HCS1
by HoRNet · Compressor · Vintage guitar compressor/sustainer pedal
Not rated yet
HCS1 recreates a famous compressor-sustainer guitar pedal from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s.
Attack, Sustain and Level controls are joined by a Bright mod, a dry/wet knob for parallel compression and switchable saturation and hiss. It costs €9.99 (about $11.34).
Best for: Guitars, Bass. Genres: Rock & Indie, Pop, R&B & Soul.
Keywords: electric guitar, built-in mix knob, hardware emulation, 70s, 80s, parallel processing, vintage, clean, bass, bright, enhancement, mixing, oversampling, single-band.
What it does
HCS1 is HoRNet's model of a popular guitar compressor/sustainer pedal from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s. HoRNet aims for a "faithful recreation of the hardware compressor behaviour," quirks included.
- Attack: as on the original pedal, the attack is fixed inside the circuit and this knob actually sets the release time.
- Sustain: sets how hard the signal is compressed, against a fixed threshold as on the hardware.
- Level: the output volume.
- Bright mod: a switch that removes the de-emphasis filter for more high-frequency clarity.
- Dry/wet: a blend knob for parallel compression.
- Analog emulation: optional saturation and hiss modeling, with 4x internal oversampling.
The current version is 1.1.0. The demo silences periodically and does not save settings or respond to host automation.
When to use it
HCS1 is the pick when you want the squash and sustain of a vintage guitar pedal rather than a studio compressor. Unlike Pro-C 3 or the 1176 Classic Limiter Collection, it has no ratio, threshold or true attack control: you set sustain amount, release and level, and the pedal's fixed behaviour does the rest. Compared with Brainworx bx_opto Pedal, it copies one specific sustainer, including its odd Attack-as-release knob, and adds a Bright mod, a dry/wet blend and optional hiss. It is one of the cheapest ways to get a dedicated pedal compressor into a DAW.
- Best for: clean rhythm guitar, funk and chicken-picking parts, and sustained clean or lightly driven leads.
- Genres: rock, pop, funk, country and soul.
- Look elsewhere if: you need a studio compressor with ratio, threshold and attack controls; Pro-C 3 or CLA-76 suit general mixing better.
Where to buy
- HoRNet: $11.34 (Listed at €9.99; converted at €1 = $1.1355 (ECB rate, 29 Sep 2026))
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