:
egbert101 wrote:How close is it to the real thing if anyone has a real one? [1176LN emulation I assume]
I don't think this is an 1176 emulation. At least, not strictly speaking. There's a few differences:

1. 1176 has a fixed internal threshold that's driven by the input gain. This has a variable threshold.

2. This has continuous ratios from 1:1 to 20:1. The 1176 has fixed ratio buttons.

3. The 1176 can have the threshold buttons all pressed at once, that's not an option here.

4. This can do linked and unlinked stereo, or just a single L or R channel. 1176's were mono, most software recreations don't allow for controls for stereo.

5. This has a side chain filter and mix.

6. I haven't driven this very hard yet, but after a quick play, it seems cleaner and smoother than an 1176.

Don't get me wrong, it's clearly "inspired by" the 1176, but this seems different enough to be interesting.
And also its fastest attack (1ms) is slower than 1176's slowest attack... on paper at least.

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From the manual, it looks like 1ms attack is at the 12 o'clock setting, which is half way up. I don't think the attack knob is anywhere close to linear. I bought it yesterday and compared it to five other compressor plugins I own. It's definitely its own thing. I find it to be very versatile. The attack setting have a huge range. Don't think that because the 1ms point is half way that somehow that makes the fastest attack .1ms or anything like that. FETpressor can have a super fast or pretty slow attack. Way more range than an 1176 clone. It can do some very 1176 things but I don't think it has the same sound, when compared to a Softube FET compressor. The Softube has a bigness to the sound that the PSP doesn't have. But the PSP can remain less murky at higher gain reduction.
What I compared it to on kick, snare, mandola and vocals in my tests were:
1) PSP FETpressor
2) Softube FET Compressor
3) Softube CL1B
4) Softube TLA100
5) PSP Old-timer
6) Klanghelm MJUC
7) Sonalksis

FETpressor is a great all-around compressor. It can cover the ground of most of the other compressors I tested yet has its own thing. The attack can get fast enough to do some extreme smashing of drum parts without any click at the beginning of a hit. The attack can also get slow enough to get a good pop out of a kick, which a 1176 doesn't do, because the attack is always too fast. The range of the controls on the FETpressor are wide so you can make it do just about anything. If you could only have one compressor, I think FETpressor would have to be in the top few plugins to get. Was it better than the others? It was different. It doesn't sound like a clone at all. It doesn't cloud over like many of the others do. And it doesn't have the bigness that the Softube FET has. So the PSP is somewhat unique. Honestly, it sounds like a vastly improved OldtimerME in the clear position. (I don't like the valve setting on Oltimer)
I'm not sure what I will use it on in my mixes yet. For very specific tasks it didn't win against the others, but it was never bad on anything. It has more color than a TLA100 but not as much as a CL1B or FET compressor.
I tend to use a couple compressors in series on vocals, with the second compressor having 20-25% dry mixed in. For that, the Softube FET is better. Lately, I've used a Softube Grand Channel feeding the FET. The Grand Channel TLA100 does a lighter, more transparent compression and the FET ads the body. FETpressor hasn't removed either of those on vocals but I do think it will replace Old-timer and the Sonalksis on just about everything else where I only want a single compressor.

I didn't really mention the Klanghelm MJUC. It's a beast unto itself and I need more time with it. Model 3 and FETpressor can be made to sound pretty similar on some sources. The MJUC is really great with it's three completely different models.

That's my take so far. If you don't have any great compressors, FETpressor could be just the thing. Very versatile and not too much color. If they added a hidden "tone" knob that could add a little low girth or add a little sizzle (when turned the other way) it would be pretty unbeatable as a One Compressor To Rule Them All kind of thing. I also like that the interface is very simple and quick to work with. That's #1 in my selection almost always. Complicated interfaces with tons of options are fine if you are an experimenter, but if you have to get mixes out the door quickly, simpler always always.
Last edited by trmupstage on Wed Dec 28, 2016 2:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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trmupstage wrote:From the manual, it looks like 1ms attack is at the 12 o'clock setting, which is half way up.
I saw that and I think it must be a typo in the manual because at the same time it says that the labels indicate ms so it would mean the attack goes from 1ms to 100ms.

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Bouroki wrote:
trmupstage wrote:From the manual, it looks like 1ms attack is at the 12 o'clock setting, which is half way up.
I saw that and I think it must be a typo in the manual because at the same time it says that the labels indicate ms so it would mean the attack goes from 1ms to 100ms.
I'm not saying you're wrong but try this test. Put it on a snare track. Set the attack and release at their fastest settings. Set the ratio to the highest setting. Set the threshold all the way counter clockwise to smash the signal. You won't hear the tell-tale "tick" of a slower 1ms attack. It's grabbing the transient super fast. In fact, it seems as fast as my other couple FET style compressors. No matter what they say, I don't think the numbers on the knobs mean much of anything. At least, my ears are telling me something different.

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:o i've just seen a russian video , the PSP FETpressor is clean compared to the Softube FET !!! day and night ! :o

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The thingie sounds pretty good. But almost 3x the CPU usage of oldTimer? :(

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Best way I found was to compare with UA 1176 Classic Limiter Collection, that`s 3 different models.
(Purist thinking, all extras off).

I can only repeat, I love the instant distinct contour of the FETpressor, details are coming up but less agressiv.
Shines particularly on snares.

Finally I thought, well if each hw unit is different with it`s own personality, why not emulations ?
With this in mind I pal up with the idea of diversity of tools and less the aspect of comparison.

CPU: FETpressor is initial release, I am sure PSP is pimping.
The Vintage Warmer was a huge improvement for example.

Russian video ? Adventurous.
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