

The compression works great on guitars, bass, drums, and more. It’s got a semi-realistic to realistic look, with easy-to-use controls. We’re a big fan of its user interface, which mimics classic outboard gear. It includes features like negative (over) compression, parallel (New York style) compression, options to compress left and right channels independently (dual mono), peak and RMS compression (relaxed), and a high pass filter to reduce bass overload (deep). True to form, you can achieve everything from smooth, gentle leveling, to full on crunch, punch, and pump. These are the shape shifters that will help you create different compression results. We can see, though, that the DC1A features controls for out, GR, input, output, deep, relaxed, dual mono, and negative. Which is perhaps giving too much attention to one thing. Turn a dial, and you will immediately notice a difference, which to me is always the mark of a finely tuned dial. The DC1A, though, despite its simplistic controls and appearance, is reasonably versatile, and great sounding. Klanghelm’s DC1A is the little brother of their more fully featured and advanced compressor, DC8C. RoughRider 3 is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.

You can use it in a variety of ways, on a variety of tracks, regardless of genre. It’s versatile and it has features you probably won’t find on your standard DAW compressor. This is a great VST to add to your library. In that sense, it isn’t a compressor without some coloration, but it’s a plus rather than a minus in this case. This compressor can give your tracks some extra punch, warmth, and it even tends to bring out the highs and extra clarity. Its interface can also be resized on your screen, which is not something every free VST can boast. You can use the controls to change the input level, full bandwidth, sidechain HPF, external sidechain, ratio, sensitivity, makeup, attack, release, mix, and output level. RoughRider 3’s interface is comprised of a simple gradient background with some flat vector style dials and visualizers. It’s been around for over 10 years and has racked up over half a million downloads. It’s also one of the most popular dynamic processors available. RoughRider 3 Free Compressor Plugin by Audio DamageĪudio Damage’s RoughRider 3 isn’t just a great compressor. Top Free Compressor VST Plugins, Final Thoughts.

