Plugin Alliance releases SPL Iron

[musicman691]

A couple of days ago Plugin Alliance dropped SPL Iron which is a vari-mu compressor. Been a bit of talk about it over on Gerarslutz and we're finding a few bugs already.


First is the color preference is not being saved. There's three possible colors: all red, all black and black with some grey parts. Save a specific color in a session, reopen said session and the color is going back to the default color.


Second bug is the metering for the left channel doesn't always work even though compression is happening.


Third bug is a chirp when switching from LR mode to MS and back again. For me the chirp is happening in the right channel; really annoying if working with cans on and yes it comes across on studio monitors as well. The chirp is loud enough that the bx_meter plugin from PA on an insert immediately following Iron shows overs but Iron's metering shows nothing.


All that aside it's an interesting plugin that has a lot of options. And a headache or two. Input and output gains controls are in 2dB steps which is weird for a 'mastering' compressor. No ratio but then again I don't think I've seen a vari-mu with one.

[Muddy-T]

I like it a lot. Minor flaws not withstanding. Especially in its -intended- role as a mastering compressor. I'm not sure I'll use it much on individual tracks or buses.

Michael Mixing-With-Mike White's Plugin Of The Week review is actually more informative than the User Manual;

https://youtu.be/ckPMpcAzgZY

It takes a bit of effort and time to fully grasp the effects the various rectifier -and SC EQ- options have on the compression behavior. I took Mike's example and made screenshots of the Attack/Release and SC EQ charts, just for quick and easy referencing.

T

[Southsidemusic]

LOL

”We got a EDM track here” ... something from 2012 I would say! The worst sound ever to demo a Mastering Plugin

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Muddy-T

I like it a lot. Minor flaws not withstanding. Especially in its -intended- role as a mastering compressor. I'm not sure I'll use it much on individual tracks or buses.

Michael Mixing-With-Mike White's Plugin Of The Week review is actually more informative than the User Manual;

https://youtu.be/ckPMpcAzgZY

It takes a bit of effort and time to fully grasp the effects the various rectifier -and SC EQ- options have on the compression behavior. I took Mike's example and made screenshots of the Attack/Release and SC EQ charts, just for quick and easy referencing.

T

Mike's video is really good. The attack/release time chart is easily readable as-is in the manual but the eq charts are a bit on the small side.

Something I'm trying to wrap my head around with is eq'ing the sidechain. I understand low pass and high pass filtering so the comp doesn't pay attention to the filtered freqs. I also understand if you cut a freq in say the middle the comp will also won't trigger as hard on those freqs. But boosting a freq in the sidechain - does that mean the comp will attenuate that freq more? Wouldn't that be the same as a dynamic eq then?

Do you get the chirp when changing modes and transport is running? This is the only compressor with LR & MS modes that does that. Even the elysia alpha comp that PA sells doesn't do this. I wonder if it's because the compressor maybe goes into bypass mode when switching? Anyways I raised a support ticket with PA.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

LOL

”We got a EDM track here” ... something from 2012 I would say! The worst sound ever to demo a Mastering Plugin

I guess you've also looked at the comments on the video - there's a few that take Mike to task for using the track. He does great videos but sometimes the tracks he uses leave a lot to be desired. Would have loved to hear him talk more about how the plugin comes up in dual-mono mode with the sidechains unlinked. He mentions the switch but not this little factoid.

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

LOL

”We got a EDM track here” ... something from 2012 I would say! The worst sound ever to demo a Mastering Plugin

That's the truth!

But I like the plug-in. And it's DSP.

[Southsidemusic]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

That's the truth!

But I like the plug-in. And it's DSP.

Agree !!

The plugin sounds great and we have tried it a few times now with really nice results. SPL usually do sound great though so no real surprise here

Thanks for the heads up Jack

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

Agree !!

The plugin sounds great and we have tried it a few times now with really nice results. SPL usually do sound great though so no real surprise here

Thanks for the heads up Jack

I do anything I can do to help the community.

Before I forget PA also dropped SPL Hawkeye which is a metering & analysis plugin. If anyone needs to conform to EBU specs you might want to give it a look.

BTW if anyone here is what PA calls a 'heavy hitter' (owns 20 or more paid-for plugins from PA) be on the look out for an email with a discount code for both plugins. AND if one also has a monthly voucher that's also applicable to the purchase. Combining both gets me Iron for $49US. I don't know how VAT works so take that into account.

[PatriotsBiker]

I always wondered why they didn't have a vari-mu style compressor to go along with that passive EQ. For some reason, I always considered it as if some sort of pairing. Maybe because my first introduction to one came via Native Instruments as part of a 3 component pack (IIRC) and then with the Manley UAD pack. Ironically enough, I had made the Manley trio part of my initial plug purchase with UAD after getting an x6 last month.

And I agree with others on that choice of song to demo the plug. I stopped 2/3rds the way through it. Not that it was bad - who am I to fault someone their tastes - it was just that I couldn't do anything but take his word about an actual improvement happening. I'm getting old, I guess.

He did give an interesting explanation on why the 2db steps, though. Easy recall for mastering engineers on the hardware. Of course that doesn't really matter for ITB, but whatever. I say it's a welcome addition to the PIA lineup.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by PatriotsBiker

I always wondered why they didn't have a vari-mu style compressor to go along with that passive EQ. For some reason, I always considered it as if some sort of pairing. Maybe because my first introduction to one came via Native Instruments as part of a 3 component pack (IIRC) and then with the Manley UAD pack. Ironically enough, I had made the Manley trio part of my initial plug purchase with UAD after getting an x6 last month.

And I agree with others on that choice of song to demo the plug. I stopped 2/3rds the way through it. Not that it was bad - who am I to fault someone their tastes - it was just that I couldn't do anything but take his word about an actual improvement happening. I'm getting old, I guess.

He did give an interesting explanation on why the 2db steps, though. Easy recall for mastering engineers on the hardware. Of course that doesn't really matter for ITB, but whatever. I say it's a welcome addition to the PIA lineup.

I'd wager that most 'mastering' h/w has finer steps like 1dB or even .5dB