Dmg Compassion Review
- Dmg Compassion Review And Reviews
- Dmg Compassion Review Pdf
- Dmg Compassion Review 2017
- Dmg Compassion Review And Complaints
DMG's Compassion is like that, only way more so. Compassion has a simple mode, in which you mostly just have threshold, ratio, attack and release. In that mode it sounds good, is very straightforward and flexible, and has an excellent graphical representation of what's going on in real time.
- Software >Plug-in, Processor
DMG Audio's innovative plug‑ins combine friendly interfaces with an amazingly comprehensive feature set. Could they be the only EQ and compressor you'll ever need?
Dave Gamble's CV reads like a Who's Who of digital audio. His code has powered plug‑ins from the likes of Focusrite and Sonalksis, but for his latest plug‑ins, he's chosen to go it alone. EQuality and Compassion are, respectively, an equaliser and compressor, and are available in all the major plug‑in formats on Mac and PC. This includes VST3, which means that external side‑chaining is supported in Compassion.
The Universal Equaliser
Dave's goal in developing EQuality has been to create 'a great replacement for all your EQs”. In other words, it's designed to be of sufficiently high quality to be used as a master or bus EQ, yet with a low enough CPU load that you could also use it on every channel of a mix. A lofty goal, indeed!
Certainly, no‑one is likely to find EQuality lacking in the flexibility department. To its four fully parametric EQ bands are added low and high shelving equalisers (which can be switched to bell mode), plus one low-pass and two(!) high‑pass filters. The entire plug‑in can be run in one of five processing modes: the standard Digital, the superior Digital+, plus Minimum Phase, Analogue Phase and Linear Phase. Both conventional stereo and M/S operation are supported, and there are some unique bells and whistles too. The resonant frequency of the shelving equalisers can be separated from the turnover frequency, so that at high Q values you can position the resonant peak exactly as you want it. You can also freely adjust the amount of interaction between gain and Q values, to mimic the behaviour of some analogue designs whereby the bandwidth gets sharper as more boost or attentuation is applied.
The attention to detail extends to the user interface, which boasts a number of clever features. As expected, you can drag the EQ points around with the mouse, and you can also Ctrl‑click and Shift‑click to bypass them and adjust their bandwidth respectively. Metering is also informative and highly configurable. EQuality's metering is highly configurable.Less usually, there's a Range slider that lets you scale the response of every band simultaneously, so you can retain the overall 'shape' of your EQ curve while experimenting to decide how drastic you want it to be. Another neat touch, which I've not seen before in an EQ plug‑in, is the horizontal frequency-shift slider, which allows an existing curve to be moved up or down the frequency spectrum.
The curve itself is drawn very clearly, and you can switch in a detailed spectrum analyser if you want to see the effects of your work in real time. Alternatively, if you prefer not to be distracted by visuals and instead concentrate on how it sounds, you can switch off the graphical display entirely and just use the rotary controls.
My first-choice EQ plug‑in of late has been FabFilter's Pro‑Q, and in use, EQuality struck me as having a lot in common with that excellent equaliser. In both cases, much thought has gone into designing an interface that works well in a DAW environment, rather than mimicking some classic piece of analogue hardware; and in both cases, the results are a resounding success, although I don't think that EQuality's GUI quite approaches the slickness of FabFilter's offering. Here, all the EQ bands and their associated controls are always visible, which makes things a little busy by comparison, and because their respective colours don't quite match, I sometimes found myself losing track of which EQ 'blob' corresponded to which set of controls. Nevertheless, it's still a joy to use for the most part, and the Scale and Range sliders are great additions.
In sonic terms, meanwhile, I think it also bears out its maker's claims for it. The basic Digital mode is not quite as smooth as Pro‑Q's default mode, but is probably less CPU‑intensive, and definitely a step up from the EQs bundled with most DAWs. However, I found myself using it mainly in the other processing modes. Digital+ seems a little more focused than the basic mode, while Analogue Phase seems somehow 'softer' and kinder to the source material. On the master bus, I thought the extra CPU load of Linear Phase mode was well worth while, bringing a noticeable extra degree of clarity to the proceedings. I would certainly be very happy to use EQuality as my only EQ on a mix.
Sympathy For The Level
EQuality is undoubtedly one of the more comprehensive equaliser plug‑ins around, but Compassion makes it look positively Spartan. Dave Gamble has thrown the kitchen sink at this one, and followed it up with the dishwasher and tumble drier. So bristling is it with features, in fact, that even summarising them would take a lengthy couple of paragraphs.
In essence, Dave's aim has been to create a single compression 'engine' so flexible that it can be tweaked to behave like almost any hardware compressor, as well as doing a great deal that no hardware unit can. To take but a small example, many compressor plug‑ins let you adjust the extent to which the left and right side‑chain signals are summed, to control the degree of stereo linking, but Compassion goes several extra miles. To adjust the stereo linking, you move two dots around on an X‑Y graph, which allows you to set a separate L/R sum for each channel of the mix. You could even set one channel's side‑chain to be influenced only by the opposite channel's signal if you wished, an idea that raises particularly interesting possibilities in Mid/Side mode (which is, naturally, supported).
Likewise, side‑chain EQ is a common feature of dynamics plug‑ins, but not as implemented here. To mimic the behaviour of some analogue compressors, you can bleed noise into the side‑chain signal, either pre‑ or post‑EQ; you can also combine internal and external side‑chain signals. On top of that, there's a second pair of high- and low‑pass filters that sits in the signal path itself, and, optionally, the side‑chain path as well. You can even choose to have the compressor act only on the filtered signal, leaving the rest of the audio alone, enabling Compassion to be used as a dynamic equaliser or a sophisticated de‑esser.
The attack and release parameters, meanwhile, are almost absurdly configurable. You can specify a 'curve law' that modifies the 'shape' of the response to transients, decouple and reverse the order of the attack and release circuits, and introduce a Hold parameter to delay the onset of the release phase. There's also an adjustable auto‑release algorithm. Should the transients themselves be disobliging enough to escape the attention of the main compressor circuit, you can also engage a fully specified transient shaper and peak limiter, each of which has more parameters of its own than some dedicated plug‑ins do.
The behaviour of the threshold and ratio parameters can be tuned in yet more different ways, some tailored towards the possibility of mimicking typical analogue circuits, others offering advanced dynamic control. A variable knee control is joined by a Bleed parameter, which can help create a Dbx‑style 'over easy' effect, plus a Hysteresis parameter that offsets the threshold values for the attack and release circuits. You can specify a Ceiling, or maximum amount of gain reduction, and a Ceiling Curve that governs whether this operates as a 'brick wall' or as a gradual limit. A complementary Depth parameter specifies a maximum amount of gain reduction that will be applied when Compassion is used as a gate or expander.
Here, Compassion is serving as a dynamic EQ on a drum bus, side‑chained from the vocal track.By now, I doubt that anyone will be surprised to learn that Compassion can be used as a gate or expander, but, once again, its versatility is impressive. It can, in fact, simultaneously perform conventional expansion or gating, upward expansion (which increases the dynamic range of signals above the threshold) and upward compression (which squashes and makes louder the audio below the threshold, while leaving peaks untouched). The main Ratio control, meanwhile, runs from 1:1 at the leftmost extreme, through infinity:1 (hard limiting) at about two o'clock and then into negative compression, where the gain range of the signal is inverted. This is something I've only seen before on a few compressors, perhaps most famously the Eventide Omnipressor, and although you wouldn't want to use it every day, it can make for some interesting special effects on percussive sources. If there's one thing that's missing, it's the ability to set a different threshold level for the expander from that used by the main compressor. This can be a useful feature where, for example, you want to compress signal peaks while reducing low‑level noise, but leave the central part of the dynamic range alone.
Of course, no‑one would want to manually set every single Compassion parameter every time they used it, so as well as supporting conventional preset saving and loading, Compassion also incorporates what DMG call 'mods”: the ability to store a chosen subset of parameters. For example, if you've hit upon the perfect combination of behind‑the‑scenes tweakage to recreate an 1176 in every detail, you could store those tweaks as a mod, then simply use the Attack, Release and Threshold controls to set up your virtual vintage compressor for a particular track.
On The Surface
If that massive array of subtleties all sounds a bit intimidating — and it certainly did to me — it's a relief to learn, on first loading up the plug‑in, that you don't have to concern yourself with any of it if you don't want to. The basic Compassion screen simply shows the most important, conventional compression controls, along with a very distinctive graphical display. This, again, is slightly reminiscent of the scrolling display in FabFilter's Pro‑C compressor: the input waveform scrolls from right to left, while above and below it the amount of gain reduction is illustrated by the thickness of a coloured band that is alternately green or red, depending on whether the compressor is in its attack or release phase. The threshold level is shown by a white line, and you can choose to view the input or side‑chain waveform superimposed on the output waveform if you wish. It takes a while to learn how to get the best from such a display, and personally, I found I needed to choose a slower 'logging speed' in order to comprehend what was going on. Fortunately, it's joined by a very configurable and much more conventional bar‑graph meter, and you can switch it off if you want. The many extra controls for detailed configuration are accessed in an optional panel below the main window, where they are organised into a number of panes.
Compassion also features a well‑specified transient shaper and peak limiter.Attempting to describe the sound of Compassion is a bit like nailing the proverbial jelly to the wall, because it's designed to have any sound you want it to have. Its flexibility is illustrated by the supplied mods, which turn it into everything from a FET design to an optical compressor to a vari‑mu valve circuit, and much more besides. Even without tweaking, it delivered a creditable performance across the mix bus, imparting a smooth and slightly dark tone to a rock track — and I'm sure that, with tweaking, it could be made to respond in a hundred other ways. On instrumental tracks and vocals, I was particularly impressed by the lack of unpleasant side‑effects, even with very fast attack and release times. If you're simply after transparent dynamic control, Compassion will do that with aplomb; if you want something more characterful, all the tools are there, though figuring out how best to use them for yourself takes time. (Of course, unlike some dedicated emulations of specific pieces of analogue hardware, it won't reproduce the additional non‑linearities associated with transformers or valve output stages.)
The sheer flexibility of Compassion also means that it shines in problem‑solving roles where other compressors simply wouldn't work. For example, I was mixing a multitrack recording of a band that I'd made live, where drum spill on the vocal mic was proving a big problem. The drums sounded fine until I faded up the vocal, whereupon they acquired a nasty, trashy ring at 2kHz. I was able to deal with this to some extent by using Compassion as a dynamic equaliser on the drum bus, side‑chained from the vocal track. The vocal was fed into Compassion's side‑chain, where it was filtered; I then set up the main Compassion EQ to isolate the 2kHz region and only compress that. The result was that when automation lifted the vocal fader, and with it the 2kHz drum spill, the same frequency range was compressed on the drum bus itself: the results were far from perfect, but did seem to keep the overall tone of the drums a little more consistent.
Although it's very different in look and feel, the philosophy behind Compassion reminds me a little of McDSP's long‑established Compressor Bank plug‑in bundle. That, too, aims to use a single algorithm both to provide versatile dynamic control and to recreate the idiosyncrasies of hardware compressors. Compassion ups the ante even further in the features stakes, however, and is also more widely available than Compressor Bank, which is Mac‑only and doesn't support VST.
Quality‑wise, then, I would have no qualms at all about using Compassion as my only compressor, the more so since it can handle gating, expansion, dynamic EQ and transient shaping as well! On my system, however, I found that its impressive feature set brought with it a rather higher CPU load than most generic dynamics plug‑ins, so I gravitated towards using it only in the most important or challenging mix roles.
Overall, both EQuality and Compassion are up there with the best plug‑ins of their type I've tried, and as such are priced pretty keenly. If you like the idea of having one EQ or compressor to 'rule them all', rather than a number of different plug‑ins for different purposes, they fit the bill admirably.
Pros
- EQuality is a nice‑sounding and very flexible EQ that can operate in CPU‑light Digital mode and a variety of others, including Linear Phase.
- Compassion is extraordinarily powerful: quite possibly the most versatile dynamics plug‑in yet created!
Cons
- Compassion's power brings with it a relatively high CPU load.
Summary
If EQuality and Compassion can't do what you want, you have a problem no EQ or compressor can solve!
information
Test Spec
- Dell XPS laptop with 2GHz CPU and 4GB RAM, running Windows 7 Home Premium.
- Tested with Steinberg Cubase 6.
Compassion is a fully-featured dynamics processor, ready for any dynamic processing on any signal.
Behind the UI lies perhaps the most flexible dynamics engine ever designed.Any channel, any task, Compassion is ready to enable you to get the job done.
Grab the demo, see for yourself.
If EQuality and Compassion can't do what you want, you have a problem no EQ or compressor can solve!
It's the most configurable dynamics plug-in we've ever encountered..
An outstanding musical dynamics tool that's a jack of all trades and master of most. 10/10Not since the Monolith appeared amongst the apes in 2001: A Space Odyssey, have a tribe of primates looked so bewildered with what had landed in front of them.Compassion is so much more than just another dynamics processor. It is, in fact, nothing less than an evolutionary leap forward and this is the compressor by which all others will be judged. Its flexibility and 'tweakability' warrants that this plugin should spawn its own community of modders. The extent of its possible settings could take us years to realize, but thanks to Dave, the 'creative' use of compression is back on the menu and you won't need Escobar's money to buy in.In Dave We Trust.
Marc Royal
Overview
- Unprecedented level of flexibility.
- Multiple styles of dynamic processing available, with in-depth control.
- Advanced mode for fine-tweaking, Main mode for fast usage.
- Mods system for rapid configuration.
- Zero latency (with lookaheads and oversampling disabled).
- Low CPU usage.
- Windows VST,VST3,VST 64,VST3 64,RTAS,AAX 32, AAX 64. Mac VST,VST3,VST 64,VST3 64,AU32+64bit,AAX 32+64bit,RTAS
Sound
- Fully configurable topology; to sound like any compressor you want.
- Compression, Expansion, Upward Expansion and Upward Compression
- Wet/Dry for 'New York'/Parallel Compression
- Linear Phase Split EQ mode for 'Dynamic EQ' processing
- Fully configurable detectors with M/S processing
- Transient Shaper and Clip Limiter modules.
- Oversampling mode for alias-free operation.
- Signal path and sidechain EQs
Vision
- Large, intuitive waveform/gr display.
- Knee and Response graphs.
- Advanced mode, with pages for each section.
- Sidechain and signalpath EQ graphs.
- Configurable VU, supporting K-metering and variable ballistics
- Mods system for fast workflow
- 8 banks of A/B
- Full preset management system
- Undo/redo
- Clip LED
Windows System Requirements
- Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10
- 32bit or 64bit
- ProTools 7 or newer.
- A host that supports VST or VST3, such as:
- Steinberg Cubase
- Steinberg Nuendo
- Steinberg Wavelab
- Sony ACID Pro
- Ableton Live
- Cockos Reaper
- Magix Sequoia
- Magix Samplitude
- AudioMulch
Mac OS System Requirements
- OS X 10.7 or newer, including Mojave (10.14)
- Intel Mac
- ProTools 7 or newer.
- A host that supports VST, AU or VST3, such as:
- Apple Logic (32bit or 64bit)
- Apple Garageband
- Steinberg Cubase
- Steinberg Nuendo
- Ableton Live
Specifically not supported (might work, but I can't test/support these platforms): Windows 95/98/XP, OS X 10.0,10.1,10.2,10.3,10.4,10.5,10.6
1.19 -> 1.20
- Improved HiDPI support
- Added OpenGL support
- Support VST2 getEffectName for some rare hosts
1.18 -> 1.19
- Fix AU validation in old not-really-supported versions of Logic
- Reaper key entry improvements
- HiDPI support in Cubase and Studio One on Windows
- Improvements with discrete parameters drag/mousewheel
1.17 -> 1.18
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- Mac build now requires 10.7 or later
- Improve menu position when opening a menu would cause it to appear offscreen
- AAX Mac window focus improved
- Fix potential crash when file saving fails
- Accept ',' for decimal point when entering value by text
- Fix crash when closing UI with text box open
- Fix crash with text entry on touchbar MacBook Pro
- Prevent Cubase/Nuendo right-click menu from appearing when right-clicking on a clutter bar button that accepts right-clicks
- Support for mono->stereo AU
- Installer searches for existing VST plugins folder for 64-bit plugins on Windows if run for first time
- Correctly sign Windows installers with Codesigning cert
- Improve text and layout for Windows installers
- Improve install descriptions and logo for Mac installers
1.16 -> 1.17
- Smooth graph display
- Improve text editing on 64bit mac
- Improve VST3 automation
- Improve mousewheel handling on windows
- Improve keyboard handling
- Improve automation resolution in Logic X
- Support VST3 GR metering in Studio One
- Fix memory leak with preset loading
- Updated pagetables for Avid S6
1.15 -> 1.16
- Fix 32bit Carbon UIs on OSX
- Make zoom-mode follow K-Scale on VU meters
- Mousewheel allows fine adjust for Sidechain/EQ graphs
1.14 -> 1.15
- Update AU validation.
- Allow all AUs to use Cocoa UIs on 32bit mac.
- Improve speed of session recall for AUs.
- Fix mousewheel on 2nd screens.
- Improve text entry for expansion ratios.
1.13 -> 1.14
- Fix bug with AAX automation whereby discrete parameters could jump.
- Fix bug with mousewheel on windows to left of main screen on windows.
- Improve determinism of automation when rendering.
- Improve handling of OS load dialog for presets.
- Improvements for latency reporting both realtime and offline.
- Fix bug with GR time-alignment when oversampled and bypassed.
1.12 -> 1.13
- Fix bug with A/B in AAX.
- Fix AAX level meters.
- Fix AAX GR meter.
- Added extra-fine zoom for meter.
- Fix issues with RTAS build.
- Fix AAX bypass crash.
- Fix gain instability with very short FIR Smoothing/Clip limiter settings.
1.11 -> 1.12
- Tidying and optimisation.
- Reduce saved preset sizes further.
- Fix crashes with undo/redo.
- Fixes for Sonar.
- Fix automation of discrete parameters for PT11 AAX.
- Fix samplerate issues in Wavelab for VST3.
1.10 -> 1.11
- Fix bug affecting reloading of settings
- Fix issues with Windows 32bit AAX and ProTools 10
1.09 -> 1.10
- Versioning display for binaries.
- Significant reduction in load/save times.
- All-round optimisation and tidying.
- Ceased support for 10.4 and PPC. 10.5/Intel now required.
- Improvements for RTAS versions.
- Fix samplerate related issues for AU.
- Improvements for AAX Automation.
- Improvements for redraw strategy on OSX.
- Improvements for UIs for AU+Cocoa.
- Fix mousewheel handling on Windows.
- Fix UI resizing in Live 9 Mac.
- Fix crash when closing UI for Cocoa AUs
- Move Windows presets to My Documents to improve Win7/8 usage.
- Added warning box if file save/load fails.
1.08 -> 1.09
- Fix textboxes in Logic
- Improve RTAS resizing
- AAX improvements
- AAX2.0 and PT11 compatibility.
1.07 -> 1.08
- Fix Detector Graph bug
- AAX-AudioSuite Enabled
- Fix samplerate handling for VST3 in StudioOne
- AAX enable click-thru - prevents first click from being absorbed when UI is opened
- AAX Bypass mechanism reworked to match RTAS version
1.06 -> 1.07
- AAX version included
- Tweaks for stability
- VST3 Automation improvements
- Mac builds and Installers optimised and signed
- Massive optimise for reload of presets.
- Fix Clip-Limiter denormal issue
1.05 -> 1.06
- Fixed memory leak
- Fixed potential crash in UI
- Massive improvements to CPU usage with UI redraw/animation
- Fix focus stealing bug on windows
- Fix UI crash on mac
- Invalid text entry returns controls to default values.
- Fix 'stuck-on' clip light in ProTools HD
- Fix Win+Ctrl click for Windows ProTools
- Fix AudioSuite redraw for Windows ProTools
- Presets are compressed to dramatically reduce session sizes (1/50th)
- Delay compensate for wet/dry when clip-limiter is pre.
- No sidechain version of Compassion
1.04 -> 1.05
- Fixed textbox display, ProTools Mac RTAS.
- Fix crash when switching between DMGAudio plugins in ProTools using header menu.
- Fixed obscure potential crash bug.
- VST3 versions support presets.
- Fixed bug whereby host redraw would slow down when UI was open.
- Improved AudioSuite metering and processing.
- Enable Windows ProTools automation menu.
- Fixed issues relating to window resizing in ProTools.
- Added A/B Automation type preference.
- Always report zero latency when expired/hard bypassed.
- Can now right-click the A/B menu to toggle.
- Clip/Limiter is now post M-S decode.
- Added Limiter pre/post parameter.
- Added Expander Threshold offset parameter.
- Fixed issue whereby Auto-release depended on manual release parameter.
Warning: This might change sessions where autorelease is used. If so,
set auto-release short time to match manual release time. - Fixed bug whereby detectors would display incorrectly as Peak in detector graph.
- Reduced memory usage by 14MB/instance. Now 3.2MB/instance.
- Added Peak/Hold indicator for limiter gain reduction.
1.03 -> 1.04
- Fixed OSX 10.4 support
- Fixed crash in wavelab
- Fix AU resize
- Fix bug whereby LP-split settings were not recalled correctly.
- Enable RTAS Automation
- Dezipper control changes.
- Added menu to allow tabbing between advanced pages (click page-name)
- Fixed Opto-mod HPF frequency
- Added ProTools metering support
1.02 -> 1.03
Dmg Compassion Review And Reviews
- Improved preset naming
- Fixed listen and A/B menu
- Fixed reset-to-default for Advanced params
- Improved CPU efficiency for oversampling
- Fixed rare memory leak
- Fixed A/B automation
- Shift-drag for advanced sliders
- Preserve latency across bypass
- Improved mousewheel handling
- Fixed processing in Digital Performer
- Fixed ProTools Controlsurface integration
- Fixed Mono AU sidechain functionality
1.00 -> 1.02
- Fix: Crash in Mono mode when plugin Expired
- Fix: Misprocessing of Split-EQ in Mono mode
- Added: Detectors and Split Mix displayed in dB
- Fix: Display of Expansion/Ratio values
- Fix: Textual improvements in manual
- Fix: Mousewheel for Advanced parameters
- Added: Threshold bars opacity preference
- Added: Save Zoom state in mods and presets
- Fix: bug with saving GUI states in mods
- Added: Preference for Wave Speed on main display
- Added: Improved preset naming handling
- Fix: Handling of LP-Split in MS mode
- Fix: Numerical ordering of Mods
- Fix: VST2 bypass
- Fix: A/B Bank/Listen display in some hosts
- Added: Split EQ 'PL' (parallel) option for more efficient mastering workflow
- Fix: Reset to default for Advanced parameter sliders
In designing processors, I've found that the most important thing is to understandhow and why they're used. After designing EQuality, investigating Dynamics seemedan obvious next step.
One of the most important things I discovered, which may seem obvious, is thatpeople don't just have one; each different compression task will have a unit bestsuited to it. So it seemed natural to develop a model of dynamic processing that includedall the different schools of design, and build a unit that would allow youto get the job done, no matter what you needed to achieve.
I came up with an idea that fused measurement with circuit design. I measureddifferent compressors, built models of the circuits and then unified all the modelsinto one gigantic structure that could model any of them. Then I made as much ofit variable as possible; so you could dial in designs in between models.
Dmg Compassion Review Pdf
So here's Compassion; going way beyond modelling and giving you a tool thatimparts massive dynamic control. I didn't stop at compression; I kept on going throughgate/expanders, upwards expansion/compression, an absurdlyflexible sidechain, parallel compression, frequency-conscious and frequency-specificcompression (dynamic EQ style), overcompression, the ability to SHAPE your attack/releasecurves, a transient shaper, a hybrid clip-limiter module, the list goes on..
Dmg Compassion Review 2017
So there I was with the mother of all dynamics processors, with close to 100parameters. And then the interface design work started. After months of researchinto how best to present information and how to structure the UI for easy workflow,the current Compassion UI was born; based on countless hours of discussion with a boardof engineers about their workflow.
I think Compassion is a pretty unique processor; being able to jump so quickly betweenunlistenable sonic death through to the softest most delicate processing a vocal mightwant within a few clicks is an overwhelmingly exciting thing to have; the Mods systemsaving you from needing to constantly dive in to the scores of advanced settings.
Dmg Compassion Review And Complaints
- Dave Gamble 2011