Hi guys, could you name me according to your experience and taste which is the best alternative to El Rey, taking into consideration all the developers available, native UAD included.
Thanks

 

Ra6 Limiter - Tim Petherick

 

I bought El Rey just because i couldn't find anything to match what i heard on my material, the gear emulated gives you that oldschool golden 50th's vibe, and the only convincing RCA tone in the box that i could spot. But for me, good alternatives would be MJUC and NEOLD U17 for the creamy vibe, if you're not a audiophile that cries when listen to records made on RCA gear. On the last situation, no option , buy El Rey

 

RA6 Limiter by Tim Petherick

 

I think the closest thing outside AA would be Klanghelm MJUC. Getting something similar out of it could be a little tricky because of the three modes, but it has a similar compression curve, can do roughly the same attack and release times.

BUT, keep in mind that the input stage of El Rey has a bit of a low and high bump going on that you might need to compensate for.

 

Are you after the both the compression characteristics and the workflow, or just the compression? If it's the latter you can definitely recreate what El Rey does with plug-ins like Tone Projects Unisum, Tokyo Dawn Labs Molot GE, DMG Audio Compassion or Pulsar Modular P11 Abyss.

Pulsar Audio Mu is my go-to Mu compressor plug-in though. It sounds fantastic! A bit tricky to work with at first, but you quickly get used to it.

 

Loved it on melodic material or vocals, when i want them pristine(without lots of "tone"), but replaced for airwindows varimu which gave me the same effect,it's free and easier to set up for my workflow, i would leave as a suggestion for all those that like pulsar mu to give a try

 

Bezpiecznik Audio Vcl-25a
is a good alternative. It does not affect the low and high band like El rey.

 

My main intention is to use it in the vocal compression, max 2-3 db of gain reduction, in the way El Rey does it.

 

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with all who recommend RA6 as an El Rey alternative because they differ (partly heavily) in:
- freq response (already mentioned)
- harmonic content
- harmonic level
- attack and release times
- compression ratio

Fastes attack time of El Rey is way longer than the (fixed) time of RA6 Unit 1 or 2.
The release times are unmatchable too (El Rey's either shorter or longer - as long as Dual Stage isn't active).
While El Rey has a veeery gentle ratio, RA6 deserves the term limiter (for analogue gear).

So, while both are really nice sounding compressors (and supposedly captured from the same unit), their results differ audibly.

 

Thanks for the detailed and competent answer @No Avenger as always, and in your opinion what could be the best alternative to El Rey? Or am I forced to buy the software at this point? I want to use El Rey mainly on vocals

 

This turned out to be pretty difficult. El Rey's ratio is below 1.5:1 and probably its first even harmonic contributes to its sound.
I haven't been able to reproduce this exactly but you should give Eli Arousor a shot (and make a preset for an EQ to add it - in general). It's way more perfomant and versatile too but sadly, it's not a lot cheaper and needs iLok (online or dongle).
OTOH, you could try to get El Rey used at knobcloud...

 

It's awesome because I've already bought Arousor years ago, so no problem here. I will try to combine it with a pre and in case post EQ. I've never had a problem with iLok, I already use PT, Sonnox, along with UA. Furthermore, I have already managed to obtain a very similar and truly satisfactory result with UA Fairchild 670, in light compression. Now I will try with Arousor. Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

Never tried El Rey.. (so, no idea)
but for Vocals and Flutes I quite like Summit TLA-100A.

Softube version gives a nice Color..
I don't know about the Dynamic response, but I guess UAD shall be more refined in that department..

Then theres also CL-1B (Softube/UAD) which must be one of the Best.


In terms of Optical comps, other than that..
I think TRacks LA2A has pretty good Dynamic response, as it closely imitates the hardware.
But afaik it doesn't add any of the Color..

And I never quite liked any other Optical Comp,
Waves LA2A sucks (sorry),
PA bx_opto or TE OptoRed are interesting, but detection/thrs control is quite finicky..


In Tube comps tho, there's a couple alternatives, certainly more to choose from..
Besides of MJUC, True Dynamics comes to mind,
a bit finicky but sounds Good, Clean but with some character.

Then you've got all the Firechilds, Vari-Mu's, or a Royal compressor,
lots to choose from

 

Last edited: Mar 27, 2023

Nice to know other people like el ray as much as me,
I do have to say I don't like the compression action at all.
But like the tone it adds dynamically when used in parallel with the dry/wet mix.

so when you say "best alternative to El Rey" what part of it are you looking for?

 

BGs vocal master fader, medium Attack, slow release, threshold at 2, 60% Wet. Mainly for light compression and nice tone.

 

Antelope has a great BA6A emulation but you need one of their DSP powered interfaces. But as others pointed out, I think you'll get a pretty similar sound with Klanghelm MJUC or NEOLD U17.

 

It may sounds funny but I also got pretty close with FF Saturn. Subtle Tube, Dynamics ~ 0.1, 0 Drive (of course depending on input level, I used -1TP), either single band plus Tone sliders, or 3-band with different levels (for EQ curve).

 

Great! Then I will also add this in my tests. As soon as I get to the right spot when the differences between El Rey and its potential alternative are negligible, I'll let you know the exact parameters of the plugin and/or chain if you're interested.

 

Pulsar Modular Climax has the ability to dial in the harmonics the way you want (it is quite flexible), so maybe if you have the plugin with you, try to match them in Plugin Doctor ? Try watch Climax demo in youtube by the developer of how he matched the harmonics with the hardware.

That, and the Pultec Style smiley EQ (that can also be done inside Climax) should get you in the ball park of the saturation theoretically. Maybe Pro-C2 after other compressor plugin to add the amount of compression you want.

 

Last edited: Mar 27, 2023