10/2/2023 0 Comments Shadow hills mastering compressorMasters of the universeĭon’t let the presence of the word ‘mastering’ plastered across the front of this plugin fool you into thinking it’s a one-trick pony. On that front, it would have been nice to see an adjustable mix setting to allow parallel processing without the need for any further routing in the DAW. The combination of a relatively subtle optical compression circuit routed in series with a more aggressive discrete (VCA) stage allows for a range of effects, from light dynamic control through to aggressive compression more suited to parallel compression techniques. That’s perhaps needless to say given Universal Audio’s track record, but for those who aren’t familiar with the sound of the original, what does the plugin offer? To cut straight to the chase, the emulation works like a dream for stereo mix bus treatment or light cosmetic touches to the final master. The Shadow Hills unit is widely considered one of the finest mastering compressors available. In developing the plugin, UA joined forces with Shadow Hills’ Peter Reardon and occasional collaborators Brainworx (who dipped their toes into the water of circuit modelling just over a year ago with their emulation of Vertigo Sound‘s VSC-2 compressor). Shadow Hills Industries’ highly coveted – and equally highly priced – Shado Hills Mastering Compressor is the latest addition to the long list of classic studio hardware offered in software form by Universal Audio. Is this circuit-modelled plugin only fit for mastering? We put it to the test. One Shadow Hills power supply can power up to two devices.Another excruciatingly expensive hardware compressor gets the Universal Audio emulation treatment. The knobs are bake-lite, and the two-rack space external power supply (not included) will work in any country on any voltage. All 17 of the rotary switches are detented. The Magic eye tube follows the output meter to act as a peak meter. The metering can reflect, optical gain reduction, discrete gain reduction, or output level. For instance, you might call up the chain of the optical compressor, then to the Class-A output and Iron transformer, for vocals, or select just the Class-A VCA compressor with a 10:1 plus the Steel transformer for crushing some room mics, and on and on. So besides being a mastering grade, and highly functional buss compressor, it serves as an excellent tracking compressor. There is also a hardwire bypass for the entire compressor, effectively a strait wire in and out of the box. It is possible to independently bypass both compression sections and have your signal go through the input transformer and transformer selector only. The optical section has a hard-wired bypass that completely removes it from the signal path, and the Class-A VCA compressor is also hardwire bypassable, completely removing it from the chain. These selections allow you to choose between different output transformers that are in effect: clean, colored, and dirty, respectively. In this mode the signal goes through the op-amp and into a Class-A output stage then to the custom Iron transformers, the last transformer position is Steel. The first position is Nickel, which is the custom version of a famous L.A. Lastly the signal goes through the new Shadow Hills custom transformer-switching network. There is an insertable filter in the side chain to limit pumping with bass heavy material. And there are six release times selectable. There are six ratios: 1.2 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 1, 4 to 1, 6 to 1, and 10 to 1. There are no electrolytic caps or IC chips in the audio path. The second stage is the discrete Class-A VCA compressor. This section utilizes the same T4B optical attenuator as the LA2A and LA3A, but is optimized for mastering. The input stage is transformer balanced, followed by Shadow Hills' fully discrete optical compressor. There is enough gain in each section to overdrive the hottest tape, or clip your converters, if you're into that sort of thing. Both feed the switchable custom output transformers, Nickel, Iron, and Steel. Essentially it is two compressors in series, per channel, that can act in stereo, or dual mono.įirst comes the mastering grade electro optical compressor, followed by the discrete Class-A compressor/limiter. The Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor has extraordinary functionality, and also provides mastering grade compression and limiting for tracking and mixing.
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