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Waves Ultimate / Dynamics

RCompressor

Vintage-style compressor designed for vocal leveling and transparent dynamic control.

Overview

RCompressor is a warm, musical compressor modeled after classic hardware units. It excels at vocal leveling, providing smooth gain reduction without pumping or artifacts.

The plugin features an intuitive interface with threshold, ratio, attack, release, and makeup gain controls. Its auto-release mode adapts to the incoming signal for natural-sounding compression.

Quick Info

  • Category: Dynamics / Compressor
  • Best for: Vocals, bass, mix bus
  • DAWs: All major hosts (VST/AU/AAX)
  • CPU: Low

Best Use Cases

Lead Vocals

Ratio 3:1–4:1, medium attack (10–30ms), auto release. Aim for 3–6 dB gain reduction on peaks.

Rap Vocals

Ratio 4:1–6:1, faster attack (5–15ms), auto release. More aggressive leveling for consistent presence.

Bass Guitar

Ratio 3:1–5:1, medium attack, auto release. Tighten low-end without losing punch.

Example Settings

Natural Vocal Leveling

  • Threshold: -18 to -12 dB
  • Ratio: 3:1
  • Attack: 20 ms
  • Release: Auto
  • Gain: +2 to +4 dB

Transparent leveling for sung vocals. Adjust threshold to taste.

Aggressive Rap Vocal

  • Threshold: -20 to -15 dB
  • Ratio: 5:1
  • Attack: 10 ms
  • Release: Auto
  • Gain: +3 to +6 dB

Tight, upfront compression for rap and hip-hop vocals.

Mix Bus Glue

  • Threshold: -6 to -3 dB
  • Ratio: 2:1
  • Attack: 30 ms
  • Release: Auto
  • Gain: +1 to +2 dB

Gentle glue compression on the mix bus. Aim for 1–2 dB GR.

Vocal Chain Examples

Melodic Rap Chain

  1. High-pass filter (80–100 Hz)
  2. Subtractive EQ (remove mud, harshness)
  3. RCompressor (3:1–4:1, medium attack)
  4. De-esser (5–9 kHz)
  5. Additive EQ (presence, air)
  6. Saturation (optional warmth)
  7. Reverb + Delay (send)

Clean Pop Vocal

  1. High-pass filter (100 Hz)
  2. Subtractive EQ
  3. RCompressor (3:1, slow attack)
  4. De-esser
  5. Additive EQ
  6. Doubler (stereo width)
  7. Reverb (send)

Mix Bus Usage

Mix Bus Compression Chain

  1. Subtractive EQ (optional low-end cleanup)
  2. RCompressor (2:1, slow attack, 1–2 dB GR)
  3. Tape saturation (optional glue)
  4. Additive EQ (optional air/presence)
  5. Limiter (final loudness)

Use gentle settings on the mix bus. Let the limiter do the heavy lifting for loudness.

Compatible DAWs

VST/VST3

FL Studio, Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper, Bitwig

AU (Audio Units)

Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live (Mac)

AAX

Pro Tools

Alternatives

Stock Alternatives

  • Logic Compressor (Vintage VCA mode)
  • Ableton Compressor
  • FL Studio Fruity Limiter
  • Studio One Compressor
  • Pro Tools Dyn3

Free Alternatives

  • TDR Kotelnikov (transparent)
  • Klanghelm MJUC jr. (vintage)
  • ReaComp (Reaper)

Paid Alternatives

  • FabFilter Pro-C 2
  • Waves H-Comp
  • UAD 1176 (faster)
  • UAD LA-2A (slower)

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