Description
Wavegrove x Handcrafted Labs x Tape Over
HCL Varis is a mastering grade all tube point-to-point design vari-mu compressor. It includes feedback and feed forward modes, dual-mono, mid-side and stereo link operation, independent pentode / triode signal chain, a sidechain circuit, Edcor input transformers and Carnhill output transformers.
Varis can be found in numerous studios around the globe and Gena has done amazing upgrades to the first Varis, which was released over a decade ago.
Varis is a modern classic. Or it should be, and we’re not the only ones saying this.
Testimonials for HCL Varis
Alejandro González Vargas
Engineer, Music Producer, Musician Latin Grammy Nominated
Isaac John Klein
Recording/Mixing Engineer for GRAMMY Award Winner: Singer/Producer Steve Tyrell
Carlos Flores A.K.A: Maxter “El de la magia”
Collaborator on the Latin Grammy Winner album "Mi Niña Bonita" by De Chino y Nacho. Nominated 2021 with Billos Legendarios. Magic Juan, Don fulano, Budu, Treo, La Nueva Calle, Jaison Jeack
Sean & Dan, Studio Life 101
Creators of "Is It Sh!t” & “StudioLife” No messing plug in reviews & audio ramblings
Klas-Henrik Lindblad
Blackhead Studios, Berlin. Fatboy Slim, Eats Everything, Henrik Schwarz
HCL Varis Trailer
Be sure to try the plugin out in the trial mode before your purchase, download at
https://www.wavegrove.com/downloads/
Check out the manual for HCL Varis!
VARIS TECH DETAILS
Varis is a mastering grade all tube point-to-point design vari-mu compressor. It includes feedback and feed forward modes, dual-mono, mid-side and stereo link operation, independent pentode / triode signal chains, sidechain circuit, Edcor input and Carnhill output transformers.
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Made with iPlug2
There are switches for the Pentode and the Triode tube selection and they play a big role in this unit.
Triode can be described to be more open and tighter, while Pentode is darker and wider.
But when you switch between two compression modes, which are Feed-forward and Feed-Back, it yet again makes a difference between selected modes and impacts the sound and the behaviour of the plugin. FF mode is more complex and exciting, while FB is more predictable in its behaviour. You can blend in different variations between the selected modes and find the right tone for your source material.
PT and TR mode have also different eq-curves that are modeled from the hardware. Tonality and the differencies between the two modes can be heard when compressing at higher levels and they are also injunction with Vari gain.
Mastered with HCL Varis
With tube units, calibration and impedance is everything. While we didn’t want to model the unit 1:1, we wanted to respect these principles in our design and implement the idea so that everything reacts to the feeded gain load.
Adjusting input and output gain creates huge tonal differences in sound and impacts the behaviour of Varis. From dark hifi tone to a beautiful saturation, you have many possibilities to fine tune the behaviour by using the input and output section combined with level calibration, threshold and Vari gain.
A/B Comparison with Hardware at -2dB compression
A/B Comparison with Hardware at -5 to -8dB compression
MuDiff is a variable tied to the compressor’s reaction differential, meaning its compression doesn’t simply react to the volume, but how it’s interpreted over time. It also controls an active shelf, that can reduce the loss of high frequencies when the compression is over 5dB’s. Tubes are often considered ”dark” and leveraging muDiff allows you to control how much you want to tame or excite your material.
On the bottom of the plugin you can find the INPUT and OUTPUT gains. Use them in conjunction with the other sections of the plugin to drive the stages in different ways, overdriving, or cleaning up the affected signal. The Input gain is before any processing happens, so it is as if your signal just got louder. The output gain on the other hand is after everything, even the clipper, and therefore lets you calm down the LUFS, while keeping all the distortion you were after. They can truly make or break the sound, both being something you might hope for.
The wide range dynamic Sidechain listen mode can be used intuitively to find and remove pressure points, or focus the compression to a specific area based on the selection. This helps to pin point the amount of compression to the selected area when pushing, or in releasing the energy content when gaining down. The Sidechain circuit also has gain compensation that makes the sidechain more of a tilt EQ. You can use both internal and external sidechain inputs and even blend between them.
Please note when using the Dynamic sidechain listen mode that the level can be increased by +12dB, if you’re using the full range decibel scale. This will also cause a shift in volume based on your monitoring levels. Wavegrove and other parties involved are not liable for any possible damages or other misuse of the product.
Changelog: Version 1.0.7 - VU metering fixed with mono channels in some DAWs. Allow hard bypass on channel two with Stereo Link mode. Version 1.0.6 - Added External sidechaining capabilities with selectable channel and blending between the internal input. Moved output gain to be after wet/dry, since we already have volume separately. Version 1.0.5 - SC Listen fix in M/S mode Version 1.0.4 - Per-channel hard bypass fix in M/S mode Version 1.0.3 - Make preset loading more robust, decouple from graphics, which caused problems with certain setups. Add user preset slots. Version 1.0.2 - Further default preset work, scale and loading should work correctly now. Version 1.0.1 - Correct manual link. Window scale can now be saved to presets.
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