
Empirical Labs® EL8 Distressor
-
Get the colorful sound of the world’s most popular compressor.
The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is revered in studios the world over as the modern, “must-have” compressor. Versatile with tons of color, the Distressor picks up where the legendary UA 1176 and Teletronix LA-2A compressors leave off — giving you a modern tool that’s equal parts utilitarian and creative, as heard on thousands of hit records.
Included Versions
UAD Native
Runs on your Mac or PC without UA hardware.Apollo Realtime & UAD‑2
Runs accelerated on Apollo interfaces and UAD‑2 hardware.UAD Native plug-ins run on both macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer and Windows 10 and 11. Go to our UA Support page for system requirements.
- Track and mix with the only authentic emulation of the EL8 Distressor — the world's most sought-after modern compressor
- Radically shape guitars, drums, and vocals with nearly infinite gain reduction variations
- Harness plug-in-only features like Dry/Wet parallel processing and Headroom for user‑customizable operating level
- Creatively color instruments and vocals with famous “Dist 2” and “Dist 3” modes
- Embellish, pump up, or destroy bass, synth, and room mics with custom detector filtering
- Mix with presets from Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes), Vance Powell (Jack White), Jacquire King (Kings of Leon), Jimmy Douglass (The Rolling Stones), and more
TAKE A LISTEN
Learn how to Add Energy to Drums
Grammy-winning engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, The Dead Weather) and the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor plug‑in.
Shape with the Only End‑to‑End Distressor Emulation
The EL8 Distressor Compressor plug-in gives you all the features and tone of the original hardware. Simply compare other Distressor emulations for yourself, and contrast the original hardware’s ultra-fast attack time to quickly hear where most plug-ins fail, and the authentic UAD Distressor succeeds.
Find the Perfect Compression Ratio
The crux of the Distressor are its staggering variations in compression — 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 6:1, 10:1, 20:1 and Nuke — each offering unique sounds. Use the 1:1 ratio to gently warm up synths or strings without compression, while adding musical harmonics. Conversely, the Nuke setting gives explosive excitement to room mics or your entire mix.
Add Color with Distortion Modes
The Distressor's iconic Dist 2 and Dist 3 modes give you a wide palette of compression textures, letting you shape sources with even or combined even/odd-order harmonic distortion, from delicate thickening to burnished tape to fully saturated.
Focus Dynamics with Powerful Sidechain Controls
The Distressor’s sidechain control gets rid of unwanted low-frequency pumping — perfect for drum bus processing — while Band Emphasis tames strident vocals and harsh “power region” instrument peaks. You can also harness "plug-in only" features like Dry/Wet Mix for easy parallel compression on a mix bus or instrument group.
“The UAD EL8 Distressor feels just like the hardware, giving me results that I’ve been missing in the box.”
– Jacquire King (James Bay, Kings of Leon, Tom Waits)“The Distressor is capable of such radical compression tones, that it becomes its own instrument. I’m confident the UAD version will become just as useful as the hardware.”
– Joe Chiccarelli (Jason Mraz, Beck, The Strokes, Morrissey)“The Distressor is the perfect all around compressor, and no studio should be without a few of them. Now with the UAD Distressor, you can have as many as you need!”
– Vance Powell (Jack White, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs)“From subtle compression to destruction, the Distressor handles everything with style.”
– Hector Delgado (A$AP Rocky, Selena Gomez, Lana Del Rey)“The Distressor truly is the desert island dynamics tool, for controlling levels or creatively reshaping instruments into sounds that couldn’t be heard otherwise.”
– Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House, Future Islands)Watch The Reviews
5-Min UAD Tip
In this video, learn how the EL8 Distressor compressor can transform your mixes into something truly special.
Customer Reviews
J. Lewis
February 11, 2025
I had no idea..?
A friend of mine once wrote, 'I can get any type of compression I want from a Distressor, it's the only copressor I use.' That was 5 years ago and it still didn't tempt me to buy it...
Read MoreW. Barroso
February 4, 2025
Excelente plugins
hasta el momento uno de los mejores compresores que he usado en mis mezclas.
Read MoreM. Bonucelli
January 26, 2025
GOOD FUR ALL USES
Very effective plugin, from versatile compressions to smart saturations. Good for any kind of use.
Read MoreG. Kiarie
January 22, 2025
distressor
I have compared it with my hardware there is basically very little difference.
Read More -
Customer Reviews
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor
J. Lewis
I had no idea..?
A friend of mine once wrote, 'I can get any type of compression I want from a Distressor, it's the only copressor I use.' That was 5 years ago and it still didn't tempt me to buy it because the name still put me off, I don't want a compressor that distorts and magles sound, I love my LA2A, V76U73 and Fairchild emulations. The other day though, I bought the Distressor and I am very impressed at how smooth sounding it can be and how, like a 1176, it can add a kind of insistence to vocals. Smooth and insistent, it's a winning combination for me, especially as the vocal doesn't seem to be coloured either. I need to try the Distressor on other sounds, so I admit, this is an early review, but don't let the name put you off, this can be a lovely transparent compressor.
W. Barroso
Excelente plugins
hasta el momento uno de los mejores compresores que he usado en mis mezclas.
M. Wala
Great !
Great compressor for everything :)
M. Bonucelli
GOOD FUR ALL USES
Very effective plugin, from versatile compressions to smart saturations. Good for any kind of use.
M. Taki
I wasted my money.
As countless people have reported online, I was unable to download the software I purchased and was unable to use it.
There was a problem with the UA connect software used to download the purchased software.
I was using a Windows environment, but an error occurred and it would not even start. I contacted support, tried all the information on the Internet, and even did a clean install of Windows, but it didn't work. This software is rubbish. I wasted my money.M. Richey
Amazing!
They did a great job with this one!
G. Kiarie
distressor
I have compared it with my hardware there is basically very little difference.
J. Hernández
Excelente
Me ha ayudado mucho
Sobre todo en mis tracks de batería
A realzar su sonidoA. Resendes
Former Distressor Owner
I once owned the actual Distressor, paired it with my sp1200 which was an incredible combo some years ago. Regretted selling it but I couldn’t afford a second one to get the true experience.
I never forgot the sound and feel of it, however, and I can say this nails it pretty conclusively. I have no complaints and feel it’s definitely collection worthy.T. Itkin
Exactly what it needs to be
This is a plug-and-play compressor. Bass, kick, anything you could think of. It does its job exceedingly well. Easily the best compressor I have if I don't want to use a gentle one or a FET.
D. Vasquez
Impresionante !!
El Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor hace un trabajo excepcional !!!
Tiene todo lo que amamos del equipo análogo justo dentro de nuestro DAW.
*****G. Kiarie
Sound
It’s like having 3 types of compressors in one.
PerfectoJ. Hoppe
Massive!
This thing is a beast !
M. M
Great
a must have compressor as shown in the promotion video
B. Barr
Distresed
Engage Distortion for bass guitar. :)
P. Barreno
Suena de huevos.
Que les digo, hay infinidad de posibilidades en cuanto a textura y sonido.
H. Krocke
Great plugin !
Sounds great, just like a Distressor does !
F. Costa
My favorite Distressor
This is my favorite 'Distressor' plugin! I use it in all my mixes !
I really like using this plugin on snares or in parallel on drums. I also love using it in parallel on the lead vocal when I want a sound that's a bit more transparent than the 1176, for example.E. Starzhynskiy
Tip for developers
Excellent performance from UA. Excellent sound from the original. The only minus is the design of the plugin. Personally, I want the legendary things to remain in the design of plugins in their forms. As, for example, a plugin was made in the design 1176. Because people who cannot buy the original want to see as much of this original as possible in the plugin (this only applies to the design). And adding various goodies to the plugin, here we cannot restrain the chef). I hope the UA team listens to the advice, because they do good things, and I want them to be even better.
T. Sekler
great for voice
As a voice actor this is an awesome tool. I am only starting to discover the possibilities. Adds organic power to my voice, very granular