McDSP Everything Pack

The Everything Pack from McDSP brings together the company’s classic plug-ins with a few added bonuses, writes Alan Branch.

McDSP has a heritage and reputation as a leader in plug-in design and its plug-ins are recommended and endorsed by top engineers worldwide. Founded by ex-Digidesign engineer Colin McDowell, McDSP was one of the first companies to begin modelling vintage hardware as plug-ins started to replace real hardware. The company recently released an Everything Pack, including every single one of its EQs and compressors bundled into one supreme collection. Plug-in formats are AU, AAX (DSP & Native), TDM, RTAS, and AS, with the new plug-ins currently AAX only (AU formats are coming soon).

As the full list would be too long to cover entirely I have picked one of the classics as well as the newest plug-ins McDSP has added as the subjects of this review.

Classic – 6030 Ultimate Compressor

If there is a favourite among McDSP’s offering it has to be the 6030 Ultimate Compressor – a lunchbox-style plug-in featuring a collection of 10 classic compressors modelled and moded by McDSP that range in order of smooth and transparent to aggressive. The list of compressors included are U670, Moo Tube, iComp, Opto-C, Opto-L, British C, OverEZ, SST, 76, FRG 444, and D357, giving you everything from a Fairchild to a Neve.

What makes this great is how it offers a whole bundle of plug-ins within one plug-in. The module selection and easy-to-choose arrangement of them all makes it a fast no-brainer style of applying compression to a track with a single click. Sound-wise, not only has Colin McDowell modelled each unit really well but he’s also tweaked them (for example, the attack ballistics of the Fairchild u670 are easier to use). If you’re not sure if an optical or a solid state might work best on a snare or a bass drum, using the Ultimate 6030 is great for quickly hearing the differences between compressors. One added extra is the D357, which is a McDSP design aimed to be an extreme ‘dirty’ compressor with its own ‘Crush’ control that ranges from ‘Some’ to ‘Tons’ – I love Colin’s design humour here.

Read the rest in our March digital edition.

The reviewer

Alan Branch is a freelance engineer/producer and ex-member of the On U Sound Crew. His list of credits include Jamiroquai, Beverley Knight, M People, Simply Red, Depeche Mode, Shed 7, Sinead O’Connor, Bjork, and Sade.

www.alanbranch.com
www.mcdsp.com