VCV has added a Compressor to the range of effects in the Pro version. That full range is a strong offering, but the unique flexibility of the Compressor might well put it over the top.
Let’s pause for a moment and consider how great the emergence of modular tools in plug-in form is. You can now drop in a plug-in and add VCV Rack to your chain—or Reaktor Blocks, Kilhoearts Snapheap, Reason Rack, or AAS Multiphonics CV-2, to name a few. The ability to patch together a plug-in can open up creative ideas when a pre-built plug-in would be more restrictive.
Rack itself is free; the Pro version unlocks the ability to run Rack as a plug-in and not just as a standalone application. But an oft-overlooked perk of paying for Pro – and supporting Rack’s free and open-source development – is the bundled premium modules. That now includes the following:
- Chorus (with stereo operation, which you can patch into mid/side mode)
- Flanger with through-zero mode and 1v/octave pitch control (meaning it can double as a synth voice), plus feedback inversion
- Phaser with the same
- Reverb, an algorithmic digital reverb with freeze function (so it can act as a drone)
- Convolver for impulse response convolution, with 26 included impulse responses and the ability to load your own, for convolution reverbs/resonators, etc. but also custom sound design and again self-oscillation and feedback that turns it into a drone. (Included IRs are organized into effects, cabinets, plates, delays, spaces, rooms, and halls.)
These have to be good enough to merit that “premium” moniker, but they easily exceed that bar. I should probably do a special on just building synth voices with the effects and no oscillators. Rack Pro’s premium effects have found a home right alongside AAS Multiphonics CV-2 for me for patchable effects – so much so that I often come back to them rather than purpose-built plug-ins.
The Compressor is an easy favorite of the bunch; it finally rounds out this bundle so that Pro’s effects feel like a complete set. VCV Compressor is really both a compressor and an expander—just set the ratio below 1/1. And, of course, the first thing I expect everyone will play around with is sidechaining, especially since you often wind up with complicated noisy patches and want to shape them a bit.
Here’s a jam using some fairly extreme sidechaining and Venom’s (Dave Benham’s) Benjolin Oscillator, a free (and GPL v3-licensed) model of the original by Rob Hordijk. Side note on that, as it’s my other Rack module du jour: the Venom recreation is based on After Later Audio’s hardware version, which was produced in collaboration with Rob; see Dave’s GitHub. I recommend that whole Venom library, especially as it’s free. And the Benjolin module recently got a bunch of updates, as well.
The Compressor has other features, too:
- Mono and stereo processing (with mono or stereo sidechaining, optionally)
- Attack and release controls
- Separate gain reduction CV output
- Knee
- Output setting plus auto makeup option
- CV input for threshold
And there are multiple internal DSP models, too. That covers the usual bases but it’s exceptional to have it in module form. You get:
- Feed-forward
- Feedback
- VCA (based on the 4000 Stereo Bus compressor) – “transparent and punchy”
- Optical, a la LA-2A but with adjustable envelope follower, ratio, and knee parameters
- FET (think 1176)
- Tube (think RCA BA28A, or … actually also just think tube…)
That gives you a terrific range of color possibilities, and they do sound different. Here is a totally brutal, not in any way subtle example again using the Benjolin, but … you know, it’s what I’m into… god don’t make me listen to another guitar demo, please…
You also get a range of metering options. The default Scope is what you’ll probably use most often, but it’s often useful to switch into Linear metering. There are also simulated VU meters if you like, though those can only display one parameter at a time. Click the metering area to swap modes.
Now with all of this great stuff, the Compressor is actually the least patchable of the Pro premium effects. I could imagine CV control of some of those for use in non-conventional, creative ways; maybe someday, Andrew at VCV might consider a little expander module. But to be fair, those are extras for a compressor. Bogaudio Pressor is the compressor I’ve been using, and it’s different enough that having both makes sense. Pressor has more minimal metering and only mono sidechaining, but it does have a handy gate mode – and CV inputs for two gain parameters plus attack and release.
And it’s free, so go for it!
Oh. Okay, looking at this panel, I realize I have never actually used Bogaudio’s CV ins, even though I just asked for them from VCV. On the other hand, VCV Compressor is so nice that maybe it’s the first module that made me want to do that.
Note that the Pro bundle doesn’t include all the modules VCV sells; there’s also the Drums analog-modeled drum machine, Host for running plug-ins inside VCV Rack, Sound Stage for 3D room reverb simulation with a graphical UI, Spectra spectral processor/vocoder, Chords quad-note note sequencer, and Parametra voltage-controlled parametric EQ. They all run $20-40; so if you were to buy all of those, you would drive up Rack’s purchase price another $170. I see why they’re not in a bundle, though, as those seem like different use cases.)
As sprawling as the full open-ended library of VCV Rack is, the VCV-branded modules are exceptionally focused and well-designed. So I do recommend returning to VCV’s own modules when you’re overwhelmed, too. And that’s also probably my answer to “why not Cardinal?” I’d keep Cardinal as a quick go-to for teaching workshops because it’ll run as a plug-in without a paid license, and it has a stock set of modules, both of which are useful when you have limited time working with students. But I immediately miss Rack’s full third-party library support, refinement, and extra features, and I think this set of modules easily make it worth a purchase.
This is a simple one; Rack Pro is a great bundle – especially given synced support with a login across Mac, Windows, and Linux, plus VST2, VST3, AU, and CLAP. And kudos to Andrew for sticking to his rigorous creative vision. This makes a beautiful addition to existing DAW workflows, as a standalone software modular, or even as a software companion to hardware modules. I’m curious about what premium module might be coming next.
