Plugin Boutique welcome Shadow Hills to their store by offering a limited time sale on their Mastering Compressor and Mastering Compressor Class A, The Mastering Compressor is now only £24.95 / $30.11, increasing to £31.96 / $38.57 after the promotion. The Mastering Compressor Class A is now only £49.96 / $60.29, increasing to £59.95 / $72.35 after the promotion. The offer ends February 28th.
Mastering Compressor
Meticulously modeled by Brainworx after the instantly legendary hardware original, no details have been spared in crafting this digital version of one of the most musical and versatile compressors out there. A well known staple in the music industry, the Shadow Hills compressor easily tames even the most unruly and chaotic transients with flawless control and amazing tone. It’s no wonder that it has been the go-to buss compressor on timeless records by Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Beck, Green Day, Coldplay and countless others.
One of the key benefits of the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor is the ability to treat your signals with dual-stage compression, dialing in compression through either the Optical or the Discrete sections—or both for maximum musicality! In the Optical section, you will find the traditional Threshold and Gain settings, with a two-stage release time similar to what you would find on an LA-2A. Use it to easily shape your dynamic range and bring up the overall level. In the VCA Discrete section, you have a more exacting control over the ratio, attack and release settings, allowing you to fine-tune the compression response to fit a large variety of material.
Further tonal character can be built with the three unique Output Transformers. Here you can toggle between each one to easily shift the tonal balance of the compressor. Choosing between Steel, Nickel or Iron will add distinct flavors commonly found in some legendary consoles: Nickel offers smooth lows with a polished top end and sounds great on more subtle and sparse recordings. The Iron transformer has a more colored sound, but still maintains a pristine high end with a small low end boost in the 100Hz range. It operates through a Class-A output stage that applies only even-ordered harmonic distortion, leaving you with a very musical sound. Finally, the Steel transformer has an extremely detailed and fast response with a subtle boost in the 40Hz range, which contributes to a rocking low end.
Features include:
- Exacting emulation of the original Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor—approved and endorsed by Peter Reardon, the founder of Shadow Hills Industries.
- A selection of three different types of output transformers – Nickel, which adds a nice top end sparkle. Iron which adds a little character in the mids, and Steel, which adds additional harmonic distortion.
- Separate Optical and Discrete compression sections for two-stage compression techniques.
- Stereo and dual-mono modes.
- BRAINWORX Plugin Only features including Parallel Mix, built-in Sidechain Filter, and External Sidechain.
Mastering Compressor Class A
Enhanced with patented TMT modeling, the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Class A Limited Edition is one of the rarest and most powerful high end compressors ever built. In 2012, Vintage King released the hardware version of the Class A, limiting production to only 50 units! Through patented TMT modeling, Brainworx has created an exacting emulation of this legendary hardware that improves on the original with expanded features and much punchier VCA.
With the limited-edition Mastering Compressor, Shadow Hills Industries included an updated Class A discrete compressor section utilizing Lundahl input transformers, as well as hand-wiring each compressor with Mogami Cable, an important factor when Brainworx Audio modeled one of these limited units as it gave the limited edition version a different character to the original. For this limited edition, Brainworx included its well-known retractable Extra Unit, featuring TMT, Mid-Side processing, Mono-Maker, Stereo Width, Parallel Mix and an additional Sidechain Filter.
During rigorous shoot-out tests against the original Shadow Hills Industries Mastering Compressor, their pro audio engineers observed time and time again that the Class A version features a smoother compression sound, a punchier VCA, more pronounced sonic dimension, and a larger sense of “size” and perceived depth.
With the gain set to identical values on both versions of the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, the Class A hardware version clocks in roughly 1-3 dB hotter, delivering a thicker and richer tone to whatever is running through it. To put it simply, this limited RED Class A version is punchier, faster and more versatile than the original GREEN version. Try GREEN for the Drum Buss and RED for the Master and you won’t be disappointed!
Features include:
- Exacting emulation of the original Class A limited edition of the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, endorsed by Shadow Hills Industries.
- Class-A discrete compressor section.
- Stereo, dual-mono, and M/S modes.
- Separate Optical and Discrete compression sections for two-stage compression techniques.
- Switchable Output Transformers: Nickel, which adds a nice top-end sparkle; Iron, which adds a little character in the mids; and Steel, which adds additional harmonic distortion.
Both plugins are available to PC and Mac users (VST2, VST3, AU and AAX).
For more information on both plugins, click here:
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