IGS Audio S-Type 500 VU

Impossible not to love this

This stereo bus compressor is amazing....for real. Ive compared it to my best plugins that also try to be like the legendary SSL which don't have the same "glue" or fullness and personally, I prefer this to the original. (I have only watched examples of the original) But this one sounds sooo good and though some settings are different than the original, this is easy to dial in and the "mix knob" is what originally sold me; amazing for drum bus.

A creative and practical bus compressor

IGS products always reassure me, with stable quality and full of creativity!

Good, after hours of doubt

My initial review of this stated that the channels are not balanced whether engaged or in bypass. Switching between "in" and "bypass" also changed the balance levels. I concluded this after an hour of testing. After submitting the review, I thought about excluding my patchbay in the chain and test directly instead. It worked. My patchbay now needs to be fixed.

On to the compressor itself: the sound, build quality, knobs, switches, meter ballistics are all good. Very solid covers and fits well in my rack.

great price, great bus comp

clear, transparent sound. perfect for drum bus, mix bus comp.

Amazing VCA Compressor For The Price

Prior to getting this I was using a Shadow Hills Dual Vandergraph. Don't get me wrong, the SHDV is a great piece of compressor, if you were to describe the SHDV in one word, it's PHAT. But I do alot of pop, R&B and electronic-based music and I felt that the SHDV didn't suit my needs, it narrowed the stereo image slightly and had too much low-mid saturation which didn't help the mixes at all. Was trawling through the internet and came across the S-Type which was touted as an SSL clone.

I've used an actual SSL G-Comp on many projects at a studio I frequently mix out of and I knew how a G-Comp sounded. Plugged it in, ran a mix through it and wow. Just wow. The stereo imaging is wider, the highs are clearer and overall it just sounds close. Well done IGS Audio.

Knobs are solid and the meters read accurately. I mean, for the price that you pay on this product there's really nothing much to complain about. To be fair the knobs does feel plastic-y but you won't feel it's going to break anytime. I sort of understand why IGS chose to use a meter like this as well due to real estate space. I mean, they could have chosen to use an LED but it was the right choice for a VU meter aesthetically.

Overall if you're thinking about this, get it. I'm looking at their other products as I type this review.