Currently, Brainworx / Plugin Alliance are running great deals with a whole bunch of their plugins on sale for $29 each, including the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor.
It seems that these deals last until the end of March, so you’ve got some time to think about them.
Among the discounted plugins, you’ll find the Maag EQ4, Black Box Design Analog Design HG-2, Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, and more.
The latter plugin is what we’ll be looking at today, a very powerful compressor to add to your mastering toolkit.
The plugin is modeled after its namesake in the analog world, which is known for its smooth transients and amazing tone.
The Shadow Hills Compressor has been used by world-class mastering engineers on records from Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Green Day, and many more.
And now, you can enjoy the workflow of this classic compressor in plugin form in the DAW of your choice.
One unique feature of this plugin is the ability to dial in either optical or discrete (VCA) compression. Or why not both?
The optical mode is simpler to use, since you can adjust the threshold and gain settings, like you would on something like an LA-2A.
The VCA mode offers more control, where you can fine tune the ratio as well as attack and release times.
You can also enhance the tonal character of your track with 3 unique output transformers: Nickel, Iron, and Steel.
Nickel has a smooth low end and polished top end, while the Iron transformer has a more colored sound with a pristine high end and a small 100Hz boost.
And finally, the Steel transformer has “extremely detailed and fast response” with a punchy 40Hz boost.
You also get additional features such as stereo and dual mono processing and parallel mixing, as well as internal and external sidechain controls.
If I’m honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the GUI. I find it too cluttered for a compressor plugin.
I think it might have been much more user-friendly, had they added a version with only one set of controls, when left/right channels are linked.
But I digress. Although it might not be the most user-friendly compressor, I think it’s a very powerful plugin.
Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor can be a great tool if you enjoy getting deep into the nitty-gritty of mastering processors.
Brainworx plugins are available for Windows and macOS in VST2, VST3, AU, AAX DSP and AAX Native formats.
They also recommend a display resolution of 1440 x 900 px or 1280 x 960 px or higher.
Check out the deal: Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor ($29 until March 31st)
More:
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- Audio Assault releases Mix Locker mixing suite with 10 FREE modules
Last Updated on March 4, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
