I am so impressed using Avid's pro compressor. Really smooth and transparent but not too transparent. Works really well on vocals. I have it on trial along with a Pro Tools trial. Can anyone recommend me any similar and perhaps better alternatives? Something I could use in Logic as well. Thanks!

Here are some that Ive already tried but still preferred Avid's:

FF Pro-C
DMG Compassion
Klanghlem DC8C
Waves C1
Waves Rvox
Waves Rcomp
Flux Pure Compressor
Sonnox Dynamics
Elysia Mpressor

Melda MCompressor
Plugin Alliance Vertigo VSC-2
Stillwell Rocket

Compressors are like ice cream though, the flavors I like might not be what you are into. Some of the ones you already passed on I think work quite well.

Thanks. I am looking for flavor similar to avid pro compressor

Honestly for me Compassion can be made to sound like pretty much anything you want if you spend the time to set it up. That would be the one I would have told you to try out, but you've already nixed it (it does cost more than Avid Pro Comp, but it does play well across platforms. The next one with the kind of flexibility and character you are looking for that I would recommend would be Melda MCompressor (but it does not do negative ratios like APC).

Good luck with it I'm curious as to what you'll end up with... maybe come back and say what you ended up with if anything.

Avid Pro Compressor has a pretty similar flavor to Avid Pro Compressor and its only $99 bucks!

L to the O to the L !

Except for that whole "only in PT" thing...



OP, it is funny to me that you listed three of my "go-to" compressors in your list. Funny because all three are chameleons, hence my liking them as "go-to's": Pro-C, Compassion, and Mpressor. Frankly, given your list of "not-for-me's", I'm at a loss for suggestions - not something that happens that often. I must admit I've never really messed with Avid's plugs - when I use PT I use 3rd party stuff, for the most part - but I have no doubt it is a fine comp.

What didn't you like about the alternatives you've tried? Maybe that could help with the suggestion-making? I mean, sonically Compassion can replicate most anything (with time), so obviously it wasn't just about sound. Oh, and "transparent but not too transparent" is exactly what I grab the Elysia stuff for...

McDSP Compressorbank would be my recommendation. Might not look as sexy as hardware modeled plug-ins, but sonically it's among the top of the crop.

So far Mcdsp I think came the closest out of everything I tried. What avid does that none of the others seem to do is is just really smooth natural and clean compression. When I want more hardware sound I get really good results with UAd's 1176 Rev A combined with Uad's La2a grey on vocals. But sometimes you just want clean compression. Honestly Avid's pro compressor and the digi eqIII are two plugins I'm trying out that are making me want to switch to pro tools just for those 2 plugins.

Hard to put into words but I'll try:

Pro-C - not enough weight
Compassion - a little rough sounding
Mpressor - this one is on the right track but still not quite as natural/simple to my ears as avid's

McDSP Ultimate Compressor!

This was one of the best from what I tested

Glad you found something you liked.

Thanks for sharing.

So I've come back full circle to fab filter Pro-C. At first I thought it was too light when I was in clean mode. But after discovering and playing around with the classic mode it really rocks and I think I was able to get a better sound and have more flexibility than avid's. Go fabfilter!

agreed...the classic mode for pro-c is usually my favorite.
I think it is most similar to the digi compressor...it's a good one.

Metric halo channelstrip 3
Sonnox dynamics

FF Pro-C and TDR Kotelnikov are the closest to Pro Compressor. However if you'll strictly use it for vocals, then R-Comp is actually a great inexpensive option.