FabFilter

Hey everyone,

I know that Pro-C2 does not claim to emulate/model any specific vintage gear, but I thought it would be interesting and fun to see which compression type might have been inspired by which old gear.

This is pure theorizing on my part and everyones input and opinion is very much welcome. If Floris and Frederik could share some info as to their inspirations for the comp types, that would be of course cool. :)

Here goes:

Clean - Clean digital compression
Classic - I'd say the API 2500
Opto - Vintage opto compression
Vocal - LA2A perhaps
Mastering - I'd say Focusrite Red
Bus - SSL
Punch - 1176
Pump - DBX 160

What do you think?

I've been wondering that as well!

I don't need to emulate hardware. But I do need to understand what exactly those "Characters" do. Unfortunately the product is quite opaque in that regard. The Handbook gives us a 1 liner to hang on to for each character.

Only the "Clean" one is reasonably obvious. Well because it's clean. Should be comparable to a VCA compressor like the Dbx 160.

A classic opto would be an LA-2A or a CL1B. It means the compressor does not react to the current peak but a sort of weighted average that reflects more the audible loudness. It doesn't catch hard peaks but sounds more musical and less obvious.

A "Classic" could be anything. Maybe a Variable-Mu compressor? Mix Master Wyat said something like it feeds part of the wet signal back into the side chain... I'm not sure what that means and why a compressor would do that.

All the other characters are named in terms of application. That's sort of in line with FF philosophy but inappropriate in this case. Whether a compressor suits vocals or mastering or whether it pumps depends on the context. And what's the difference between bus and mastering compression anyway...

I'm sorry if I can't help much with the question, I'm just a bit annoyed by this aspect of the product at the moment. Compressor types are such a fundamental thing in mixing, a pro plugin should not shroud the hard facts in fancy consumer lingo...

I'll find out what's goin on, even if I have to call them on the phone a 100 times :) And when I found ourt, I'll get back to this thread.

All the best,
Sebastian

Ever find out?

Some detailed explanation from a fabfilter guy would indeed be great on this one..

I find it a bit strange that no one from fabfilter can step in and explain this?

Hi ALL,

Totally agree with the above point. I think perhaps it would be great to have at least more detailed description, or even some preset simulating analog gear ?

Christoph

Pro-C2 continues to do a great job for me, post-prodding spoken vocal (audiobooks etc).
Clean lookahead is so superior to all that romantic clickety-clack! Auto-recovery, with some manual tweaking, assures syllabic clarity without pumping. I do think the 'hold' option could be taken a step further: allow gain recovery to freeze in a long pause, perhaps just settling very slowly there to mid-gain - like Orban's classic Optimod radio station box - to await a trigger from the next outburst.
Other guys on these threads have queried the way Pro-C2 assesses output level: whether by volume or peak. Maybe it's halfway between those? I have noticed that lower mid-range smooth vocal (strong rms) can come across a bit too weighty relative to harsher upper tones with their peaky voltaic energy, so I use a mild sidechain boost in lower mid range. Suits my male voice, might be rubbish for someone else!

Just for fun......since 'Akazi' (above) has anyone else done any thinking about Pro C2 Styles and what they may be likened too?

""....pure theorizing on my part and everyones input and opinion is very much welcome. If Floris and Frederik could share some info as to their inspirations for the comp types, that would be of course cool. :)

Here goes:

Clean - Clean digital compression
Classic - I'd say the API 2500
Opto - Vintage opto compression
Vocal - LA2A perhaps
Mastering - I'd say Focusrite Red
Bus - SSL
Punch - 1176
Pump - DBX 160"

I would think something like the following:

Clean: All purpose feedforward VCA type (like Neve 88rs channel console)
Classic: All purpose Feedback (A bit of 1176 and Vari Mu)
Opto: LA2A
Vocal: Digital algorithmic tuned to vocals (probably not inspired off of hardware)
Mastering: Digital algorithmic for minimum compression artifacts (probably not inspired off of hardware. I didn't care for this algorithm at first but it sounds lovely using extreme settings although the others sound better IMO for subtle compression)
Bus: Probably SSL VCA
Punch: DBX 160ish type (This has become my favorite for vocals)
Pump: Maybe old cheap Alesis compressor?

I doubt that they really went into much detail to model hardware but were focused more on modeling various compression types from a generic standpoint.

feedforward vs feedback vs opto etc

I think Vocal and Mastering were modern takes of these tasks using todays technology without much inspiration from the analog days such as "If a compressor were designed today for these tasks without conisideration from the analog days, how would it work".

The Classic style is the only one feed-back design in the list according to some research here on the forum.

I have nulled DBX160 with the Pump style pretty good.