VLA-3A

Vintage Leveling Amplifier

VLA-3A Frontplate
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Manual Download

VLA-3A Manual

Supported formats

AAX plugin support VST plugin support VST3 plugin support Audio Unit plugin support

Supported platforms (32/64 bit)

Requirements

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MAC)

  • Intel Core CPU or Apple SIlicon M+ Processor
  • 1GB of RAM
  • Mac OSX 10.10 or newer (M1/M2 supported)
  • VST, VST3, 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, VST3 or AAX (x64) 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
Good sound and easy to use! by Teezy (2025-10-13)

"This is my favorite one. It always makes my mixes sound better!! and easy to use."

5
Excelente by Jesús Flores (2025-10-13)

"Es un excelente compresor con una emulacion muy fiel y sus características que trabaja en dos modos como compresor y limitador. Es excelente para trabajar las voces. Produce tu Música."

5
Perfect Guitar Bus Chain by Giovanni (2025-10-12)

"Alright, let me just say it straight — the VLA-3A from Black Rooster Audio totally changed the game for my guitar bus. I wasn’t even looking for anything fancy, just a compressor that could glue things together without killing the vibe. And boom — this thing showed up like it knew exactly what I needed. It’s got that smooth, vintage LA-3A flavor, but with a kind of magic touch. I slapped it on my guitar bus, tweaked the gain and peak reduction just a bit, and suddenly everything sounded like it belonged together. No harsh edges, no weird pumping — just that sweet, musical compression that makes your guitars feel like they’re hugging each other. I paired it with a colorful EQ and a spring reverb, and man... the chain just locked in. It’s like the VLA-3A gave the whole thing a backbone. The guitars sit perfectly in the mix now — tight, warm, and full of character. Honestly, it’s one of those plugins that doesn’t scream for attention, but once you use it, you don’t wanna mix without it. If you’re building a guitar bus chain and want something that just works — no drama, no overthinking — this is the one. "

5
Perfect Guitar Bus Chain by Giovanni (2025-10-12)

"Alright, let me just say it straight — the VLA-3A from Black Rooster Audio totally changed the game for my guitar bus. I wasn’t even looking for anything fancy, just a compressor that could glue things together without killing the vibe. And boom — this thing showed up like it knew exactly what I needed. It’s got that smooth, vintage LA-3A flavor, but with a kind of magic touch. I slapped it on my guitar bus, tweaked the gain and peak reduction just a bit, and suddenly everything sounded like it belonged together. No harsh edges, no weird pumping — just that sweet, musical compression that makes your guitars feel like they’re hugging each other. I paired it with a colorful EQ and a spring reverb, and man... the chain just locked in. It’s like the VLA-3A gave the whole thing a backbone. The guitars sit perfectly in the mix now — tight, warm, and full of character. Honestly, it’s one of those plugins that doesn’t scream for attention, but once you use it, you don’t wanna mix without it. If you’re building a guitar bus chain and want something that just works — no drama, no overthinking — this is the one. "

5
exelente by vicente vargas (2025-10-12)

"el compresor es muy fiel a su sonido ideal para controlar los picos de los audios "

5
I use this on Bass by IanT (2025-10-12)

"I've had this one for many years and use it exclusively on Bass. I don't know how true it is to a hardware 3A but I like what it does to my Bass."

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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."