The_Compressor is a dynamics compressor created by Phil Speiser and it is available for FREE.
I should probably stop looking at dynamics plugins sometime soon. I recently made the mistake of testing Cenozoix by TB-Tech and that one’s become a constant obsession.
If you aren’t a compressor junkie like yours truly, then something a little easier to use might be in order. Phil Speiser made waves last year with the release of his free The_Build effects generator.
He’s back again with an effect focused solely on dynamics control.
To call The_Compressor just a simple compressor is doing an injustice to its functionality, however. There is a lot more going on underneath the hood than simple dynamics control.
Sure, you can set the knee, attack, release, and ratio as you would on any compressor in the wild. It dives a bit further into that AI stuff and might just be a solid alternative to Sonible’s smart:comp for the more budget-conscious.
The real draw to The_Compressor is magic mode. This mode allows you to select what sort of material you’re compressing, the compression style, and whether or not it should dim the input before applying dynamic control.
After that, you’ve got something dialed in that should feasibly sound perfect for the material. Now, with these AI plugins, I always have to give it a fair shake in the context of a mix.
Thankfully, I still have stems left over from a recent project that I was able to put to full use. The end results were favorable, making the same sort of moves I might have painstakingly come to after many a soul-searching moment of listening to everything over and over again ad nauseam.
With the good, there is a bit of bad, as this is fairly resource-intensive from my testing. Nothing alarming, mind you, but I’d likely keep this to busses rather than slapping it across every channel of a mix.
The_Compressor is free to download, but you’ll need to contend with Mr Speiser’s own control software to go through the installation and activation process. This was fairly painless and worked just fine on both my Windows and Mac machines. For the cost of nothing, it’s definitely worth a look.
If you prefer traditional, analog-inspired compressors, check out our free BPB Dirty LA plugin.
Download: The_Compressor (FREE)
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13 Comments
Robin
onTried to make an account there but it claims my email does not exist, which is nonsense. It doesn’t send a mail, it uses some algorithm. Ah well, got compressors enough anyway, although this one looks interesting with the AI. Until the next sale on smart:comp 2 comes around anyway.
CoopMusic247
onThere’s Hornet’s automatic multiband compressor available for 86% off so about $3 total for the next 24 hours if you sign up for their mailing list.
Mike
onI settled on Kotelnikov years ago. The rare times I need multiband, I use Nova. Drums sometimes get MJUC or one of the Airwindows compressors.
I’m sure that I’ve made, or will make, several albums worth of music with the time and energy saved from ignoring all other compressors. And another album or two, or ten, worth of music by ignoring every eq except ReaEQ, plus SDRR’s desk eq for boosting the highs on samples that are too dull.
Ike M.
onI’m sure that all the time saved on skipping compressor plugins, is again lost by all the time talking about it to strangers in the form of long *ss comments
Michael A
onI’m fast. Took a minute. Some other wonderful soul might be inspired and save the time to make a wonderful album.
Adilbek Temirkhanov
onAnother download center app. It’s getting annoying. Free products are cool, thanks for that, but I’ve already got dozens of these installer apps clogging up my computer, so it’s a no from me.
Choko
onExactly..
On the account page it says: “To make sure downloading and installing my products is as convenient as possible I created the PHIL SPEISER Control Center”
…
Has there ever been anyone alive who actually thinks this is convenient? I also have a dozen of these bloatware installer apps. And they update themselves more often than they update the actual plugins.
x-|
Robin
onAll these installer apps are starting to drive me crazy. Every plugin developer seems to think the world only revolves around their plugins.
Michael Jackson
onI hate them too!
Dave Younger
onThey want far too much information for a “free” plogin.
I’ll pass
Mike
onI like the asdr envelope that you can manipulate on the UI – any other compressor plugins do this?
Reality Check
onLooked interesting, but I don’t want to be part of the personal app store of whoever phil speiser is.
Zohar Kiaav
onIt’s no longer free 😔