Empirical Labs® EL8 Distressor
Customer Reviews
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor
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C. Leonard
Great for Particular Purposes
The Distressor creates punch for drums and pushed up the vocal without being harsh, so depending on the drum or vocal sound you are aiming for, it can be really helpful. It has a unique tone and I do like the adjustable "grit". I find that it works really well as a contributor to a chain as I like the vocals to cut through the mix, yet still remain warm and smooth and this helps with the former without negatively affecting the latter. For my voice, personally, this was a nice complement and once I got used to hearing my vocals through it, comparing it to bypass made it clear how much it was contributing to the tone. I really like it on drums; it smooths out the overly-dynamic while really bringing all the different drum contributions into the spotlight without them overpowering, which I find hard to accomplish in general. However, if you do want a drum kit to power through the mix with some good tones and maintain natural dynamics while still compressing enough, this is a great tool. I think this is a plugin that should be in most people's arsenal, though selectively. For the money, it's a winner and I've already incorporated it into multiple new recordings and prior ones, both of which it made significantly better.
A. Belkacem
Distressor
One of the best UAD Comp. Sounds amazing.
J. Ross
COMING INTO NEWNESS
I HAVE BEEN LEARNING MY WAY AROUND THE EMPIRICAL LABS EL8 DISTRESSOR COMPRESSOR FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS. I USE IT AS A HARDWARE INSERT/RACK IN APOLLO 8:2.
I am loving the sonic spread through each I/O routing via CUE in Studio One Pro 5.5.3. it awakes all tracks with a seasoning spice, so tasteful in hearing--is its ultimate 10 Star results.
As wells as a little amount of flavor-is its secret.
J. Solyom
Good times
Sounds killer
M. Barnes
The ultimate for synth bass!
Top notch as always.
D. Schaufelberger
Amazing. No words needed.
See title.
S. Bruinsma
Just.. WOW!
I use it on vocals en beats.. man man. Should've bought it much sooner.
J. Gang
Great Comp
Must have it!
D. Wershba
Very Distressing!
Works as Advertised! A great addition to my other dynamics plug-ins - this one has a strong personality!
P. Isaac
Great for Vocals
Puts vocals in place
Q. Adolphin
I love it!
Just slap it on and then Work with %! I’m good
S. Sweeney
Distressor
Didn’t realize what I was missing. Great add to the arsenal.
F. Lagacé
Great Compressor
Amazing
J. Love
No surprises here.
The Distressor is all it's cracked up to be and a welcome addition to the tool box. It has met all my expectations.
D. Holland
Distressor one of the best
This is one of the best plugin out there
J. Mengis
Like using your pencil as hard as you can.
I barely touch it. I put it on the drum room mic and walk away. I have and love the empirical labs suite from softube and I absolutely love it. I was having a hard time justifying buying the distress or because I figured I could make the e-comp do what the distressor does. I took advantage of the sale and I’m happy I did. I am now happy using both and not becoming frustrated with my E comp for not being a distressor.
M. J
Authentic
Easy to use, flexible - multiple uses. Versatile on different instruments setups
T. Münzberger
Beautiful Classic
Go to plugin!
M. Indovina
Sounds identical to the real thing
I was shocked when I first used this plugin. I didn't expect it to be as close to my hardware unit as it was. The only difference I could find was that the input level on the plugin was 0.1 off from that of my hardware. That's a pretty negligible difference; especially since the sound was the same. This compressor is a swiss army knife in the audio world and can be used to make everything sound good. I highly recommend it
K. Kearney
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor
The real deal!