New Music Gear Monday: Red Rooster Audio Omnitec – 436C Vari-Mu Compressor Plugin

It seems like a distant memory now but at one time Altec Lansing was at the very top of the heap when it came to quality audio gear. Their Voice-Of-The-Theater speakers were standard in every movie theater, and they built a wide variety of audio devices from microphones to preamps to amplifiers. One of those devices, the 436C compressor, found its way into Abbey Road Studios and became one of the pieces of outboard gear that helped shape the sound of The Beatles and just about every music artist that recorded there during the 1960s and 1970s (especially when used on the bass). Now Black Rooster Audio has emulated that original Altec unit in their own Omnitec – 436C plugin.

The plugin is based on the original’s vari-mu design, which means that the gain reduction ratio changes as its driven harder. In other words, its output and response is program dependent, and it’s a characteristic that makes vari-mu compressors unique.

While the original Altec 436C had very spartan user controls, with only volume, release and threshold controls, the Omnitec – 436C plugin also has variable sidechain high and low frequency controls (labeled SC High and SC Low), along with Attack and Release controls. There’s a Makeup gain control that adds up to 24dB of gain if needed, and a Mix control for parallel compression.

The analog-style VU meter can be switched to view input, output of gain reduction, there’s a switch for sidechain listen (labeled SC Listen), a Mode switch for setting it to either compression or limiting, and stereo/dual mono Link switch.

The Red Rooster Audio Omnitec – 436C compressor plugin is now available for an introductory price of just $29 instead of its regular $59 price. It works on both Macs (M1/M2 ready) or windows and on most plugin formats.

Click here to find out more or to purchase.

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