Slate Digital VBC Rack Review ***10/10***


Slate has made a name for themselves as a powerhouse in the analog modeling world of audio plugins, and the VBC compressor rack is no exception. Combining three compressors in series ( or separately assignable within the plugin list ) it has all the glue your buss needs to sound radio ready.
Let's dive in to this monster and see why it comes out on top with a perfect score.




Our first helpful tools come at the very top of the plugin window. We have a selection of great sounding presets for each module, as well as an incredibly useful A/B switch to quickly flip between tones.

The Compressors




The FG-Grey is a near perfect recreation of the fabled British buss compressor of the 1980's. Intuitive controls, including an auto release and variable compression ratios, make getting the fat, full punch of your tracks in minutes an effortless affair. I like to have mine at the top of the chain, utilizing the high pass filter to let the kick in and the onboard parallel mix knob between 50-80%.



The FG-Red is an incredible tone machine, and usually sits in either the second or third position in my chain. Per the advice of Mr. Slate himself, i like to set mine with the auto release function, the fastest possible attack, 1.5/1 comp ratio and enough drive to add some harmonic sparkle. I then adjust the threshold until its just kissing 1-3 db without over doing it. The result is a glue strong enough to pull together even the most unruly of sources with a polish that smells like chart topping hits.




Last but not least, comes the FG-Mu. Based on the fabled Vari-mu compressors of yore, this musical monster compresses more and more and the signal gets further and further above the threshold. Invaluable on drums, guitars, and vocals, this is my favorite peak taming device in my plugin arsenal. With the added functionality of mid side processing, this comp always finds its way on my master buss to control my mid and side signals independent of each other. Simply flip to mid side from stereo on the left and disengage the stereo link option. Now you can control the amount of compression as well as the make up gain to have full control over the stereo image. Like all the other modules, the FG-Mu has a built in parallel mix knob for retention of original dynamics and punch.


In summation, the Slate VBC Rack plugin is the easiest and most efficient way to inject analog glue onto your busses for that radio ready polish and shine. I haven't had a single session without this on my master buss, if not all my other busses as well. Do yourself a favor, and give this one a try.

10/10

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