Model 5000

Name: Model 5000
Price: 99 USD
Author: Tone Empire

by Tone Empire · Compressor · Hybrid VCA compressor

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Model 5000 is a hybrid VCA compressor that combines British ratio curves and timing with American broadcast weight.

Its KNOCK circuit adds low-end lift through the sidechain, with transformer emulation and autogain, for $99.

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

Keywords: bus processing, bass, drums, VCA, glue, mix bus, sidechain input, transformer, auto-gain, hardware emulation, punchy, inspired by, mastering, built-in mix knob, A/B compare, broadcast, classic, drum bus, electric guitar, full mix, kick, mixing, oversampling, parallel processing, single-band, vocals.

What it does

Model 5000 is a hybrid VCA compressor in Tone Empire's Enhanced Classics series, combining "British ratio and timing fused with American knock and muscle." It is built for weight and punch on drums, bass and the mix bus.

Compressor core: ratio, attack and release in the style of the classic British bus compressor, with a minimum ratio of 2:1, plus auto release.
KNOCK circuit: a low-end sidechain EQ with a switchable frequency and up to 4 dB of lift, for extra weight on kicks, bass and mixes.
TransX: a dynamic input and output transformer emulation that responds to how hard you drive it; the input level sets how much it saturates.
Mix: wet/dry blend for parallel compression.
Workflow: autogain, A/B comparison, presets and up to 8x oversampling.

A 15-day full-version trial is available with no feature limits.

Source: Tone Empire product page

When to use it

Model 5000 is the better pick when you want SSL-style bus glue with more low-end weight. Compared with Waves' SSL G-Master Buss Compressor and Cytomic's The Glue, it adds the KNOCK low-end lift and TransX transformer colour, and it has a Mix control built in. Its ratio stops at 2:1, so it is less suited to very gentle mastering moves than the hardware it draws on. It is a character compressor; Pro-C 3 offers far more control, metering and styles.

Best for: punch and glue on drum buses, mix buses and bass; also guitars, vocals and light mastering.
Genres: general purpose; especially rock, hip-hop and electronic music that want weighty low end.
Look elsewhere if: you want a clean, surgical compressor (Pro-C 3) or a gentler bus compressor for light mastering (The Glue).
Tip: Sound On Sound suggests leaving TransX on for most jobs and using the input level to set how much it colours.

What producers say

Sound On Sound found it versatile and flattering, with one small limitation.

Sound On Sound (Paul White, 2021) praised the solid low end from the Knock side-chain EQ, the glue from TransX, the clear interface and useful presets, and found it excels on drums, the mix bus and mastering: "The more you use it, the more things you'll find it works well for."
Criticisms: the minimum ratio is 2:1, without the 1.5:1 setting of the hardware it draws on, which limits very gentle mastering use.

Sound On Sound review

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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