IRON

by SPL · Compressor · Tube mastering compressor

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An emulation of SPL's IRON mastering compressor, featuring tube circuitry, varied rectifier modes and transformer coloration.

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

Keywords: mastering, tube, bus processing, mix bus, colored, full mix, mid/side, parallel processing, external sidechain, germanium, hardware emulation, mono-compatible, rectifying, sidechain input, single-band, stereo-linked, transformer, wide.

What it does

IRON is a tube compressor for mastering and bus compression, with a parallel dual tube circuit.

Tubes: 12AX7/ECC83 and 12AU7/ECC82 in parallel.
Rectifiers: six settings (germanium, silicon, LED and mixes).
Timing: six attack/release options and sidechain filters with an external input.
Stereo: M/S processing, Mono-Maker, stereo width, a passive EQ on the master output and Stereo Link.

Source: SPL product page

When to use it

IRON is a coloured mastering compressor with a lot of routing options. Compared with Softube's Tube-Tech CL 1B, the better-known tube option nearby, IRON adds mid/side and extras for the master.

Best for: mastering and mix bus.

Where to buy

Plugin Alliance: $150

Tutorials and reviews

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