Yesterday I came across a very old post from Schwa praising ReaComp

Schwa – 3.38.2007
I have just spent about 2 hours A/B(/C/D/E/F…)ing 2 measures of vocals with every compressor plugin I have. Which includes a couple of trendy character compressors in the $500 retail neighborhood.

I finally realized that reacomp is not a compressor. It is a compressor engine. [emphasis added]

I’m already using ReaComp a lot in my projects, this got me motivated to try and match my favorite drum bus preset in Waves SSL Bus Compressor using ReaComp. It took a while to tweak but I think the results speak for themselves.

To me that’s close enough, the Waves SSL is just a hair darker. It’s the same vibe, the snare get’s squashed down and the room is inflated in just the same way. For this particular drum sound, I’d have no problems using ReaComp. I’ll have to do more testing to get all the ratios and attack times matched.

ReaComp VS Waves SSL Bus Compressor
ReaComp VS Waves SSL Bus Compressor

The key to matching the sound really came down to two controls – Knee Size and RMS Size. With those two settings you should be able to dial in the character of any type of compressor. The attack and release times could also be slightly different than what’s displayed. As always, use your ears.

Further in that thread White Tie posted some really awesome GUI mockups. At the time of his posting, and Shwa’s above, I don’t think they were working for Cockos yet.

White Tie
Its very hard to judge the ballistics on gain reduction if its all happening in the top few pixels. On the other hand, I like the way it goes all the way down rather than pinning at -12 or so, so I suppose what I’m asking for is a giant circular gain reduction meter running all the way around the outside of the gui – I don’t imagine for a minute that anyone else will go for that, though…

[later] This is the kind of thing I meant – a real monster of a gain reduction meter! :

click to enlarge
click to enlarge

[later] Yes- stuff like this needs to be resolutely on a ‘download if you’re into that sort of thing’ basis, particlularly if someone forgets to include some of the controls… here they are:

click to enlarge
click to enlarge

[also in the thread he posted a mockup for ReaEQ]

reaeqym4

Those GUIs are cool as hell. It’s a shame they were never released to the community.

ReaComp is truly one of the most versatile compressors out there today. Most users consider ReaComp to be a clean (boring) utility compressor/limiter, well I think today we’ve proven it can be just as ‘vibey’ as considerably more expensive compressors.

Do you guys love ReaComp as much as we do?


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14 responses to “ReaComp is a compressor engine.”

  1. maytwentyfourth productions Avatar
    maytwentyfourth productions

    It’s certainly my main compressor. Probably more than 50% of my compression is ReaComp. If I’m wanting more than just compression I’ll use DevilLoc or Black 76 all in mode or whatever, but typically I just put on ReaComp and tweak.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      DevilLoc is a favourite of mine too for parallel compression, I wonder if I can get ReaComp to match it also.

      I actually use the White2A more than the Black76. I use the those primarily for the M/S modes though.

    2. Maestro Avatar
      Maestro

      Cool. What kind of gain reduction are you looking for, 4dB or so?

  2. […] There's a little shootout where he matches the vibe of the Waves SSL bus compressor pretty well. ReaComp is a compressor engine. REAPER | ReaPlugs Reply With […]

  3. chiefthomson Avatar

    I really love it. I have 3 comps I use again and again. It’s reacomp, TDR Feedback compressor and C4 by waves. Reacomp is maybe not looking as nice as others do but it sounds pretty good!

  4. Wutz Avatar

    I find myself continually coming back to ReaComp and the Focusrite Scarlett Compressor (I got the plugin pack with my 18i6 interface). I didn’t expect much from either, assuming I’d eventually have to get a plugin pack with some emulations. So far, so good.

    I don’t know what I’m missing (maybe I just wasn’t able to hear it when I was working with the ProTools/BombFactory/JoeMeek plugin stuff), but I know I’m fine with what I’m getting so far.

    Is there another compressor out there that does something useful and special that ReaComp can’t accomplish?

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Fun Fact: the Focusrite Scarlett and Midnight plugins were skinned by White Tie.

  5. […] In the last experiment I matched the vibe of the SSL Bus compressor using ReaComp but that’s a fairly clean sound still. So let’s see just how colorful ReaComp can be. […]

  6. Andreas Ö. Avatar
    Andreas Ö.

    I agree, it is a great compressor! I did something similar, did many tests using different (pirated, sorry) plugins from the great plugin-makers of today on drums in particular, but decided that I could be without the piracy and just go with the Reacomp. I’m happy with that choice. My music is very “vintage”-vibed, I love 80s dancehall, 90s-00s rnb and think the Reacomp works really well for these applications. You can definitely make it “vibe”.

    I think I agree with the metering-being-to-small-idea though, not really when compressing percussive sounds, but for more subtle vocal compression etc. But then again we should use our ears while mixing, not the eyes.

  7. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    The SSL version sounds a lot better to my ears. Smoother and more musical. I can easily forget about listening to the sound and just “sink into the groove” with the SSL version, whereas I don’t get that feeling at all with the ReaComp version. I guess you could say the difference is subtle since they sound “similar” on a surface level, but it’s night and day when it comes to the “magic”, and music is all about magic.

    Guess I won’t be abandoning my expensive plugins anytime soon.

    1. Dennis Avatar
      Dennis

      Listening to the examples multiple times with a decent set of cans, I can’t say there’s “a lot better” in any way between the two. I wonder how much “magic” there would be in a blind test. Its similar to the 196 vs 44 debate. When put to the test, even pros can’t tell the difference, but they will notice a difference in their wallets.

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