You should check out Black Rooster VLA-2A ( ) against UAD LA-2A. Today they released a compressor, a “Fairchild clone” ( ) so I’ve been playing with that today. I just found it bring things to life with compression, a lil excitement, a lil control. Saw the vid on Youtube and immediately got the demo to try it! It sounds better than what I have, I started using it on bass, vocals, snares, almost everything…lol. I did some research and found Overloud Gem-76 (I saw this a while now but didn’t pay it any attention). I got Waves Cla-76 and Slate FG-76, Modern and Vintage, but they don’t have that vibe that the UAD got. When I hear those UAD, I go to the plugs I have but they don’t feel the same. Nice test!!! I wanted that 1176 sound I was hearing but the closest plugin that sounds like it are those UAD plugins I hear on YouTube. I’m really really impressed with this thing, and I’m glad you mentioned it in the other thread! So I think the Overloud (at least for me) could become my go-to if I want a compressor that behaves like FET compressor but has the transparency of a high end VCA compressor. On a gentle intimate female vocal for example, it can be really tough to draw out the detail without faster attack and release speeds damaging the source. And the UAD when you need some real thick grit and muscle. I would probably reach for it over the UAD for a delicate vocal or a transparent piano. I feel its on a similar quality level with the UAD version, and that says a lot…I hold UAD very high regard when it comes to 1176’s. Overall, I think its brighter, smoother, and cleaner than the UAD version. And most evident when you squeeze/tighten/choke the back end of a transient on a drum hit. The release is probably biggest difference between the two. I would say the overloud has a tendency to be really smooth for an 1176 clone. It seems like the overloud has a hyped top, the UAD has a heavily colored crunch in the mid range around 1k once the compression hits a certain peak, but it doesn’t get in the way if you’re aware of it. When the attack and release are both set all the way fast on a 4:1 ratio, the attack is quicker than the UAD on the same settings. The meters and the knob positions are obviously different so you can’t just set attack and release at 12 and give them a whirl. It took some extensive listening on a bunch of different stuff to really compare them.