Elysia xpressor
Elysia xpressor is a Discrete Class A stereo compressor. With a wide range of wonderfuly responsive controls, a second switchable "WARM" character and even parallel mix functionality built in, it's hard to find something it would not sound good on.
per minute - start with 300 for signing up!This device is now a part of the Elysia Mastering Rack chain giving you big savings over booking each individual unit.
The xpressor is, as befits Elysia, a step forward from the average. Apart from the standard "threshold - attack - release - ratio - make-up gain" set of controls, it offers a few more knobs to tweak that you don't find on just any compressor.
The Sidechain filter lets you administer just the right amount of low-end thump while the Gain reduction limit enables you to avoid any nasty surprises and allows you to explore more unconventional compression curves. The parallel compression functionality is built-in and controls like Auto fast and Log Release allow you to find just the right timing character for your material.
Last, but not least, the Warm mode transforms the xpressor from a modern, fast and clear device into something from the "golden age of audio recording" a few decades ago. In Warm mode, the xpressor effortlessly takes an annoying edge off of a harsh track and "glues" it together like some of the all-time classics that we've all come to love.
The build quality of Elysia units ensures that they will be making music sound better for decades to come and it’s no wonder a lot of them found their home at various mastering studios around the world. We at mix:analog are pleased and proud to be able to let you use one.
Where to use Elysia xpressor?
For mastering/bus type compression, start with a fairly low Ratio between 1.6:1 and 3:1, around 5ms Attack and Release somewhere a bit over "noon" setting. Adjust the Threshold to get around 3dB of gain reduction on peaks, adjust the SCF to get just the right amount of pumping on low-end transients and if the material is very dynamic, set the GRL to around 5-6dB.
An alternative starting point on a source file with lots of sharp peaks would be to set the Attack to around 1ms or even faster, Release below "noon" and Ratio to around 4:1. SCF setting would be close to the one on the previous example, with the GRL set a bit higher to around 10-15dB. Adjust the threshold to compress the peaks pretty heavily but not make the compressor idle in constant gain reduction most of the time.
The trick with this kind of setup is to use the parallel mix knob to administer just the right amount of the smashed signal into the dry version to bring out reverbs, instrument details and content in general.
For detailed description of controlls check out our tutorial or manufacturers manual.
