SL473 – Vintage Vinyl Disc Cutting Compressor for free by SmackLabs
Based off of a VCA design, this compressor has a unique compressor/limiter/expander function that can shape the dynamics of your source. This compressor was the main compressor for vinyl disc cutting from the late 1970’s and on. Known for transparent clean compression, you can really compress the source without the typical negative effects.
The expander controls are found to the left with yellow knobs. The expander has a fixed attack and ratio, giving the user control of the Threshold and Recovery of the expander. The compressor is controlled by the black knobs, with the ratio knob being red. The compressor has a fixed threshold, to manage the fixed threshold, the user can add gain with the “Compr Gain” knob.
Like the original hardware, this compressor has a small learning curve. But once you get accustom to how this compressor works, you will see how it deals with dynamics in a extremely musical way.
This compressor really excels on Mastering, Mix Bus, Drum Groups, and Vocals.