Softube FET Compressor for $19

[John Nelson]

20 hours ago, scook said:

Yes, the VST2 dll pulls double duty as a regular VST and PC module just like the Cakewalk CA-2A. And just like the CA-2A the plug-in UI depends on where the plug-in is instantiated.

When I insert the FET in the Pro Channel, it works fine except the meter doesn't move.  Also, when selecting a new preset it toggles the PC slot "off"  is that a bug or. ..?

[scook]

3 hours ago, John Nelson said:

When I insert the FET in the Pro Channel, it works fine except the meter doesn't move.  Also, when selecting a new preset it toggles the PC slot "off"  is that a bug or. ..?

I don't have a problem with the GR meter but loading presets is a problem.

Can't say I have ever bothered with the presets.

I also tested with an older version of the compressor (v2.4.83 from 2019), it may have never handled PC presets properly. 

Individual presets were added to CbB in 2020.04, around the time when Softube v2.4.96 was released. 

With v2.4.96 all the Softube PC modules started crashing and continued to be a problem until v2.5.39.0 around April 2022 when Softube fixed the crashing problem.

Softube is likely unaware of the preset problem.

 

Update: The preset problem is not limited to the FET compressor. I just ran through a few presets using the VST2 and PC versions of TSAR-1R. The PC reverb fails just like the PC compressor. It appears Softube still has some work to do on all their PC modules.

Update 2: I am not sure if the per-module preset feature added in CbB 2020.04 works with any 3rd party PC modules. I just took a look at Boz Digital +10db and Hoser XT EQs. Preset seem to fail with these PC modules too.

Update 3: After messing with this a little more, it appears the problem may be with how CbB is processing manufacturer supplied presets. Creating and loading new presets seems to work OK. If I had to guess, the problem may be due to the layout differences between the PC and VST plug-ins.

Edited September 9, 2022 by scook

[Nick Blanc]

This is a great deal and seems like a no brainer. But with rising energy costs I'm on a very strict 'not in my wishlist, not buying' budget. And even if it was, I'm basically holding off every non essential purchase. Let's wait a few months.

[PavlovsCat]

I didn't have time to install it, but I bought Softube's FET compressor last night,  based on the recommendations of folks in this thread. So thanks for the advice to everyone who shared their opinion. 

Also, I wanted to give a shout out to thank  and publicly recommend @antler's  articles.  Ant's been super helpful to me and does a great job of explaining how to mix. I'm not saying that I've figured out mixing yet, but Ant's coaching helped me make progress , teaching me some things I didn't previously understand.  Plus,  he's a cool guy. A great part of the community. 

[antler]

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Edited October 30, 2022 by antler

[PavlovsCat]

31 minutes ago, antler said:

Aw shucks - thanks Peter.

And for anyone interested in a quick run-through of compressor parameters and a few tips on how to adjust them to fit your sound, my second article is now live:

https://medium.com/@ant-writer/how-to-tweak-core-audio-compression-parameters-to-get-the-perfect-sound-92a8d95e1c1b

Well, I need to read that, especially after buying this new compressor! Thanks.  

[John Nelson]

On 9/9/2022 at 1:53 PM, scook said:

I don't have a problem with the GR meter but loading presets is a problem.

Can't say I have ever bothered with the presets.

I also tested with an older version of the compressor (v2.4.83 from 2019), it may have never handled PC presets properly. 

Individual presets were added to CbB in 2020.04, around the time when Softube v2.4.96 was released. 

With v2.4.96 all the Softube PC modules started crashing and continued to be a problem until v2.5.39.0 around April 2022 when Softube fixed the crashing problem.

Softube is likely unaware of the preset problem.

 

Update: The preset problem is not limited to the FET compressor. I just ran through a few presets using the VST2 and PC versions of TSAR-1R. The PC reverb fails just like the PC compressor. It appears Softube still has some work to do on all their PC modules.

Update 2: I am not sure if the per-module preset feature added in CbB 2020.04 works with any 3rd party PC modules. I just took a look at Boz Digital +10db and Hoser XT EQs. Preset seem to fail with these PC modules too.

Update 3: After messing with this a little more, it appears the problem may be with how CbB is processing manufacturer supplied presets. Creating and loading new presets seems to work OK. If I had to guess, the problem may be due to the layout differences between the PC and VST plug-ins.

Just to clarify, the meters work fine when the plugin is instantiated either in FX bin or in PC.  What buggers up the meter is opening a preset.  That toggles the plugin "off" and freezes the meter.  Only way to unfreeze the meter is to delete and re-instantiate.

I checked in Reaper and it does not exhibit this behavior with the meter nor plugin on/off when a preset is selected.  Reaper has no equivalent for the Pro Channel, of course.

So... I think it's somewhat Cake specific but as you say presumably it's Softube's bug to fix.

[scook]

On 9/10/2022 at 5:33 PM, John Nelson said:

What buggers up the meter is opening a preset.  That toggles the plugin "off" and freezes the meter.  Only way to unfreeze the meter is to delete and re-instantiate.

The manufacturer presets are not loaded correctly in the PC plug-in. In addition to turning off the PC, the output level is zeroed, and other controls are not set as they are in the regular VST plug-in. This is part of the reason I believe the problem lies with changes made to CbB 2020.04.

Instead of delete and re-instantiate try using the "--Full Reset--" PC preset to recover the PC.

On 9/10/2022 at 5:33 PM, John Nelson said:

I checked in Reaper and it does not exhibit this behavior with the meter nor plugin on/off when a preset is selected.  Reaper has no equivalent for the Pro Channel, of course.

Yeah, this is really not comparable. The regular VST format works as expected in CbB too.

 

As I mentioned in one of the updates my post above, the issue is not unique to the Softube FET compressor but can be seen in other Softube and Boz Digital PC modules. 

I believe this issue was introduced with the CbB 2020.04 per-PC module presets. Prior to that, there was no way work with presets for individual PC plug-ins unless the PC module contained its own preset manager like BREVERB.

 

For now, if one really wants to use the factory presets in the PC, open up the presets in the VST plug-in, copy the settings to the PC and save PC specific presets. Of course, because the controls are not identical, some factory presets may not make sense for the PC.

 

Update: reported to BandLab as a bug

Edited September 12, 2022 by scook

[Glenn Stanton]

i just use the VST version in the PC FX chain works fine. the PC version UI definitely is not very usable... it's a really nice compressor when you need fast transient response - i like to use it when i need to "soften" something a bit. pushing it also adds some nice color.