I agree. This compressor is unique. My go-to for electronic music as it separates the low end (kick and bass) so well from the rest - even in stereo mode. This is so important in busy electronic mixes. I always test out a few usual suspwcts like the Vertigo VSC-2, Shadow Hills, SPL Iron, Lindell 254/354, Townhouse, PuigChild etc, but the alpha wins most times. It is so smooth.
I like this plugin. No placebo effect going here. It's really tight yet open sounding - if that makes sense. And the soft clipping on this is great - really transparent - use it over a drum bus to help keep dynamic range in your mix
Just received my series 500 elysaia compressor, first vocal was a female and this compressor put her vocal on top and never budged an inch!! What a compressor!
Of course buttons are king, but I love what they do with this plugin. Use the mousewheel to change parameters while only hovering over the knob you want to turn. No need to klick it first. I think that makes it just soooo much more tactile. Really nice touch :) And maybe some of you didn't know and i got a nice tip for you!
The way these companies model these hardware units it’s literally more accurate than hardware clones. They measure the values of components then digitally copy them. If one were to build a hardware clone all of the component tolerances would then come into play so unless the hardware clone was built entirely out of 100% identical parts as the birth unit then it will sound different. It’s why the UAD distressor is IDENTICAL to a real distressor but a distressor clone is only “pretty close”. This plugin just popped up in my email today.
Well put, there is something about this plug-in. I noticed the subtle effect of the Niveau circuitry, and lack of the pump&breath of not hi-passing as well. it's as subtle or aggressive as you want it to be. And well the MS-clearly the best I've ever heard. I feel ya when you were describing the palpable tactile feed back pleasure of actually touching real knobs, and pressing buttons, and ADJUSTING 2 THINGS at ONCE that hardware offers, but I'll take the $10,000-$20,000 in savings that this new world of high quality , oversampled plug ins offer us!
I understand your love affair, from this great review alone. The sound processing is amazing. As a producer, I want access to those tasteful variations. Getting the plug in now!
I liked your video, I liked the compressor and I love your channel. It just sounds clean and nice almost no matter the settings, and that makes it able to work with your own taste instead of the technical stuff.
Probably my favorite master compressor. So many points of detail that go into it. If you don’t spend time with the manual you’ll probably be standoffish towards it though so read up!
I have the plugin, and it's been a useful one, but the hardware is in a different class. The sound of that total wonder box makes me want to start robbing banks for a living.
Who wouldn't prefer the hardware. The word you were looking for was probably tactile. Though, if I don't win the lottery, I have to stick to digital recreations for the most part. Just because you asked: I liked the video and even more, that you didn't go off the rails with the GUI.
Last year during one of PA's flash sales, I was looking at this and the Townhouse. Ended up going with the Townhouse, but I still really like this. First big impression is, even when over doing it, it's still pretty transparent, and at "normal" settings it's very much so!.....hence a mastering comp. and yes, VERY versatile ! "at least they lost the screws".....oh dude! 🤣😂
Cool video. You’ve got to try more of the PA stuff - it’s all fantastic! Especially the Blackbox HG-2! The Purple and Vertigo stuff is also worth checking out.
Plugin Alliance has really unbelievable software! Curious to know what you'd think about the Lindell 80 series emulation of a Neve 8028 desk (that thing has up to 16x oversampling too...)
I totally agree with the knobs and feel of analog. I have a lot of affordable but good quality analog gear now and i LOVE the workflow and the way it makes me feel the music and listen more than the looks. but some of these plugin alliance plugins are amazing. try out the purple 77 plugin they make its a clone of the purple audio clone of the 1176
I have the MIX & MASTER bundle, which also contains this great plugin, and many more. I use it a lot. And my genre is folk, light music. But it's usable with many other genres. Thanks for the review. Grtz From Flanders.
probably your funniest video yet .. love it and thank you i have been looking for a dual mono comp for a few days now i may buy this one all thanks to you . cheers T
Plugins are very useful sales tools for companies that sell hardware. Not all hardware would make a good plugin but the ones that do (ie - preamps, compressors, EQs, etc) absolutely should be creating plugin versions
I got mine bundled with that yellow distortion unit Vertigo VSM-3, saving about 15k in hardware. They have a lot of other useful plugins such as bx refinement - if you sigb up to their mailing list & use their bargains regularly you often get some vouchers on top.
This is a big winner by Plugin Alliance... Overall their range of offerings are very good, though there's a few clunkers in there... The new Purple MC77 (1176 clone) is awesome too, and I love the Lindell stuff. PA was my go to until you turned me on to Fabfilter!
Hello bro, first of all thanks for all i learn from you!! Really is a lot! man, did you tested the xpressor? Would be great to compare the alpha plugin with the xperssor (in hardware) I had it and was mega clean, and i had to sell it, but im thinking in buy it again.. Apart of the price, you feel there is such an epic big difference between the alpha and the xpressor?? its a good question i feel.. heheh Thanks again!
I use the plug all the time. It sounds fantastic, but the gui is horrible for me. I can't read anything on the front. So I have my own preset that ends up on everything.... But it sounds really good!
Thanks for making me aware of this great processor. Last week I combined a couple of voucher coupons at Plugin Alliance and got it for US$15. The also give you a simplified stereo version for using on mix buses, which is a nice bonus. Do you have it yet?
I've had this plug for a while, and I spent a month or two just being intimidated by it, and then, when I finally spent time to figure it out, it's a permanent fixture on my mix bus as a "betterizer" plugin.
WHAT? YOU’RE BUYING A PLUGIN???? AND IT’S NOT FABFILTER???? Lol I enjoyed your coverage and this is definitely up on my list now along with the focusrite channel strip which I hope you get to one day!
Check out the Ueberbig preset. Pretty crazy. It opened up a whole world of possibilities I never thought a compressor could do. The only reason to get the hardware is if you want to use it in a live setting and don't have an Apollo. The alpha mix/master, museq, and mpressor mix/master are all incredibly good. Sadly, I got the Plugin Alliance versions before I got my Apollo. So the only way I can use them in real time is (supposedly) with LUNA, which I won't use because it requires iLok, and iLok is pure evil! I'd love to start an industry-wide boycott on Avid/iLok. The UAD Fairchild 670 sounds gorgeous, but it can't do anything close to what the alpha can. I'll usually use it on mix busses and use the alpha on the master buss unless there's something that screams out for Pro-MB. Hopefully this is your first step toward realising that the difference between analogue and well done digital plugins is so insignificant that it doesn't even come close to justifying the expense, lost time, and maintenance that analogue gear requires. Companies like elysia, Klanghelm, SPL, and brainworx, to name a few, have really limited the need for hardware to live audio processing. UAD have removed even that limit.
it's such a great plugin! wait for sales, it's definitely worth it. fun fact: if you own the alpha compressor, you get a huge discount for the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Class A (i could it for $ 129,99, if i wanted…). PA offers several special deals according to the plugs you already own (like… i have the ACME Audio Opticom XLA-3 and could get the Magnum-K comp for $ 99).
Great compressor but as with many plugin designers, they've put so much thought in to making it look like the hardware, they've given no thought to practicality regarding text size. The plugin doesn't have to look exactly like the hardware. The text on this particular plugin is way too small and takes your concentration away from listening because you have to try and focus on what the buttons actually are.
With 4K screens all plugins should have scaling functionality. To bad not many do these days.... I like the real look allot, for me it would be confusing if the GUI of a emulation would look like Fabfilter or Unfiltered Audio (Which have more then great GUI’s). If the plugin sounds good and the GUI does the job, why bother about 3D knobs or screws 😉
Brainworx have been adding scaling options for new plugins and I believe they do plan on adding scaling options for older ones too so you can at least choose 75% 100% 150% for example.
@@audiunt I agree, the plugin looks great. They've really nailed it. It's the practicality that I have a problem with. The real unit is way bigger than the plugin appears on the screen, yet they've scaled the text inline with the real thing. It wouldn't actually take much extra programming to give a couple of skin options. One like this and one flatter and clearer. Then you can select which you prefer. It could be a selling point?
Thanks again. If you got this PA plugin version of elysia Alpha compressor, great. Otherwise maybe consider an annual bundle, they are giving every penny or even more back to their customers right after bundle purchase to use on future purchases. If you buy on their quarterly sales you could pick this up for perhaps $30 USD or so which would be free if you have credit from bundle deal. Really nice they gave me Karacter for $14.99 today so had to do it. Later!
i've had this (plugin of course) for a year - im so happy with it, i think its very versatile and use in not only for mastering, but also as a buss comp
not sure because it is wanted for the bad-ass sound it delivers already, and has the mid-side and parallel options already. perhaps not too much to do.
@@neovxr It was released 2011 I think? I don't pretend to know much about these things but I was thinking that the techniques plugin programmers use to mimic hardware have improved in 9 years. I could be wrong.
@@codgerfiasco are you all sure it is identical with the 2011 version? it may have been transparently optimized, with code that runs even faster, when also the CPUs have multiplied their capacity since then. but technically, in theory, it has been possible since long, to simulate analog electronics meticulously, also Waves did this with a certain valve preamp. thus, almost every aspect of the sound itself has been achieved already. but it used to be way too slow for real-time applications. that is, until recently, when systems became more powerful, and processing-code got optimized and partially outsourced to the new GPU generation (engineered to run games graphics). this is the main reason for the current boom of emulations. it's not theory, the math has been developed since many decades. it is more about engineering, to simplify things smartly, and get away with it, having a useful result of say.. 98 percent. (Waves gave away the 99.9% version for free, but made a commercial 98% version, that can be used in many track instances without driving the system into fatal congestion.)
basically i see two fields of competition. a) to emulate classic analog gear that basically does not change (but some modded versions will come up also), while newer hardware gear is digital inside already, so practically nothing to emulate, just to license the algorithm, and b) totally different innovation, e.g what zynaptic do with their spectral and AI processing, open field for very ingenious ideas.
Just got it!!…… going to need some time to really learn this thing. Super transparent right out of the gate. I foresee the soft clip being very useful!! ;:-) I'm trying to learn m/s processing and mastering, and this will be a great companion on the journey :-)
@@Nicholas_PA still loving it!.... I'm using it more for the soft clipper. It works so well at giving extra headroom with very little artifacts. I do like that you can push the compression fairly hard and still stay transparent.
@@J-DUB-F1 It sounds great when listening to all the demos, no negative reviews to speak of and it’s on sale...I think you helped make my decision. Thanks for such a quick reply!
Quick question! I’m more so wondering since I trust your wisdom on this topic. What makes oversampling an absolute must have at all times? I’m genuinely wondering what makes oversampling so important. Mainly since I sometimes think saturation plugins sound better when oversampling is turned off.
I’m curious if you’re running all these sessions at 48k. I’ve seen a few videos where you’ve done that. And also the video where you ran the plugins at 96k and showed how they responded much more like the hardware. Last time I checked your site, it said you used 192k. It’s just not all that fair to expect plugins in a 44/48k session to compete with hardware. But every big plugin reviewer is using those rates from what I’ve seen. It would be cool to get your reaction to hearing this inside a 96k session if this one was at 44 or 48.
@@neovxr oversampling isn't always as good. Plus you're getting all the other problems associated with plugins that don't oversample. Even FX like reverb are significantly compromised at 44/48. Convert one of your 44/48 sessions to 88/96 and you should notice some significant differences. If these plugin reviewers on youtube are going for accuracy, at least part of the video should be at 88/96.
@@Whiteseastudio Thanks for clarifying. So we should be expecting all DAW sessions in future videos to be 192k sessions then? Some plugins aren't 192k compatible if I'm not mistaken though. You'll be the only one running sessions above 48k and that will be something you can highlight. Seems every time I watch some plugin video or read some review, I have to assume it's a 48k session because that's the only rate I ever see when the reviewer leaves it visible or states what they used.
@@viciousblissvideos There are a lot of people that believe you must do your projects at the same sample rate as the final medium, e.g., 44.1 for CDs/streaming, 48K for DVDs, etc. This idea has been propagated by a lot of hacks for years. Their thinking is that you lose quality when the project gets downsampled. There's some truth to that, but the quality loss is so small that it doesn't come close to outweighing the benefits of working with 96K files. (Cockos claimed to have improved their downsampling algorithms in REAPER 6. I'd be curious to know more specifics about that because it's likely whatever they've done is brilliant.) According to Chris "Monty" Montgomery, there is absolutely no benefit (and several drawbacks) to working over 96K. He's a pioneering genius in the field of digital audio technology-he wrote the Ogg compression algorithm among other things-and he dispels the myth that lower sample rates might "miss" a peak or trough, lose some information, and thereby return a lower quality waveform upon conversion back to analogue in the second video on this page: xiph.org/video/ We know that, because of the way most plugins work, we need them to oversample so that we don't get the non-musical harmonics that bounce back into the audible range of the frequency spectrum from the spooky realm that exists above Nyquist, but there's a limit above which there is no practical value in increasing sample rates. Even if you're using plugins that don't oversample, at 96kHz you're still going to get the benefits of oversampling. At 192kHz, the only benefit is lower latency. There is absolutely no difference in quality when the signal gets converted back to analogue. The drawbacks to working at 192kHz, such as way bigger files that shorten the lifespan of your storage media and a way heavier load on the CPU that results in decreased performance, are much more impactful on your workflow than the tiny bit of decreased latency. In fact, since the only real point at which some quality gets lost is in the downsampling stage, 192kHz workflows produce lower quality end products than workflows at lower sampling rates. Unless you're audience is dogs, 96kHz sample rates leave plenty of room above Nyquist to ensure that unwanted artifacts will not enter the audible range. Oversampling in a 192kHz workflow is overkill to an extreme. There's absolutely no value to it. People who work with an A/D/A workflow really need to watch both of the videos at the link above so they understand the fundamentals of digital sound.
Hello May I ask Do You still hold on to Your Karakter ? Thinking bout getting one in 500 series and Im very interesed about Your opinion after You had some time with the unit!
omg I just tried out the elysia karacter...just wow! these products really stand out, this clarity and definition, the punch it adds. purely amazing! thanks for reviewing their products!
If you like upsampling and a Fairchild, why wouldn’t you Snake Oil UAD? I think you would manage to borrow a Satellite from somebody 😇 I think you want one too then 😊
Elysian rarely let us be frustrated or disappointed. And I'm saying like this just to be fair, but I don't remember buying an Elysia plugin and haven't no smile on my face after testing it... I mean, Elysia plugins use to surprise me positively....
Hey Wytsek. Any plans on testing the Warm Audio Bus Compressor in the near future? Btw i see you initiate M/S mode on the Alpha, but i dont quite get how you see when you treat the M and when the S? i see no indicator anywhere?
jmorrisey79 bx is a PART of plugin alliance which are NOW owned by the same guy (dirk ulrich). But it started with bx getting together with other developers like Elysia etc for, an alliance of plugin developers. Several of the plugins brands in PA are still anyway different brands owned by different people. They only share the place(website) where the plugins are sold.
Today (2021/2/7) it's on sale on Plugin Alliance for just 39.99$. Among current formats (VST, AAX native/DSP) this plugin is available in TDM/RTAS format as well. However, looks like TDM download has only MIX version of plugin and missing MASTERING version. Cheers. S
Have you guys seen the *new reverb by IK Multimedia* where they packed only 12 impulse responses into a shiny interface and try to sell that for *150 bucks* ?
The reason that there is existing the plugin and hardware side by side is in my opinion quite simple. there are some studios, with real mixing consoles and real hardware outboard gear. For these studios it is quite difficult to implentate a plugin into the hardware workflow. I mean, how do you want to bring a plugin into the channelstrip of af a real mixing console or into the inserts of your master output. the plugin is good in thedigital world, and brings a lot of money because its sold million times, but real industry studios buy expensive gear, because they know that the production will bring back the money by selling enough downloads or copies. greetings
Thanks for the review! Glad you're enjoying this one.
PA there's just one thing missing with this one - rescalable UI & external sidechain, pleaase!
A rescalable GUI for the Elysia Plugins would be awesome :)
@@joost3783 2 years later....... NOPE
Thanks for the love! ❤️ Much appreciated.
The soft clip on this beast is almost like cheating
Haha dude! I actually bought this one when it was on sale, just for the soft clipper. It works so well on snare drums for heavy and loud mixes.
I got 10db gain reduction without distortion. Still don’t know how this clipper works 😮
the whole elysia bundle is gold .. LOVE THE EQ.. i personaly use this comp in parralel it doing wonder !
This compression is so damn subtle and clean, I'm in love. Thank you for this review!
Plugins are the gateway drug for the real thing..
For me, it's the other way 'round 😂
I agree. This compressor is unique. My go-to for electronic music as it separates the low end (kick and bass) so well from the rest - even in stereo mode. This is so important in busy electronic mixes. I always test out a few usual suspwcts like the Vertigo VSC-2, Shadow Hills, SPL Iron, Lindell 254/354, Townhouse, PuigChild etc, but the alpha wins most times. It is so smooth.
I like this plugin. No placebo effect going here. It's really tight yet open sounding - if that makes sense. And the soft clipping on this is great - really transparent - use it over a drum bus to help keep dynamic range in your mix
I use a ton of Brainworx plugins when mastering. The Alpha ends up on my chain so often. This thing is absolutely amazing.
Just received my series 500 elysaia compressor, first vocal was a female and this compressor put her vocal on top and never budged an inch!! What a compressor!
Of course buttons are king, but I love what they do with this plugin. Use the mousewheel to change parameters while only hovering over the knob you want to turn. No need to klick it first. I think that makes it just soooo much more tactile. Really nice touch :) And maybe some of you didn't know and i got a nice tip for you!
The way these companies model these hardware units it’s literally more accurate than hardware clones. They measure the values of components then digitally copy them. If one were to build a hardware clone all of the component tolerances would then come into play so unless the hardware clone was built entirely out of 100% identical parts as the birth unit then it will sound different. It’s why the UAD distressor is IDENTICAL to a real distressor but a distressor clone is only “pretty close”. This plugin just popped up in my email today.
I got the plugin since it came out, its the most transparent compressor I ever worked with
Well put, there is something about this plug-in. I noticed the subtle effect of the Niveau circuitry, and lack of the pump&breath of not hi-passing as well. it's as subtle or aggressive as you want it to be. And well the MS-clearly the best I've ever heard. I feel ya when you were describing the palpable tactile feed back pleasure of actually touching real knobs, and pressing buttons, and ADJUSTING 2 THINGS at ONCE that hardware offers, but I'll take the $10,000-$20,000 in savings that this new world of high quality , oversampled plug ins offer us!
I'm down with Plugin Alliance, I think they make good plugins. I love my Focusrite Console plugin.
the elysia plugin is perfect. love it on drums or vocals.
Darude's best version of Sandstorm yet. Stop enticing me to spend all my money on plugins.
I understand your love affair, from this great review alone. The sound processing is amazing. As a producer, I want access to those tasteful variations. Getting the plug in now!
My favorite ITB compressor ever. It's on every mix. Solid.
I liked your video, I liked the compressor and I love your channel.
It just sounds clean and nice almost no matter the settings,
and that makes it able to work with your own taste instead of the technical stuff.
Probably my favorite master compressor. So many points of detail that go into it. If you don’t spend time with the manual you’ll probably be standoffish towards it though so read up!
this is included in a $10 monthly bundle thing along with a bunch of bx stuff etc so pretty sweet
your no screws comment killed me lol
I like this guy's opinion on Plugins, Subbed!
I have the plugin, and it's been a useful one, but the hardware is in a different class. The sound of that total wonder box makes me want to start robbing banks for a living.
Who wouldn't prefer the hardware. The word you were looking for was probably tactile.
Though, if I don't win the lottery, I have to stick to digital recreations for the most part.
Just because you asked: I liked the video and even more, that you didn't go off the rails with the GUI.
It has a bite to it that's tough and tough sounds are the underlying key to Rock and Roll sounds. I own and love this plugin.
When it comes to plugins, I think Vertigo Sound VSC-3 and DMG Audio TrackComp 2 are hard to beat. For Vari-Mu, there's DDMF MDE.
Pulsar Mu for Vari-Mu plugin
Last year during one of PA's flash sales, I was looking at this and the Townhouse. Ended up going with the Townhouse, but I still really like this.
First big impression is, even when over doing it, it's still pretty transparent, and at "normal" settings it's very much so!.....hence a mastering comp. and yes, VERY versatile !
"at least they lost the screws".....oh dude! 🤣😂
So the Secrets out🥶 this is my # 1 🏆plugin this plugin works for me 100% of the time 🤫
This sounds so organic, so nice!
Cool video. You’ve got to try more of the PA stuff - it’s all fantastic! Especially the Blackbox HG-2! The Purple and Vertigo stuff is also worth checking out.
Plugin Alliance has really unbelievable software! Curious to know what you'd think about the Lindell 80 series emulation of a Neve 8028 desk (that thing has up to 16x oversampling too...)
I love my mother more, but that plugin comes a very close second ❤️
I totally agree with the knobs and feel of analog. I have a lot of affordable but good quality analog gear now and i LOVE the workflow and the way it makes me feel the music and listen more than the looks. but some of these plugin alliance plugins are amazing. try out the purple 77 plugin they make its a clone of the purple audio clone of the 1176
I have the MIX & MASTER bundle, which also contains this great plugin, and many more. I use it a lot. And my genre is folk, light music. But it's usable with many other genres. Thanks for the review. Grtz From Flanders.
This plugin is a beast!!Amazing!
probably your funniest video yet .. love it and thank you i have been looking for a dual mono comp for a few days now i may buy this one all thanks to you .
cheers
T
Damn you talked me into it. Thank you.
I'd love to see you do a review of the SSL channel strip plugin. Made by SSL.
The official SSL plugins don't get a lot of love
Plugins are very useful sales tools for companies that sell hardware. Not all hardware would make a good plugin but the ones that do (ie - preamps, compressors, EQs, etc) absolutely should be creating plugin versions
Plugin Alliance has the best plugins hands down.
Only because they offer Unfiltered Audio stuff. I'd never touch anything else they got.
Better than fabfilter?
Acustica are the best.
@@JamesMalcWood acustica is a CPU hog to me :(
dont forget universal audio
I picked this up on PA for less than $30 yesterday. They have a sale going on ends tonight :) Go get it!!
they are awesome for heavy induced mid where midrange frequencies tends to pop up lively in clarity.
That band has a Cool distortion sound. Refreshing.
If you wait you can get the plugin for $50 during the flash sales.
Or rent the entire collection (everything Plugin Alliance) for about $250/yr.
I got mine bundled with that yellow distortion unit Vertigo VSM-3, saving about 15k in hardware. They have a lot of other useful plugins such as bx refinement - if you sigb up to their mailing list & use their bargains regularly you often get some vouchers on top.
I think I got mine for £30
@@realraven2000 I mix into the Vertigo and love using it for saturation. That thing is magic.
How?
This is a big winner by Plugin Alliance... Overall their range of offerings are very good, though there's a few clunkers in there... The new Purple MC77 (1176 clone) is awesome too, and I love the Lindell stuff. PA was my go to until you turned me on to Fabfilter!
Hello bro, first of all thanks for all i learn from you!!
Really is a lot!
man, did you tested the xpressor?
Would be great to compare the alpha plugin with the xperssor (in hardware)
I had it and was mega clean, and i had to sell it, but im thinking in buy it again..
Apart of the price, you feel there is such an epic big difference between the alpha and the xpressor??
its a good question i feel..
heheh
Thanks again!
I use the plug all the time. It sounds fantastic, but the gui is horrible for me. I can't read anything on the front. So I have my own preset that ends up on everything.... But it sounds really good!
I love the Alpha plug-in. Great you give it a good review.
Thanks for making me aware of this great processor. Last week I combined a couple of voucher coupons at Plugin Alliance and got it for US$15. The also give you a simplified stereo version for using on mix buses, which is a nice bonus. Do you have it yet?
Good review! Thanks.
I've had this plug for a while, and I spent a month or two just being intimidated by it, and then, when I finally spent time to figure it out, it's a permanent fixture on my mix bus as a "betterizer" plugin.
One of my favourite compressors 👌
what's your beef with fancy GUIs ? As long as they sound great isn't that the point ?
Finally thanks! I've been using this one for a while it's very good.
WHAT? YOU’RE BUYING A PLUGIN???? AND IT’S NOT FABFILTER???? Lol I enjoyed your coverage and this is definitely up on my list now along with the focusrite channel strip which I hope you get to one day!
Check out the Ueberbig preset. Pretty crazy. It opened up a whole world of possibilities I never thought a compressor could do. The only reason to get the hardware is if you want to use it in a live setting and don't have an Apollo. The alpha mix/master, museq, and mpressor mix/master are all incredibly good. Sadly, I got the Plugin Alliance versions before I got my Apollo. So the only way I can use them in real time is (supposedly) with LUNA, which I won't use because it requires iLok, and iLok is pure evil! I'd love to start an industry-wide boycott on Avid/iLok. The UAD Fairchild 670 sounds gorgeous, but it can't do anything close to what the alpha can. I'll usually use it on mix busses and use the alpha on the master buss unless there's something that screams out for Pro-MB. Hopefully this is your first step toward realising that the difference between analogue and well done digital plugins is so insignificant that it doesn't even come close to justifying the expense, lost time, and maintenance that analogue gear requires. Companies like elysia, Klanghelm, SPL, and brainworx, to name a few, have really limited the need for hardware to live audio processing. UAD have removed even that limit.
it's such a great plugin! wait for sales, it's definitely worth it.
fun fact: if you own the alpha compressor, you get a huge discount for the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Class A (i could it for $ 129,99, if i wanted…).
PA offers several special deals according to the plugs you already own (like… i have the ACME Audio Opticom XLA-3 and could get the Magnum-K comp for $ 99).
I love the Warm button!
Great compressor but as with many plugin designers, they've put so much thought in to making it look like the hardware, they've given no thought to practicality regarding text size. The plugin doesn't have to look exactly like the hardware. The text on this particular plugin is way too small and takes your concentration away from listening because you have to try and focus on what the buttons actually are.
With 4K screens all plugins should have scaling functionality. To bad not many do these days.... I like the real look allot, for me it would be confusing if the GUI of a emulation would look like Fabfilter or Unfiltered Audio (Which have more then great GUI’s). If the plugin sounds good and the GUI does the job, why bother about 3D knobs or screws 😉
Brainworx have been adding scaling options for new plugins and I believe they do plan on adding scaling options for older ones too so you can at least choose 75% 100% 150% for example.
@@audiunt it depends on the DAW and operating system, sometimes you can rescale without the plugin knowing..
@@audiunt I agree, the plugin looks great. They've really nailed it. It's the practicality that I have a problem with. The real unit is way bigger than the plugin appears on the screen, yet they've scaled the text inline with the real thing. It wouldn't actually take much extra programming to give a couple of skin options. One like this and one flatter and clearer. Then you can select which you prefer. It could be a selling point?
Do you think the hardware will be noticeably different?
Plugin Alliance often has sales and I pitched up one for $49 today.
Just got it for $14.99. lol. They had a special sale yesterday and I also had a coupon from before. Great company.
Thanks again. If you got this PA plugin version of elysia Alpha compressor, great. Otherwise maybe consider an annual bundle, they are giving every penny or even more back to their customers right after bundle purchase to use on future purchases. If you buy on their quarterly sales you could pick this up for perhaps $30 USD or so which would be free if you have credit from bundle deal. Really nice they gave me Karacter for $14.99 today so had to do it. Later!
I finally got this compressor. lol 2 years later, it's still good though.
ahahahah they forgot screws, easier to move it around on ur screen lmfao
If you want knobs, is there any reason for not using a midi controller to work the plugin knobs and not use the mouse?
Magic , great sound , great review.
I'm still waiting for the Shadow Hills Snake Oil
you should try POWAIR , probably one of the best software compressors that do something unique
I thought, how much could the hardware version be? Then I looked it up. Crikey!
It's on 24h flash sales sometimes where you can get it for 49 $. Make sure to subscribe to PA's newsletter.
i've had this (plugin of course) for a year - im so happy with it, i think its very versatile and use in not only for mastering, but also as a buss comp
Do they give you the rack screws when you BUY the software? That would be cool then everyone would know if you bought it or were a cheapo.
It's a phenomenal compressor. It would be nice for them to update it though as it came out ages ago and could probably be improved
not sure because it is wanted for the bad-ass sound it delivers already, and has the mid-side and parallel options already.
perhaps not too much to do.
@@neovxr it's - considering it's software - lamely played out GUI wise and doesn't use possibilities software provides.
@@neovxr It was released 2011 I think? I don't pretend to know much about these things but I was thinking that the techniques plugin programmers use to mimic hardware have improved in 9 years. I could be wrong.
@@codgerfiasco are you all sure it is identical with the 2011 version? it may have been transparently optimized, with code that runs even faster, when also the CPUs have multiplied their capacity since then.
but technically, in theory, it has been possible since long, to simulate analog electronics meticulously, also Waves did this with a certain valve preamp. thus, almost every aspect of the sound itself has been achieved already. but it used to be way too slow for real-time applications. that is, until recently, when systems became more powerful, and processing-code got optimized and partially outsourced to the new GPU generation (engineered to run games graphics). this is the main reason for the current boom of emulations. it's not theory, the math has been developed since many decades. it is more about engineering, to simplify things smartly, and get away with it, having a useful result of say.. 98 percent. (Waves gave away the 99.9% version for free, but made a commercial 98% version, that can be used in many track instances without driving the system into fatal congestion.)
basically i see two fields of competition. a) to emulate classic analog gear that basically does not change (but some modded versions will come up also), while newer hardware gear is digital inside already, so practically nothing to emulate, just to license the algorithm, and b) totally different innovation, e.g what zynaptic do with their spectral and AI processing, open field for very ingenious ideas.
Serious question... Among all those already excellent vst compressors, where does this one really shine where others can't deliver in that department?
Just got it!!…… going to need some time to really learn this thing. Super transparent right out of the gate. I foresee the soft clip being very useful!! ;:-)
I'm trying to learn m/s processing and mastering, and this will be a great companion on the journey :-)
@John Wells how’s your journey? Still using the alpha?
@@Nicholas_PA still loving it!.... I'm using it more for the soft clipper. It works so well at giving extra headroom with very little artifacts. I do like that you can push the compression fairly hard and still stay transparent.
@@J-DUB-F1 It sounds great when listening to all the demos, no negative reviews to speak of and it’s on sale...I think you helped make my decision. Thanks for such a quick reply!
Wanting one is good, you're not the only one ;-)
Quick question! I’m more so wondering since I trust your wisdom on this topic. What makes oversampling an absolute must have at all times?
I’m genuinely wondering what makes oversampling so important. Mainly since I sometimes think saturation plugins sound better when oversampling is turned off.
I think fabfilter did a professional video about oversampling check it out! They rock
shadowhill is the dream
What do you think about the Shadow Hill compressor in comparison to the Elysia Alpha?
I’m curious if you’re running all these sessions at 48k. I’ve seen a few videos where you’ve done that. And also the video where you ran the plugins at 96k and showed how they responded much more like the hardware. Last time I checked your site, it said you used 192k.
It’s just not all that fair to expect plugins in a 44/48k session to compete with hardware. But every big plugin reviewer is using those rates from what I’ve seen. It would be cool to get your reaction to hearing this inside a 96k session if this one was at 44 or 48.
he told about the oversampling so that issue should be a very small one...
@@neovxr oversampling isn't always as good. Plus you're getting all the other problems associated with plugins that don't oversample. Even FX like reverb are significantly compromised at 44/48. Convert one of your 44/48 sessions to 88/96 and you should notice some significant differences. If these plugin reviewers on youtube are going for accuracy, at least part of the video should be at 88/96.
I run my sessions on 192k
@@Whiteseastudio Thanks for clarifying. So we should be expecting all DAW sessions in future videos to be 192k sessions then? Some plugins aren't 192k compatible if I'm not mistaken though. You'll be the only one running sessions above 48k and that will be something you can highlight. Seems every time I watch some plugin video or read some review, I have to assume it's a 48k session because that's the only rate I ever see when the reviewer leaves it visible or states what they used.
@@viciousblissvideos There are a lot of people that believe you must do your projects at the same sample rate as the final medium, e.g., 44.1 for CDs/streaming, 48K for DVDs, etc. This idea has been propagated by a lot of hacks for years. Their thinking is that you lose quality when the project gets downsampled. There's some truth to that, but the quality loss is so small that it doesn't come close to outweighing the benefits of working with 96K files. (Cockos claimed to have improved their downsampling algorithms in REAPER 6. I'd be curious to know more specifics about that because it's likely whatever they've done is brilliant.) According to Chris "Monty" Montgomery, there is absolutely no benefit (and several drawbacks) to working over 96K. He's a pioneering genius in the field of digital audio technology-he wrote the Ogg compression algorithm among other things-and he dispels the myth that lower sample rates might "miss" a peak or trough, lose some information, and thereby return a lower quality waveform upon conversion back to analogue in the second video on this page: xiph.org/video/ We know that, because of the way most plugins work, we need them to oversample so that we don't get the non-musical harmonics that bounce back into the audible range of the frequency spectrum from the spooky realm that exists above Nyquist, but there's a limit above which there is no practical value in increasing sample rates. Even if you're using plugins that don't oversample, at 96kHz you're still going to get the benefits of oversampling. At 192kHz, the only benefit is lower latency. There is absolutely no difference in quality when the signal gets converted back to analogue. The drawbacks to working at 192kHz, such as way bigger files that shorten the lifespan of your storage media and a way heavier load on the CPU that results in decreased performance, are much more impactful on your workflow than the tiny bit of decreased latency. In fact, since the only real point at which some quality gets lost is in the downsampling stage, 192kHz workflows produce lower quality end products than workflows at lower sampling rates. Unless you're audience is dogs, 96kHz sample rates leave plenty of room above Nyquist to ensure that unwanted artifacts will not enter the audible range. Oversampling in a 192kHz workflow is overkill to an extreme. There's absolutely no value to it. People who work with an A/D/A workflow really need to watch both of the videos at the link above so they understand the fundamentals of digital sound.
Good vid. Can you try the Alpha Mix and the mpressor plugin as well?
Great video as always dude! I have the UAD’s one already. ‘Works fine ^-^!
I’ll get one with black Friday... Yes I can wait 😇
Hello May I ask Do You still hold on to Your Karakter ? Thinking bout getting one in 500 series and Im very interesed about Your opinion after You had some time with the unit!
$40 at plugin Alliance. Watch for sales. It's a Perfect Mastering Compressor
thx...now i want one, too :D
omg I just tried out the elysia karacter...just wow! these products really stand out, this clarity and definition, the punch it adds. purely amazing! thanks for reviewing their products!
If you like upsampling and a Fairchild, why wouldn’t you Snake Oil UAD? I think you would manage to borrow a Satellite from somebody 😇 I think you want one too then 😊
In short. It just always sounds good
Elysian rarely let us be frustrated or disappointed.
And I'm saying like this just to be fair, but I don't remember buying an Elysia plugin and haven't no smile on my face after testing it...
I mean, Elysia plugins use to surprise me positively....
Hey Wytsek. Any plans on testing the Warm Audio Bus Compressor in the near future? Btw i see you initiate M/S mode on the Alpha, but i dont quite get how you see when you treat the M and when the S? i see no indicator anywhere?
M is left channel, S is right channel
White Sea Studio what? This makes no sense. Left Right is usually =L-R. While Mid side=M\S . Why should left right be labeled M/S?
You should really get a midi controller with knobs.
Brainworx, now part of Plugin Alliance. 😎
Kay Irgens like it has been for the last few years. Lol
Brainworx IS Plug-in Alliance. They are owned and operated by the same guy, Dirk.
jmorrisey79 bx is a PART of plugin alliance which are NOW owned by the same guy (dirk ulrich). But it started with bx getting together with other developers like Elysia etc for, an alliance of plugin developers. Several of the plugins brands in PA are still anyway different brands owned by different people. They only share the place(website) where the plugins are sold.
every time you test a compressor i think "I have no idea what he's doing, i cant hear any difference"
Pro tip: it’s way easier to tell what they do when you talk or sing into one rather than just listen to how they effect a recording
What's your sound source? Your not just using your phone speaker are you? Also. Do you know what your listening for?
Yes it takes a long time to hear it. Have patience.
Same lol. I only hear when the knobs are extreme
i get the plugin by 49.99 € on sale.. absolut no brainer - best MS Compressor in my virtual rack
I watch this like ASMR Therapy
Today (2021/2/7) it's on sale on Plugin Alliance for just 39.99$. Among current formats (VST, AAX native/DSP) this plugin is available in TDM/RTAS format as well. However, looks like TDM download has only MIX version of plugin and missing MASTERING version. Cheers. S
Have you guys seen the *new reverb by IK Multimedia* where they packed only 12 impulse responses into a shiny interface and try to sell that for *150 bucks* ?
The reason that there is existing the plugin and hardware side by side is in my opinion quite simple.
there are some studios, with real mixing consoles and real hardware outboard gear. For these studios it is quite difficult to implentate a plugin into the hardware workflow. I mean, how do you want to bring a plugin into the channelstrip of af a real mixing console or into the inserts of your master output.
the plugin is good in thedigital world, and brings a lot of money because its sold million times, but real industry studios buy expensive gear, because they know that the production will bring back the money by selling enough downloads or copies.
greetings
Pretty cautious about PA plugs as not all oversample. In other news, have you tried IK Multimedia T-Racks plugins? They also made tape sims ;)
Francisco Iñigo Garde Elysia ones def oversample