# Maps.map
A bestiary of compressors I have actually used
Personal taxonomy. Notes are what they sound like to me, not what the manuals claim. Grouped by topology, sorted by how often I reach for them.
VCA
SSL G-Bus (the real one)
Glue. Mix bus, 2:1, 100ms attack, auto release, 1–2dB. Anything more and it pumps.
DBX 160VU (silver)
Snare. Fast attack, hard knee, 4:1. Adds the click; subtracts the body.
API 2500
Drum bus when SSL is too polite. The thrust knob is a high-pass on the sidechain, not a tilt.
FET
1176 Rev D (blue stripe)
Bass DI. All-buttons-in on a parallel send. The original 4:1 is more useful than people remember.
Universal Audio 6176
Vocal tracking. Faster than the 1176 plugin would have you believe. Slower than a hardware 1176 in the hot months.
Opto
LA-2A (any)
Vocal mix bus. Set it once and stop touching it. Touching it makes everything worse.
Tube-Tech CL 1B
When the LA-2A is too slow and the 1176 is too fast. Boring on purpose.
Vari-Mu
Manley Vari-Mu
Mastering. 0.5dB at a time. The needles are decorative; trust the meters on the DAW.
Fairchild 670 (plugin)
A myth. Use it when you need to feel like you are doing something.