OK, @Jaymz & @Von_Steyr. Just grabbed the Petherick U76 V3.
I had been reluctant to purchase any Nebula Comps, but based on you guys feedback, I took the plunge. And at 25E, how can you really go wrong? I'll be testing as soon as I get my mix room back together. Just threw an at home jam session on the porch and the mix room became the load-out zone.

 

@Von_Steyr
Maybe you need to change the name of this thread to THESE GUYS ARE DESTROYING . . .

 

That's exactly what i experienced over the last decades. You can create any thinkable curve with any decently implemented EQ. If you want to have distortion before or after that EQ (and nothing else are those marvelous analog emulations) you can get them better and more specific with a tool just for that.
So for me the user interface that let's me do things fast and precisely is most important.

 

They are indeed good.

 

Tim Petherick on his approach and compressors;

"In short I'm using a hybrid approach.....
A lot of theory goes into it rather than being a straight sampling session. A lot of stuff needs re thinking as feedback comps are notorisly hard to analyze in their behavoir as the release is going through so many varitions due to many factors, ie the shape can derive from the ratio, attack, program dependence, release time, charging and discharging . I try to break each of those things down in order to try emulate the side envelope follower. This means heavy editing and lots of patience... In short you could sample a feedforward comp fairly easy but feedback design is a headache.
U76 is just around the corner"

 

Reply from AO guy is almost unbelievable too me.

After saying I need manual or explanation of parameters for Britpress... he replies this:

"Two knobs at top for limiter.

Other 4 knobs for compressor."

That's it... now, honestly... that actually is a help, as I had no idea that this device had a comp AND limit function that could be used simultaneously. Every time I have seen a device referred to as a "comp-limiter," it was like the LA-2A (I think) were the thing could EITHER, comp or limit... but not both.

So maybe this will help, have to open up the DAW.

But still, a frickin schematic of signal path are basically everything you need... aside from attack and release info when there are AUTO things going on. So it's like... I am going to say that the AO guy is a fuck1ng a55hol3. Pure and simple.

I am not a seasoned pro... I am on a journey towards that, but still... I am a customer which deserves an f'ing explanation.

This is a dev that I could easily NOT support... if you catch my drift.

 

I think we catch yer drift ... it wasn't subtle.

I don't mean to make fun of your frustration. I get it I really do. But my experience with small independent plugin developers is that not all of them are good at every aspect of creative development and running a business. Now of course some are. Consider Tony from Klanghelm - that guy's got it all going on. Or Shawn from Valhalla. Great little devs who do everything well. I don't know too much about Toneboosters, but I suspect that's another that would fall into this category.

Then there are developers who are great at the customer service, the GUI, the website, the easy authorization, etc., but the plugins don't sound so great. So let's not waste another breath on them.

And that brings us to the maverick genius developer who creates groundbreaking, and amazing sounding plugins, but might be a bit lacking on the "people skills" side of things, or completely disinterested in the GUI side of things, or might have a website and purchasing/licensing method so confounding very few will ever get to the point of actually using their products. I think of SKnote. Great sounding plugins, but that dev (Quintosardo) drives people insane. Just checkout any GS SKnote thread - it's a warzone! When he announces that a major update to a plugin will be coming in a week, people expect that it will be coming in a week. I have been buying SKnote plugins long enough to know that the major update that's coming next week may be coming in a month, or it may be coming in 18 months. Not ideal to say the least, but that's just the price of admission with SKnote. I know and accept this. I also know that when the major update finally arrives it will sound great - and the plugins are extremely affordable … plus there's no protection policy, which I always appreciate. Then there is Airwindows. Again, zero protection scheme plugins that sound amazing, by a single developer. And while this guy is extremely personable and everyone loves him, when you buy Airwindows plugins there is no GUI, none to speak of. There are also no manuals. Now, if you want you can watch an online video where Chris goes through his new plugin in his wonderfully quirky Chris way ... and usually in the area of 30 minutes in length ... but in the old days you would just buy it based on his description and play with the knobs until you figured out what it did for yourself. To be honest I may have learned more about audio manipulation while figuring out his plugins than by any other method. For years Acustica was near impenetrable by any but the most assured and stoic of audio adventurers. I like to think I'm up for just about anything in the pursuit of wonderful sound, but that website, authorization scheme, clunky workflow and slow-ish customer service kept me away. And not everyone reacts well to Giancarlos sometimes blunt, sometimes funny, forum participations.

Now It would appear that AO is yet another developer who is pushing the boundaries of plugin development, but is not within himself alone the complete package when it comes to running a company. Not everyone is great at customer service. Some people just aren't that personable. Some of these geniuses are extreme introverts and you're not going to get much out of them in an interactive way. Sometimes that's just the price of admission to using the tools they develop. Is he an A'hole? I don't know one way or the other.

So of course you may choose not to purchase from this developer if he cannot provide what you need for a successful customer experience. That is understandable and well within your right. I would simply offer that fluidly managing expectations can sometimes leave wonderful doors open. I could've easily become extremely frustrated and ditched SKnote years ago (many have), but had I done so I wouldn't be about to marvel at how wonderful his latest release, Disto3, is … when it eventually drops somewhere between 1 and 77 weeks from now.

 

Tim P is a Genius of a Nebula Dev >>> He wont settle for anything but the best he can get an as close as he can get it >>> he updates all his Libs to newer versions as he gets better and better at sampling the units >>> He uses his own ways of making the programs run better in nebula>>> this is why ive purchased all his Libs >>> theres a version 1 then he will update it to 2 then as he has done with the U76 version 3 is without a Doubt a heavy hitter on CPU but The closest to an actual 1176 as ive herd >>> the Preamp alone is smokin Good >>> he also has someone make great GUI's for his libs>>> and we all know that is not cheap good GUI's can take days to make just one... these units have been used without the compressor engaged for many years on countless albums just for the sound of running the material thru it >>> to get the Preamp and compressor flavor with no Gain reduction at all ;) But the Comp on any material ive used it on sounds amazing... his hard work is the payoff of what his libs brings to the Nebula users

 

Last edited: Oct 10, 2017

@Jaymz, I have to ask... why do you use ">>>" as a replacement to dots and commas?

 

Its just a habit i guess... cause my English suffers lol >>> \m/ Thats true, but honestly its because i got in this habit writing lyrics. Theirs really no place for punctuation in song writing, so i got in this habit separating verses and chorus in songs ive wrote over the years ;) just points in the direction of the next part of the story haha >>> \m/..\m/

 

Last edited: Oct 10, 2017

Because its more heavy metal ;)

 

What can ya do
This guy is very underground-ish with his approach and marketing that im ok with all of that. Take it or leave it i guess, no middle ground here.

 

@Jaymz, got the U76 installed last night. Now just to figure out how to get it to use the skin so it looks cool like the screenshot you posted, haha.
I can tell a difference between this and T-Racks version, though it is very subtle. And this might be due to my setting it slightly different attack and release times as I don't have the skin loaded.
I'll test the Overloud version against this as well.
I started on a Bass guitar track since that's what I'm currently ironing out, and I know what other plugin versions have done for this particular track. I suppose next I'll check the All Buttons (Nuke Mode) against my overheads tracks to see how they respond.

 

Last edited: Oct 10, 2017

What @Jaymz said previously about slamming the TimP U76 Pre in a second instance of Nebula after the U76 compressor Nebula instance, really makes this puppy shine with lively analog goodness.

 

Nebula Setups \m/ this is the way to have 1 plugin with its own GUI for every library you have in Nebula pro3 if you want >>>without having to change GUI manually \m/ Like this one The U76 >>> i made a plugin for the pre and one for the Comp with Nebula setups >>> but Tim provides the Pre GUI and Comp GUI .....i do this with all my Libs for years now... This way they only load the programs from their lib and nothing else>>> you just select what you want from The Init screen as usual but without having to look thru every lib you have in your nebulatemprepository ;) makes load times so much faster using single plugins like this and it looks the way you want from the first click haha \m/ Nebula 4 loads GUI with the programs if they have one made for them of course ;)

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2017

Are you using nebula 4 ? i use 3 and 4 cause i have a lot of setups plugs already made and projects full of them >>> but im using Nebula 4 aswell >>> their starting to get the GUI's working for Nebula4 now \m/

 

in the software world, nothing ever sounded better than UAD's Neve 1073 and it's line pre-amp -'red knob' (+10db)

 

yeah nah it's cool.

I got another reply with a tiny bit more info... furthermore, I read through a thread on GS (which started in Aug), related to the release of the Britpressor... and WOW... there were tons of criticism of the guy, most which seemed generally valid. However, I felt bad for the dude, and it did cause me to step back and accept this situation with the dev.

Previously, I had not been aware of the type of sh1t that goes on with devs.

Glad this thread came around.

PS: so is the britpressor a Neve2264?

 

Since we've veered (rightly) into TimP reverence . . . this just dropped on the AA forums:

here is the next comp with that special auto release -



Above we see a short pulse going into a fast release followed by a long sustain pulse giving a second stage long release, the second stage release changes it's level depending on material. This particular version is found in Famous VCA comps

See, prayers do get answered!

 

@returnal
How is buster, now that you have had some time with that " lil" beast?