Stressor Plugin

Kenny Gioia · 08-03-2013, 05:11 PM

Anyone try this thing yet?

It's free

http://cocellproductions.com/Pensadi...sorplugin.html

Donate if you like it please.

TimOBrien · 08-03-2013, 05:59 PM

Ohhhh. Mac and Windows.

THANK you.

Coachz · 08-03-2013, 06:31 PM

whoah ! this looks excitng !

bladerunner · 08-04-2013, 02:09 AM

i had a play around with it last night - it has some good qualities - nice gritty effect on everything i squashed with it but i found it be very noisy. Lot's of clicks, pops and noise (even at low levels of gain reduction) that didn't sound intentional - more like artifacts?

ivansc · 08-04-2013, 03:09 AM

Shame it is Win 32bit. Trying to go all 64bit here, but D/Ld to try anyway.

adaragray · 08-04-2013, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bladerunner

i had a play around with it last night - it has some good qualities - nice gritty effect on everything i squashed with it but i found it be very noisy. Lot's of clicks, pops and noise (even at low levels of gain reduction) that didn't sound intentional - more like artifacts?

the clicks and pops issue has been fixed
updated yesterday

bladerunner · 08-04-2013, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adaragray

the clicks and pops issue has been fixed
updated yesterday

cool, thanks for the heads up - will re-dl!

bladerunner · 08-05-2013, 03:32 AM

This thing is an incredible mojo box. I have no idea if a distressor (edit: bit of searching reveals that 'distressor' is just a compressor with a different name basically) is supposed to be used in mastering (rules? who needs 'em) but it did something wonderous to a techno track that i couldn't achieve with any of my other compressors.

Win Conway · 08-05-2013, 05:22 AM

Seeing quite a few Mac 32/64 but only Win 32 releases lately, wondering if these are the first releases from the Sonicbirth V2 alpha.
Would make sense and seems to be a very exciting IDE.

ambient · 08-05-2013, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bladerunner

(edit: bit of searching reveals that 'distressor' is just a compressor with a different name basically)

Kinda. 'Distressor' is the model name of a compressor made by Empirical Labs.

karbomusic · 08-05-2013, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ambient

Kinda. 'Distressor' is the model name of a compressor made by Empirical Labs.

Antress has a pretty decent emu of the distressor (called Deathcore). Albeit 32bit, it works pretty well.

Coachz · 08-05-2013, 07:15 AM

Do you find the Antress plugs reliable or crashy ?

karbomusic · 08-05-2013, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coachz

Do you find the Antress plugs reliable or crashy ?

I've never had a problem with them but I know some have. I don't use them all the time though just once in awhile. If you like color and character these definitely seem to have it but I can't guarantee they are super stable IIRC.

bladerunner · 08-05-2013, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ambient

Kinda. 'Distressor' is the model name of a compressor made by Empirical Labs.

ah, i see. cheers

lowerbout · 08-05-2013, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bladerunner

ah, i see. cheers

Distressor is a great piece of gear, by the way.

Snap · 08-05-2013, 10:14 AM

Well, yes, given you like the color. Many of the times I had it around I ended up using anything else. Sometimes I used it, but most of the times I didn't. Not a piece of gear I would buy... Horses for courses.

lowerbout · 08-05-2013, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snap

Well, yes, given you like the color. Many of the times I had it around I ended up using anything else. Sometimes I used it, but most of the times I didn't. Not a piece of gear I would buy... Horses for courses.

Yes, colorful.

Quest The Wordsmith · 08-06-2013, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bladerunner

This thing is an incredible mojo box. I have no idea if a distressor (edit: bit of searching reveals that 'distressor' is just a compressor with a different name basically) is supposed to be used in mastering (rules? who needs 'em) but it did something wonderous to a techno track that i couldn't achieve with any of my other compressors.

Anybody know how this compares to the Antress Deathcore? Does Deathcore have the same "mojo" element to it as Stressor? It's so hard being disciplined with collecting plugins!

bladerunner · 08-06-2013, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quest The Wordsmith

Anybody know how this compares to the Antress Deathcore? Does Deathcore have the same "mojo" element to it as Stressor? It's so hard being disciplined with collecting plugins!

Been doing that very comparison this morning! I downloaded the antress plugins the other day - never used them before - been going through them and to be honest most of the compressors in the pack seem to sound very similar if not the same. The only ones that sounded decent to my ears were Deathcore and Firechainer. I'm finding deathcore very nice for vocals.

As for the comparison - imo its pretty moot because they don't seem to share any behavioural or sonic similarites at all (and i don't know what the original hardware sounded like either). The mojo i was referring to was when using it on some drums/drum loops but the more i'm using it the more i'm realising it's certainly a finicky beast! Sounds great on some things and pretty uncomplimentary on others - haven't really got a 'grip' on it yet. Mind you, this happened with Molot - really didn't care much for it at all, then i learnt how to use it to it's strengths and now i use it on almost everything.

FKAB · 08-06-2013, 07:20 AM

+1 For the Firechainer. Antress were my first plugs, occasionally I revisit them! Pain Killer ain't bad!

Been trying out Stressor too for a couple of days - not bad. Knobs a bit fiddly though.

viper-2 · 08-06-2013, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

Anyone try this thing yet?

It's free

http://cocellproductions.com/Pensadi...sorplugin.html

Donate if you like it please.

Holy crap! This is the same distressor that was created by David Derr (who started Empirical Labs back then) who engineered and Mixed 4 of my bands albums. Wow...

After that a bunch of guys would always ask me to get them the Distressor for a discount.

beingmf · 08-07-2013, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bladerunner

The mojo i was referring to was when using it on some drums/drum loops but the more i'm using it the more i'm realising it's certainly a finicky beast! Sounds great on some things and pretty uncomplimentary on others - haven't really got a 'grip' on it yet.

Yeah, same here. Loved it on a snare track yesterday, it did some things that I couldn't achieve with other plugs (or even outboard comp's), but for vocals or guitar... erm, I have no idea, why the result is just a warbled, dynamically jumpy something!? And Dist mode 2: when would I use that??

Stu · 08-07-2013, 02:04 AM

I can see this being useful but it's not without it's problems, all the controls seem to be calibrated in an odd way - the input can be not enough or too much with just a tiny movement, the attack and release behave in a similar way too. Dist 2, well I'm a huge fan of dirtying up signals but I can't imagine I'd ever find a use for this sound, to be fair the original unit could be like this but somehow I doubt it!

When it does work, it works very well though and I agree it can do some pretty unique things.

I really hope the dev keeps working in this, with a few improvements I would happily pay for it.

henge · 08-07-2013, 05:05 AM

This is a cool vibey plug that sounds nothing like a distressor imo!!LOL

ambient · 08-07-2013, 06:17 AM

I like the sound, but the controls are really hard to use.

Also it can be very difficult to get a matched volume with the bypass.

beatbybit · 08-07-2013, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by henge

This is a cool vibey plug that sounds nothing like a distressor imo!!LOL

i agree. i owned a distressor - and i didnt regret selling it.
this plugin is even worse.

imHo.

Coachz · 08-07-2013, 09:09 AM

I thought the claim to fame of the distressor was on rock guitars and drums. Anyone tried that ?

karbomusic · 08-07-2013, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coachz

I thought the claim to fame of the distressor was on rock guitars and drums. Anyone tried that ?

That's correct IIRC and it had the name it had for a reason.

lowerbout · 08-07-2013, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coachz

I thought the claim to fame of the distressor was on rock guitars and drums. Anyone tried that ?

Thousands have tried that on probably hundreds of thousands of recordings. The distressor is a common piece and in many studios.

Chad Stockart · 08-07-2013, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ambient

I like the sound, but the controls are really hard to use.

Also it can be very difficult to get a matched volume with the bypass.

Agreed. Can't select 3:1 ratio with GUI but can with Reaper sliders on UI button. The GUI stays at 4:1. Is it set to 3 or 4 ?.

Faderjockey · 08-07-2013, 11:04 AM

To me it sounds neat.. But doesn't sound like the EL8.
Not so much the color which isn't perfect..But how it grabs seems different.
I have 2 EL8's older ones in my rack.
I did an A/B on Snare, Kick, Bass and room crush in nuke.
It's cool.. Just not the same. Maybe if the name was different people wouldn't even be thinking distressor.

But for me in Reaper what seemed to act weird was spinning the input
as you move slowly to #3 on the knob there is a big cut in level. and as you slowly turn it back towards 2 it jumps up again.. Then I went to #4 on the knob and again there is a weird jump.. Not a smooth cut at all.

I guess the way it responds compared to the hardware is another thing that makes it feel off. But on it's own it sounds neat if they can fix the quirks with the knob/gain issue I'm having.

timboz · 08-07-2013, 03:05 PM

Is this the same plugin?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1iebtLhvXA

If so I like the old user interface better.

The input knob is a bit too buggy for me.

Faderjockey · 08-07-2013, 03:16 PM

Looks like it never saw that one.
And again yes that input knob is weird.. Still doesn't quite respond or sound like Distressor..

timboz · 08-08-2013, 04:43 AM

Found this.
Looks like he (Howard Scott) had a kickstarter to fund the project. Too bad it didn't workout for him. I would love to have a better distressor clone plugin.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...vst-au-plug-in

Coachz · 08-08-2013, 07:15 AM

hehe he wanted $7000 to build it? dang !

viper-2 · 08-08-2013, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ambient

I like the sound, but the controls are really hard to use.

Also it can be very difficult to get a matched volume with the bypass.

I just got a letter from the Distress or creator and he stated to me this plugin is not made by them. They are having issues with them using the name stressor and the GUI knobs looking similar.

Faderjockey · 08-08-2013, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by viper-2

I just got a letter from the Distress or creator and he stated to me this plugin is not made by them. They are having issues with them using the name stressor and the GUI knobs looking similar.

And why would you think it was them? Have you seen the UAD Fatso?
The look of this GUI should be a clue it's not something empirical labs would have put out.

karbomusic · 08-08-2013, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by henge

This is a cool vibey plug that sounds nothing like a distressor imo!!LOL

LOL, sounds like they missed the goal then:

•Classic EL-8 Compressor clone

lowerbout · 08-08-2013, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faderjockey

And why would you think it was them? Have you seen the UAD Fatso?
The look of this GUI should be a clue it's not something empirical labs would have put out.

Exactly!

This whole thread seems to have gotten way off. This plugin is not on a par with anything I have heard by EL or the UAD plugin. Come on. An EL8 is a tried and proven and well known piece of gear, like the sound or not, by a reputable manufacturer.

viper-2 · 08-08-2013, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faderjockey

And why would you think it was them? Have you seen the UAD Fatso?
The look of this GUI should be a clue it's not something empirical labs would have put out.

To me the knobs were very close and the name as well. Others above were making the connection. In fact obviously other felt the same way since it is enough for Empirical Labs to be concerned about infringement.

Here is what was written to me: "Interestingly we are not involved with this Stressor, and have started notifying the person/company that it violates our IP protection"

PS- I own a Fatso Jr.