MINI REVIEWS
Web www.fuseaudiolabs.de Format PC/Mac, VST/AU/AAX Fuse Audio Labs are making quite a name for themselves with their joyously affordable emulations of more left-field vintage studio gear. Their latest is a software take on the Telefunken U373, a 60s broadcast compressor/limiter that also became a fixture in many mastering studios of the day, and marked the important transition point in compressor design from diode-bridge gain reduction circuits to transistors.
Modelling every component of the U373 – transformers, compression circuit and amplifier – VCL-373 operates in either Limiter or Compressor mode, although the limiter is also active in the latter, post compressor. The compressor and limiter circuits each have their own gain reduction meters (not on the original), so it’s easy to see what’s going on with both. The threshold is fixed, so applying compression is done by pushing the input with the Drive knob (-12 to +24dB), while the attack and Compressor ratio are program-dependent, the latter ranging from around 3:1 to 5:1. Six Release timings are available, from 0.3-10 seconds, with the 2.5s, 6s and 10s settings also being program-dependent. Unlinking of stereo gain reduction to dual mono is also an option, and Fuse have added a dry/wet Mix control for parallel compression, and automatic gain compensation (the Trim screw can still be turned for up to 12dB of gain or attenuation nonetheless).
Being a broadcast compressor originally, VCL-373 is particularly at home with dialogue and vocals, but it has an inherent musicality that lends it beautifully to both bus and instrumental processing. We got amazing results using it in parallel on the drums bus in both Limiter and Compressor modes – thickness, weight and crunch in spades – and all kinds of beneficial tonal colouring and dynamics shaping with basses, guitars and synths. Ironically, we found it trickiest to employ effectively on the master bus, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a stunning set-and-forget character compressor/limiter at a fantastic price. n9/ 10n