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
P. Duffy
March 25, 2020
Everyone needs one
I'd used various emulations of this and just decided to bite the bullet and get the UA version. Very glad that I did. A must have for drum mixing!
Read MoreD. Guevara
March 21, 2020
Best digital compressor i have ever used!
This digital compressor has so many options and you can do so much with it, I am very satisfied with my purchase.
Read MoreM. Robinson
March 19, 2020
Damn
I waited way too long to get this comp, one of the best of the entire UA folder
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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
P. Duffy
Everyone needs one
I'd used various emulations of this and just decided to bite the bullet and get the UA version. Very glad that I did. A must have for drum mixing!
D. Guevara
Best digital compressor i have ever used!
This digital compressor has so many options and you can do so much with it, I am very satisfied with my purchase.
UAD User
Thinned voice
Excellent for the voices and guitares.
R. Attias
legendary
...and now I know why.
M. Robinson
Damn
I waited way too long to get this comp, one of the best of the entire UA folder
s. donat
good job
sound great and nasty
C. Gutierrez
British Mode
Sounds good, I like the demo, but I'll buy it when you add a british mode
C. Gutierrez
British Mode
Sounds good, I like the demo, but I'll buy it when you add a british mode
C. Gutierrez
British Mode
Add British mode please
W. Shanks
Sounds like our golden unit!
A dedicated study by UA's algorithmic circuit model experts was held over the course of six months. Our chief scientist did a complete circuit trace and component study of Dave Derr's selected golden unit. Simultaneously, the team analyzed and measured our four specimen Distressors representing the lifetime of the product to ensure one of the tightest sonic and behavioral circuit models to date, well within our goal of analog unit to unit variation. By coincidence, the golden unit had the fastest attack among the four units.
UA reached out to many famous proponents of the EL Distressor to ensure every nuanced detail of the hardware that fans have come to know and love were faithfully captured, along with feedback on their favorite digital convenience features they wanted to see included. UA's plugin product manager and QA staff scrutinized every facet of the plugin against the analog counterpart at every step along the algorithmic development path, ensuring the emulated sonics and circuit behaviors raised the bar of the UAD platform and the Empirical Labs brand. Finally, our work was then made available to Dave Derr for his own sonic verification and ultimately blessing of authentication and release approval.C. Rockaway
Wildly Useful
The first time I engaged the demo of this, I was actually mad, because I knew that I HAD to buy it. Indispensable for the fast-attack, sleek, modern vocal sound. Excellent for dreamy, 'verbed out, spacious electric guitar. We ALL know what this does for a drum set, obviously!
s. bosewicht
The Real thing In The Box
I can not distinguish this from my real unit. Now I can use this on all my guitar tracks and make changes without committing to audio tracks. This is the plugin I use the most by far. Even just using the 1 to 1 ratio just to get the magic of running through the device it ads a lot to the character of the source. It is relatively light on resources.
J. WOODS
Get it.
You can't go wrong with you UAD
P. Mata Rodriguez
it's a must!!!
it's a plugin we should all have, excellent sound and easy to use.
D. Pezzati
The compressor for experiment
I own a real Distressor and this is a very close model. I tend to experiment with this on everything, not just a compressor, this is a shaping tool!
C. Gutierrez
Nice but useless
Please add British mode!! Nowadays with all plugins emulations of opto, vca, varimu... and the powerful pro c2, the only reason to use a distressor is because it's the only one compressor which got 1176 4 buttons knee behavior with 30ms of attack and variable ratio. So please update to emulate el8x version with BRITISH MODE
J. meul
Thick in your face
Really love how it does something when tracking vocals a up front in your face sound! That and the new avalon in unison mode !
F. Ferrer
Happy New Year to me
I have never used the hardware, anyway it is irrelevant to me, this pluging works wonders.
B. DU
Best plugin ever
Almost identical to hardware.
P. Choudhury
You cannot go wrong with it
Distressor - Super Plugin!!!
