Bomb Factory LA-2A RTAS Mac

My first session was in 78.I was 12.Im a Multi instrumentalist.I run this plug on 1 of 2 setups using pt5..001 os.9.Genelec 1031a's.Ns-10's.

2 KNOBS.If more gear would adopt this aproach...yada...yada....

I owned/used/abused hardware for years.This single plug made me sell one of my tube optical hardware limiters.You can use this to track through in a pinch and you will not complain.

It seems to me the days of the ssl rooms with gobs of outboard are numbered if this is a sign of things to come.

very simple..if you can't get this working ,you should be looking for another hobby!!

this sounds amazing and has single handedly transformed my recordings to a professional level.On vocals this baby sounds awsome .I plug one into each channel and even with no compression it adds a nice analog warmth to the track..If you c get your hand on this bit of soft ware grab it.No need to compress as you track,just record dry and add this baby later.One thing i noticed was how it helps individual tracks bind together and become transparent....

The fair child 660 is almost as good and has a quicker release,but where the 2ala is superior is that you can't hear it working...but it squashes nicely .The first plugin id relace if my computer crashed

I'm about to buy the bomb factory classic compressors but must make a point...... it was stated in someone else's comment about the UAD-1 card by mackie that it was easy to use and may be a better way to go, that's not entirely true, I tried to use it with digital performer and there were timing issues that came up especially when using midi. Other sequencers on the market from what I now understand have corrections for these issues but NOT MOTU's digital performer so beware before buying or you'll be told that you have to shift tracks in order to line them up properly, not practical if you ask me.

212eric

Up-And-Coming engineer. Full Sail Grad. 7 yrs experience
I actually am reviewing the MAS version not the RTAS, but they are the same thing aren't they?

Once you autorize it... Easy as it gets buddy.
Istallation is a serious bitch, iLok sucks. iLok will be the way of the future of authorizations, so get used to it.

I have only used the real La-2a a few times. I have only been able to do blind tests against a real La4. The (real piece of outboard gear) La-4 sounds lo-fi and crunchy in comparison to the La-2a plugin.

I would say that I use the 1176 plugin (that also comes with the la2a at this point) much more than the La-2a. I like being able to control transients.

The La-2a plugin is the best for vocals.

I have not had a chance to try the UA or Mackie versions. They use different algorithms.

It is only worth the money in the bundle. If Bomb-Factory plugins came individually, I would have bought the Fairchild 660 instead.

I'm an engineer at a recording studio, we're running pro tools 24 mix. Running mac g4s in 9.2.2. Bunch of rooms, bunch of mixing boards, bunch of monitors.

LA-2A, very simple, two knobs. Sounds very close to the original. We use it here all the time.

We have a couple of LA-2As here at the studio, so we compared the plug in to the original, and it was very hard to tell the difference. This plug in is very accurate and sounds incredible. As I said before, we use it all the time, especially when the real gear is booked for another session.

This is the best plug in compressor around. I've heard a lot, and this does the best job, with the best sound. Great investment, but go buy more RAM, because you will most definitely need it.

I'm using Digital Performer 3 with a Dual Gig G4. I primarily record drums.

The Bombfactory version of the classic compressor is really easy and responsive.. What can i say it does it's job.

It's great, what else can i say

Well, now for the real critical part. The only problem with the plug-in is that it uses the CPUs power, that can be a problem with a lot of plug-ins.

Although it's a great simple plug-in, I had some trouble with the "iLok" which came with the software (which was a physical USB authorization key that hooks on to the back of the computer), The company, Bombfactory, had really poor customer service. because the iLok had problems, it didn't let me use the plug-in.

I found another plug-in software that comes in a PCI Card which has the original makers of this compressor (Teletronix, now owned by UA), which has the exact same plug-in, but it's processed in a PCI card which uses less CPU power. This product is the UAD-1 released by Mackie which costs 200 more dollars but includes 4 other UA digital plugins.

So Bombfacory is great company and will do the job, but i'm sure you can find better results with the UAD-1 by Mackie

I'm using Pro Tools LE and Digi 001 on a Mac G3 w. crappy small Audix monitors. I'm convinced that their bigger models are great, these where primarily made as an upgrade multimedia speaker, so overall my ability to hear the quality of the sound is quite impaired as a result. I primarily used the plugin for compressing sources like bass and drums.

Very easy to use. 2 knobs, thats all, and they work. Manual is great and easy to understand.
Note: If you use the plug-in in AS, you'll have to use the side chain. See the manual

Sound great. Especially on drum and Bass. I do tweak it since it DOES matter to me that the amount of compression is right.
The quality is really where it excels. Uses a lot of CPU power so i normally do single tracks in AS

Its really good, it comes bundled w. the 1176 so you get 2 great compressors at a decent price. Its not cheap but quality stuff normally isn't.