The Waves brings forward a bit more of the cymbals and top end brightness than the Major Tom Comp which has a bit more harmonic distortion going on in the 2-6kHz area and the most noticeable pumping (e.g. Both of these also bring forward the same amount of mid range and punch in the compression. The emulations we find to be the most similar in the mid range response and compression to our particular analog unit is the Stillwell Audio Major Tom and the Waves dbx 160. The low end of the kick also tightens as is expected by this type of compressor. Listen to how the top end and mid range changes in the kick. The original dbx 160 seems to bring forward the most mid range thwack and punch that the compressor is renowned for. Notice how with heavy amount of compression the drums remain very punchy (if not more so). The original dbx 160 sounds very punchy and forward - this is heavily exaggerated in the 20to1 ratio setting, especially in the 200Hz and 1kHz area (check out the kick).
We have added in the box tones of all the units for your listening too (audio passing through the unit with no compression applied). Waves dbx 160, UAD dbx 160, Stillwell Audio Major Tom Our comments below player - to open the player in the shootout window so you can add to it click hereĬheck out the Plugins here if you like what you hear and want to pick up a copy:
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#Waves vs uad plugins pro#
In this comparison/shootout we will be looking at:Īn original dbx 160 (Thanks to Roundhead Studios), Logic Pro Stock Compressor Classic VCA, Waves dbx 160, UAD dbx 160, and the Stillwell Audio Major Tom The unit has no attack and release settings or adjustable knee (it is a relatively hard knee compressor) so it can be a bit of a one sound compressor - but it does that sound so very well….as you will find out if you do not already know. The dbx 160 is commonly used for bringing punch and thwack out in drums, as well as being very popular on bass - real and synth. It has an adaptive time constant that adjusted the attack to be faster for transients and is slower for lower frequencies. It has a quite quick attack and release setting with a characteristic fast response. With an easy to use 3 knob front plate that does not feature any attack and release controls. It was originally introduced in 1971 and since then there have been a bunch of revisions made by dbx, and a lot of digital replications made. It is one of the most famous and popular VCA type compressors. Here we have for you a comparison and shootout out of an original dbx 160 from 1971 with a few different emulations and modelings of it.