Steven Slate explains the process and demonstrates what happens when the plugins are made equal.FG-Stress is a licensed emulation of the Empirical Labs Distressor which was created by the Slate.
Described as “the most challenging development in [its] history”, FG-Stress is Slate Digital’s take on the Empirical Labs Distressor, Dave Derr’s revered mid-90s dynamics processor.
“It was equal to developing eight different compressor plugins with their own characteristics,” say Slate, referring to the Distressor’s chameleon-like ability to sound and behave very differently depending on which of its eight Ratios is selected.
Racked up
A module for Slate’s excellent Virtual Mix Rack ‘shell’ plugin (VST/AU/AAX) rather than a plugin in its own right, FG-Stress can be had for the one-off price above, or as part of their hugely attractive Everything Bundle subscription ($15pcm or $180pa).
Unlike Empirical Labs’ own Distressor emulation, Arousor, which added various new features to the original design, FG-Stress is a near-1:1 copy of it - albeit in stereo rather than mono, minus the 1176N-style all- buttons-in ‘British mode’, and a Mix knob for parallel compression.
The whole thing has been comfortably packed down into VMR’s lunchbox format, where it looks even more approachable and straightforward than its admirably intuitive hardware counterpart.
With the compression ratio setting (see A certain Ratio) established by clicking the Ratio button or a specific Ratio LED, driving the compression circuit and shaping its response curve are done with the four main knobs.
A certain Ratio
The Distressor’s exceptionally versatile list of Ratio settings, each with their own threshold and knee shapes, are central to its sound and ‘action’. Even 1:1 has an audible effect, introducing beautifully warming distortion; while at the other end of the scale, the famous Nuke setting applies energetic brick wall limiting with a logarithmic release. In between those two extremes, the 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 and 6:1 Ratios work to an increasingly steep knee, with 6:1 proving the most ‘general purpose’ of the lot, and 2:1’s exceptionally long knee making it ideal for gentle treatments. The 20:1 Ratio is similar to Nuke but with a different knee and linear release.
Finally, 10:1 switches to an entirely different circuit, for Opto-style compression. Shift+Clicking the 10:1 button sets the Attack and Release to 10 and 0 respectively - the recommended settings on the Distressor for emulating classic opto-VCA compressors of old, such as the LA-2A and LA-3A.
Raising the Input level overdrives the compressor, and two flavours of distortion are on hand via the Dist 2 and Dist 3 buttons, introducing 2nd or 3rd harmonics for smooth valve- or crunchy tape-style distortion. The adjacent HP button activates an 18dB/octave high-pass filter on the output, rolling off everything below 80Hz for low-end control.
The sidechain signal is stereo by default (with a stereo source, obviously), but activating the Link Detector mode sums left and right to mono, for equal gain reduction on both sides. The other two Detector buttons tailor the sidechain with a high-pass filter (86Hz) to reduce low-frequency triggering, and a bell-shaped boost at 6kHz for catching high-mid peaks such as harshness in vocals and cymbals.
The Attack and Release time ranges match those of the Distressor, too, of course. The former can sit anywhere between 0.05ms and 30ms, while Release stretches from 50ms to 3.5s, extending to an extremely languid 20s in 10:1 Opto mode.
Stress relief
Near-as-dammit identical to the real thing, FG-Stress is the most sonically authentic Distressor emulation yet. It might not have the extra bells and whistles of Arousor, but it costs almost half as much while still capturing the sound and feel of Empirical’s magical box perfectly.
The very epitome of a ‘Swiss army knife’ compressor, it’s equally at home bringing power and punch to drums or flattening and fattening basslines as it is focusing vocals and gluing mix busses of all kinds.
We can’t fault it, except to say that, like all Virtual Mix Rack modules, we wish we could load it as a regular plugin on its own, rather than having to run the VMR shell whether we want to or not.
![Manual Manual](https://www.gobbler.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Slate-CTA-FG-Stress.jpg)
A couple of years back, Audified released an emulation of Telefunken’s U73b valve compressor, and it’s now back with version 2 (AU, VST, VST3, AAX).
The U73b was a vari-mu style valve compressor/limiter, and despite being a little simpler than its US contemporaries - the Fairchild 660 and 670 - it had a character all its own. The plugin recreates said simplicity, giving you just four main controls: Input (threshold), Output, Release and a choice of operational modes: Compress, Limit or Bypass.
Further options include metering for Input, Output or Gain Reduction; operating level Calibration (0 to -24dB); and sidechain. New in version 2.0, there’s also Oversampling (On/Off), better-quality redesigned graphics, and interface settings for language (English/ German) and menu bar colour.
Retro considerations
The original hardware U73b had a hardwired high-pass filter, which was included primarily to curtail unnecessary lows in program output. It was also pretty well suited to its common use as a final pre-lathe mastering compressor when cutting vinyl.
In practice, we think it’s pretty audible (Audified quotes 6dB/octave at 100Hz), and while we were checking it out in detail on the spectrum analyser, we also spotted some low-pass filtering at the upper end of the spectrum, starting above 10kHz. Thankfully Audified has included a manual bypass for the high-pass filter, which works in Compressor mode (in Limiter mode the filter is automatically bypassed), but the gentle curtailment of high frequencies is present when either Limiter or Compressor modes are selected, and is clearly part and parcel of the plugin’s retro design. Something to bear in mind if you’re processing full-frequency tracks or submixes and want to leave the high end untouched.
The sidechain includes both internal and external options, and with four internal stereo settings including summed (Left+Right) and completely independent (Individual), processing stereo signals is pretty flexible. The external option, which is new to version 2.0, is AU, VST3 and AAX only.
As ever with external sidechaining, you’ll need to check how your DAW handles this, as methods vary. Finally, U73b v2.0 also retains a couple of visual details based on the hardware (Sym and Ext. Voltage) that serve no purpose on the plugin, and this may be slightly confusing to new users.
Nothing compares to mu
Using valve biasing in gain reduction circuits creates some quite interesting behaviours, which U73b 2 captures well. In Compression mode, for example, the ratio gradually increases with level. Coupled with a low onset threshold with soft knee, we found some gentle glue-like behaviour at lower Input levels (good for mixes and submixes) giving way to more aggressive ratios at higher levels.
There’s also much interaction with the Release settings, which include three fixed timings (0.3, 0.6 and 1.2 secs), and three program-dependent settings. All told, the two controls can conjure a host of compression outcomes, most impressive on electric bass, which could be gently squashed, and snare drum, which benefited from a more aggressive, snappy attack effect.
The U73b also generates odd and even harmonics even at minimal gain reduction, adding presence and bringing sounds forward, and this is certainly part of its charm. In Limiter mode, the gain structure is different, and the Calibration setting provides a quick way to adjust levels if you’re switching between modes. The Limiter setting delivers a more sudden compression onset, making it trickier to handle but capable of aggressive effects.
In both modes, we found the U73b could respond surprisingly quickly, and this may in part be down to the feedforward compression topology it uses. Even so, at times it seemed quite transient-sensitive, making setting the levels tricky on some sound sources – and it has to be said, although the U73b can be excellent on some sounds, it can also be frustratingly unsuitable.
Overall, Audified has done a good job, successfully capturing the individuality of the original hardware. Nevertheless, that individuality makes this a secondary rather than primary processor.