It seems that many musicians can't have enough compressor plugins, so de la mancha's decision to make sixtyfive - its previously charged-for RMS compressor that was inspired by dbx's classic 165A hardware model from the '70s - available for free is very welcome.
Said to be a soft-knee RMS compressor with a vintage flavour, a smooth and musical sound is promised, along with gentle saturation for added colour and warmth. Sixtyfive trumps the original dbx hardware by offering parallel compression, and you can use it on everything from vocal recordings to your drum buss.
Full features are listed below - sixtyfive can be downloaded now from the de la mancha website. If you like what you hear, the developer suggests that you make a donation to Cancer Research UK.
de la mancha sixtyfive features
- Vintage style RMS compressors with non-linear response, parallel compression and comprehensive metering
- Subtle colouring from a unique blend of harmonics, saturation and noise
- RMS detection offers natural response
- Soft Knee makes for a less obvious transition
- Wet/Dry control allows blending of dry uncompressed signal for phase-free NY style parallel compression
- Non-linear attack/release curves give unique character
- Auto attack/release with manual option
- Manual attack/release has ultra-low values
- Distortion reduction for very short release times
- Linked Stereo input detection, can be unlinked
- Internal or external sidechain routing
- Additional 'Internal sidechain only' version
- Optional hard limiting on final output
- Metering covers stereo input, output and gain reduction. All meters show actual and peak levels with adjustable peak hold time
- LED display to indicate above and below threshold, and in the knee
- Non-linear knobs for precise control at small values
- 18 presets covering different configurations
