So, I'm really thinking about trading my analogue "Distressor EL8X" with another piece of gear and substituting it with a Distressor plugin instead, going ITB. Since this is one of my favourite OTB compressors, I would really like to get a plugin that comes close to the hardware (if possible). I know there are older topics about this, but since then some companies have released new Distressor plugins, so I want to know from you guys, mainly the ones that had or have a real Distressor and know the original sound, what plugin comes closer to the real unit in your opinion in 2023?

We have the Softube Mike-E Comp, UAD Distressor, Steven Slate FG-Stress, Cocell Productions SOR8, SK Note, Arousor, and so on... I had tried some with good results but not all, I just want to pick one.

And has anyone else here moved from the HW to digital with their Distressor and can tell me why and how it went? Or if someone thinks it's a bad call, I could always keep the unit. My objective is to accelerate a bit the workflow and recall.

Thanks!

I’m not the best person to advise if you are looking for encouragement to sell your HW in favour of plugin, especially if you feel as strongly about the distressor as you describe.
I think Arouser is one of the pack leaders, the UAD is strong. But honestly, eventually I would miss the extra size of the HW.
Of course you wouldn’t be the first to happily adopt plugins so you might never look back, and you can get free trials of all of those plugin alternatives so you can explore how well they compare.
I would only add that the differences will be more apparent 6 months after you sell the HW.

Kiive Xtressor, UAD, and FG-Stress all sound great and do a phenomenal job emulating the real deal.

Demo them and pick the one that best matches your workflow.

Personally, I prefer Kiive — no UAD DSP needed, and no Slate VMR plugin wrapper to worry about.

Didnt knew about this Kiive, I'm going to take a look into it. Thanks!

Probably goes without saying but shootout first and sell second.

1. Shootout
2. Decide which one is best
3. Shootout again to be absolutely sure
4. Make your final decision
5. Wait for the right sale at Plugin-Alliance and so you can buy the Kiive one for 30 bucks or less

Just in case it may be useful for someone, i made a comparison between lots of distressor emulations you can watch here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4zbB6XyGJA

After testing them all I'm inclined to Softube Mike-E Comp. It was very close to the hardware and the harmonics make it cut through the mix with a nice body without the need to raise the volume.

I'm for now using the FG Stress that gave me the impression to have more quality. It also cuts even better through the mix without the need to use the harmonic function. The only issue is that it doesn't have the same body as the Softube. It sounds a little thin in comparison, but I believe this can be fixed with another plugin in the chain to create this specific effect.

I couldn't test the UAD one since I don't have any of their soundcards. I didn't quite like the Xtressor. It sounds good, but it's like it lacks quality, harmonics. It doesn't cut through the mix and makes the track sound like it's "cheaper", hard to explain. It doesn't bring the life I'm feeling from the other plugins algorithms.

I'm doing more tests to decide between the Steven Slate one or the Softube. I will end up picking both probably. Amazing plugins.

MikeE was my favorite - it was just on sale for $89 or so. I don’t have the hardware to compare, just between plugins.

I skipped them all and stuck with Trackcomp2.

Yeah, I got the free trial to test it for 1 month and compare while it was on sale, now it's 199 so I guess I'll have to wait. I will check the TrackComp2.

Absolutely. I'm in the same situation. I've never owned the hardware but the MikeE is fantastic.

Easy to dial in something great, hard to overdo it.

I've only used a hardware Distresso a couple of times. What I liked about them is that they were super easy to dial in and get a good sound. I feel that same way with the UAD Distressor. It's popped up a few times recently and just did what I asked it to do.

Arousor for the win IMO

Arousor is still in my plugin folder but it has never been used last few years. This plugin simply sounds bad to me...

I will try Mike-E. Thanks.

+1 on the Arousor. UAD Distressor as a close second.

I use The Arousor, the UAD one and the Mike-E and all three get some use in my sessions. They share the same vibe but have a few differences in the way they react which is great for me.

The Slate one is awesome. The UAD is amazing. I didnt like IKs model at all. For the short time I demoed it.

Although not specifically designed to be a distressor clone, the PSP Impressor does the same basic thing, sonically (the similar name is kind of a dead giveaway). Just a different way of going about it. Love that stupid plugin (and trust me, it is pretty stupid).

I know this thread is rather old,
But I adore the sound of the HW distressor and have done extensive shootouts with almost every plugin on the market.

The Kiive is the worst. It flattens the transients in a non-muisical way, and lacks the heft of the HW. I think honeslty people like it because of the UI...I know that sounds crazy...but comparing it 1:1 with a distressor...very meh.

The closest ITB is the Mike E- Comp. It nails the saturation perfectly. Very very hard to tell apart. The onyl problem is its lack of versatility....theres only a few options on the device.

The IK one is seriously good. It sounds almost as good as the Mike-E - but with all the flexibility of the hardware Distressor. Arousor is also very good and smacky, but lacks the depth and weight of the HW.

I agree, after testing almost all of them the Kiive was the worst by far, it sounded amateurish, low budget, plastic compared to others. The Mike E-Comp was the closest to my hw unit, very very impressed, best one so far. I'm going to check the IK Comprexxor, I skipped this one.

Pulsar Modular Abyss. And it’s on sale right now.

Probably the best compressor for Distressor style slamming that I’ve ever seen.

And what about UAD Distressor? Tried? I want to invest in one but can't choose between Softube and UAD

If I were to choose one, it would be the UAD. If I were to choose another one it would be the Softube one.

I think MikeE is the best sounding, but not the most fully featured.
(I didn't buy any of them)

Thanks for suggestion!

I used to have 4, I used them every day for 8 years, knew them inside out and I reeeeeeally wanted that tone. When they started to make Distressor plugs I bought everything but the SkNote looking for THAT sound. IMHO the one that sounded instantly familiar was the UAD. When it came out I had already sold my hardware EL-8s but I'd used them so much that I felt I had a handle on the sound. I have the Arousor but it always felt like it wanted to be something other/more than a Distressor because it was so flexible. Don't get me wrong, it's excellent but if you want the EL-8 workflow/tone/feel my choice would be the UAD version.
Hope this helps

I have almost all of the Distressor flavoured plugins.
I also have two hardware Distressors.

The hardware gets used daily.
If I need a plugin version I reach for Arouser first.
Then UAD.

I think FG-Stress is the worst.

The hardware can never be orphaned, or charged for a software update .
I will never sell them.
I'll buy yours though if the price is right.

I don`t have any UAD card and to my understanding the UAD Distressor plugin still require them to be used. I was thinking about getting a UAD card to have some of these plugins since people tend to say that the emulations are very close to the hw counterpart, but others say UAD is overrated and overpriced, for now I`m just trying the other companies. Softtube and acoustica audio are making some really good plugins, idk if the UAD is as good/real as those.

There is no plugin substitute for the Distressor that sounds like the hardware. At one point had 7 of them. Tried all the emulations and they don't get there. I have the UA but have listened to all of them. I used to use my HW Distressors on every mix, I use the plug on 2% of my mixes.

If you want to try UAD plugins without a card you could try UAD spark. Those are native versions of the UAD plugins. It is a limited selection though and does not include distressor presently. Just an FYI before you would spend money on a card to get a flavor of UAD. The 1176 and LA2A included in spark are great. Personally, I love UAD plugins, but that's just my personal opinion.