# Compressors with fastest attack times?



## valexnerfarious (Jul 7, 2021)

I spend time with Alan Meyerson a few years ago and i cant remember the compressors he used on his percussion buss. Can anyone list a few of non-uad plugin compressors that have insane attck times?


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## jules (Jul 7, 2021)

Software ? The waves dpr 402, Ik 1176 comes to my mind... Slate stress, also.


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## valexnerfarious (Jul 7, 2021)

Yes..Software plugins only..


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## easyrider (Jul 7, 2021)

Purple Audio MC77


Purple Audio’s impeccable recreation of the classic 1176 FET compressor provides an authentic squeeze with modern updates.




www.plugin-alliance.com


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## fakemaxwell (Jul 7, 2021)

fircomp - Jon V Audio



Free, also a paid version of fircomp2 with more features. I don't think there's a faster plugin compressor available.


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## SteveC (Jul 7, 2021)

Fabfilter c-2 is pretty fast





FabFilter Pro-C 2 - Compressor Plug-In


FabFilter Pro-C 2 is a high quality compressor plug-in. Available in VST, VST3, AU, AAX and AudioSuite formats for Windows and macOS




www.fabfilter.com


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## jcrosby (Jul 7, 2021)

SteveC said:


> Fabfilter c-2 is pretty fast
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It also has up to 20 ms of lookahead you can enable. Not only does this make it faster, it allows it to even start compressing a bit a ahead of time. (Sidecahining for example)...

It also has a number of style profiles, with all of its other parameters this allows you to model most compressor types. Absolutely incredible piece of kit...


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## Damarus (Jul 7, 2021)

TrackComp


COMPRESSION : PAST & FUTURE



dmgaudio.com


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## TracksInTheBox (Jul 7, 2021)

Another vote for FIRComp 2. Fantastic, super clean compressor for next to nothing. Also has lookahead, btw.


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## José Herring (Jul 7, 2021)

Stillwell Audio's The Rocket has insanely fast attack and release times. I think they measure it in the micro sec. I use to use it a lot. Stopped using it though for some reason that I can't remember. 

I also use Waves API and SPL's Iron. API gets really snappy SPL Iron I consider the feel good compressor of the year.

But what are you trying to achieve? For drums I find that fast attacks kill the attack and just turns everything into a muddy thud. I usually use a medium attack and a fast release on drums. But, that's just me.


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## valexnerfarious (Jul 7, 2021)

Pretty much trying get that Alan Meyerson punch and depth.


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## wst3 (Jul 7, 2021)

Jose beat me to it... for what are you using (or wanting to use) an ultra fast attack setting?

I find I much prefer a not-so-fast attack, I usually try to set it so that the initial transient gets through.

I am not suggesting you are doing something wrong - just trying to learn a new trick.


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## Piano Pete (Jul 7, 2021)

Just going to pose this question.

Have you considered using parallel compression on your drum buss? Most plugins like C2 come with a mix knob on them anyways, which alleviates the necessity of the separate buss. This is a fantastic way of filling out the body of a sound without really touching its transient.

Also, have you tried using some distortion as well? Decapitator is an easy one to reach for for this sort of thing. I believe JXL has several videos about this floating around. If you want punchy drums, he's got that one down.

Some random thoughts.

An ultra fast attack on the drum buss wont necessarily provide you with the raw punch that you are looking for, as it is going to be a balance between maintaining the energy of the transient and filling out the body/tail. As some have mentioned before, fast attack on drums will usually not provide this—as you cut into that initial energy. Although, there are some styles and engineers that leverage this for other effects.

-- EDIT

For punchy drums, one usually would assume slow attack, fast release.

--

There are a few mixing podcasts on Youtube with Allen where he goes over some of those ideas. Pensado's place and I believe some of the mix with masters or waves demos. I cannot remember which, but a quick youtube binge may answer your questions as well.

You may also wish to use the sidechain feature of any of the aforementioned compressors to only listen to signal that is above the low-end. Fabfilter's C2 allows this to be done easily, and they actually have a HP filter setup by default when you open the expert panel of the plugin. This will remove the—most likely disproportionately high—low end information from slamming into the trigger for the compressor.


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 7, 2021)

For drums? That Purple MC77 is worth a demo, as is the SSL BusComp v2 (I love this plugin). Kush Novatron.... FET Style/emulations are pretty fast, and some VCA ones, as well. Molot GE can really tuck in snares, for example.

Unless trying to smash transients, I'd think drums you'd often want a modest attack and longer release so it moves and grooves without emphasizing or removing transients. As Piano Pete mentioned, some gentle distortion can also go a long way (I'd use something other than Decapitator, but that's me).


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## José Herring (Jul 10, 2021)

valexnerfarious said:


> Pretty much trying get that Alan Meyerson punch and depth.


Use what he uses. 

He posted one thing on his facebook page once on what he was using on a drum busc. 

But also remember he has EVERYTHING. 

If I can recall I'll post links to what he was using. 

First one off the top of my head which I got a liked was https://www.waves.com/plugins/schep...ndrew-scheps-mixing-scheps-parallel-particles


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## José Herring (Jul 10, 2021)

Here's a link to his post.


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## Russell Anderson (Jul 14, 2021)

Guys, nobody’s mentioned TDR? Molot and Kotelnikov have both amazing attack speeds and attack _shapes,_ the free versions are fantastic and the paid (super cheap) ones are best-in-class.

Then there’s Melda compressors, the free MCompressor is very good and MTurboComp is a to-the-moon expansion on it with classic comp emus.

And then there’s Presswerk, I forget how fast it goes but it can get really fast and sounds amazing/is also highly customizable like all those I just mentioned.

All of these have dry/wet, three are clean and three are or can be super dirty.


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## Damarus (Jul 14, 2021)

Don't sleep on Analog Obsession.


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## dgburns (Jul 14, 2021)

@valexnerfarious , You should re-read what @wst3 wrote. He gave you gold. The truth is if the attack is too fast, the front part of the hit turns mushy when you lean into it. The whole point of a compressor is ENVELOPE control. It’s not about level control, per se. You want to see the gain reduction moving with the hit, not stamping it out of existence by squashing it in the hopes of turning it all up with makeup. The funny thing is hitting the 1176 hard was about getting the trannies to soften the transients. This is a different function from actual compression ( envelope shaping ).


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## Russell Anderson (Jul 14, 2021)

Thread has me curious what sounds “better” or when what sounds better if you parallel compress and then feed into longer attack compressor, versus parallel compression with dry signal being compressed with long attack


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## Jamie Sun (Dec 17, 2021)

There is a video on yt I watched a few minutes ago and elysia mpressor, tim petcherick tnt, 
eventide omnipress and a25 an api emu have insane attack times


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## vitocorleone123 (Dec 17, 2021)

Also: Kush Novatron goes down to 100 microseconds on the attack.


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## John Longley (Dec 18, 2021)

Any FET style plugin (ie 1176 style), but if you don’t want that mid forward sound… any brick wall limiter is a great choice. Something as basic as an L1 can really work well when you don’t want as much colour.


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