Beat magazine of Germany recently reviewed IK's T-RackS Comprexxor in their July roundup of new effect plug-ins, giving Comprexxor a score 6 out of 6 points and the award for "Must-have'' plug-in.

Comprexxor is based on one of the most flexible and creative analog compressors ever made. See how it fares in these highlights from Beat's review:

With Comprexxor, IK Multimedia has indeed succeeded in creating an extremely powerful dynamics processor.

The expectation

The latest plug-in from IK Multimedia's T-RackS series is advertised as the "Swiss Army knife" among compressors. Will Comprexxor deliver what the manufacturer promises? As with its hardware role model, Comprexxor lets you choose between eight different ratio values, with brickwall limiting also possible. The threshold value is set automatically in each case.

Advanced features

There is also an option that emulates the sound behaviour of an opto compressor. Attack and Release, as well as the input and output gain and the effect amount, can be controlled continuously. Furthermore, the option to individually process the stereo channels or the mid and side signal is very welcome.

Adding character

Another specialty of Comprexxor is the Color section, where you can apply musical tube or tape saturation to the input signal. This can give signals like drums, vocals and instruments a punchier and more present sound. The two sidechain filters can be used to reduce compressor pumping.

Beat's verdict

With Comprexxor, IK Multimedia has indeed succeeded in creating an extremely powerful dynamics processor, with which transparent compression, such as on vocals, is just as possible as drastic effect compression for drums or dynamic instruments, or finely dosed sound coloring.

If you like it more solid, you can also use Comprexxor as a distortion effect; therefore, this conveniently operated effect plug-in offers creative possibilities that are second to none.

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