Avalon VT-747SP

Name: Avalon VT-747SP
Price: 39.99 USD
Author: Kazrog

by Kazrog · Compressor · Opto compressor / passive EQ

Not rated yet

Avalon VT-747SP is the official Kazrog emulation of Avalon Design's stereo Class A tube opto compressor with a six-band passive graphic EQ, a mix and mastering bus staple.

It adds a spectral sidechain EQ, switchable tube or transistor signal path and 130+ presets, and uses very little CPU.

Best for: Mix Bus, Mastering, Vocals, Bass. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: bus processing, mastering, opto, sidechain input, tube, spectral, hardware emulation, mix bus, bass, preset-driven, transistor, vocals, full mix, A/B compare, classic, CPU-light, mixing, polish, resizable UI, single-band.

What it does

Avalon VT-747SP brings Avalon Design's "legendary mix and master buss processor" into the DAW, developed with Avalon and tested against several hardware units. It combines an opto compressor, a passive six-band EQ and a switchable Class A tube path.

Compressor: continuously variable ratio from 1:1 to 20:1 limiting, attack from 2 to 200 ms, threshold, release and up to +10 dB makeup gain.
Spectral sidechain: low (60 Hz to 1 kHz) and high (600 Hz to 10 kHz) peaking filters with ±15 dB contour feed the detector for frequency-dependent compression.
Six-band EQ: passive-style bands at 15 Hz, 125 Hz, 500 Hz, 2 kHz, 5 kHz and 32 kHz, placeable before or after the compressor.
TSP switch: choose between three virtual dual triode tubes or the Class A discrete transistor path, with a +10 dB input boost for drive.
Extras: 130+ presets from Michael Brauer, F. Reid Shippen, Joe Carrell and others, silver or black themes, resizable window, A/B presets.

The free demo drops to silence at random intervals and disables preset saving.

Source: Kazrog product page

When to use it

The VT-747SP adds a broad musical EQ with an air band and a sidechain EQ in one window, where most bus compressors on the site, such as the Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, Universal Audio API 2500 Bus Compressor and Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, are compressors only. Pick it when you want to compress and tone-shape a bus in one step. For the tracking channel-strip side of Avalon's sound, Universal Audio's Avalon VT-737 Tube Channel Strip covers what it does not.

Best for: mix bus and mastering polish, submixes and instrument buses, and leveling bass or vocals.
Genres: works in any genre, from pop and hip-hop masters to acoustic recordings.
Look elsewhere if: you want a leveling-amp sound with medium attack and long release; Barry Rudolph noted this compressor might not be the one for that.
Standout: the spectral sidechain EQ, which makes frequency-dependent compression quick to set up.

What producers say

Reviewers and buyers praise its sound and low CPU use, with a short learning curve noted.

Barry Rudolph (2024) called it "a fine addition to any plug-in collection" and the spectral sidechain "by far the most precise way to set up a compressor side-chain," measuring 1 to 2% CPU on a stereo bus.
Kazrog store reviews show 92% five-star ratings out of 448; buyers say "The combined comp/eq plays very nice together" and "A little goes a long way" on buses.
Gripe: one store reviewer mentioned a small learning curve and recommended reading the manual.

Where to buy

Kazrog: $39.99

Tutorials and reviews

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