Empirical Labs® EL8 Distressor
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The world’s most popular compressor, exactingly recreated for UAD and Apollo.
Introduced in 1993, the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is revered in studios all over the world as the modern, “must-have” compressor. Versatile, super fast, and offering tons of color, the Distressor picks up where the legendary UA 1176 and Teletronix LA-2A compressors leave off — a modern tool that’s equal parts utilitarian and creative, as heard on thousands of hit records.
The only authentic Distressor plug-in endorsed by Empirical Labs’ founder Dave Derr, the UAD Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is available exclusively for UAD hardware and Apollo interfaces. An exhaustive end-to-end emulation of Derr’s iconic hardware, the UAD EL8 Distressor is the only faithful emulation of this true “desert island” compressor.Now You Can:
Track and mix with the only authentic emulation of the EL8 Distressor — the world's most popular 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
5-Min UAD Tip
In this video, learn how the EL8 Distressor compressor can transform your mixes into something truly special.
The Only End-to-End Distressor Emulation
The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor plug-in provides all the features and coveted sound of the original Distressor design. UA’s team of DSP experts started with a complete circuit trace and component study of Dave Derr's selected golden unit. Simultaneously, the team analyzed three more Distressors representing the lifetime of the product — ensuring one of UA’s tightest circuit models to date.
When comparing Distressor software emulations, contrast the original hardware’s ultra-fast attack time to quickly hear where most plug-ins fail, and the authentic UAD Distressor succeeds.
The Right 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 delivering unique tones and curves. Use the 1:1 ratio to gently warm up synths or strings without compression, while adding musical low-order harmonics. At the other extreme, the Nuke limiter setting is famous for adding explosive excitement to room mics, or energizing a entire mix.
Distortion Modes
The Distressor's iconic Dist 2 and Dist 3 modes feature a wide palette of compression coloration, letting you shape sources with even or combined even/odd-order harmonic distortion. From delicate thickening to burnished tape to fully saturated, the Distortion Modes, combined with low-frequency filtering, let you focus the Distressor’s textures.
Powerful Sidechain Controls
The Distressor’s sidechain control lets you easily focus your dynamics. High Pass filter unwanted low frequency pumping and breathing — perfect for drum bus processing. Band Emphasis works to tame strident vocals or can laser in on harsh “power region” instrument midrange peaks, or use both together.
You can also run the Distressor on buses, linked or unlinked, for flexible imaging. Exclusive plug-in features like Dry/Wet Mix offer easy parallel compression on a mix bus or instrument group. Finally, the Headroom control lets you optimize the Distressor’s overall operating level to your playback system.
“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
Customer Reviews
k. jang
February 11, 2019
Easy to use and amazing sound.
We use it in various ways, especially for drum kick and snare. I have not used the original hardware but it is a very good compressor.
Read MoreB. Unis
January 28, 2019
Hard pressed to find things it doesn't sound good on.
Anytime I find myself pausing in a mix, wondering what a sound 'needs' to just feel better. I reach for the EL8! It can really bring a vocal forward in a mix, fatten up any drum you throw...
Read MoreA. Hume
January 24, 2019
Great Plugin!
One of my favorite UAD plugins. Sounds great on pretty much everything - Dry/Wet mix feature is awesome to have.
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Key Features
Painstaking, end-to-end circuit emulation of the iconic hardware designed by Dave Derr, exclusively for Universal Audio
Provides the entire circuit path and control set of the original Empirical Labs hardware
Features seven fixed ratios, including Optical and Nuke, Distortion Modes, and Detector Modes
Plug-in-exclusive features include Dry/Wet parallel processing and Headroom for user-customizable operating level
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Customer Reviews
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor
L. Lammert
Wow
Can’t tell the difference between this and my hardware
k. jang
Easy to use and amazing sound.
We use it in various ways, especially for drum kick and snare. I have not used the original hardware but it is a very good compressor.
B. Unis
Hard pressed to find things it doesn't sound good on.
Anytime I find myself pausing in a mix, wondering what a sound 'needs' to just feel better. I reach for the EL8! It can really bring a vocal forward in a mix, fatten up any drum you throw at it, add grit to guitars and can probably even park your car ;) Swiss army tool for sure! Love it. Highly recommended.
A. Hume
Great Plugin!
One of my favorite UAD plugins. Sounds great on pretty much everything - Dry/Wet mix feature is awesome to have.
B. Willems
Allround
Very good allround compressor!
B. Willems
Allround
Very good allround compressor!
M. Bravin
Magnifique
J'ai testé ce produit pendant 14 jours en démo sur le mix entierd'un album et je suis bluffé, je l'ai mis à coté de mon compresseur Slate Digital et je bypass pour pouvoir faire une vraie comparaison et c'est le jour et la nuit. Je l'utilise sur mes voix, sur mon Bus de drum, tout devient plus clair, plus de punch... Je ne pourrai plus m'en passer. J'attends les promo UA pour en faire immédiatement l'acquisition, les jours sont désormais longs face à cette attente! A posséder d'urgence...
A. Warren
Easy and sounds great
Thank you to whoever encouraged me to buy this. I can hear why, very versatile. Could become a favourite.
A. Warren
Easy and sounds great
Thank you to whoever encouraged me to buy this. I can hear why, very versatile. Could become a favourite.
D. Zahn
Favorite UAD Compressor
It sounds great on everything, and the ability to run numerous instances makes me go from 6 to midnight.
D. Gianesello
Really similar to the real Distressor outboard!
I own a real Distressor outboard, an exceptional and extremely versatile machine ... and I can say that this UA plugin sounds almost the same ... wonderful!
J. Tristán
De lo mejor
Es impresionante lo que este plugin es capaz de hacer. Desde algo suave hasta lo más agresivo que te imagines. Aporta vida y carácter allá donde lo insertes. Totalmente recomendado.
D. Cojocaru
Tasty!!
I love what it is doing to my drums!!!!
P. Giacalone
Great software comp
To be clear, it’s still not the same as the hardware - but... nothing is. It’s still great in its own right and well worth owning. I do wish they had emulated the britmod version.
A. Milyukov
Empirical Labs Distressor Plug-In for UAD-2
Loved the plugin !!! Perfect for vocals plugin !!!
M. Kartashev
Amazing emulation of the best compressor!
If you can have only one this is it!
R. JAGRU
Totally impressed
This plugin is amazing.
It’s the final touch to my mixA. Lee
Incredible
I saw the review of this by Michael White - he said " I can't believe it" - I know exactly what he means! This is not only the best compressor plugin ever, it could just be the best plugin ever!!!
E. Buckley
The only compressor you need
Of all the compressors on the market, the Distressor is the island piece. Granted, UAD makes some great plugins and their very own 1176 was the best software compressor I owned until the Distressor came along. This does everything the 1176 does but so much more. This is a no brainer.
C. Stimpel
An industry standard brought to the digital platform.
I'm not sure how they do it but they do it. Getting to use this in the studio as a hardware unit gave us a good comparison for the software. It's crazy how accurate this thing is plus a mix knob makes it that much cooler.
