APU Loudness Compressor
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2024
- In which I run through the many and powerful options in the APU Loudness Compressor, which helps to give us insights into compression more generally.
Its a sponsored video, but this is not an affiliate link:
apu.software/compressor/
Music: "Looking Up" by Dan Worrall
Bandcamp link:
dan-worrall.bandcamp.com/trac...
0:00 intro
0:26 Most compressors suck for loudness control
2:11 The strange way we categorise compressors
5:45 Levelling a voice
8:48 Lookahead modes and latency budget
11:42 Attack and Release Smoothing
12:43 Linear rate smoothing
16:18 Musical uses for loudness compression
17:18 Peak detection
19:39 Blocksize and offline HD
21:44 Dithering deltas and inertial ballistics
22:57 Attack and release units and BPM sync
25:50 Linear rate peak compression
28:05 RMS detection
32:35 Interface colours
If you like this type of content and you want to see it more often, consider signing up for Channel Membership: / @danworrall
Or you can just buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/danworrall - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
![[FULL EP.13] เซียนหรั่ง พา ไททศมิตร ลงเรือฝึกสกิลหว่านแห | เฮ็ดอย่างเซียนหรั่ง | One Playground](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EWFuf2Av0K0/mqdefault.jpg)
I love tutorials that treat viewers as capable people and let you be intellectually engaged
Then what are you doing on TH-cam?
I'm pretty impressed with anybody making a compressor with the confidence to sponsor a DW video. 😂
high effort Dan content is back in full swing!
Well.. he DID get paid to do this one. Pre-payment is useful for inspiring effort, lol.
This is one of those Worrall's videos that are so extensively enriching it's hard to believe it's for free. Bravo!
I didn't think digital compressors could get more detailed and useful, but i was wrong. thanks for the video!
there is literally no limits except the processing power
@@JohnSmith-pn2vl right?!! And that’s ever expanding.
This is the compressor interface I've always dreamed of
It might look nice but I hate using it. As was mentioned it's difficult to hit the sweet spot with this compressor. I would go as far as to say it's the hardest compressor to use that I have used in over 2 decades of working in music production. I don't like it also because of how the developer implemented mouse wheel over knobs. Again the worst implementation of this common control out of any vst I have ever tried. Your basically forced to type in each desired setting as using the mouse wheel or mouse pointer is unecessaerlily difficult to adjust the knobs values. This makes using this compressor somewhat vomit inducing to me. It does sound nice and that's the only positive I can say about it. Everything else is unnecessarily difficult to use.
What an incredibly sophisticated design and product. I always I appreciate how your videos approach the technology *without* a bunch of silly hype like “now you can have the secret black magic sorcery of a mixing desk from 1978 to make your tracks a magical infused hit” As always, your education and insights are exceptional. Imagine if Joe Meek or Bill Putman could see what the world of digital production has become now.
I saw this plugin some time ago, and even though I didn’t quite understand it, if I’m not mistaken, the developer is a single person who was a bit disappointed by the lack of support for their creation. I’m glad that Dan made a tremendous video about this tool (even if it’s sponsored >.
I don't know anything about the dev, but if there's a lack of support, it may be because of the egregious processing consumption and languid CPU spikes.
@@lucasturney4269 On a machine from 10 years ago?
The dev provides plenty of updates and that has included CPU fixes.
Nody knows how this vst works
I tried when it first was shown but OMG incomprehensible. That and I think it crashed in Reason (as many newbies do) - I assume that is sorted now so not a fail as such. The interface however, is just not easy to approach at all which makes it a total pass. A shame for the Dev tho as Dan has eloquently shown to the device be technically very capable. The Q tho is if most music/mix people really want this kind of technical control. :-)
Congrats to APU for hiring Worrall to cover this compressor. It's quite a unique and nice sounding dynamics tool. I bought it when it came out. I am still wrapping my head around it. I am hoping get insights from Dan! Buy this. It's not just a regular compressor....
I would pay good money for a comprehensive course from you on compression, from the absolute basics, through to more advanced concepts and uses. I can't be the only one.
Check the Fabfilter Tutorials on compression plus the other Compresser videos of his Channel.
When you gonna find out what you want find out now, you not going to pay even 1$. Compression is the simplest thing ever. It took me 5 years to understand it fully.
@@lk0707 I’m sure he (and many others) would pay to understand it faster. I’m of the opinion that music engineering is something that you have to practice to get and no amount of tutorials and lessons can replace that but I trust Dan could very well speed up the process
I HIGHLY reccomend Compression Breakthroughs from Justin Coletti of Sonic Scoop. That course was a big deal for me.
i would also throw down some money for that
“That was a pretty wild difference” me: listening with screen off over bluetooth earbuds at the gym “wait what?”
check your ears
Wow really? I hear a huge change from my phone speaker from the next room
@@williamsmith1796same
I also usually go: "huuuuh? what difference?!" but in this case even I heard it 😛
Wow, for $30 it's a steal. Thank you!
Love a good Worrall video on a Saturday morning!!
DJs are going to go crazy running their Mix through 5 instances of this plug in
What's OTT? 😂
Sausage fattener x 1000
bold of you to assume DJs know how normal compressors work...
@@ampersand64good point. Do decks even have compressors? Thought they just had filters
@@saxmanash Mixers have limiters but they're more of a fail safe for idiots than something for DJ's to actually use.
As a hobbyist who doesn't have the privilege of getting professional feedback (i.e. from clients) on a regular basis, I think it's much more valuable to hear what certain plugins do well than what other plugins fail to do as they should for some reason.
Having said that, I do see the value of pointing out flaws and oversights from a pro perspective. But chances are that such nitty gritty details might never become relevant to me - as much as I would like them to be.
In any case, I will continue to watch Dan Worrall videos because I always feel like I'm getting something out of them.
An absolutely brilliant video! I was thoroughly engaged through the entire thing and I learned a lot. Also, I have never berfore seen anything like this plugin.
Thanks!
Im more than happy to see You doing This video. I use the APU to give an extra help to get on those crazy loudness major labels require
Reassuringly complicated. I was astonished by the product's price so bought it!
Excellent video as ever from the boss. Love it 🎉
Interesting compressor approach with some good options. Price is good too.
WOW...What a compressor...so simple to use and i am blown away with the GUI and the power this plugin can produce alone. A nice stacking with other setups, and super low whispers are made clear like a conversation in normal voice. I am not done trying this out, but i feel i will be buying this in a day or two. Have to put it to the test just a little bit more. Nice One.
isn’t it like only 30 dollars?
I applaud you and the developer for thinking about ARA and larger windows for dynamic processing. I really think that there are so many interesting things that can be done when we aren’t handcuffed to the time windows required to have low latency.
Awesome video, hope you are okay Dan. Finally a compressor that fixes my lack of loudness detection.
great Dan I wish I could talk just like you. Awesome video!!!
By about 12 minutes in I'd bought it. 👍
Best just Drop In when ya can, audio Course in history… THANK YOU AS ALWAYS
Great video, very informative.
Edit: Initial question was about the trippy visuals and if the can be turned off. Thank you for answering that it can.
You can in the visualization tab, the first row labled General has it there.
I think you also need to turn up the Shader params slider as well.
Very interesting compressor. Not sure if I want to tackle the learning curve just yet, but I'll have to get it at some point. Too interesting not to try it out. Great video, Dan. You're the best.
Very nice that they decided to make a tool that does things never possible before. Even though most of these options don't speak to me, there's probably an audio engineer somewhere yelling FINALLY.
Great video, I learned a lot! and that 30ms RMS sounds good! 30:16
I did not know about this product, I guess it will help me a lot for video making (people speaking loud and then quiet) and podcast for a more natural voice without normal compressors or volume riding. Will buy soon.
Just purchased it.
Very interesting as always!
It would be interesting to see your review of Klughelm DC8C compressor.
It has a lot of possibilities in an Expert mode which I found very useful.
You did a great presentation and the price of the plugin is fare. They will sell alot of licences. Good move APU.
Dan, love your videos and explanations. It would be awesome if you could do something on compression for classical / orchestral music or other music which has a very large dynamic range, but you want to reduce the dynamic range only a bit.
Phenomenal stuff
I grabbed this when it first came out and I also have the new stand alone optimizer.
It's a bit sterile sounding but that's easily fixed with a saturation plugin. Your bass got very pleasant with the addition of the amp sim. So, maybe the sterility is a plus. Get control and then color it however you like with the next plugin in the chain.
Dan could make a soggy Pb&J sandwich sitting in an oily and muddy puddle on the side of the road sound like the most interesting thing on the planet
He wouldn't be able to show his face though, because no one can see the face of god and live. 😂
Was literally thinking while revisiting a session with a very dynamic singer "why isn't there an RMS style compressor that actually just controls dynamics." I think the holy grail is a "compressor" that analyses, essentially offline, the rms and has controlls for dynamic range and how fast to act.
As the video goes on this is very exciting! Gotta hit that demo
Try Har-Bal. Offline EQ and Dynamics that works in RMS and Peak or both in both EQ and dynamics. I use it in the mastering room sometimes.
Har bal is so underrated fr
Almost no one knows about it.
Isn't it the same as the more expensive option of the plugin presented on the video? At least it uses the same algorithms and can analyze the whole file.
im surprised the price for this plugin is not too bad, other companies could easily charge over $200 for this
thank you dan :D
he is back
Excellent video!! I do feel like the plugin is very cpu intensive.. Is this adjustable with the buffer setting??
One thing not focused on in the video: This compressor is really good for gain-riding. Excellent for orchestra.
Would you mind sharing the mode and associated settings you'd use as a starting point for orchestral gain-riding?
@@jsbach6407 For Bach? For sure! All you have to do is just use long attack and release times. Like 0.5 seconds to 1.5 seconds. That will keep the overall loudness about the same but will preserve all the local transients.
It may be sophisticated, but new terms will involve a learning curve and that be unfamiliar or forget later on. The range concept sounds nice for gain riding, thats where it would standout. As a traditional compressor setting I would just use a dozen other already compressors. So I think perhaps the dev can have two different versions of the plugin one with a simple UI for gain riding and other for more sophisticated phd compressor options.
32:40 MY EYES! 😂
Excellent review. Very powerful tool.
Waiting for features like this in Pro-C3! As well as auto threshold and left/right mode
Excellent video as always Dan 👍🏻
Im somewhat surprised you dont check plugins in Delta Mode. It can tell a lot about what a plugin is doing. And tuning compressor settings in Delta can also be helpful. Same with EQ, particularly high-passsing. Its much easier to separate the rumble from the music.
Keep it up ❤❤❤
maybe he does not know what delta is and has never used it
@saardean4481 I know what it is, but I rarely find it useful. It's like EQs that put in a bandpass filter as a "solo": way too extreme and potentially misleading.
@@DanWorrall it was meant in a „spicy answer“ to the above comment not to your comment, as i am more than 1001% sure that you of course know what it is. But i see i am not ready to become a comedian yet
Very very very tempted to buy it instantly. I wish there would be some simplified UI, like a preset, when you just want to tackle a straight forward job. Thanks for the video.
The default settings put you a couple of clicks away from general loudness leveling. You can learn the source range, pick a target preset, you might not need to touch anything else.
@@DanWorrall Thanks Dan, for your fast reply. I bought it anyway. 30 bucks is a no-brainer and I will give it a try.
I got this about a year ago and could not make head nor tail of it. The manual was terrible too. Going to watch this and give it another go.
Thanks
Thank you :)
this is very interesting and besides the practical use it could be used creatively for some sonic madness... having that said, it hurts that it doesn't have auto gain compensation as it seems
@Dan Worrall Hey mate, you having problems with the knobs too? I noticed you are using the mouse scroll wheel to move them. It's a bug that I just reported but you can use a workaround. If you hold CTRL while tweaking the knobs, they will work smoothly like any other plugin.
I like the sandstorm visuals, but you can turn them off if it’s not your thing. As far as the functioning of this plugin, I’m so happy to see such innovation in a sea of clones and remakes (which have their place as well of course). There are a lot of interesting things to be found here.
Thank you for the detailed walkthrough. I really like the explicit input/output range sliders. I found the wispy animations distracting. Do they have meaning driven by the processing, or just extra motion? Is there a way to disable them?
Eye candy I think. Yes you can turn it off.
@@DanWorrall Excellent, off to buy a copy now. Thank you for the quick reply and making the time to share so much knowledge over the years!
Hey Dan what are your thoughts on the PSP Flare compressor. Its has psycho-acoustic witchcraft to make your audio " naturally dynamic without the perceptible effects of compression" . It seems like the kind of plugin that might peak your interest
I haven't tried it yet. Too many compressors, too little time...
@@DanWorrall I know what you talking about so many clones of vintage stuff. Its cool that you bring attention to something new and different like this plugin. Its seems kind of perfect for me as someone that just what a leveler for audio post and not have to deal with plugins adding that "analogue sound"
the left to right movement of the display
how does it make any sens
if the left display is input then it should move from left to righ as input to output
The ultimate compressor geek plugin! Can the snowstorm gui be turned off? I find it pretty but a bit distracting. Edit: it can, another cmnt said.
How will this compressor add loudness differently then any other compressor? Does it have something to do with LUFS level detectors, LRA and normalization within streaming services?
Compressors aren't really about adding loudness IMO. That's limiters. Compressors are for punch, groove, glue etc. There's an infinite number of ways a compressor can behave, and they all sound different. This one can also control loudness, but that's more for broadcast where your specs include a loudness range. You don't need to worry about that for music production, just make it sound good.
Great review. Sometimes i have hard pixking up all the technicalities cause of your flow and your determined speech but. you could easily try out for a late rap career 😂
Thanks for this, I have been eyeing this processor since launch. Not to be nitpicky: but the SSL Bus Compressor is actually a feed-forward design
Do you have an authoritative source for that? I've always heard the opposite.
@@DanWorrall To be honest, I heard it quite some time ago and can no longer remember where I heard it. It does seem to “sound” like a feedforward design though to my ears. I will say that my SSL Bus Plus compressor has a “Feedback” button that can be enabled, which toggles a different sound than the normal SSL Bus compressor sound, much gentler
@Rhuggins that's interesting. I believe they use a clever trick to allow for a feedback response plus also an external sidechain input: the sidechain input is compressed (feedback topology) and the same gain reduction control signals are also sent to the main VCAs in the signal path. So if you patched the main VCA into that sidechain input I guess you get double feedback? Could that be what's going on?
@@DanWorrall its possible yes, I think that may be exactly what is going on actually. Its hard to say without definitive verbiage from SSL but it appears to be the case. Perhaps I should avoid making all encompassing de facto statements such as my initial one - as with many things in our space things are never quite as simple as they appear!
It's nice when developers actually listen to, and react to, a user's concerns and criticisms. If only politics worked like that...
My loudness control solution is a Pro-C2 in Mastering mode, usually a 25% knee and ratio about 8
Ok
does the cold smokey visual thing represent anything?
I’m curious to upward compression on vocals
I see this plugin great for video editing software like Davinci Resolve to really help level all the different interviews and even for mastering for different tv stations...
Davinci resolve already has the dialogue leveller built in
@@EpithetMusicTV I wouldn't suggest it if you want great audio... I do all my interview leveling with keyframes manually, what I am talking about is getting that last 10% in which compressor/expander would really help with details...
@@EpithetMusicTVThis definitely beats it by a long shot
@@TomislavRupic Television audio guy here. I've seen how the editors process audio, they absolutely do not care
So in spite of how this is marketed, this seems to legitimately be the most powerful compressor on the market. I am very curious to try this on a vocal bus.
What's the definition of white and magenta lines? What's the definition of left half scrolling window and right half scrolling window?
What is the meaning of the „flag“ animation after the envelope? Some kind of psychoacoustic perception indicator or just something nice to look at?
how do you open an audio file in the stand alone?
the default 'swirl' visualiser makes my head hurt. not sure why its not set to 'none' as default.
This looks good, I downloaded the trial but see no way (not even in the manual) to resize the window to look like the representation on your video. On my screen it is way too small and crowded to use. How did you do it???? There certainly is not a freely resizable function on the AU version.
I just dragged the bottom corner, or allowed windows to full screen it
@@DanWorrall Ah.. Doesn't work on AU. Thanks. Will let the dev know. Interesting plugin.
@@DanWorrall The dev fixed it. Pretty good service.
Isn't this just the same as generating a loudness automation envelope from the loudness plugin in Reaper, and using that to automate gain? That's how I do fader riding for vocals, so it's nicely levelled before then using traditional compressors. I guess the nice thing here is that it's tweakable in real time, rather than having to go back and change settings and regenerate the envelope.
Same idea, arguably better workflow. Plus (inexplicably) not everyone uses Reaper.
would this work well as a vocal rider for singers? to put at the start of the chain before it hits other compressors
Yes, although it's not quite the same as the Waves 'vocal rider'.
And now go make apu dynamics optimizer as well ;) another very interesting beast
Who said compression is not rocket science?
Very informative video, looks interesting thx !
02:26 Picture illustrations would have been nice to show the different compressor type :P
05:56 this diffuse line graph effects doesn't seems informative, but it is very distracting IMHO ^^
AU, VST, AAX?
How much?
No discount code?
wow what an interesting compressor, and at 30 bucks too? i expected this thing to be at least 100
Nice video as always Mr Worrall. I would love to see your take on Tone Projects Unisum Mastering Compressor. I think it will tinkle your brain in some aspects 🫡
I thought the SSL sidechain was a unique mixed feedback and feed forward design?
I haven't heard that before, but perhaps you're right? How do you do a mixed design?
@@DanWorrall I built a clone DIY one, and it's based off the original design and has both feedback and feed forward (you can do a mod to make it either one or the other aswell). However I don't fully understand exactly how it functions as it kind of baffeled me when I learnt that it used both when building it.
I'll see if I can find the block diagram of the signal path...
@@DaftyBoi412 at it's simplest a ff/fb switch would just change which signal feeds the detector. It gets a bit more complex if you don't want the ratio to change when you do that. And there's a trick to allow a sidechain input, which probably makes it look a lot like ff even if it's actually fb.
As far as I understand it, it's "biased" to one, and acts mostly like one but not fully, so the latter sounds like that might be it.
The mods I spoke about are mostly to make it fully the one it doesn't normally behave like as much, but ofc gives you the option to switch between both and be dual as well. It doesn't come with a switch though, at least not on the front (and this is what the mod does), and unless there is an internal electronic one controled by something you don't have acess to as a user, I was under the impression it used both at the same time to do what it does under normal operation, but that as I say is just an assumption.
I know SSL have block diagrams and circuit diagrams on their site, but I can't find, and am not sure if they still have the SSL bus on there. TH-cam also doesn't like outside links, but if you wanted to look you might find it there. I have it on paper somewhere, but that's even less helpful to you. 👍
This is what I found on the site (DIYRE) where I got the designs of the clone from (who used original circuitry for the sidechain path).
"The G Bus is a hybrid of feed-back and feed-forward compressor designs: it splits off signal to the sidechain before the gain-reduction (feed-forward), but it has a parallel VCA in the sidechain mirroring the gain reduction for feed-back behavior."
PLEASE ASK FOR THE AAX version :) !!!
There is an AAX version.
You Sound like the CoD King:
4NDYB
🙂
I feel a bit stupid when I watch this video. But I watched the whole thing anyway. I felt the same way when I watched "Tenet."
18:28 biggest thing I learned in this video:
“xfer” = transfer?
Transfer Records Serum? 🤨
I was sold in the first 1,5 min. Slight weirdness in terms of artefacts but damn.
No-one should have that kind of power.
who needs the Kwik-E Mart?
How weird does this UI look?? What is that ? a sandstorm ?
Darude😂
Ok my bad. 😂The visuals still looks kinda disturbing I find it really hard to figure out what’s going on there. Is there any reason for that blurr ? Dan would you please clarify and deliver us from the ignorance
Eye candy I assume. I think you can turn it off, but it didn't bother me and I didn't look for the option.
I'm more confused about this plugin after watching the video, than I was before I watched it. lol
I knew i have to get my wallet ready when i saw my feed and saw a new Worrall video.
However after having the video playing in the backround and hearing the description and now after installation looking at the GUI i am like
„not again. Such a clustermindf….“. I think i am starting to like more and more simple tools that can do simple things.
This looks like it does simple tasks in a very good way with the price of having to learn completely new ways for doing things.
Not against it but the first view of the GUI in real life and in my environment was a bit of a turn off tbh
I was hoping changing to 144p was going to be more visually impressive. A very whispy interface.
this will shut down a lot of computers whit their hungry soft
I hope that blur tail can be deactivated I rly rly aint sensitive sually but that kinda is irritating af haha
Looks not smooth atall.
Yes. Lots of ways to customise the interface, which I didn't care enough about to explore.
an overcompliacated one
I sort of ignored this plugin because my experience with the free metering plugin from the same dev was not good. The interface is confusing, unintuitive and hard to read. That makes it discouraging to learn for me. And seeing you demonstrate the plugin just reinforced by opinion. Sure, the plugin can be useful and be just the tool I'm looking for, but it's useless if I can't figure out how to at least use the basics from it.
32:38