Character Compressor · v1.0.1
HizumiComp
One gain stage that behaves like the classics, drawn from their schematics.
Eight curves, an opto cell, the FET trick and three kinds of harmonic colour.
HizumiComp is a character compressor. Hizumi is Japanese for distortion. It takes after the idea Dave Derr built the Distressor on: one gain stage that can behave like several classic compressors and add their colour. Each part is drawn from a classic unit's schematic or its maker's own data: the 1176's FET gain element and attack network, the LA-2A's light cell, the dbx RMS detector. Put it on a vocal, a bass, a snare or a room mic, set everything to 5, and drive the input.
What it does
- Eight curves: 1:1, 2:1 (dbx 160 RMS detector, 30 dB knee), 3:1, 4:1, 6:1, 10 OPTO, 20:1 and SLAM (brick wall, logarithmic release)
- 10 OPTO: an opto cell with a fast and a slow release and a memory, from the LA-2A's own figures
- ALL-IN: the 1176 all-buttons trick on any ratio, with the FET gain element from its schematic
- CLEAN, DIST 2 (even-order warmth that grows as it compresses) and DIST 3 (tape-like odd-order), with 1 % THD and REDLINE lamps
- Attack 50 us to 30 ms, release 50 ms to 3.5 s (20 s in OPTO)
- Audio high-pass, detector high-pass, 6 kHz band emphasis and stereo link
- MIX for parallel compression; the curve on glass with your signal riding it; a 26 dB gain-reduction ladder
- 4x oversampling by default (up to 8x)
- 23 factory presets; dark or light panel, resizable from 60 to 200 %
AU, VST3 and CLAP for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs (macOS 10.14 or later).
Distressor, 1176, LA-2A and dbx are trademarks of their owners. Dotmatrix is not affiliated with or endorsed by Empirical Labs, Universal Audio or dbx.
The panel
