compression: hardware vs software

iG9 · Post by **iG9** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:07 am

is there a difference? i'm hardly the person to ask, but i'm sure some of you are. please enlighten.

Dj Frantic · Post by **Dj Frantic** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:22 pm

Yea, almost every compressor is different. hardware or software. Software compressors usually emulate hardware versions of analog compressors which we all know is never quite the same

606man · Post by **606man** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:52 pm

Yeah, every compressor is different, hardware or software. That's not to say that you need a $10000 SSL compressor to make things sound good though. For example, Blockfish is very popular for its unique sound, and it's very free...

Long story short: try every compressor you come across on a variety of sounds (different compressors excel at different jobs) to find the ones that suit your sound.

Dr. Tad Winslow · Post by **Dr. Tad Winslow** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:36 pm

I just used a hardware compressor for the first time in my life this past weekend, and it all made sense. I was like "damn, this shit is sick!" It sounded great. I can get pretty good sounds using a software compressor, but I think hardware sounds better no matter what you're talking about, samplers, compressors, effects etc.

And as 606man said, each compressor, HW or SW will sound different so experimentation is crucial.