The original 1176 compressor hardware offered a selection of four ratios, but studio engineers soon discovered that pressing them all at once led to a distorted, explosive and highly compressed sound. It’s this “All buttons in” or “British” mode that Smasher was painstakingly designed to recreate. The Universal Audio 1176 Compressor/Limiter was first introduced in 1968, created by Bill Putnam Sr. As the solid state successor to his tube-based 176 limiting amplifier. The 1176 uses a Field Effect Transistor, or FET, as a voltage divider to accomplish the task of compression, in conjunction with I/O transformers and a Class A line level. The Black Lion Audio B172A is both: 1176 and LA-2A. Besides squeezing the two most famous compressor designs of all time into two units of rack space, this lets you accomplish the classic trick of running the signal first through the 1176 and then through the LA-2A (or vice versa) in a single unit, with a flick of a switch. 1176LN / 1176SE Limiting Amplifier by Universal Audio is a Virtual Effect Audio Plugin for macOS and Windows. It functions as a VST Plugin, an Audio Units Plugin, an RTAS Plugin and an AAX Plugin. The LA2A stands alongside the 1176 as one of the most iconic compressors of all time, and Universal Audio’s version is a faithful digital recreation offering three generations of the classic optical design. It offers the same response and aesthetic as the hardware, and is possibly the best emulation of this style of compressor ever made.
FAST AND PUNCHY
- Super-fast attack, as quick as 50 microseconds
- 'All button mode' and 'No button mode'
- Integrated sidechain input
- This product is only available as part of VINTAGE COMPRESSORS and can no longer be bought separately.
THE VC 76 — FAST AND PUNCHY
Workhorse FET compressor with a fast attack.
Great presence, punchy, clear high end. Good
for drums, vocals or stereo limiting.
Great presence, punchy, clear high end. Good
for drums, vocals or stereo limiting.
FET COMPRESSOR
A member of the VINTAGE COMPRESSORS Series, the VC 76 recreates a studio legend with a characteristic presence and a punchy, clear high end. This popular compressor/peak limiter, based on FET technology, is renowned for its super-fast attack and unique 'All Button Mode' — a special combination of attack, release, knee and ratio settings that creates a definitive, slightly overdriven sound. Using the 'no-button mode,' you can even apply the VC 76’s signature tone without applying any compression to the signal. All as an intuitive, instantly-useable, stand-alone plug-in.
This effect is also available as part of the specially-priced VINTAGE COMPRESSORS bundle.
This effect is also available as part of the specially-priced VINTAGE COMPRESSORS bundle.
1176 Compressor Plugin Free Download
IMPROVING ON THE ORIGINAL
Produced in cooperation with Softube, the VC 76 also offers a host of additional features not available on the original. An added sidechain input not only allows for characteristic ducking and pumping effects, but also provides possibilities for a wide range of creative compression techniques. A dry control makes parallel compression with the VC 76 a reality.
The VC 76 is great for making drums hit hard in the mix, but it's also great on vocals, bass and for compressing the stereo sum.
DOWNLOAD FREE DEMO
The VC 76 is great for making drums hit hard in the mix, but it's also great on vocals, bass and for compressing the stereo sum.
DOWNLOAD FREE DEMO
ABOUT SOFTUBE
VINTAGE COMPRESSORS is produced in collaboration with Softube. These 'Swedish rock 'n' roll scientists' specialize in incredibly accurate software emulations of professional audio hardware.
As well as working with NATIVE INSTRUMENTS, they make a wide range of their own products. Their reputation in the industry is exceptional.
As well as working with NATIVE INSTRUMENTS, they make a wide range of their own products. Their reputation in the industry is exceptional.
FET TECHNOLOGY
FET technology refers to a special kind of transistor: the Field Effect Transistor. These transistors emulate tube behavior, and they’ve been around a while — the first FET patent was filed in 1925.
FET compressors are fast, relatively clean-sounding, and inherently reliable.
FET compressors are fast, relatively clean-sounding, and inherently reliable.
ARTISTS ON VC 76
'I really like VC 76. I’m very fussy with my plug-ins but this could probably be my go to plug-in compressor. Excellent!'
Tim Goldsworthy (co-founder DFA Records, producer for Massive Attack, The Maccabees, Hercules & Love Affair)
'Trying the VC 76 in 'British Mode' I discovered it could have been one of my beloved hardware ones!'
Zdar (Producer for Phoenix, Beastie Boys, The Rapture)
Tim Goldsworthy (co-founder DFA Records, producer for Massive Attack, The Maccabees, Hercules & Love Affair)
'Trying the VC 76 in 'British Mode' I discovered it could have been one of my beloved hardware ones!'
Zdar (Producer for Phoenix, Beastie Boys, The Rapture)
AT A GLANCE
Product type | High-quality FET compressor/peak limiter emulation |
For use with | All popular host sequencers as a native plug-in |
Effect category | Studio Compressors |
Size (Mac / PC) | Mac: 111 MB, PC: 45 MB |
User manual | Download Manual |
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
macOS 10.12, 10.13, 10.14 or 10.15 (latest update), i5, 4 GB RAM
Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 (latest Service Pack), Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU, 2 GB RAM
An Internet connection and a graphics card that supports OpenGL 2.1 or higher are required to download and activate this product. Once installed and activated, the product can be used offline.
Supported interfaces:
Windows (64-bit only): VST, AAX
Mac OS X (64-bit only): VST, AU, AAX
Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 (latest Service Pack), Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU, 2 GB RAM
An Internet connection and a graphics card that supports OpenGL 2.1 or higher are required to download and activate this product. Once installed and activated, the product can be used offline.
Supported interfaces:
Windows (64-bit only): VST, AAX
Mac OS X (64-bit only): VST, AU, AAX
LA-2A and 1176 LN are registered trademarks of Universal Audio, Inc. Vintage Compressors is manufactured and developed by Native Instruments and Softube based on its own modeling techniques. Universal Audio has not endorsed nor sponsored the Vintage Compressors in any manner, nor licensed any intellectual property for use in this product.
Compressors are one of the most used audio processors you will ever use in your mix (the other one being EQ).
Despite the fact that they are used almost religiously on virtually every song you hear nowadays, they have historically proven to be enigmatic to the general music production community.
With this article, I will not only list what I believe to be the “Best 5 Free VST Compressors”, but will also describe afew different compressor types and suggested uses for them. We’ll start with the different compressor types and end with the “best of” list.
![Vst Vst](/uploads/1/3/4/7/134729395/464829790.jpg)
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PS: We’ve just published an article containing over 400 free vst plugins, including loads of compressors, check it out for more free vst compressors.
Types of Compressors
VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier)
The VCA compressor offers several advantages that the others on this list don’t. For starters, hardware VCA compressors don’t require the pricey discrete components needed by other compressors and are normally more affordable as a result. They are quite flexible and able to adapt to various kinds of use case scenarios such as gluing a mix bus together or suppressing transients. The best use for them is with percussive elements because of their fast attack and release.
In addition, VCA compressors are transparent and won’t add color to the sound of the audio signal, but can tend to sound thin. Adjust the release time to smooth out the signal a bit. So for those times when you need to compress, but want to retain the integrity of your audio, this is the compressor you reach for.
Use a VCA compressor to tame peaks on your drum bus and other percussive elements on individual tracks in your mix. Use a longer release time to smooth out the signal if it becomes too harsh. Notable compressors in this category are the SSL G-Series Console Bus Compressor and the DBX 160.
FET (Field Effect Transistor)
FET compressors are well known for adding a distinct character to the sound. If you’re looking for subtlety, this isn’t the compressor you want to use. Because they don’t have a dedicated threshold knob, the compression amount is controlled by the input level. You can then adjust the output knob until the desired sound is achieved. This compressor loves to be driven and will add a rich and warm type of distortion to louder signals passing through it. For this reason, it’s not ideal for use on your mix bus, for mastering or when a transparent signal is desired.
It also boasts lightning-fast attack and release times which make it ideal for parallel compression, adding punch, or pushing a lead vocal track right to the front of the mix.
Use FET compressor to add punch to drums, vocals and just about any other track that needs a little extra snap to it. Try turning the compressor off by deselecting all of the ratio buttons and insert it on a bus (or even the master chain) to add only the character of it. The most famous FET compressor is most definitely the iconic UREI 1176 Limiting Amplifier.
We haven’t been able to find a good free 1176 compressor plugin, though Minimal System Groups’ Punch Compressor is a pretty good 1176 emulator and will only set you back the price of a cappuccino (well depending on where you live). Check it out below:
Punch Compressor is only available for Windows 32-bit VST. For a more complete solution compatible with mac and windows 32 and 64 bit, check out Comp FET 76 by Arturia, though this will set you back more than a coffee.
Opto (Optical Compressor)
The Opto compressor is slow acting and smooth in contrast to the two previous compressors and offers a more musical type of gain reduction. It is slow, 10 milliseconds attack and seemingly 2-stage release makes it more suitable for use on signals without sudden transient spikes such as strings, guitar and bass. If you want to compress anything naturally and musically, this is the compressor for the task. Newer emulations of optical compressors may have faster response times and with careful adjustments can even be used on drums.
Although optical compressors are very transparent, they do add pumping to low end signals. However, you could use a high pass side chain filter to control this. Optical compressors are more “RMS” style as they work throughout a mix to even out the average levels in a track or complete song.
Use an optical compressor on the mix bus and/or instrument bus to even out the dynamics of an entire song without affecting transients. The most notable compressor in this category is the legendary Teletronix LA-2A.
Now for the best 5 compressor freebies:
Molot by Vladg Sound
Want some serious character to your mix?
Look no further than the Molot compressor. This offers a tube powered type of compression that adds a lot of color to everything and has a massive sound with lots of very useful controls for getting your signal just right.
If you’re a beginner then this isn’t the plugin for you as it can be difficult to dial in the sound you want.
I love the GUI and it comes in 2 flavors: English and Russian. Only the names display differently in the 2 versions, besides that, everything else is exactly the same.
Here is a video from Point Blank showing how to tame this beast:
Molot Compressor is available for Windows 32/64-bit VST & Mac OS X 32/64-bit VST/AU.
TDR Kotelnikov by Tokyo Dawn
1176 Plugin
This is a fantastic digital wideband dynamics compressor with loads of useful ground-breaking features.
Tokyo Dawn has stated that this model is the original and is not an emulation of any classic hardware design. Kotelnikov uses 64-bit floating point internal processing gives it a transparent high quality sound.
1176 Vst Plugin Free
It has individual release control for peak and RMS signals as well as a unique “DELTA” button which allows you to hear the difference between the input and output.
The ultra-fast, compression makes Kotelnikov quite suitable for mastering but can be equally as usable on the mix bus. Check out the demonstration video below:
TDR Kotelnikovis available for Windows 32/64-bit VST and Mac OS X 32/64-bit VST/AU/AAX.
Density MK III by Variety Of Sound
Density MK III is a character compressor with a VCA color knob on the GUI that allows you to dial in the desired amount of saturation.
It has been out for some time now and has gained lots of recognition for its flexibility and feature set. Different compression settings can be set for both of its 2 channels or the channels can be linked together.
There is an internal/external SC filter option which is optimized to better decouple the subsonic frequencies below 90Hz, a limiter mode, M/S, stereo and mono compression. Turning the “TIMING” knob to P5 or P6 introduces low-end program dependent release time behavior.
The only drawback I could find is that it’s only available in 32-bit for Windows users and doesn’t have support for Mac OS. If you are skeptical about using 32-bit plugins on your system (assuming you’re running a 64-bit system), this is definitely one you might want to reconsider.
Free 1176 Vst Mac
MJUC jr. by Klanghelm
MJUC jr. is a variable-tube compressor capable of smooth leveling, but also heavy pumping effects.
It has a three-position timing switch to control not only the attack and release times but also the timing of other parts of the circuitry that affect the saturation of the resulting signal.
The GUI is very simple with only 2 knobs, 1 for the amount of compression and the other to adjust the make-up gain.
MJUC jr.is available for Windows 32/64-bit VST and Mac OS X 32/64-bit VST/RTAS/AAX/AU.
Rough Rider 2 by Audio Damage
Described by Audio Damage as a “modern compressor with a bit of ‘vintage’ style bite and a uniquely warm sound”, Rough Rider is not a subtle compressor.
Its suggested use is on your drum bus, synth bass, clean guitar and backing vocals. But honestly, I think it’s best served being used to add punch to drums, but that’s not to say that it’s unusable in any other scenario, it’s just personal preference.
At any rate, when you instantiate Rough Rider on any channel in your mix, you will immediately hear a difference.
Rough Rider is available for Windows 32/64-bit VST and Mac OS X 32/64-bit VST/AU.
And that’s it folks! The plugins listed here are great if you’re not looking to break the bank, but if you do have some extra change, we highly recommend heading over to plugin boutique and checking some of the alternatives.