Analog Newb? You should BUY this FIRST...

Thinking about diving into the world of analog gear? It can be a bit tricky knowing where to start, right? No worries, I'm here to help. In this video, I'm chatting about the first piece of outboard gear you need in your studio: the Empirical Labs Distressor.

Whether you're just starting out or you've been in the game for a while, the Distressor is a real must-have. It's versatile, reliable, and seriously cool.

And hey, if you're thinking about snagging a Distressor for yourself, we've got an affiliate link at the top of the description. Clicking on that link to make your purchase really helps us keep these videos coming, and we appreciate it big time. So go ahead, check out the video, and let's chat about why the Empirical Labs Distressor should be your first step into analog. Let's make some killer music!

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[KC-bijw]

I worked at a major studio that had all the compressors you could think of, but the Distressor is the one that really "taught" me how to properly use compression. It's the one that flustered me and I messed up using the most, then it all just clicked one day. Then years later I found the manual, I highly recommend everyone reads it, its only 2 pages lol.

[belligerentamateur]

"There is no BEST". THANK YOU. The world of audio/musicians need to hear this more often

[BassFunMusic]

I have this device - Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor as hardware and as a vst plugin on uad 2. I use both. They are great on drums, snare, guitars, bass, vocal. Massive powerful sound. I love such devices. They do with sound what I love the most... big greetings.♥

[jonathanwingmusic]

After I got my fist distressor I immediately sent it back the next day...
because I loved it so much I wanted the EL8-X version and two of them haha. It's so useable all around, from basic simple compression tasks and leveling, to special Freakin' love these things.

[Reggi_Sample]

That UBK being stereo has a lot of appeal over the distressor for a first, if your limited to one

[matt_nyc_audioengineer]

Ya man! I don't have a Distressor however I do have one of the new Empirical Labs Pump compressors! It's basically a distressor in 500 series. I LOVE IT! Was well worth the 6 month wait.

[MrWyld]

this is an important video for recording artist who are trying to "Upgrade" or "Level up" thier studio/workflow.
Great job. its the video ive been looking for.

[CreativeMindsAudio]

Distressor is the most versatile compressor out there. it's very tough to get to sound bad. the distortion sounds great. and you can hit it REALLY REALLY hard without much pumping/breathing. it just works. Love mine! note that the plugin versions work great too! get like 95% of the way there. just some stuff with distortion is a bit different, but the KEY to buying hardware these days is "0" latency and instant feedback while recording vs mixing. Ideally with 'limitless' tracks i'd record raw and processed tracks with a full band live.

[BCappOfficial]

My man, I have one of these EL8’s coming in this week! I am running it from an Avalon 737. I preferably do Pop, Hop Hip and Rnb music. Do you recommend me turning off the compression off all together on the Avalon? Should I only mess with the input and output on the EL8? A little guidance would be awesome!

[G-O-N-x]

Just bought a paired Distressor EL8-X as my first hardware equipment along with a neve 1073 DPX, didn't really have time to test it but my dad did and loved it

[dannydaniel]

If there's no such thing as "best" then I'll trade my alesis 3630 for your distressor

[kniferideaudio]

I would argue that your FIRST comp should be 2-3 RNC1773 AND 2-3 RNLA7239's. Sound fantastic, absurdly easy to use, very flexible, and you could get all those for the price of a single CH of Distressor and still have enough fliff for a pretty nice meal.

[shootenst]

My first compressor was the Fatso in 2002. SN 437. It is great for giving life to digital guitar on my tracking. Digital recording in the old days could be lifeless and the fatso just added so much. I sent back to EL last year and they updated it to the latest and greatest. Still awesome. You’ve got me motivated to use my AudioScape buss compressor now.

[hockeytalk]

It’s funny, I came across this video 2 days after ordering a distressor 😂. Before starting my hybrid studio my dream was always to have a pair. My first hardware comp was an ACME Opticom XLA-500. I caught the gear bug bad after getting a 500 series rack….all downhill from there LOL. But I have a long term vision for my ideal project studio and my mentality so far has been “buy it nice don’t buy it twice”(with some obvious exceptions in this context 😅). And so far that approach has been paying major dividends. I’m VERY interested audioscape, I almost bought a D comp but I ended up opting for a Heritage audio Successor, which I am incredibly pleased with after throwing the whole kitchen sink at it to this point. But I am really interested in the audioscape pultecs and I will definitely be checking out their gear when I’m ready to expand my setup. These videos really speak to me, great content man 💯

[DanPerezSax]

The audioscape Buss Comp is my only hardware compressor right now and I'm very happy with it! Looking forward to your review of it, I bet I'll learn something new!

[ernestbuckley]

Great video. Every compressor is different and brings its on tone and attitude. If I had to get just 3 compressors, my list would be:

1) Distressor... the swiss army knife of compressors.

2) CL-1B... its butter... it makes everything sound better

3) RND MBP... as mentioned in the video... you can use it to track, mix, & master. And the Stereo Field Editor on it is quite amazing.

[billyhughes]

After a lot of research for my use case a Distressor was my first real analog compressor purchase, and I couldn't be happier. On vocals it's changed everything for me. I also have a GA Comp 3a that is cool, especially on bass guitar. I have a Stam Audio SA-76D+ Tube inbound (got it used for a great price) and look forward to the combo'ing that with the Comp 3a for different flavor on vox.

[TilTheEnd_SwedeStudios]

100% Love my Distressor...I REALLY need to buy another.

[michaels]

Sweetwater listens to what I NEED and will work within my budget..I got my Polyend Tracker and it's been a great journey..I was not ushered into the MPC drama, and I thank them for that...

[NoCoverCharge]

I agree one of my first purchases for home studio that and Stam audio compression.. warm audio eq .. so much good stuff out there !