Mastering Compressors from $0 to $5,000! Which one sounds best?
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
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Hello, I'm Nicholas Di Lorenzo, Studio Owner, Mixing and Mastering engineer at Panorama Studios.
I'm an Italian-Australian born and raised in Melbourne. I've been a creative professional for 10 years managing some pretty awesome projects for artists, labels and producers all around the globe.
What motivates and drives me?
My family,
Good food,
Great coffee.
You can find me on many platforms:
Instagram: / panorama_mastering
Facebook: / panoramamastering
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Kit: kit.co/Panoram...
I love Unisum! It’s soooo deep, please please do more videos on Unisum and the use cases for its unique abilities! Tall order I know, but I’d love it. I’ve spent hours with the manual and practicing with it and feel like I’m still just scratching the surface of what you can do.
Will do!
Agreed. Unisum was overwhelming for me at first. But it’s a real problem solver once you start to get to grips with it. A deep dive would be awesome :)
Yes i just cant figure it out and tweak presets :(
Fantastic comparison!
On the Kotelnikov I think the Peak release is supposed to be less than the RMS release time under all circumstances.
By the way: the full version of TDR Kotelnikov (Gentleman Edition) also has a similar weighting feature to the Unisum and also the Yin Yang feature to add weight.
Wonderful; thanks for sharing this;
I've never had utility for the GE edition because the free one is so damn powerful! But I think down the line I will need to give it a good once over!
@@panorama_mastering Thanks! Yes, the extra functions in the GE function are not essential imho, but helpful to get an even more refined compression behaviour and sound out of it. I picked it up when it was heavily discounted and I got a lot of "bang for the buck" out of it!
You can get the GE version right now for 10 bucks
Really enjoyed this one. Unisum is a really amazing compressor. I'm not convinced that I'll ever completely understand everything that it does. Also, Unisum has a detector preset that tries to copy the vari-mu. It's not the same, but it's wroth trying out.
Yeap; I really want to start pushing and toying with that in weird ways then coming back to the table here on youtube with what I've found;
Amazing content as always mate! These days i'm watching every single video you release from front to back! You've won me over as a viewer.
When you compared them the first time with the matched curves, i put my fingers on my speaker cone just to feel behaviour with the different compressors. There's something about analog compression that just pushes cones in a cooler way. It's like it's more "fluid" or something. Hard to explain.
Loved the fly on the wall style vid at times here too. Was fun seeing you discover Unisum on the fly. I've had that compressor for a coupla years now but i haven't dived into that lower "advanced" section yet. Would def be cool to see a video from you about that
My pleasure; thanks for watching;
Expect a deep dive on unisum in the future!
Class video, always appreciate the in-depth deep dives!
I love this Chanel for the technical Deep-Dives! 😅
Me Too!
For me, the Unisum is this generation's classic and essential gear. It's crystal clear, but you can add a very transparent but hefty weight using the hygge, you can set the mood of it to an exhaustive detail or just keep it flat and push it to the limit and it always delivers. It can get a little wonky sometimes but it should be expected with all those controls. I kinda wish you could push the saturation even harder while having those same controls but that would make it too perfect for this world to understand, lol.
I've never used a plugin compressor on the mixbus besides the ssl bus comp, I've recently added a spl iron. What would something like this bring to the table as it doesn't seem like it's an emulation of actual gear?
Mixing is what happens not only when different signals combine but also when they hit something together. In the past you'd always hit a ceiling that would glue things together but in the 32 bit float world that doesn't really happen, so it's up to you to choose which things are going to be your ceiling. Some are really cautious and go for some light eq and saturation, a lot go for vari-mu style compressors watching the needle move just ever so slightly, others go for SSL style gluey very low ratio compression. Unisum can be a lot of those things, and can do a lot of things no other compressor can, and having the most advanced detection system just adds to it.
The TDR Kotelkinov Gentleman Edition introduces harmonics thanks to the ying and yang button
Nice!
question no ask is, if there mix has a bus compressor lets say ssl would still need a compressor on when mastering
Yes if you want more loudness
loved the vari mu
Great video again! In the end I need a Manley Vari MU.
Love this type of content. Man you really make quality content ❤ very appreciated I feel like I need to pay you lol
I appreciate that! Pay it forward; share it with a friend ;)
Proud HVA-4K owner here 👍
Lucky! A fine unit!
Great video. Really informative and definitely going to watch again! I wish the mastering edition of Manley Vari Mu was only 5,000 usd. It's now regularly like 6,600, when it goes on sale its still 6,000 usd. Cheaper new where you are than the usa?
Great video, thanks
My pleasure!
nice one man!
Appreciate it!
nice comparison. Pretty surprised by the quality of the Kotelnikov compressor. I use Fabfilter ProC2 for mixing all the time. Are there any advantages or scenarios where Kotelnikov performs better?
Kotelnikov in the Gentleman Edition has some quirks up its sleeve like release times for Peak and RMS compression with a gradual balance between the 2, a couple of saturation circuits one for the low end and one for the high end (very subtle) but most importantly a Frequency Dependent Sidechain Ratio where you can compress more the mids and obtain a smiley dynamic output or viceversa compressing lows and highs letting the "radiophonic" mids pop through, or same concept applied to loudness with the Fletcher-Munson curve.
I see them as different take on similar results with:
- Pro C2 for easy tasks;
- Kotelnikov for more versatility and mastering precision;
- Unisum for extreme control;
- P11 Abyss or Acustica Audio Tiger for something along the lines of Kotelnikov with added various analog behaviors.
I'd say the closest thing in hw to Kotelnikov might be the Dangerous 2 Bus Comp in terms of sound/vibes.
@@gianlucamarchese thx a lot dude :3
I don't know if i'd call it advantages / disadvantages and ProC2 is a very well rounded tool as well; however; I just find myself moving from point A-B most effectively within Kotelnikov; hence why I'm such a bit supporter of it across the channel;
If the Alesis 3630 was good enough for David Bowie, then it's good enough for me, too.
bang on!
Another great cheap compressor is the ART Pro VLA II, it uses tubes and sounds fine
@dougrobbins5367
I have the Art pro channel.
TDR kotelnikov Gentleman’s edition is currently £8 on plug-in boutique
I couldn’t see that?
@@TeeDubz oh damn it literally ran out today, even the google thing still says the £8 price. Sorry
Oh wow! That's a steal! I wish I knew!
Yeah gutted. It’s back up to £48 now. Still good value though I guess. Cheers
And you didn’t dive into the different compression styles of the Unisum! Cherry on the pie
Not yet!
4 Plugin Combinations will Compete with this Gear is your have Any analog Gear to intially run your mix through
Magenta 5 Strip from Acustica Audio with the Taupe from Acustica Audio with ASH as a Limiter
Coral 2 Strip from Acustica Auio with Taupe from Acustica Audio with ASH as a Limiter
the Brown bundle form Acustica Audio with Taupe from Acustica Audio wtih ASH As a Limiter
or the Howie Weinburge Mastering Console from Acsutica Audio with Taupe and ASH....
Those 4 are very competitive as far as Matched Weight, Lushness, Openess, and Warmth...on any analog mix
with those "OverPriced" Units above....not hating...Just sayin....LOL
I hope this information helps anyone with a Low to Mid Level Hybrid studio...thats still want High End Mastering
Was the AMEK Mastering Compressor on your radar when you made this? If so, curious why it didn't make the cut.
the real skill of a mastering engineer is being able to listen to an out of tune fiddle for hours on end without loosing it 😅
I'm again gonna use this oppertunity to shill DIY gear xD. If you are technical minded, and are in the market for analoug gear, a really nice way to get your hands on some otherwise out of reach bits of kit is to build them yourself. You can focus on the parts that really matter and make them high quality, and the bits that don't effect the sound, you can cheapo out on. In some cases, even buying the absolute best componants all the way through can run you like half cost of the real gear, and almost sound identicle to the real gear, if not indistinguishable.
It can take a while to build some bits, and others you could do in a few days, so it depends on how much your time is worth, as to whether building them is wothwhile to you. Some people enjoy it, so even if their time is worth a lot the fun may be the driving force, and then many others will just find it WAY cheaper to build it themselves. For example I just finished a dual/stereo LA2A for about 1/3 the price of a real single one! The only discernable diferance is it doesn't have the same tubes, but that can always be upgraded later if I feel the need to do so (which atm I don't as it sounds so dam good already). You can also build them in sections ... so buy some parts one month, some the next and make it even more affordable by spreading out the cost, again somthing you can't really do with built gear unless you use finance, and then you're paying interest.
Just wanted to add that as a counter to having to fork out 5K for a mastering grade compressor, you could probably build something similar for around 2-3k with all cheap stepped switches (which work just fine tbh, and don't have an effect on sound other than maybe when actually switching from one setting to another). Add another 500-1k for Elmer switchs if you really want them... but that's one of the big ticket items that makes things like the Manley so dang expensive to begin with ;).
Good insight! Thanks for sharing :)
Algorithmic plugs dont have the girth and analog mojo, 3d qualities etc of the hardware. Its an objective fact not subjective no matter what.
Interesting; what aspects of analog and digital processors do you objectively quantify against one another that show this?
@@panorama_mastering Hi did read and now do you have a better understanding?. This is why digital Vst plugs cannot get th girth, the weight, the substance, the iregularities, the actual so called " warmth" with tubes and cannot be driven hard into saturation like analog pre amps. Some examples. if they sounded like the hardware studios wouldnt use the analog gear and just use the plugs instead. A hybrid set up is prferred as best of both technologies.
Hey; I'm not trying to be argumentative; only explorative;
But what aspects of the audio's fidelity do you measure and quantify for;
1. Girth
2. Substance
And which irregularities are you pointing to and how are those measured?
@@panorama_mastering Your ears.
@@panorama_mastering Use the gear and listen and compare. Even over youtube when comparing hardware with plugs it can be heard. Tools, analyzers dont capture the girth, thickness, depth, 3d qualities, sweetness etc. Have fun.
He could do with a potato what I could do in a £2 million studio as far as mastering music.
Then he's fund raising for Ukraine.
He is now the potato 🥔 and I am gone.
Those mixes suck. Already ridiculous amounts of compression. And imo none of these compressors should be used in mastering
The manley vari-mu and unisum are two of the most revered mastering compressors...