The 7 Best Vocal Compressor Plugins & Tips (With 3 Free Picks)

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We all love a nice crisp and upfront vocal tone. Unlike other instruments, mixing vocals and regulating their dynamics can be a real challenge since they occupy the most significant part of a song more often than not. It’s important to use the right compressor plugin for your vocal tracks to get the best out of it, which is why in this article we stress-tested the best vocal plugins over a number of weeks to help you get better results when compressing a human voice and hopefully find the best vocal compressor plugin for your tracks.

What Compressor Is Best for Vocals?

There is not a single best vocal compressor, the best choice is the one that solves the problem. Typically, the best thing to do is to use multiple compressors to address different problems and get the desired compression without destroying the vocal performance.

What Are The Best Vocal Compression Plugins?

Here’s the complete list of the best vocal compression plugins & compression tips:

1. Waves PuigChild
2. Waves CLA76/Waves CLA 2A – CLA Compressor Pack
3. Tube Tech CL 1B Bundle
4. Softube FET Compressor
5. UAD Distressor
6. SSL EV2
7. FabFilter Pro C2
8. Using Limiting as a Compressor
9. Gain Clip Automation
10. Multi-band compression

1. Waves PuigChild

Waves’ Puigchild is an emulation of the Fairchild 660, a valvular compressor often referred to as the holy grail of hardware compressors. It was the first intelligent automatic control limiter and was built by Rein Narma as a request from Les Paul in 1959.

This Vari-Mu compressor plugin is amazing to use at the very end of the vocal chain to warm up the tone, add presence, and improve the overall quality of the recording. This is great to use on a lead vocal to place it closer to the listener in a very natural way.

Notice how the lead vocals cut through the mix a lot better, sounds bigger, and feels more balanced after the Puigchild.

2. Waves CLA-76/Waves CLA 2A

If there’d be a formula for perfect vocal compression, it’d be the legendary 1176/LA2A combo. The combination of these two legendary compressors is perfect for vocal recordings with large differences in volume.

The result is a very smooth compression that makes sound more even. This is a neat trick to use when you mix vocals, particularly with lead vocals because it helps them cut through the mix and stay consistent.

To do this trick, you should first set up the 1176 so that only the loudest parts of the performance are compressed. Set up a medium/ fast attack and release times and tweak the input knob to adjust the gain reduction.

Then, you add the CLA 2A and set the peak reduction knob to only take away a couple of dBs. The 1176 will control the loudest parts and the LA2A will even things up.

3. Tube tech CL-1b Bundle

This is probably the most used compressor for both hardware and plugin use across the music industry for vocals. The CL 1B has become almost an industry standard because of its tone and the very special way it reacts to high and mid frequencies.

This an amazing optical compressor plugin for vocal processing even for the most dynamic performances. It’s perfect to achieve an incredibly transparent compression, even when compressing over 10dB of gain reduction, which not many plugin or hardware compressors can do.

Due to its ability to apply such a smooth compression, you can use two separate instances of the CL-1B when you mix vocals to differentiate verses from choruses.

With a ratio of 2:1, you can set up a faster attack and slower release time for verses and a slower attack with fast release during the hook. This action will choke the verses a little more in comparison with the hooks, creating an impact when it switches to the other instance of the compressor.

Additionally, the slower attack time and faster release during the hook will allow more transients to pass, making vocals more dynamic and exciting.

4. Softube Fet compressor

FET compressor is an emulation of the classic compressor UAD 1176. Besides being a pretty faithful recreation, the plugin features many more parameters than the original hardware, handing more control over the audio signal.

This compressor plugin is ideal for extremely dynamic performances thanks to its faster attack and release times. And is especially good to enhance transients and make a voice sound more percussive and aggressive.

Use the FET compressor when you mix vocals for genres like hip-hop, reggaeton, and trap to make the vocal performance feel more percussive. If you set a 3:1 ratio, with a mid-to-slow attack time and a relatively fast release, the compressor will let the transients pass and even up the overall audio signal.

If you have a spikey vocal recording, this compressor plugin is capable of picking up very quick transients, which can help even things up and make your vocal sound more consistent.

5. UAD Distressor

The Distressor is probably one of the best vocal compressors out there, especially for rap vocals. It’s a classic of analog compressors, and it’s amazing to introduce compression and distortion to any track.

There aren’t many digital compressors that are as good to use when mixing vocals. We suggest using it whenever you need your vocal tracks to be aggressive and upfront, especially for genres like hip-hop, rock, and modern pop.

What’s amazing about the Distressor plugin is that you can squeeze the heck out of your audio and still keep a natural tone, making it the perfect choice for overly dynamic vocals if you don’t really have the time to set up different compression stages on your vocal bus.

Another interesting thing that Distressor can do for your vocal track is adding tube or tape-like distortion. The plugin has two distortion modes, one labeled as “Dist.2”, which introduces second-order harmonics (tube-like distortion), and “Dist.3”, which brings second and third-order harmonics, similar to tape machines.

Combining the tube-like distortion with mild compression (4:1 ratio, moderately fast attack, and slow release) is a fantastic way to get a richer fuller tone after applying EQ.

6. Waves SSL EV2

The SSL EV2 is a digital emulation of the SSL console’s channel strip by Waves Audio. This is a remake of an older plugin (and one of their first) based on the classic SSL 4000.

Even though it’s a channel strip, is also one of the best compressor plugins to use on vocals when you need to make them pop. If you’re mixing vocals for rap, reggaeton, trap, or pop music, this is the best way to go.

An easy way to make your vocals sound awesome with this compressor plugin is setting up a very low ratio, then switching the attack to fast with a relatively fast release, and lowering the threshold until you hit around 6dB of gain reduction. That’ll make the vocal punchier and tighten it up.

We recommend using the SSL EV2 after corrective EQ and combined with another compressor plugin. That way you can round up dynamics and enhance the tone with the brown EQ next to the compressor of the channel strip. The result is a radio-ready vocal sound.

7. Fab Filter Pro C2

Pro C2 is a transparent digital compressor with eight compression character styles, lookahead gain reduction, 4x oversampling, stereo link/unlink ability, and has one of the most incredible interface designs plugins we have seen.

There are a million ways to use Pro C2 on vocals, but one of our favourites is using the internal sidechain (below the advanced menu), and isolating the mid-range of the vocal to exclusively compress the tone without bringing forward any low rumble or harshness.

After that, setting up the “vocal” algorithm with a relatively fast attack and the release around the middle. The result is something like this:

The only downer about ProC2 is that similarly to other FF plugins, some of these controls, particularly attack and release, have their values expressed in percentages instead of milliseconds. FYI, higher the percentage, the faster the attack and slower release.

8. Using Limiting as a Compressor

Limiters are not only for mastering. In fact, sometimes engineers use limiters when they mix vocals similarly to how they’d use upward compression.

Limiters are great to bring up details of the human voice that might get lost with the processing, so this helps to even things up. It’s also beneficial to use limiters for placement rather than doing any processing at all, as they can be very helpful to bring a vocal to come forth and sit better on the mix.

One really cool trick for this is sending the vocal to an auxiliary track where you isolate the mid-range with a linear EQ to avoid phasing.

Then, you add a limiter and set it up to lift up the signal. We recommend not going too crazy with the threshold to avoid unwanted distortion and keep the output attenuation below 6dB. The result is that your vocal will feel more alive and detailed.

You can appreciate the change in the vocals after inserting a limiter right after Pro C2

9. Gain clip automation

Gain clip automation is another way to make compression cleaner. Now, this won’t actually compress your vocals, but it can make your compressors work a lot less and improve the quality of the sound.

There are different reasons why you might want to do this, but one of the most interesting ones is to avoid harshness by automating the gain to attenuate the “esses” of the performance. This is extremely helpful with soulful vocals that need to be as clean as possible.

Another way to apply this, is automating different sections of the performance to stay at a consistent level. That helps compressors work under a lot less stress and the result is a much more even vocal that doesn’t feel compressed.

10. Multi-band compression

Aside from dynamic correction, you can also achieve a lot of tonal improvement with compression, more specifically, with multiband compression. Our favourite one to do this is Fab Filter’s Pro MB, because it gives you the most control over the signal and frequency spectrum.

A really cool and simple way to use this type of processing for your vocals is to use a combination of downward compression and upward expansion to dynamically improve the timbre of the voice and control problematic frequencies.

Following up on the vocal chain, you can throw in a dynamic EQ to control the gain boost provided by the upward expansion.

What Are The Best Free Vocal Compressor Plugins?

Here’s the complete list of the best free vocal compressor plugins:

1. Klanghelm DC1A
2. TDR Kotelnikov
3. Analog Obsession LA-LA

1. Klanghelm DC1A

Klanghelm’s DC1A is a terrific compressor plugin with up to four compression modes and a particularly transparent sound. It’s one of those free pickups that can quickly become your go-to compressor, especially for vocal mixing.

With this plugin if you activate the “negative” feature, it’ll do upward compression. A great trick when you’re mixing vocals is to load an instance of the DC1A and set to negative to bring up the details of the performance.

The upward compression will not tame the peaks, but bring the RMS levels forward instead. This will help rescuing the subtleties of the human voice.

Right next to it load a downward compressor plugin, it could be another instance of the DC1A but any compressor will do, since you’ll need it to compress the peaks. The result of combining downward and upward compression is the sought-after ; up-in-your-face sound, but with a rich tone that enhances the performance.

2. TDR Kotelnikov

Kotelnikov is a transparent and very versatile compressor plugin. It’s mostly known as a mastering compressor due to it’s transparency and precision, but you can use it on just about anything and it’ll always sound great.

Kotelnikov is great to use on backing vocals as your bus compressor. Because you can be very specific about how you want this compressor to pick up the signal, you can set the stereo sensitivity around 30% so that it focusses on the mid image and keep them spread.

Also, set the HPF around 100Hz with a relatively aggressive slope to avoid compressing any of the lower frequencies. From then, you can set the peak crest somewhere around the middle to make sure it picks up both the peak and RMS information.

The trick is to set a relatively fast attack and then set a fast peak release time and a slower RMS release. This will make the compressor attenuate the RMS freeing some space for the main vocals, while spreading the backing vocals and creating a nice and subtle pumping in the middle which can really help in fast-paced songs.

3. Analog Obsession LA-LA

Analog Obsession’s LaLa compressor is an amazing emulation of the classic LA2A by Teletronix. Compared to other plugins, more specifically Waves’ version of this classic, there are a lot of things that Analog Obsession has improved.

With the mix knob you can now use it as a parallel compresor or limiter, opening the possibility of applying different amounts of compression for different parts of the performance with automation.

Furthermore, the addition of a HPF is superb to avoid compressing any unnecessary low frequencies, which can be incredibly beneficial when you mix vocals and want to focus your compression from the mid-range up.

The only downside is that the attack time is lower than usual, which is good to keep the dynamic range in good shape but can be problematic if you’re looking to control it, so you might have to load another compressor, say an 1176, and push it harder than you would with Waves’ version.

Vocal Compression Best Practices

1. Use multiple compressors for your vocals

As we mentioned earlier, it’s usually better to use different compressor plugins rather than just one.

Most music producers do different combinations to correct dynamics, enhance the tone of the vocal, and bring forward some details of the performance that might get lost in the context of the mix.

Sometimes you run into a situation where the vocalist has very good breath control, but there are other issues, like the voice being too thin, or the vocal being too sibilant/boomy.

In these cases, you wouldn’t benefit from multiple compressors.

In this case usually better to combine other compression techniques, like side-chain and parallel compression.

2. Combine different compression types such as parallel and sidechain

Compression is also important to use with other effects, like reverb or delay plugins when used parallel to keep them under control.

3. Only add back the gain that you have reduced from the signal

When compressing it can be easy to get stuck in the trap of thinking it sounds better because it’s louder. And, many compressors will open with a 2-3db boost straight away, to make you think the plugin is doing wonders to your music.

Do not fall for this trap.

Make sure you are using the gain reduction meter and your ears with constant A/B tests to ensure that the original, uncompressed vocal is at the same volume level as the compressed one.

Having it at the same volume allows you to hear the differences that the compressor is making, rather than being fooled by the sudden volume increase.

This allows you to make a more informed decision on whether your compression is right for this scenario, or whether it needs altering.

4. Use visual meters and look at your waveforms while setting compression settings

Time-stamped video showing this in action.

The goal of compressing vocals is to make the vocal sound as even as possible without destroying the dynamics of the performance. You can do this with compression, however many people overdo it.

The secret lies within setting your threshold and ratio settings properly. If you take a look at the waveform of your audio, you’ll notice that some phrases look much bigger than others in terms of amplitude.

If you set your threshold low enough, the compressor will react on both of those sections of the vocal phrase.

Using your metering you can listen and watch, then set your threshold so that the compressor only reacts to the louder part of the phrase. This squashes the louder part of the phrase and leaves the lower volume one untouched, making the compression sound more natural and even.

This compressor is used to nip the high amplitude peaks in the bud so you have an even signal before doing more compression work. You can then apply another compressor in the serial to do more to your signal.

Summary

Compressors are one of the most important and versatile tools in audio production and engineering. When it comes to the human voice, with so many variations that come with the different genres, vocal tones, and personality, our job as engineers is to enhance it and compression is one of the best ways of doing it.

Depending on the specific needs you have, you might want to try out different compressors. For example, if you’re mixing hip-hop vocals, you should probably go with a nice 1176 and LA2A combo or a CL1B.

If it’s rock music you work on, try combining the Distressor with a Puigchild or a FET compressor.

Finally, if you’re looking for a clean sound, Kotelnikov is your best pick, maybe using a little upward compression with the DC1A beforehand to bring up some detail. Keep in mind that the best compressor plugins are the ones that you can adapt the best to solve the problem you have.

To recap, here is the complete list of the best vocal compressor plugins & tips:

1. Waves PuigChild
2. Waves CLA76/Waves CLA 2A
3. Tube Tech CL 1B Bundle
4. Softube FET Compressor
5. UAD Distressor
6. SSL EV2
7. FabFilter Pro C2
8. Using Limiting as a Compressor
9. Gain Clip Automation
10. Multi-band compression

Here’s the list of the best free vocal compressor plugins:

1. Klanghelm DC1A
2. TDR Kotelnikov
3. Analog Obsession LA-LA