Initial Audio’s IA-LA1 compressor is simple, swift and sleek

Dial in your desired warmth and depth without deep-diving into parameters

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Hot on the heels of its Dynamic Delay release last week, Initial Audio has a new device that might pique your interest. The IA-LA1 compressor is loosely based on the legendary LA-2A compressor, but with a little more control over colouration and gain, and a little less control on threshold, attack and release – in that there are no controls for these parameters that is. Instead, these are applied automatically to simplify the compression process.

IA-LA1 features a THD control, which stands for Total Harmonic Distortion. This is what you’ll use to define how much warmth and colour you want in your compressed audio. Until you touch this dial, your signal will remain clean and transparent. THD will subtly add dynamic distortion, depth and warmth.

The plug-in sports a pair of accurate level meters, aesthetically quite different from the VU meters found on the original LA-2A compressor. These give a more colourful indication of how your compression is being applied and how the signal is being affected. The GUI of IA-LA1 is also resizable, which is always a nice touch.

The IA-LA1 also lets you save and load custom presets and is available as VST and AU for Windows and Mac. The nicest bit about this plug-in is probably the price, carrying a tag of just $19 in its introductory phase. It’s probably worth downloading the trial as soon as you can and giving it a go, because it’s set to move up to $79 in due course.

Find out more at initialaudio.com

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