Recording - December 2017 - 63

Similar Response controls can also be
found on the Vocal, Drum and MS Program
compressors, along with varied yet appropriate
controls for inputs, outputs, ratios, parallel
processing, and saturation. The MS
compressor also offers unique Touch Link
controls. This allows you to set Mid and
Side parameters independently, but also
adjust them in groups with virtual membrane sliders. There is also a Limiter skin with optional reaction
modes and saturation settings.
All of the views include something that would be a welcome
addition to any plug-in: a virtual scribble-tape strip where
you can label that compressor's application. This is handy,
because I have often been known to accidentally adjust the
parameters on the wrong plug-in when multiples are used in
the same session.

Getting to werk

I have been using Presswerk on my sessions for several
months now. I've found what works best is to start with the
simple skins, because 85% of the time they are all you'll need.
Eventually, it's great to dig into the full version and really get a
handle on its powerful approach to dynamics control.
One nice but nearly hidden feature: if you have a simple
compressor pulled up and then wish to switch to the full window, clicking on the unlabeled Home icon will do that while
preserving all your parameter settings. This gives you a way
to analyze your simple settings "under the hood," so to speak,
making Presswerk an excellent teaching tool.
This compressor works on any source, period, exclamation
point. Put simply, it sounds very dimensional and analog. The
real magic for me in day-to-day session work is in this unit's
subtlety when adjusting parameters and hearing the results.
Turning knobs "feels" analog, and the unit reacts with the
nuance and sensibility of using hardware.

What about power consumption? In a mix in a 24/96
session on my late 2013 iMac 3.5 GHz Core i7 with 32
GB of RAM, I used 12 instances of Presswerk (5 mono and 7
stereo) and it ate up about a third of Cubase 9's power.
Yes, it will take power as you start to stack instances, but
considering what it's doing and how it sounds, it is by no
means a resource hog.

Conclusion

I know it would be naive of me to think that anyone would
buy and own just one compressor plug-in in this day and age,
but if that was the case, Presswerk could easily be such a
compressor. I would go so far as to recommend it as a first
step into third-party compression for users of the stock plugins in DAWs. Not only does it sound amazing, but the skins
allow you to use it immediately with ease and gradually get
into more complicated applications as you go along. A great
sounding compressor with a well-supported learning curve
built right in? Pretty cool!
Delivery: Web download only
Formats: Windows XP+, macOS 10.5+, VST2/VST3/AAX and (for

macOS) AU

Copy Protection: challenge/response serial code
License: single user/multiple computers
Documentation: downloadable PDF manual
Price: $129
More from: u-he, www.u-he.com

RECORDING December 2017

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