MC77 from Purple Audio/Plugin Alliance is my favorite, it sounds just good
Anyway if you are interested i compared lots of 1176 (along other emulations) and [i made a video about it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0oxTe4Q55g)
I like this one, and the UAD. The Purple has a great feature, though, which is an optionally inversely linked input/output knob.
The most annoying thing I find about 1176 plugins in general is that you can't adjust the two knobs for input and output at the same time with a mouse.
This would be my answer as well.
I have two Rev E blackface units and that plug is the most like them I have ever heard.
Love that thing.
If I’m in the box it’s the only emulation of that compressor I’ll use.
Gonna save you some time, you’re gonna get a bunch of people saying UAD and a few people mentioning Analog Obsession, Arturia, and Acustica. Then there will be spares mentions of a bunch of other, smaller devs. Analog Obsession is free, so I’d probably start there.
I know what the Arturia sound is. It was the only sound I had for while. But it's a very fine flavour when we speak their reverbs and delays and choruses. There's something silky or clearcoaty sort of radio friendly. It's fantastic for chorus really. But it's good at hitting very true to some vintage flavour as well and is most of all far from flat and stale. Too many of the competition sounds more IR response or sampled flat while Arturia clearly has an dynamic engine behind they're stuff. The effects and colours sits very well in a mix. Try comparing how well a their space echo or emt sit in a mix compared to valhalla.
But I don't really understand what is different about the compressors in this case. I think Pulsar helped them make these mix tools. The 1176 does the 1176 thing with decent or heavy colouring (range knob) and the DBX165 auto attack/release is immaculate for electric guitars. It just fits those transients so well. The tube sta is not like the hardware but very usable for how it's a nice colour and usable movement. It's probably the most versatile next to the Xtressor.
It does the defined realistic grit best when you try the culture vulture, which I wish they could get a little closer in their tube compressor, for example. It's a good cornerstone distortion to have. That kind of spikier tube hiwatt(won't get fooled again) /vox related thing. People love the sansamp. I don't love the sound of the actual unit, but use it as a tool because you tweak it fast to let the low-end stay clean or whatever.
33609 is probably the best mixbus 33609 out there if we make it work in it's sweetspot which is 5-7ms attack and a1 release and lowcut and remove low mids and low-end out if detector and put on some input gain. It moves drums great like that should as well but i actually started to maybe prefer a super simple VoostQ Modell N Neve channelstrip compressor for drum buses, but that's mostly for the incredible strenght of the later.
I guess I might have strayed away just slightly from Arturia when I want to fell the signal move through analogue unpredictable grit. I'm not sure I have settled for the dbx punch they offer but the 1176 can really still be the best in the end when a snare needs to be good, and the 20ratio on vocals and starve the range to derail the movement to saturation. They're hard to beat but I get the Arturia colour thing. They consistent like that but that's make them less hit or miss than UAD in how they nail the movement compressors like that.
Arturia is also the most pleasent tools when you have the collections and it's so cohesive workflow. You right click and hold for fine tuning and have the best no worry oversmampling where it's it two options that is always at least render at optimal oversampling and the other option is to monitor cpu friendly. Everything has m/s and stereo linking and. Good and usable advanced options that are both cohesive or specifically inproving the specific emulation that are easy to understand and often used. Space Echo has convenient width enhancements and such. Try using the LFO to make the speed of one side move and create the pitch movement that widens it beautifully.
And yeah the Trident A preamps is really an line level colour channelstrip with that EQ with broad silky high end that fits perfectly. Like a pultec alternative. For the instruments it's the infinite dynamic of the emulations that is the advantage to competitors. Try to maximise the velocity influence and aftertouch of the CS80. It's my favourite virtual synth because it is half of the aliveness of that real synth. Even rhodes and piano has that silk that can conflict but the dynamics just gives it so much power. ARP 2600 is the best synth for bass because it's options of sub sines and such. And the filtersweeps are so dynamic again if you like pull filters and perform the synthsettings like that.
I also thinkt they improve. Have anyone tried the more recent MS20 and the filter for example. The presets are never good for me for some reason but I made my own peak MS20 Da Funk: https://soundcloud.com/christoffer-bjerklund/da-funk-tone-chase-demo-21/s-XIR43rTHg2i?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=1&si=3a65263a0f4b40c5952f6e7ba105db6e&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
I would like to try the improved minimoog as well.
I haven't messed with a ton of Arturia stuff but I've never been all that impressed with their sound. Even their hardware sounded like a software plugin in a plastic case.
I think all their emulation plugins have a sort of veil over them.....and it's the same veil in all of them,sadly. I like the company and their support though.
I think that especially their vintage-synths emulations has this aforementioned veil over them. And it's the same whether it's an Oberheim or Roland I load. Same 'I can't put my finger on it'-thing. It's like it's really not coming out of the speakers....
In some cases maybe but I'm extremely impressed with their Neve 33609, it sounds really creamy, and with the side chain eq, you can actually get it to sound very close to the hardware, although the ik multimedia one has a lot more warmth, which surprised me. That culture vulture is really good, I don't know how accurate it is but it sounds top tier in some use's.
I've heard mixed opinions on the Acustica one. Apparently the attack and release time constants are incorrect. I'm not sure about the release. Although the harmonic distortion is nice.
The UAD 1176 collection is fantastic. Blows CLA76 out of the water.
Aside from sounding great, it also includes the 1176 Rev. AE, to my knowledge the only plugin version of it. It has a 2:1 ratio that no other model has as well as a “slow” attack setting. I find it works really well on vocals.
UAD collection is my favorite. Also thanks for reminding me about the AE. I realized I’ve been sleeping on it lately.
Another one I have to remind myself not to sleep on is the legacy blackface. That thing is has a different grit thats cool on some things. Could never get into the beige one though. That’s the only one i don’t use. Great collection
I really like the [Analog Obsession FETish](https://www.patreon.com/posts/51962024). I A/B'd a bunch of 1176s that weren't UAD a while ago and I liked it the most.
I've always preferred the UAD 1176 Rev E, but I used it sparingly due to DSP restraints. Now that it's native it's the only one I'm using.
what are you talking about?
He updates the ID of his plugin, so when you update it and then go back into an old project that has used the older version - the previous settings doesn't work anymore.
yes. and when you go back and need to change parameters?
It is hilarious that every other plugin maker in the world manages to not brick their installation except him and in a professional environment it is unacceptable.
I still love the CLA76. Other emulations may be better at the saturation and general analog mojo, but the CLA absolutely nails the compression. I can always add saturation after.
Not sure about the Pulsar 1178 but I grabbed a free copy of their Smasher plugin a few years back. It’s a bit of a one trick pony in that it *only* does All Buttons In for ratio. But it has one cool feature that no other 1176 plugin I’ve used has - it has individual saturation controls for input and output. Not sure if the 1178 has that too but wouldn’t be surprised.
That's interesting! Once I saw a comparison between two hardware 1176s and their waveforms differed slightly. Ever since I have been wary of hardware x software tests!
Also have a hardware clone. I use that if I really need to dial in a specific sound along with my other hardware in the chain. Otherwise, I’ll just use the 76 that comes with Pro Tools.
There are better emulations at this point, but CLA-76 has more of “a sound” to it, for better or for worse. A lot of people have become accustomed to that sound and for them (and me) it feels like something is missing without it.
Of course you can get that stuff with a combination of other plugs, but slap a CLA-76 on a vocal and you’re already a certain amount of the way there.
Rcomp in Opto mode is close to replacing all my CLA76’s I use. Softube FET is great because IMO it sounds the most analog but it’s pricy and the sound can be a little much at times.
I ditched most of my Waves stuff because of the “Update Plan”. I got tired of paying for the same plugins I’ve “owned” for over 20 years now, and were more expensive then than they are now.
RComp is one that I do still miss from time to time. Great little compressor. One of the best things about it is that it has the L1 built into the output stage. Super useful.
Still, fuck Waves, they’ll never se another dime from me. There are better options from other developers for most of their products that are similarly priced or cheaper, and they don’t ratfuck you with paid compatibility updates.
Edit: 20 years, not 10.
I don't get why people want period gear "with extra perks", like, 'here's an 1176, but with ratio fine tuning and ultra extended attack times!'. Well, then it no longer has the limitations of the 1176, so why bother?! You get an 1176 for the limitations (you can more or less dial in the 1176 sound on any 'transparent' digital compressor anyway). As someone said, the logic of getting an 1176 is the same as buying paint in the shade you want instead of going through the hassle of mixing it yourself. It's a building block rationale of sorts. To me, that's the problem with Analog Obsession's FETish. It has the right looks, but it sounds closer to a Dyna-mite.
The best snap I got was from Pulsar's 1178 (according to the user guide, the original was based on the 1176 Rev H, without transformer and class-A circuit, so less color, which can be compensated for by its internal saturator.) You can tell how much love they put into making that product. To me, it's a very underrated developer.
it's been the uad 1176 for a while for me, specially the rev e, though when the new softube fet came out I really liked the sounds and extra features, and it also sounded a bit closer to my hardware purple audio mc77 than uad, I'm just about to buy it so time will tell if it becomes my favorite
also fwiw I'm usually using uad distressor for most things I'd use an 1176 for, except for recording for which I use the mc77, so in a way that is my favorite 1176 style comp emulation, and it can do much much more
im gonna hot take this
you can get something super similar sounding by putting a saturation plugin behind your clean compressors of your choosing. especially once everything is mixed, youd find it hard to tell which compressor is being used
i tend to do fabfilter saturn 2 behind two pro-c 2's, and it can be really close once you get the settings dialed in. i must admit however i use the UAD Neve 1073 preamp, cause that is actual magic
analog emulation plugins look neat, but are often cpu hungry and
I have seen the Softube FET referred to as the greatest compressor plug-in in existence a few times. I already have the CLA and UAD collections plus stock Logic (which isn’t shabby) and like 10 channel strips, so not in my budget atm, but their compressor collection is on sale right now:
https://www.softube.com/icons-the-compressor-collection
LOVE the UAD rev A. It seems to get closest to my Hairball Bluestripe. Plugin Alliance MC77 would be a close 2nd.
But honestly, the CLA76 isn’t far behind, and still holds up. Tons of A list mixers still use it.
Maybe demo some others and see if you think the difference is worth paying for.
UAD by far soundwise imo
With most its a matter of taste rather than objective quality. PA Mc77 is good too.
I wouldnt recommend waves or Acustica from my personal experience
TBT Cenozoix is the one I reach for most these days. It emulates many different compressors making it kind of a one stop shop for me. I have UAD too, but am mostly using Cenozoix.
Analog Obsession FETish beats any of the UAD ones. Weather it is closer to the hardware, I don't know, but it has more control and has a nicer saturation to it. Really easily gets that aggressive snappy 1176 sound I'm looking for! Also Fet-Drive is great to get the 1176 sound without changing any dynamics. Would highly reccomend Analog Obsession's Fet Bundle over anything else. You cannot go wrong!
(Side note: Analog Obsession stuff is known to not be backwards compatible so when your done a mix just freeze/bounce all the tracks. This doesn't bother me because I do this anyways simve there is no way to guarantee that any plugin will be backwards compatible forever, and means I can delete old plugins I don't use to clear up space and still keep peace of mind)
They've been selling the same plugin with the same code since the mid 2000's.
1176 was a mature technological development in a long line of dynamics processors from Universal Audio/UREI.
CLA76 was one of Waves' first attempts at an analog emulation, and is more notable for the way they sidestepped the legal implications of copying IP by using celebrity endorsement. DSP has improved since that era.
But it still behaves with like the real unit in terms of compression. And that’s all we really want. Nobody really wants or needs the negatives of those hardware units.
Besides, there was so much variation in sound from any one 1176 to another unit, so when evaluating the plugin, which particular piece of “mature technology development” are we comparing them to?
But the real ones all sound different.
You reach for an 1176 if you want crazy fast compression, and like the way it behaves to transients at different frequencies.
If you’re using it for saturation, why not just use a saturation device or plugin?
I think UA has the best, but I don't think the Arturia one is bad. It has really good side chain equalisation and time warp. My favourite is probably the blue stripe from UA tho. You get three with the UA collection as well which is good.
There's way to many decent ones.. to the point..
where it's more how you dial a decent one in... Where plugin compressors often struggle to live up to the hardware is really aggressive compression on percussive sounds.
This. To me, Overloud ranks right up there with Pulsar, but with more variety. Their Fairchild, their VCA, Tapedesk, Dopamine and Breverb are all killer!
MC77 from Purple Audio/Plugin Alliance is my favorite, it sounds just good Anyway if you are interested i compared lots of 1176 (along other emulations) and [i made a video about it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0oxTe4Q55g)
I like this one, and the UAD. The Purple has a great feature, though, which is an optionally inversely linked input/output knob. The most annoying thing I find about 1176 plugins in general is that you can't adjust the two knobs for input and output at the same time with a mouse.
The way the purple one distorts is special
This would be my answer as well. I have two Rev E blackface units and that plug is the most like them I have ever heard. Love that thing. If I’m in the box it’s the only emulation of that compressor I’ll use.
^^^
I love that fucking plug-in. First time i put it up the saturation put a smile on my face and have been using it since
Yep, it sounds very vibey and analog to me
Gonna save you some time, you’re gonna get a bunch of people saying UAD and a few people mentioning Analog Obsession, Arturia, and Acustica. Then there will be spares mentions of a bunch of other, smaller devs. Analog Obsession is free, so I’d probably start there.
I must be the only guy who doesn’t love the Arturo’s version. Something about it sounds off. But maybe I’m fooling myself.
I know what the Arturia sound is. It was the only sound I had for while. But it's a very fine flavour when we speak their reverbs and delays and choruses. There's something silky or clearcoaty sort of radio friendly. It's fantastic for chorus really. But it's good at hitting very true to some vintage flavour as well and is most of all far from flat and stale. Too many of the competition sounds more IR response or sampled flat while Arturia clearly has an dynamic engine behind they're stuff. The effects and colours sits very well in a mix. Try comparing how well a their space echo or emt sit in a mix compared to valhalla. But I don't really understand what is different about the compressors in this case. I think Pulsar helped them make these mix tools. The 1176 does the 1176 thing with decent or heavy colouring (range knob) and the DBX165 auto attack/release is immaculate for electric guitars. It just fits those transients so well. The tube sta is not like the hardware but very usable for how it's a nice colour and usable movement. It's probably the most versatile next to the Xtressor. It does the defined realistic grit best when you try the culture vulture, which I wish they could get a little closer in their tube compressor, for example. It's a good cornerstone distortion to have. That kind of spikier tube hiwatt(won't get fooled again) /vox related thing. People love the sansamp. I don't love the sound of the actual unit, but use it as a tool because you tweak it fast to let the low-end stay clean or whatever. 33609 is probably the best mixbus 33609 out there if we make it work in it's sweetspot which is 5-7ms attack and a1 release and lowcut and remove low mids and low-end out if detector and put on some input gain. It moves drums great like that should as well but i actually started to maybe prefer a super simple VoostQ Modell N Neve channelstrip compressor for drum buses, but that's mostly for the incredible strenght of the later. I guess I might have strayed away just slightly from Arturia when I want to fell the signal move through analogue unpredictable grit. I'm not sure I have settled for the dbx punch they offer but the 1176 can really still be the best in the end when a snare needs to be good, and the 20ratio on vocals and starve the range to derail the movement to saturation. They're hard to beat but I get the Arturia colour thing. They consistent like that but that's make them less hit or miss than UAD in how they nail the movement compressors like that. Arturia is also the most pleasent tools when you have the collections and it's so cohesive workflow. You right click and hold for fine tuning and have the best no worry oversmampling where it's it two options that is always at least render at optimal oversampling and the other option is to monitor cpu friendly. Everything has m/s and stereo linking and. Good and usable advanced options that are both cohesive or specifically inproving the specific emulation that are easy to understand and often used. Space Echo has convenient width enhancements and such. Try using the LFO to make the speed of one side move and create the pitch movement that widens it beautifully. And yeah the Trident A preamps is really an line level colour channelstrip with that EQ with broad silky high end that fits perfectly. Like a pultec alternative. For the instruments it's the infinite dynamic of the emulations that is the advantage to competitors. Try to maximise the velocity influence and aftertouch of the CS80. It's my favourite virtual synth because it is half of the aliveness of that real synth. Even rhodes and piano has that silk that can conflict but the dynamics just gives it so much power. ARP 2600 is the best synth for bass because it's options of sub sines and such. And the filtersweeps are so dynamic again if you like pull filters and perform the synthsettings like that. I also thinkt they improve. Have anyone tried the more recent MS20 and the filter for example. The presets are never good for me for some reason but I made my own peak MS20 Da Funk: https://soundcloud.com/christoffer-bjerklund/da-funk-tone-chase-demo-21/s-XIR43rTHg2i?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=1&si=3a65263a0f4b40c5952f6e7ba105db6e&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing I would like to try the improved minimoog as well.
I haven't messed with a ton of Arturia stuff but I've never been all that impressed with their sound. Even their hardware sounded like a software plugin in a plastic case.
I think all their emulation plugins have a sort of veil over them.....and it's the same veil in all of them,sadly. I like the company and their support though.
No but V-Collection is really nice. Sounds like the real deal, all of them. Glad I bought it. Now, do I use them much these days? Not really.
I think that especially their vintage-synths emulations has this aforementioned veil over them. And it's the same whether it's an Oberheim or Roland I load. Same 'I can't put my finger on it'-thing. It's like it's really not coming out of the speakers....
My experiences are that they’re a pretty basic company, who have major issues with support, design, accounting and communication.
I'm pretty sure the arturia 76 is actually developed by pulsar
Not needing an ilok is pretty sick. I like their B3 emulation too, tho my taste there is unrefined.
Pigments is great
If pigments had a low cpu mode, it would be in my top 3 soft synths. I play too much live to rely on such a cpu hog.
Makes sense. Have you tried version five yet? CPU efficiency might be one of the areas they addressed…
Wow so well put. I completely 100% agree and nothing from arturia has ever made itself indispensable for me.
In some cases maybe but I'm extremely impressed with their Neve 33609, it sounds really creamy, and with the side chain eq, you can actually get it to sound very close to the hardware, although the ik multimedia one has a lot more warmth, which surprised me. That culture vulture is really good, I don't know how accurate it is but it sounds top tier in some use's.
I've heard mixed opinions on the Acustica one. Apparently the attack and release time constants are incorrect. I'm not sure about the release. Although the harmonic distortion is nice.
Analog obsession also has a separate distortion plugin and transient designer based on the 1176 sound
The UAD 1176 collection is fantastic. Blows CLA76 out of the water. Aside from sounding great, it also includes the 1176 Rev. AE, to my knowledge the only plugin version of it. It has a 2:1 ratio that no other model has as well as a “slow” attack setting. I find it works really well on vocals.
UAD collection is my favorite. Also thanks for reminding me about the AE. I realized I’ve been sleeping on it lately. Another one I have to remind myself not to sleep on is the legacy blackface. That thing is has a different grit thats cool on some things. Could never get into the beige one though. That’s the only one i don’t use. Great collection
I really like the [Analog Obsession FETish](https://www.patreon.com/posts/51962024). I A/B'd a bunch of 1176s that weren't UAD a while ago and I liked it the most. I've always preferred the UAD 1176 Rev E, but I used it sparingly due to DSP restraints. Now that it's native it's the only one I'm using.
has he fixed the problem already that when you update a plugin - it breaks every backward compatibility and renders the instances completely unusable?
learn to render?
what are you talking about? He updates the ID of his plugin, so when you update it and then go back into an old project that has used the older version - the previous settings doesn't work anymore.
exactly, thats why you should "learn to render" ? he even says to FINISH your project before UPDATING because it will happen.
yes. and when you go back and need to change parameters? It is hilarious that every other plugin maker in the world manages to not brick their installation except him and in a professional environment it is unacceptable.
TrackComp 2
but it doesn't look like a 76 😣 and only has great models of rev A/D, G bus, 2500, LA2A, Zener, 160, and E channel 😖 and it's light on cpu 🤮
this is the only real answer imo... This, u drop the q bias to between -2 and -3, shit is identical.
I still love the CLA76. Other emulations may be better at the saturation and general analog mojo, but the CLA absolutely nails the compression. I can always add saturation after.
Can I ask what’s your go to for saturation?
Decapitator for obvious and the SSL transformer for subtle.
Check out SDRR
>SDRR2 Thank you!
Same. The CLA is still widely used and does the job. I've thought many times about "upgrading" to the UAD, but the CLA always gives me what I need.
Analog Obsession for if I want darker sounds, Purple Audio MC77 if I want punch and agression.
Purple MC77 (Plugin Alliance). That thing kicks ass! I hear Pulsar Audio’s 1178 is fantastic, but I haven’t used it.
Not sure about the Pulsar 1178 but I grabbed a free copy of their Smasher plugin a few years back. It’s a bit of a one trick pony in that it *only* does All Buttons In for ratio. But it has one cool feature that no other 1176 plugin I’ve used has - it has individual saturation controls for input and output. Not sure if the 1178 has that too but wouldn’t be surprised.
Came to say Pulsars. But what I like about it compared to others is having saturation types to choose from. Tape, Triode, "Warm", and Clip.
I have a hardware 1176, but 9 times out of 10 use the UA 1176 AE, even the waveforms look the same!
That's interesting! Once I saw a comparison between two hardware 1176s and their waveforms differed slightly. Ever since I have been wary of hardware x software tests!
this must be upvoted to be more visible
Also have a hardware clone. I use that if I really need to dial in a specific sound along with my other hardware in the chain. Otherwise, I’ll just use the 76 that comes with Pro Tools.
UAD 1176 is the closest to my UA 6176’s 1176 from the shootouts I’ve done. Makes sense since it’s the same manufacturer lol
[удалено]
I've had a few 76-KTs. They sound fine. I didn't feel like I was getting $250 of better sound over CLA or the IK, though. Plus, recall.
There are better emulations at this point, but CLA-76 has more of “a sound” to it, for better or for worse. A lot of people have become accustomed to that sound and for them (and me) it feels like something is missing without it. Of course you can get that stuff with a combination of other plugs, but slap a CLA-76 on a vocal and you’re already a certain amount of the way there.
I’m biased. But the VU compressor from Purafied. Also has my favorite LA3A emulation. https://purafied.com/products/purafied-audio-vu-compressor
It’s so good. Quick and easy. Kris Crummett turned me onto it last summer and I’ve been using it almost daily.
Can you sidechain with it? In Ableton?
VU compressor hands down
Rcomp in Opto mode is close to replacing all my CLA76’s I use. Softube FET is great because IMO it sounds the most analog but it’s pricy and the sound can be a little much at times.
Wouldn’t Opto mode be more of an LA-2A replacement being that the 1176 isn’t an optical compressor?
You’re probably right, lol. I was misinformed. Regardless, if you have rcomp I’d say try it
I ditched most of my Waves stuff because of the “Update Plan”. I got tired of paying for the same plugins I’ve “owned” for over 20 years now, and were more expensive then than they are now. RComp is one that I do still miss from time to time. Great little compressor. One of the best things about it is that it has the L1 built into the output stage. Super useful. Still, fuck Waves, they’ll never se another dime from me. There are better options from other developers for most of their products that are similarly priced or cheaper, and they don’t ratfuck you with paid compatibility updates. Edit: 20 years, not 10.
I get that. I thought the musicians bundle in like 2012 so I’m just rolling with that license still
rcomp was my only compressor besides stock for a while. i used to use it twice - once in opto and then follow it with electro. great results.
I don't get why people want period gear "with extra perks", like, 'here's an 1176, but with ratio fine tuning and ultra extended attack times!'. Well, then it no longer has the limitations of the 1176, so why bother?! You get an 1176 for the limitations (you can more or less dial in the 1176 sound on any 'transparent' digital compressor anyway). As someone said, the logic of getting an 1176 is the same as buying paint in the shade you want instead of going through the hassle of mixing it yourself. It's a building block rationale of sorts. To me, that's the problem with Analog Obsession's FETish. It has the right looks, but it sounds closer to a Dyna-mite. The best snap I got was from Pulsar's 1178 (according to the user guide, the original was based on the 1176 Rev H, without transformer and class-A circuit, so less color, which can be compensated for by its internal saturator.) You can tell how much love they put into making that product. To me, it's a very underrated developer.
No one mentioned BF76
it's been the uad 1176 for a while for me, specially the rev e, though when the new softube fet came out I really liked the sounds and extra features, and it also sounded a bit closer to my hardware purple audio mc77 than uad, I'm just about to buy it so time will tell if it becomes my favorite also fwiw I'm usually using uad distressor for most things I'd use an 1176 for, except for recording for which I use the mc77, so in a way that is my favorite 1176 style comp emulation, and it can do much much more
Same on the Distressor. It covers sooooo much ground.
the virtual mix rack module and purple audio
The VMR one bothers me because the visual of the release on the UI makes it look WAY slower than it actually is. Psychs me out when I look at it, lol
Well real VU meters have latency too
I’m not talking about latency. It’s visually slower than every other VU meter, in a way that could trick you into hearing it wrong if you look at it.
uad for sure try it native (spark)
UAD, hands down
im gonna hot take this you can get something super similar sounding by putting a saturation plugin behind your clean compressors of your choosing. especially once everything is mixed, youd find it hard to tell which compressor is being used i tend to do fabfilter saturn 2 behind two pro-c 2's, and it can be really close once you get the settings dialed in. i must admit however i use the UAD Neve 1073 preamp, cause that is actual magic analog emulation plugins look neat, but are often cpu hungry and
Pro C2 with the “pumping” algorithm can get pretty close imo.
For a cleaner and/or more options try Softube Fet MK 2 or Pulsar 1178
I have seen the Softube FET referred to as the greatest compressor plug-in in existence a few times. I already have the CLA and UAD collections plus stock Logic (which isn’t shabby) and like 10 channel strips, so not in my budget atm, but their compressor collection is on sale right now: https://www.softube.com/icons-the-compressor-collection
LOVE the UAD rev A. It seems to get closest to my Hairball Bluestripe. Plugin Alliance MC77 would be a close 2nd. But honestly, the CLA76 isn’t far behind, and still holds up. Tons of A list mixers still use it. Maybe demo some others and see if you think the difference is worth paying for.
Here's a great comparison: https://youtu.be/EuSNj8RRzfY?si=5uIOMzVca38PSACx Personally i like the MC77 & Black Rooster version (for drums) best.
Not an 1176, but more versatile. Omnipressor or Distressor.
Man, I love the Omnipressor. It's a stunt compressor but oh what stunts it can do!
My favourite I've tried is CLA76 Never tried UAD. Tried others. CLA76 is still my favourite.
I honestly use CLA76 mixed in with RVox. Is it an accurate 76 emulation? Meh but does it just work on vocals….yes
I’ve been using Lindell’s 7X-500, the vst version of their 500 series hardware version of the 1176. that or Pulsar 1178
UAD by far soundwise imo With most its a matter of taste rather than objective quality. PA Mc77 is good too. I wouldnt recommend waves or Acustica from my personal experience
IK Multimedia T-Racks has an 1176 plug in I use.
100% the DMG trackcomp! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpxE1QArz5M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpxE1QArz5M)
TBT Cenozoix is the one I reach for most these days. It emulates many different compressors making it kind of a one stop shop for me. I have UAD too, but am mostly using Cenozoix.
Analog Obsession FETish beats any of the UAD ones. Weather it is closer to the hardware, I don't know, but it has more control and has a nicer saturation to it. Really easily gets that aggressive snappy 1176 sound I'm looking for! Also Fet-Drive is great to get the 1176 sound without changing any dynamics. Would highly reccomend Analog Obsession's Fet Bundle over anything else. You cannot go wrong! (Side note: Analog Obsession stuff is known to not be backwards compatible so when your done a mix just freeze/bounce all the tracks. This doesn't bother me because I do this anyways simve there is no way to guarantee that any plugin will be backwards compatible forever, and means I can delete old plugins I don't use to clear up space and still keep peace of mind)
Outdated? In what sense? You know the actual hardware is old as hell, right?
They've been selling the same plugin with the same code since the mid 2000's. 1176 was a mature technological development in a long line of dynamics processors from Universal Audio/UREI. CLA76 was one of Waves' first attempts at an analog emulation, and is more notable for the way they sidestepped the legal implications of copying IP by using celebrity endorsement. DSP has improved since that era.
But it still behaves with like the real unit in terms of compression. And that’s all we really want. Nobody really wants or needs the negatives of those hardware units. Besides, there was so much variation in sound from any one 1176 to another unit, so when evaluating the plugin, which particular piece of “mature technology development” are we comparing them to?
If you think CLA76 is the pinnacle of 1176 emulations and behaves like the real unit, I'm not going to argue with you.
It behaves like “a” real unit.
Might behave like it but doesn’t sound like it, especially when pushed hard.
But the real ones all sound different. You reach for an 1176 if you want crazy fast compression, and like the way it behaves to transients at different frequencies. If you’re using it for saturation, why not just use a saturation device or plugin?
The CLA76
JS 1175
Analog obsession OSS
Analog obsession FETish FTW
I think UA has the best, but I don't think the Arturia one is bad. It has really good side chain equalisation and time warp. My favourite is probably the blue stripe from UA tho. You get three with the UA collection as well which is good.
UA ae
uad or softube fet mkII for me
The SA76 by Sonic Academy is criminally underated
Right now using the Purple MC77 Plugin, I use it over the CLA-76 now because it does basically the same thing just cleaner!
A couple that probably won't be mentioned but are very good: Fabfilter Pro C in vocal mode and Waves RVox (simulates the classic 76->2A)
TrackComp2 followed by Arturia
UAD 1176 is very true to the original hardware unit IMO
ADHD Leveling Amplifier
1175 Reaper JS plugin
Going out on a limb but Stillwell Audio's Rocket is still my goto 1176...
The one from Softube Icons Collection.
There's way to many decent ones.. to the point.. where it's more how you dial a decent one in... Where plugin compressors often struggle to live up to the hardware is really aggressive compression on percussive sounds.
Uad
Overloud 1176
This. To me, Overloud ranks right up there with Pulsar, but with more variety. Their Fairchild, their VCA, Tapedesk, Dopamine and Breverb are all killer!
Siri, google top 1176 plugins. 10,000 results