Where do you use your opto/Vca/Vari Mu compressor.

You are probably correct, but this started because I was bored and on a train and thought it might be interesting to discuss. But other than pwm models, it turns out not so much! I just like compressors and compression and I can only afford so many, but have recently picked up a lot of sw versions of the usual hw names. Just wondering how others were using them. Or not. And sure, I would like to get better at all this stuff, but I need to have fun while I’m at it. 

Cheers,
 Geoff 

couldn't get rid of the daking VCA comp fast enough. love daking gear but that piece had me baffled - box sounded fine but compression action didnt work on anything for me. i'll stick with my FET IIs which work well on basically everything.

I get the "use what sounds good" thought process, but I found myself the other day faced with a "life decision"   when a vari-mu plugin went on sale and I had to ask myself, being new to a lot of this, "whats a vari-mu" - a distant relative of an E-mu? an E-mu cross-bred with a Chameleon? 

 Well that opened a rabbit hole much like the one Geoff is staring down asking whats down there...

What I learned in my short tip-toe through the interwebs is that vari-mu characteristics are "soft knee" and "program dependent." So where one would want those characteristics and what they provide, vari-mu coulld be a good option, keeping in mind "use what sounds good." 

These are the kind of technical tidbits I find interesting and learning about and I wonder, geoff738 , if thats what the question is really about. For me it would be because thats how my brain works: "I am hearing this, so a soft-knee could be good here, let me try X, Y, and Z compressors " because thats what they do. For me, it would be more about knowing "what they do" and then learning how to apply that to the right material. 

With plugins thats a pretty easy thing to do from a cost perspective, but not so much with hardware if you just can't get it / use it.

There's nothing like my Nanocompressor.
Fortunately.
Ketchup later.
Chris

I suppose I was also looking for some options that I wouldnt normally reach for. Get me out of some habits perhaps. For example bass always gets the opto or the varimu hw, but since I went on my plugin binge, I have many more options. Which yes, I need to explore more fully. I totally admit to skimming the surface of most of these at best, and some not at all.

Cheers,
Geoff

All this discussion here below is about the HW units I have. I've got tons of software comps but don't go to them much anymore except for quick in the box tests. Or if the plugin is unique like Omnipressor.

I'm pretty new to vari-mu but it's swiftly become my favorite for vocals, bass, keys and pads. It's a whole 'nother kind of compression from the other types I'm familiar with. Kind of magical.

For mono Vari-Mu I have the AS VComp+ Sta level repro for a couple weeks and the ASA-6A on order. geoff738, did you mean VComp not DComp is the one you have (D is diode bridge)? For stereo Vari-Mu I've got an Analogue Addicts comp being built. The stereo varimu will go on the mix buss after a Thermionic Culture Snow Petrel and a Stam MEQP-1AS+ for polishing.

My favorite FET comp is the Chandler Germ. It is not as fast as attack as the 1176 and sounds incredibly different (hence my agreement with the sentiments above that not all comps if a given "type" can be lumped into the same use cases). The negative feedback offers incredible tone shaping and the knees are all different types of diodes so there is incredible flexibility with envelope shaping and saturation.

The other FET I have is a multiband comps, Drawmer 1973. I love this device. The Air and Bass buttons compensate for any loss of impact or tone and the crossovers are super smooth. It's remarkable for group busses. I've had it for several months but still learning how to use it on a mix or master buss though.

My only PWM devices are the Pynamic 500 and the ART Dual Limiter. I dunno. I don't really "get" PWM. I think I just am not using it right. Both these devices seem to ripple and waver in the response of gain reduction or recovery rather than being crisp like VCA or smooth like opto.

I only have one opto comp, but I love it dearly (maybe partly because it was my first HW comp). It's a WA-2A upgrade with nice NOS tubes throughout and I picked up 3 additional Kenetek T4B opto cells of different speed. Now the device sounds delicious and with a quick switching of the Opto cell I can get very different compression from it. The Slow cell is incredible for ballads and pads, the Very Nearly Stupid Fast cell is amazingly unopto-ish. I put the WA-2A with the Very Nearly Stupid Fast T4B before the AS VComp+ varimu and it was incredible. Just groove and rhythm galore. They are both smooth and the fast T4B made the two comps dip and swing in a gorgeous dance on an oompah kind of track. To be sure, they are secret friends.

For VCA, it's a bit too sterile for me in most cases. I did like the Kush Tweezer but ended up selling it for workflow reasons. The two VCA that I do like and have kept are character VCA.

One is the DBX 566, which is a fascinating device; like the platypus of comps. It's VCA,but has an Over Easy variable soft knee and has tubes for color. Wow. Great for mix buss glue.

The other VCA is the BSS DPR 901 Miki, which is technically marketed as a dynamic EQ (erm, MB comp?). Wonderful solid state color and transparently gentle compression for VCA.

Did I mention that perhaps the only thing I like as much as playing with compressors is talking about playing with compressors? :-)

I don't have a diode bridge or vari mu but this is what I do.
If I'm tracking a vocal that is smooth and the singer has good breath control, I use an opto. If its a singer that can't control their volume and is more explosive on words, I use an 1176 to tame their peaks. In either case, I try not to do too much on the way in. If it's overcooked, I'm screwed.
Vca mostly for drums, but lately I'm not compressing drums much on the way in.

I've thought of getting a vari mu and try it on mixbus or vocals.

On bass, I use opto. I don't compress guitars on the way in. I haven't found anything I'm really happy with for that.

YeahI have theV comp. As awesome as it is it isn’t right for everything, at least for what I do. I don’t always need that weight, but I don’t have a lot of so called character pieces, so it does fill a niche that not really anything else in my arsenal can do.

Cheers,
Geoff