Klanghelm - DC1A

The DC1A is a deceptively simple little compressor from Berlin developer Klanghelm. They describe it as 'the little brother of the compression monster DC8C', their more full-featured compression plug-in. 

While the DC1A does not have a huge array of controls, it does have a lovely sound, and as it is a free plug-in, it is very much worth a look. Klanghelm have worked hard to make this compressor work with only too main controls – input and output. Given the simplicity of the interface it is a surprisingly diverse plug-in that can be effective in a wide range of contexts, from smooth and gentle leveling right through to heavy pumping. It has a punchy character, and it provides a warm, crunchy saturation when you drive it hard.

Aside from those two main control knobs, there are four switchable controls at the bottom of the interface that are worth examining too. 'Deep' enables a side-chain high-pass filter, to keep the low-end of your signal intact. 'Relaxed', when enabled, offers a gentler character of compression, with less saturation. 'Dual Mono' allow you to compress the right and left channels of a stereo track independently. Finally, 'Negative' enables an alternative compression curve with

negative ratios at more extreme input settings; handy when more obvious and aggressive compression is required. 

The DC1A is available for Mac and PC in 32 and 64 bit versions. It comes in VST, VST3, AU, RTAS and AAX formats and you can download it from here.