VLA-3A

Vintage Leveling Amplifier

VLA-3A Frontplate
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Manual Download

VLA-3A Manual

Supported formats

AAX plugin support VST plugin supprt Audio Unit plugin support

Supported platforms (32/64 bit)

Requirements

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MAC)

  • Intel Core CPU or Apple SIlicon M1/M2 Processor
  • 1GB of RAM
  • Mac OSX 10.9 or newer (M1/M2 supported)
  • VST, AU or AAX compatible host (64bit)
  • Display resolution of 1280x1024 pixels or more

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (WINDOWS)

  • SSE2 compatible processor (Intel Core CPU recommended)
  • 1GB of RAM
  • Windows 7 or newer
  • VST or AAX compatible host
  • Display resolution of 1280x1024 pixels or more
 

Overview

Black Rooster Audio is proud to present the VLA-3A plug-in, one of the most authentic native emulations of its analog brother from the 70s. This is our goto-compressor for vocals, but it also works incredibly well for bringing out the ambience on percussive material and helping to put some glue into your mixes.

Sound Samples

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Features

Authentic circuit emulation

Our realtime component based circuit simulation approach allows for authentically capturing the sound and feel of the analog unit as close as possible. All the crucial parts, including in- and output transformers, discrete sidechain and audio path networks, filters and of course the T4B cell have been faithfully modelled.

SSE2 optimized code

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

Auto-adjusted oversampling for maximum audio transparency

Aliasing artifacts are efficiently attenuated using a low latency linear phase Dolph-Chebyshev polyphase design. The oversampling rate is auto adjusted to your session's sample rate to save CPU while offering the most transparent sound possible.

HighDPI / Retina support

Our user interfaces support high pixel density on both Windows and Mac OS systems to present you with the most enjoyable user experience on high DPI displays. Please refer to your manual to learn whether your DAW is HighDPI capable if you're working on Windows.

Examples & Videos

Notes & additional info

LA-3A is a registered trademark of Universal Audio, Inc. Black Rooster Audio's products, specifically, the VLA-3A Vintage Leveling Amplifier, is developed by Black Rooster Audio, based on its own modeling techniques. Universal Audio, Inc. has neither endorsed nor sponsored Black Rooster Audio's products in any manner, nor licensed any intellectual property for use in this product.

Customer Reviews

5
by Giselle Chacon (2024-09-05)

Great LA-3A place anything right where you want it

"A very transparent compressor great for guitars and anything you want to anchor in place in the mix. Set and forget, you'll never hear it working."

5
by Greg Savage (2024-09-03)

Easily One Of The Best Sounding 3A Emulations

"I use the VLA-3A for just about everything. Leveling sounds, processing bass, Strings, Kick Drums (yes), Brass.... I love it! "

4
by MazQ (2024-08-27)

Good for tighten sound

"This is my first choice of LA-3A. It naturally reshape the sound remain their transparency without any artifacts as its original discrete structure. One thing I feel better on this plugin is to add gain compensation feature which is not included on original gear."

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Industry Reviews

Joe Barresi

Joe Barresi

Producer/Mixer/Engineer QOTSA, Tool, Slipknot, Bad Religion, Beatsteaks JoeBarresi.com

"These 2 compressor plugins (the VLA-2A and 3A) are really, really good—very smooth, and they react a lot like the original hardware versions. In fact, I like the limiter part better than most….A really nice addition to the arsenal of compressor plugins out there."

Talio Sánchez

Talio Sánchez

Mixer/Engineer taliosanchezmixing.com

"I've always loved the hardware on vocals, bass, guitars and pretty much everything that needs well balanced dynamics and a thick tone. The VLA-3A does justice to all this, especially on how it pushes the mid-range forward adding thickness which is my favorite characteristic of this processor. After all these years without the hardware I'm happy to have the VLA-3A."

Simon Hildenbrand

Simon Hildenbrand

Mixer/Engineer zimmerli SOUNDS

"You can throw almost anything at this plug-in. The VLA-3A will grab it, tighten it up and bring it to the front. It’s amazing on vocals, guitars, horns and percussion. This compressor will be definitely my go-to for everything that needs to groove."