detector network and gain reduction smoothing for extra smooth operation
choose between two different attack and two release curves
four different operational modes: NORMAL, CLEAN (100% clean compression with no intermodulation, no distortion, no aliasing), SMASH (ultrafast compression characteristics, almost clipper territory), LIMIT (use DC8C as a zero latency limiter)
optional soft-clipper at the output
up to 8x oversampling
side-chain filter with high pass & low pass filter plus tilt control, which let's you shift the frequency response of the detector
the saturation stage can be put freely into the signal chain: pre compression, post compression and side-chain only
three different compression curves selectable
customize the program dependency of the compressor separately for Attack and Release
GR-smoothing control to determine, how sensitive the compressor reacts to changes in the computed gain reduction, great to emulate opto-style compression
hold control, great for heavy pumping compression effects
pre-attack control to delay the start of the attack to leave transients completely alone or radically shape the attack
VU and peak metering
calibration control not only to set the reference level for the VU-meter and the saturation
unique Feedback-Mix-Control, which lets you determine, how much of the compressor's output is fed back into the detector. This way it is possible to morph between Feedback and Feedforward Compression topologies
true zero attack (0.0 ms)
negative ratios possible
parallel compression, peak-compression, RMS-compression
external side-chain
side-chain listen
Easy Mode which features 4 distinct compression styles
AGC (automatic gain compensation)
GUI resizing
comprehensive preset-browser with lots of presets to keep you started
and more...

06/18/18 version 3.0.0
- new Framework (JUCE)
- new GUI
- GUI resizing
- AB-ing
- GUI-resizing
- platform independent preset browser with easy copy/paste/save-as-default
- meter can now operate as a peak meter with peak hold indicator, on stereo tracks the peak meter shows both left and right channel information separately
- AGC (automatic gain reduction)
- linear phase oversampling filters
- option to set separate oversampling factors for realtime and offline/rendering operation
- global settings to enable tooltips, tweak knob behaviour and to exclude GUI-size, calibration-, oversampling- and AGC-settings from recalling when switching AB-states or presets
- switching from one of the easy modes to expert mode doesn't change the sound anymore. So choose an easy mode, tweak and then switch to expert mode for deeper manipulations if needed
NOTE: when switching from Expert to Easy mode the sound will change though as the selected Easy mode is being fully adapted
- flatter frequency response of the saturation
- saturation has a separate amount control
- output gain doesn't affect feedback signal anymore
- optional soft peak clipper at the output
- extended release times
- attack knob range is now 0 to 60 ms in Expert mode, if you need longer attack times, enable the x10 switch near the attack control to multiply the selected attack time by 10
- lowpass and highpass sidechain filters can be set to 12dB steepness
- limit mode switch has been moved to the OPERATION dropdown
- limit mode is a lot more tweakable than in previous versions, allowing for analog style non-brickwall limiting, best to be used in conjunction with the new soft clipper in the output section.
(limit mode can still be used as zero latency brickwall limiter if ATTACK, PRE-ATT, attack PROG-DEP and GR-SMOOTH are set to 0)
- revised compression algorithms
- revised EASY modes
- SMASH mode doesn't require min. 2x oversampling anymore
- external sidechaining for AAX
- support for ProTools' gain reduction meter in the mixer
- the AU-version now fully supports external sidechaining too, removing the need for the additional external-sidechain AU-version
- removed RTAS version
- due to the many changes and the use of a new framework, the new version has a new filename and plugin-ID, so both DC8C3 and the old DC8C2 can be used side-by-side in your projects
- system requirements: Windows 7 SP1 or higher / MacOSX 10.9 or higher