Manley Variable Mu Limiter Compressor
by Universal Audio · Compressor · Vari-mu compressor
Not rated yet
Emulation of the Manley Variable Mu tube compressor, a mastering and bus favorite.
Best for: Mastering, Mix Bus. Genres: all genres.
Keywords: vari-mu, hardware emulation, mastering, tube, bus processing, full mix, licensed emulation, built-in mix knob, mixing, sidechain input, mid/side, mix bus, parallel processing, single-band, stereo-linked.
What it does
Universal Audio's emulation of the Manley Variable Mu tube limiter/compressor, aimed at mixing and mastering.
- Stereo operation: channel linking, plus Left/Right or Mid/Side modes.
- Sidechain: a high-pass filter in the sidechain.
- Plug-in-only extras: a dry/wet Mix control for parallel compression.
- Presets: artist presets from engineers including Tom Elmhirst and Mike Larson.
Source: Universal Audio product page
When to use it
A slow, gentle vari-mu compressor, suited to gluing mix buses, mastering and sustained sources such as vocals or piano. It is a very different sound from the fast, punchy 1176 or the opto LA-2A, and less surgical than FabFilter Pro-C 3. Best for pop, rock, jazz and acoustic material where you want subtle, tube-flavoured control.
Where to buy
- Best Service: $149
- Universal Audio: $149
- PluginFox: $149
- AudioDeluxe: $149
Tutorials and reviews
- Manley Variable Mu Limiter Compressor Settings
- Manley Variable Mu Sound Examples
- UAD Manley Variable Mu Limiter Compressor Trailer 【日本語字幕】
- UAD Manley Variable Mu Plug-in VS Hardware Compressor Limiter
- Compressor Shoot Out: Manley Variable MU VS Brainworx VSC-2
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