Choosing the Right Compressor: VCA, Opto, Vari-Mu or FET?

This week, I made a guest appearance on the Plugin Alliance channel, where I break down the four main types of compressors, so you can understand the strengths of each compressor type and select the best one for your tracks every time.

It seems like there’s an endless variety of compressors available, but the reality is that 90%+ of them fall into one of four major types: VCA compressors, Opto compressors, Vari-Mu compressors and FET compressors.

But for the super nerds, we also touch on some of the other styls like Diode Bridge, PWM, and even go into multibands, dynamic EQs and other frequency specific compressors.

Want to go even deeper? Check out my full length course on compression at CompressionBreakthroughs.com

Int this video, you’ll learn about:
00:00 – Introduction
01:30 – Stock compressors and boutique compressors
04:51 – Overview of VCA Compressors
05:10 – bx_townhouse
10:09 – What VCA Compressors are great to use on
10:31 – Opto Compressors
11:33 – ACME Audio Opticom XLA-3
12:41 – Using a compressor as a tone box and not as a compressor
13:14 – bx_opto compressor
14:18 – What audio sources are good for an Opto compressor
15:05 – FET compressors
16:23 – What audio sources are good for a FET compressor
16:59 – Vari Mu Compressors
18:55 – Summary of the 4 major types of compressors
19:36 – Diode Bridge Compressors
20:48 – bx_limiter TP as a compressor
21:12 – Multi-band Compressors
21:20 – Dynamic EQ as a compressor – LISA Dynamic EQ
21:45 – Digital compressors – ADPTR Sculpt
22:30 – Outro

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