U73b is an emulation of an old German broadcast compressor/limiter unit U73b, which was popular among mastering engineers in the 1960 era. It is an all-tube compressor/limiter with an adjustable release time option.
Audified modeled the mechanism of the unit and added only added input and output gain (before and right after the compressor circuit) to help with proper adjustment of the compression.
I love the fact that this plugin is intuitive, and has been also supplemented with a VU meter and selectable side-chaining. U73b is great for mastering and mixing drums, bass, guitar, vocals, and voice-overs.
The Controls
Here is an explanation of what each control does:
- Compressor/Limiter switch - This switches between Compressor mode (Kompr), Bypass (Durchschalt), and Limiter mode (Begr). The compressor mode has a lower threshold setting and a very gentle increasing ratio, in the opposite, the limiter mode provides a higher threshold setting with a higher ratio but still with a smooth knee.
- Release time - The first three positions offer fixed release time, and the other three positions (marked red) provide adjustable program content-dependent release time options.
- IN - adjust input gain before the compressor/limiter circuit
- OUT - adjust output gain after the compressor/limiter circuit
- Key input - selects the signal source used for controlling the gain reduction
Video Overview
►Key Features
- External side-chain added
- Auto Output parameter added
- Plugins built-in newer IDEs with more effective code
- Color settings dialog added
- Default calibration parameter value mechanism added, calibration parameter range changed
- English language added
- Oversampling added
- GUI improved, retina support
- The software can be used on 2 computers per ID simultaneously (User gets 2 licenses)
►System Requirements
MAC:
- OS X 10.9 - Mac OS X 10.14
Formats:
- AAX for Pro Tools (32/64-Bit)
- Audio Units - AU (32/64-Bit)
- VST2 (32/64-Bit)
- VST3 (32/64-Bit)
PC:
- Windows 7 - Windows 10
Formats:
- AAX for Pro Tools (32/64-Bit)
- VST2 (32/64-Bit)
- VST3 (32/64-Bit)
Note: U73b Compressor is iLok protected. The hardware key is not necessary, only the License Manager, which is available at iLok.com