Overview

Creativity and innovation have long been restrained by a set of rules on how music is to be created and how tools are intended to be used. A new generation of mix artists is here to challenge those archaic concepts that rely on the limits of 50-year-old studio gear, while still making use of our beloved vintage classics. The time has come to push the limits of sound and unleash your creativity!

When we first started working with the multi-platinum, award-winning mix engineer, producer and sound enthusiast Koen Heldens on our plugin series, we had no doubt that we were going to produce some extraordinary tools.

Koen is the expert when it comes to producing some of the best and most streamed albums in the hip-hop genre - and while his experience and understanding of music allow him to create and shape the emotional foundation of a song, he also has a deep knowledge of the technical aspects and limitations of each plugin and DAW he holds in his arsenal.

His go-to tools were missing some fine-tuning, so he was in need of a very specific, bespoke compressor solution, that was like no other on the market today. His ideas of process timing, channel linking and sidechain filtering have really pushed the team to come up with an entirely new tool.

The result of countless development hours and listening sessions is a one-of-a-kind, beast of a compressor, that is up to the standards of one of the greatest producers of the moment, and that includes the best levelling amplifier that Black Rooster Audio has developed to date.

Features

4 Detector modes - Hilbert/Peak/Vintage/RMS

The KH-COMP1 Compressor offers incredible versatility for shaping the envelope that drives this unit - for broad or precise capturing of the sidechain level. The 4 detector modes allow for the most flexibility with time parameters and precise threshold control. The Hilbert detector is a 90-degree phase shifter, that will show the signal’s exact envelope, without any distortion or overshoots. Forget about true peak, this is the real deal!

Invertible SC Filter

The sidechain signal can be trimmed perfectly using the 2-band invertible filter. Both the low and high ends can be processed according to your needs, which will allow for more control with ducking, pumping effects and de-essing. With inverting the filter, you are able to surgically cut out the mids. With the “listen” option, you can double-check your SC filter settings, before it will be handled by the envelope detector.

Blended Stereo-Link

Blending dual mono to stereo is very helpful when you need detailed control over the relation between the stereo channels and their processing.

Knee Parameter

The knee parameter smoothes out the compression effect beautifully, for a seamless result. If you’re aiming for a harsher effect, just let your signal brush over the hard edge.

SSE2 optimized code

DSP operations are pipelined using the SSE2 instruction set. This ensures a high-performance operation despite its very complex computations.

Zero Latency

The KH-COMP1 is a zero-latency compressor that does not require sample delay compensation, making it ideal for real-time monitoring or live environments.

HighDPI/Retina Support

The user interfaces support high pixel density on both Windows and Mac OS systems, giving you the most enjoyable user experience on high DPI displays. Please refer to your DAW manual to learn whether it is HighDPI compatible if you're working on Windows.

About the KOEN HELDENS Signature Series:

The collaboration between Black Rooster Audio and Koen Heldens began with a genuine artist endorsement and has evolved into a great creative partnership. We have maintained a close dialogue over the last 2 years, exchanging technical and artistic knowledge. This dialogue ultimately turned creating original software together into a very inspiring symbiosis. Koen is one of the most knowledgeable and hard-working engineers in the business and has produced music with world-renowned artists, shaping their sound in his very unique style at every opportunity. We are pleased and proud to have Koen use our plugins extensively in every mix and to create his Signature Series.

The series begins with the very unique and versatile KH-COMP1 studio compressor (AAX/VST/AU) and will be followed by three additional units, all designed by Black Rooster Audio in collaboration with Koen Heldens.

Examples & Videos