Softube FET Compressor Plugin (VST3/AU/AAX)

When creating FET Compressor, Softube set out to makeáthe most accurate emulation ofátheámost famous solid state compressor. Instead of modeling individual features and putting them together digitally they have modeled the unit in its entirety: input and output stages, gain reduction feedback loops, bias differences of different transistors, etc. It's been by far the hardest project Softube took on, but they feel that the result speaks for itself.

Many "modeled" compressors are nothing more than futile attempts to get an off-the-shelf algorithm to match its hardware counterpart by tweaking a few parameters like the knee and attack/release times. But anyone who has worked with hardware compressors knows that there must be more to it. And there is.

The heritage of analog compressors very much showcases the history of electronics in the previous century. It's the deficiencies of the different designs and components that give each unit its unique character, and what started out as technical limitations have now become sought-after sounds. Simply approximating the most apparent features is not enough to capture this uniqueness. It takes a model of great complexity and accuracy to make a digital replica sound like the original with all settings and inputs.

Features:

• Modeled analog compressor, input and output stages. Modeled everything.
• Modeled All buttons in mode
• Continuous ratio (even between 20:1 and ALL.)
• Super fast attack time (just like the original)
• Sweet input and output stage distortion.
• Parallel compression.
• Detector low and high cut filters
• External side chain
• Lookahead
• Stereo with synchronized gain reduction
• Very CPU friendly

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Continuous Ratio
Unlike its hardware predecessor, the FET Compressor has a fully variable ratio. But if you prefer the old standard way (with fixed ratios), just click the labels and you're ready to go. And yeah, they didn't forget the "All Buttons In" mode.

Parallel Compression
Work with parallel compression from within the plug-in. And since the "Dry" signal also spent some time inside the algos, it's of course influenced by all that analog modeling mojo - like the subtle distortion from the input and output stages.

Super Fast Attack
Faster than you can think of. Even faster than a single sample. And if that's not fast enough, use the look-ahead to make it super duper fast.

• Attack: 20 microsecs - 0.8 ms
• Release: 50 ms - about a second
• Detector Controls

In addition to its hardware counterpart, Softube added a couple of certainly useful features:

• External Side Chain support.
• Low and High cut filters for the detector.
• Detector lookahead

If you don't want extra features, just leave them in their off position.

Enhanced Metering
Two modeled (and beautifully rendered) VU meters dance with the music, and a stereo peak meter lets you control the output signal.