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Going Weiss (Sunday 10 November, 2024)
Black Friday
The Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States…….Black Friday……..I could not resist any longer and finally bought the Weiss DS1-MK3 compressor plugin from Softube. I tried this compressor a couple of years ago and was impressed. However, at that time, and still, I didn’t want to spend 550 euro for a compressor and, therefore, settled for the Unisum (Tone Projects). The DS1-MK3 plugin is based on the original DS1-MK3hardware that is still sold but for a price I will never be able to afford. I intend to use this compressor mainly for mastering. I also got the Weiss EQ 1 that will now be my go to mastering equalizer.
The Hardware
The DS1-MK3 is a full-band or band-selective compressor (max 1000:1), limiter, and de-esser with M/S mode and parallel compression facilities. It features linear-phase crossover filters that cover the whole audio band. This allows the DS1-MK3 to be used as a band selective or full band compressor and limiter. It is also possible to use the DS1-MK3 for parallel compression and for upward compression (max 1:5)
The DS1-MK3 can be used for M/S compression, in which case the controls for the two channels are set to unganged. Similarly, the sidechain linking can be turned off, which is typically preferable for M/S operation.
The DS1-MK3 offers incredibly detailed control over the processing taking place. Not least can the unit’s release behavior be tailored in detail, with individual control over fast release (release after momentary peaks), slow release (release in response to changes in the average level), control over the RMS measurement window size, and also the unique release delay setting which adds a “hold” delay before the unit enters the release phase
Image: the Weiss DS1-MK3 compressor hardware unit
The Plugin
The Weiss DS1-MK3 plugin (online manual and extended features) from Softube is built on the legacy hardware. In tight collaboration with Daniel Weiss, Softube ported the code the DS1-MK3 line-by-line in the plugin. This means the code of the original hardware is identical to the code found in the DS1-MK3 plug-in. It isn’t an exacting emulation. It’s the exact same product. The result is nothing less than the authentically transparent sound quality of the master of mastering processors.
Update from DS1-MK3 (v3.0) hardware to DS1-MK3 plug-in
- New limiter Types added (Type 1 for highest RMS values and Type 2 when true peak is needed).
- Processing resolution has been increased to 32 bit 192 khz (40 bit internal resolution).
- Added Waveform Display view for real-time gain reduction monitoring. The visual feedback allows to track the variations in a project and optimize the sound quality.
- Options dialogs have been redesigned for better ergonomics in computer environment.
- Preset management can now be done in the DAW or a dedicated Preset Collection tool.
- Screen is now interactive. Users can click and change on various screen elements and settings (see the detailed description in Screen section)
- Original Data/Gain knob now performs only Gain change function.
Image: the Weiss DS1-MK3 compressor plugin from Softube
Image: Schematic of the DS1-MK3 compressor
Envelope detection
The envelop curve is determined by the attack time, release delay, fast and slow release time, average time to calculate the RMS, and the RMS.
Image: Envelope curve
Attack and Preview
The longer the attack time, the more will the leading edge of fast transients pass by the gain reduction circuit unaltered. Very fast attack time settings such as 20µs, i.e., one sample period, do catch every transient, but may distort low frequencies. To utilize longer attack times and still catch fast transients, use preview (in Options).
Fast and slow release
The release time after compressing is a combination of a fast and slow release time, an approach not found on other compressors (as far as I am aware of). The input signal is monitored with two different methods: peak amplitude and RMS value. The peak amplitude is the programme portion we don’t perceive as very loud, however which can easily cause overloads. The RMS value of the programme material we perceive as loudness. Its variations contribute most to the dynamic range of the audio. The sidechain processor compares the two measurements it obtained from the peaks and the RMS. The ratio between the two determines which time constant would be the appropriate release, e.g. after short duration peak the faster release will be applied during the release phase. The time period over which the RMS value of the programme material is averaged is set by the “average” parameter. The effect of the average parameter can best be studied on the gain reduction meter. Fast “average” settings will cause most of the gain reduction meter to move very fast (depending on the “release fast” setting) , slower settings will just have the top part of the gain reduction move fast, with the bottom part depending on the “release slow” setting.
Non-linear transfer curve
The non-linear transfer curve is determined by the compression threshold, ratio, soft-knee, and make-up gain.
Image: Gain reduction for various settings of the soft-knee. The soft-knee determines how much the knee is rounded. The maximum setting (1.0) chooses a curve that reaches from 0dBFS down to twice the threshold value. This implies that if soft-knee is engaged the signal is already affected even if its envelope lies below the threshold.
The DS1-MK3 plugin comes with three additional plugins: the Weiss compressor/limiter, the MM-1 mastering maximizer, and the Deess (a de-esser).
Weiss EQ 1
Weiss Exciter
