Virtual Buss Compressors comprises three unique sounding, 100% analog modeled dynamic processors that are ideal for program material. Every nuance of real analog compressors has been modeled; including the exact nonlinear characteristics of their transformers, tubes, VCAs, amplifiers, phase distortions, harmonic distortions, and timing.

All of the compressors in the VBC bundle have a variable hi-pass filter AND a mix knob that can be used to control the ratio/percentage of the compressed signal to the dry signal. Each compressor can be used in series, and the series rearranged by dragging and dropping. Compressing a mix with each one doing a very little amount can sound amazing, and using the compressors in series within the ˜Rack' also makes it very easy to A/B/C the compressors on source material. Finally, VBC will come with stock presets made by some of the industry's top mixers.

FG-GREY
The FG-GREY starts off with a very precise model of the classic British "4000 series console compressor". It has a way of being able to tighten, glue, and 'gel' the components of the mix in ways that can go from fairly transparent in auto release mode, to very aggressive in manual mode. Slate Digital took the classic British discrete transformer and added some of the characteristics to the signal path. This does something very amazing to the clarity of the midrange and bottom end. The hardware unit tends to start sucking out too much bottom as you start to compress more. It can also get slightly 'choked' in the mids. These are subtle issues but the transformer stage keeps the bottom big and round and the midrange more open, while still retaining the classic sound of the hardware unit. You'll notice especially when you heavily compress with the FG-GREY, there is a bit less of a drop in the bottom and the rich mids will still be nice and present.

FG-RED
This compressor is based on the classic RED faced compressor that has been a favorite of mix legend Chris Lord Alge. The attack and autorelease of this classic compressor work very uniquely and musically. But the real magic is in the output section. Just by pushing the makeup gain a few db, you can obtain a punchy, fat, and aggressive sound. Howie Weinberg, the famous mastering engineer, uses his RED not for compression, but solely for the output gain to achieve this same effect. The FG-RED takes adavntage of this unique feature by way of its dedicated DRIVE knob. When you push this DRIVE knob, you get this beautiful punch and articulation of the transients, and you can control just how much you want, regardless of whether or not you use the makeup gain.

FG-MU
There is some real magic that happens when your mix goes through a brilliantly designed piece of tube gear. The midrange thickens, the lows get tighter and rounder, and the top end opens up with a beautiful sparkle... and even better, those harsh upper mid overtones seem to get tamed. For the FG-MU, Slate Digital put all of these wonderful qualities into the algorithm. First and foremost, to hear the FG-MU, you don't even have to do any compression. Just going through the processor without any gain reduction will inhibit a beautiful open sound due to the modeling of the tube circuit path. If you scan through the presets, you can get a great idea of what its capable of. Smooth rich compression, fat warm compression, and even slightly aggressive compression. But overall, this is a processor that has tons of analog mojo and vibe for days.

The Rack
While all three compressors are available as separate plug-ins in your DAW, you can also use them in the Slate Digital Virtual Buss Compressors Rack plug-in, in which they can be chained, reordered via drag and drop of the u-rack handles, and soloed independently.