by J. Vawter . 5 out of 5 stars

As a huge fan of the LA-2A, and being unfamiliar with the LA-3A hardware, it took me a while to find a use for this plugin. For bass, and in compressor chains, it's magical. Just for what it does to bass it is worth the price, but as a last link in compressor chains (e.g. 1176LN -_ LA-2A comp mode -_ LA-3A limit mode for lead vox) it truly shines. My only complaint is the small GUI which can be a bit fiddly, but it's worth fiddling with it for the sound. It took a while to grow on me, but now it's indispensible.

Was this review helpful?

by D. Matkarimov . 5 out of 5 stars

This plug-in for the bass drum. Killer. (for me) .Attack is very cool.

Was this review helpful?

by G. Roma . 5 out of 5 stars

nasty, straight, but somehow versatile stereo compressor. the lateral vertical mod is fundamental for my shaping of sides. i need in almost any percussion group.

Was this review helpful?

by B. Chiaravalle . 5 out of 5 stars

This is one plugin I use on every mix I do at least on 3 or 4 channels. I also put it on the master output of the song mix. It provides the "glue" that the mix needs. Great for vocals, guitar and drums.

Was this review helpful?

by S. Buchenauer . 4 out of 5 stars

Love this one! This is the snappiest compressor in the UA arsenal. I love to mix it onto the drum bus by parallel compression!

Was this review helpful?

by S. Overton . 5 out of 5 stars

UAD fairchild plugin. How can you go wrong? I don't even use that much compression
and I'm still tickled pink by this thing.

Was this review helpful?

by M. Boyes . 5 out of 5 stars

Love this unit. I always use it on the insert before recording live bass with this tool wow just adds that depth and warmth totally love it.

Was this review helpful?

by M. Bloomfield . 5 out of 5 stars

Great compressor with powerful features and a warm tonal quality. Sure beats buying the real thing for $30,000. And I can stick it on all my tracks and that's potentially $1,000,000 worth of hardware for $150. Awesome.

Was this review helpful?

by B. Marolla . 5 out of 5 stars

My favorite compressor at the moment. Transparent if you want it to be and adds a warmth when just opened.

Was this review helpful?

by P. Damerau . 5 out of 5 stars

Hi.
I like the dbx 160 compressor plugin in combination with the pultec pro eq on single drums and percussionsounds and on drumgroups. It gives a bity, smacking punch to them. Also on vocals i have got fine results. Since i have it, it has always been used to kick sounds right to the front of my mixes. Easy to use and big results! I don´t know the original dbx 160 but this plugin is doing his job really well.

Was this review helpful?

by A. Maskens . 1 out of 5 stars

I think this plug needs to be updated. I found the presets to be not very useful (I like having presets to start with, but don't rely completely on them) Also there are a bunch of native offerings which I think out do this one. When I'm looking for that warm vintage compressor I tend to go with IK's 670 offering

Was this review helpful?

by M. Hillebrand . 5 out of 5 stars

This is my go-to compressor for vocals, backing vocal groups and acoustic pianos. Great vibe, great sounding compression and great behaviour in a complex mix.

Was this review helpful?

by M. Hillebrand . 5 out of 5 stars

Whenever I need a SLAMMING compressor, the dbx160 is my first choice. It's great for stuff you want to place in an already dense mix, it's great for making screaming voices scream even more, this compressor even changes the emotional energy of a signal. Great tool I wouldn't miss.

Was this review helpful?

by P. Göltl . 5 out of 5 stars

i like the magic of this powerfull compressor....use it on drums, bass, vox, git,
akk. instruments......but my favorit place for this powerfull thing is the master
buss.....set and forget.....fantastic....thank you ua-team...great work

Was this review helpful?

by M. Robinson Wirth . 5 out of 5 stars

I love this tool.
One of my favourite and most used compressors in combination with the 1176.
A must have!

Was this review helpful?

by J. Wong . 5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely amazing for this one. I use it on wet piano sounds & the output is still transparent.

Was this review helpful?

by Y. Geronikolos . 5 out of 5 stars

I've used LA-3A on everything from voice to guitars, bass and drums. Always with great results. I especially like it on bass. I know many people prefer the LA-2A for bass, which is also good of course, but for me it's always the LA-3A the first compressor I try and 9 times out of 10 it stays.

I love the fact that it's so easy to set up. Just increase the Peak Reduction dial until it sounds great and then compensate for volume loss with the Gain dial. I mean, 20 seconds of tweaking and boom, I'm done!

I've tried other native compressors with similar handling but I haven't found any that sounds that good.

Was this review helpful?

by V. Golub . 5 out of 5 stars

One of the best Plugins existing on a platform UAD.Without losing variant for treatment of vocal, acoustic guitars, acoustic and electro- bass, perfectly befits for percussion and drums and similarly piano.The warm, analog sound is characteristic for a lamp, vintage apparatus undoubtedly will lay down the pleasant impressions in the first seconds of work.Very easy-to-operate not looking on various enough of the m tuning.Quality of this device without doubts is very high, befits practically for all styles of music.Action of this plugin like "magic" of transforming trnsients of your signal.This compressor has a switch of Lat/Vert and perfectly works as with mid/side a signal.Similarly an excellent index is a low level of consumption of processor of DSP.Absolute "must have" for any sound producer.Its one of greatest plugins in a world!!

Was this review helpful?

by R. Huskinson . 5 out of 5 stars

Sparkling top end and rich mids, this guy really has some character. Drum bus for that 'pushing' effect or vocals for that ultimate sweet mellow tone. 1 and 2 settings on the time constant are really great for adding a vibe to anything. Drum Bus, Bass, Rhodes, Guitars, Vocals, you name it, it'll do it and with class!!

Was this review helpful?

by P. Patterson . 5 out of 5 stars

I used to dream of having access to a fairchild 670 but but having a small project studio and a smaller budget it was strictly a dream. Until now......
My own 670.I love it.. I use it on almost everything that I need to add some character as well as compression. The input gain stage can be ramped up to add that valve bite or backed off for more transperant peak control. Dreams can come true.. Thanks Universal, 5 stars.

Was this review helpful?