Richter

Name: Richter
Price: 19.99 USD
Author: Klevgrand

by Klevgrand · Compressor · Heavy compressor

Not rated yet

Richter is a "tectonic" compressor from Klevgrand designed for very heavy compression with few artifacts, set with Transients and Amount dials.

It adds tone control, a three-step boost and dry/wet mix, for $19.99 (normally $69.99).

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

Keywords: heavy, built-in mix knob, bass, clean, vocals, drums, parallel processing, bus processing, deep, drum bus, full mix, minimal controls, mix bus, mixing, simple, single-band, utility, visual feedback, warm.

What it does

Richter is Klevgrand's "Tectonic compressor", built for very heavy compression that stays clean. Its idea is a new envelope follower that avoids the zipper-like distortion extreme settings usually cause, behind just two main dials.

Amount: sets how hard the signal is compressed.
Transients: sets how the envelope follower reacts to transients versus sustained sound, so you choose how much attack survives.
Boost switch: a three-step switch that extends the Amount range; Klevgrand says it makes the span "go to eleven".
Tone: a tonal control for shaping the colour of the compressed sound.
Gain staging: input trim, makeup gain, dry/wet mix for parallel compression, and output.
Display: a real-time graph of the compression activity.

The current version is 1.0.2. The free demo is the full version with occasional audio dropouts.

Source: Klevgrand product page

When to use it

Richter is the pick when you want to squash a sound hard and fast without it falling apart. Compared with Pro-C 3 it has no attack, release, ratio or knee controls, so it is quicker but far less precise. It is cruder than The Glue as a bus compressor, but it reaches heavier, more obvious compression in two moves. Against MJUC's vari-mu colour, Richter aims for weight with minimal artifacts rather than tube character. It is one of the cheapest ways to get a dedicated heavy-squash tool.

Best for: heavy drum and room compression, parallel compression with the mix control, and quick, weighty bass and vocals.
Genres: rock, hip-hop, electronic and pop.
Look elsewhere if: you need detailed attack, release and ratio control or transparent mastering compression; Pro-C 3 gives you that.

What producers say

Few in-depth reviews exist; the one found sees it as an easy, clean-sounding compressor that trades depth of control for speed.

Gear Talk (Greg Kocis, 2025) praised the intuitive layout and clean, warm compression, calling it "a solid pick" for vocals, bass, podcasts and EDM.
Criticisms: the same review noted limited fine control and fewer advanced features than professional compressors, so tweakers may find it restrictive.

Gear Talk review

Where to buy

Klevgrand: $19.99 (regular $69.99)
Plugin Boutique: $69.99
PluginFox: $69.99
AudioDeluxe: $69.99

Tutorials and reviews

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