Pelennor DSP has released their free compressor ComPressure. The freeware compressor has a good variety of features and is based on Pressure by Airwindows.
ComPressure is a dual-channel compressor, targeting either left and right or mid and side channels. The controls are fairly atypical for producers used to the usual trio of threshold, attack, and release, but in practice, it is fairly quick to use.
Pressure acts as the threshold control but can be thought of as how much compression is applied to the material. Speed is a dual-stage program-dependent attack and release stage, with the dial at full right being the fastest stages and full left being the slowest.
Mewiness emulates some of the characteristics of vari-mu or tube compressors. Tube compressors don’t have conventional ratios, with the exception of modern hardware and software, but it dictates how extreme the compression can sound. PawClaw is the final somewhat esoteric control, acting as a transient control over the signal. Full left allows more of the transient to slip through the compression envelope, while the claw clamps down and squishes the transient.
ComPressure can be placed on left/right or mid/side, which makes it fairly handy for bussing duties. The gain reduction limit is also another great feature since producers might want the effect of more extreme compression but don’t want the loss of dynamic range, which comes with smashing material.
Other features of note include a soft clipper for hearing protection’s sake, a high-pass sidechain filter, and a key for an external sidechain input.
ComPressure certainly seems like a worthy addition to the freeware compressor stable. Overall, the sound quality is good. Producers familiar with the prolific output of Airwindows can all agree Chris Johnson is tuned into what makes a mixing processor sound great and natural in a production.
ComPressure is completely free but is accepting donations on Gumroad. This handy freebie is available in VST3 and CLAP for Windows and VST3 and AU for macOS. The developer has also specified on the home page they will assist in building a Linux build if requested.
Download: ComPressure
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2 Comments
MRG
onSo many compressors, so little time. We need a time compressor. o_O; An Airwindows with GUI and some extras, nice idea. GUI isn’t bad, I would lose the question marks and make the info appear at bottom or the old bubble/tooltip after a seconds or so. Text could be bigger and-or bolder for readability. I’ll give it a try when time permits.
With obscure labels like mewiness and pawclaw, I’m surprised they haven’t named it ComPurrsure. I’ll get my c(o)at.
Raven
onJUST EXCELLENT