What is the most iconic compressor of all time? Surely it has to be the legendary Teletronix LA-2A tube based optical “levelling amplifier” compressor. Whether it be the original Teletronix 60’s outboard unit, the Universal Audio version or any of the many excellent plug-in recreations/emulations modelled on the hardware which followed, the LA-2A is loved and trusted throughout the entire music mixing industry for its abilities to level dynamics in transparent, smooth and musical ways with warmth and character without causing source material to sound over squished or processed. The LA-2A’s party piece is in it’s super simple design by way of using two dials: Peak Reduction and Gain (makeup). With fixed attack and release times, compressors don’t come any easier to use than the LA-2A, much like playing with a water gun, point and squirt.In this article we list a number of what we consider to be the best LA-2A plug-in recreations and emulations that are well worth checking out.Truth be told, there really isn’t that much that separates these plug-ins in terms of sound, features or design. The results of original LA-2A is so legendary, distinctive and well known that it appears many plug-in developers didn’t want to mess around too much with that perfect formular which gave the LA-2A it’s signature sound.

I know they function differently (plugin vs integrated into the mix. Air strike 3d 2 gulf thunder for mac. Yeah Softube Tape is pretty cool how it integrates with the Mix FX engine.

Avid Classic Compressors - BF-2A. Waves partnered with legendary mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge to produce a suite of plug-in emulations based on three well known studio compressors. One of those being the LA-2A which was named The CLA-2A. Chris has a reputation for knowing a thing or two about compression, couple that experience with Waves’ deep knowledge of hardware modelling and you end up with another one of those LA-2A emulations that feels and sounds as good as the original hardware. But why take our word for it when you can listen to the CLA-2A plug-in against a real outboard UA LA-2A in the video below.