Virtual Emulation of the Year
3 Compressors You’ll Actually Use €199
Time was, Arturia just did synth emulations. Then, of course, the company started emulating other instruments and then they started building their own instruments. Out of actual hardware! In the last few years, they’ve reverted to their software roots, though, albeit with two completely new strands of development. One was to build a synth that was not based on any other hardware, just on Arturia’s own experience of building synths. That was Pigments, and great it is too. The other string they recently added to their bow was emulating effects, and it turns out they are very good too…
The ‘Effects You Will Actually Use’ series has already given us a set of filters and preamps, but this one, 3 Compressors You’ll Actually Use, is arguably the series peak. It’s Terminator 2 (not 3) or Godfather 1 (or 2, not 3). OK we’ll stop that…
The 3 compressors (You’ll Actually Use) consist of two You’ll Have Heard Of and one you may not have. They are the ET-76 emulation of the UREI 1176, the VCA-65 reworking of the dbx 165A, and TUBE-STA, based on the Gates StaLevel. This rarer US-made machine was popular in the 50s and 60s in the broadcast world and has a distinctive musical and versatile character.
As to whether you will (Actually) use all three, yes, we think you (Definitely) will. Arturia have added some extras, over and above the original hardware, that make these plugins more essential. Each one has a sidechain section, input and output gain linking, and wet/dry control for parallel processing. The interfaces are well designed too, making all three very easy to use and get to grips with. It’s fair to say, then, that Arturia are way more than an instrument emulation company these days. They Actually do so much more.
271 » 10/10