![]() Like FET compressors, VCA have a similar fast reaction time, although given the use of solid-state electronics, a much more transparent sound. The flipside of this, however, is on sounds that demand a more transparent gain control (like strings, for example), or where you want to apply the compression across a buss. If you want the compression to be an intrinsic component of the sound (like parallel compression, for example) then FET is an ideal choice where all your actions get heard. Given the colouristic qualities, as well as the fast-acting response times, the two FET circuit types are a great choice with drums, vocals, bass and guitar. Technically speaking, both circuit types are modelled on the classic UREI 1176 compressor – the Studio variant mimicking a Blackface 1176, while the Vintage model recreates the more saturated Bluestripe 1176. For fans of ‘colourful’ compressions, the two FET compressors also add a touch of saturation that helps make the compression noticeable rather than transparent. Set the Attack to fast, therefore, and you can easily attenuate sharp transients, which makes them much better at limiting. In comparison to the Vintage Opto, therefore, Logic’s Studio FET and Vintage FET circuit types have a noticeably faster response. TransistorsįET (or Field-effect Transistor) compressors were designed to address the problems of optical compressors, namely the slow attack and release times. It’s also one of the more colourful circuit types, so is also ideal if you’re looking to add a degree of analogue-like saturation to give the sound some extra presence and body. ![]() Logic’s Vintage Opto, therefore, is arguably the oldest of Logic’s ‘vintage’ compressors, and the ideal choice for softer, more retro forms of compression. Given their elaborate design, optical compressors aren’t the sharpest tools in the compression box, but what they lack in accuracy, they more than make up for with musicality. Optical compressors used a light element or optical cell to control the amount of gain reduction applied – the more the light glowed in response to the input signal, the more gain reduction occurred. One of the first types of compressor offered was a so-called optical compressor, as made famous by compressors such as the Teletronix LA-2A. On the whole, there are three types of compressor design – optical, FET and VCA – all mirrored in the circuit types offered by Logic’s Compressor plug-in. To understand the different compressor models, it’s worth stepping back through recording history and looking at how compressors evolved over the last 60 or so years.
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