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Apollo
Native

Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor

4.9 (714)

Get the colorful sound of the world’s most popular compressor.

  • Track and mix with the only authentic emulation of the EL8 Distressor — the world's most sought-after modern compressor
  • Radically shape guitars, drums, and vocals with nearly infinite gain reduction variations
  • Harness plug-in-only features like Dry/Wet parallel processing and Headroom for user‑customizable operating level
  • Creatively color instruments and vocals with famous “Dist 2” and “Dist 3” modes
  • Embellish, pump up, or destroy bass, synth, and room mics with custom detector filtering

Runs natively on your macOS or Windows computer, or accelerated on Apollo audio interfaces or UAD Accelerators. View full system requirements.

Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor

$299

$299

Hear It In Action

Plug-In:

Hear It In Action

Hear It In Action

Plug-In:

Hear It In Action

Plug-In:

Get the Colorful Sound of the World’s most Popular Compressor

The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is revered in studios the world over as the modern, “must-have” compressor, picking up where the legendary UA 1176 and Teletronix LA-2A compressors leave off — giving you a modern tool heard on thousands of hit records.

What They Say

The Distressor is capable of such radical compression tones, that it becomes its own instrument. I’m confident the UAD version will become just as useful as the hardware.

Joe Chiccarelli

Jason Mraz, Beck, The Strokes, Morrissey

From subtle compression to destruction, the Distressor handles everything with style.

Hector Delgado

A$AP Rocky, Selena Gomez, Lana Del Rey

The Distressor truly is the desert island dynamics tool, for controlling levels or creatively reshaping instruments into sounds that couldn’t be heard otherwise.

Chris Coady

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House, Future Islands

Reviews

4.9
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
Based on 714 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 674 Total 4 star reviews: 19 Total 3 star reviews: 12 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 9
97%would recommend this product
Slide 1 selected
714 reviews
  • PS
    Pavel S.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    1 week ago
    Empirical Labs EL8

    Ok

  • AM
    António M.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    1 week ago
    Distressor

    É muito bom no baixo elétrico e é muito fácil de trabalhar.

  • ZD
    Zoran D.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    1 week ago
    Great plugin

    Finaly, I've got this great plugin . 5 stars.

  • MP
    Michael P.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    1 week ago
    Beauty and the Beast

    Its a compressor with variety of uses. From gentle to NUKE...

    Ive been always worried not to compress things too much, but since i got this plugin i put it on every channel and dial some nice parallel setting to push things forward or to control crazy tonal sequences.

    The saturation and colour can bring out all the hidden details you might miss. Timing of the attack and release suits all purposes, from tight transients to glueing to harsh and squashed sound, this one has it all

  • MF
    Matt F.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    1 week ago
    Distressor

    Awesome plugin. Running native in fl studio, parallel on drum bus. Adds a very specific punch that I couldn't get easily with other compressors. Very impressed with the sound.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. These plug-ins run natively on your computer. No UA hardware is required.

Yes, 14-day plug-in demos are available. Find eligible plug‑ins

We provide three activations per license. We support activation on your computer or on an iLok USB key.

For every UAD plug-in that supports native and Apollo/UAD-2 versions, you get a license for both upon purchase, or the option to get it through an upgrade.

Native plug-ins are supported on macOS and Windows systems. See our Native UAD System Requirements article for full system requirements. An iLok account is required for managing your native plug-in licenses. We support iLok USB keys for portability, but one is not required.

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