Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor

In an interview, Wolfgang Gartner talks about his mastering process: "I decided to start mastering my own stuff last month and invested in some nice hardware to help do the job. My main tools now are... a pair of Empirical Labs Distressors with British Mode that occasionally work for mastering, but not always." Original Q&A can be found [here](http://www.soundstosample.com/blog/q-a/wolfgang-gartner).

Two Empirical Labs EL8 Distressors can be seen on top of one another in this image of Muse's rack units.

This can be seem 0:17 into this video.

Used on the Elephant Tour for vocals, as stated by monitor engineer Matthew Kettle in this July 1, 2003 *Mix Online* interview. > Kettle relies on number of outboard processors, including a UREI 1178 compressor on guitar and an Empirical Labs Distressor on vocals. “I compress almost everything going on, because he can go from screaming into his mic to singing really quietly,” says Kettle.

added a nw gear in here

At 2:50 in this video, we can see all the items Wiz Khalifa use in his home studio

"A Distressor compressor is probably my favorite compressor just because it's so versatile. And the amount of sweet distortion that you can get with it. It's one of the most modern pieces of gear that I've picked up and was like 'OK, this is great someone added on to the legacy of gear.'"

A pair of EL8 Distressors can be seen mounted in a rack in Calvin Harris' studio.

"I also like to use the Distressor on [Kendrick's] lead, because it adds some grit and presence at the top. So the RCompressor and S1 smooth and widen out his vocal sound, and the Distressor opens up the top end, making it crisp and allowing his vocals to cut through."

Used on Lullabies to Paralyze for Josh's vocals. Sound engineer Joe Baressi : "When I'm mixing I'll compress the vocal further, perhaps using an 1176 again or something that's a little cleaner and more accurate, like a Distressor or the SSL console compressor."

"Compressor test was awesome! The differences were huge but my choice was easily made: 2 Distressors & 2 Trakkers."

You can see the Distressor Compressor on the left side of Logic's studio desk from 7:23 to 7:45

Used on "Sex on Fire", as stated by *Only by the Night* producer Jacquire King in this December 2008 *Sound on Sound* interview. > * **Bass:** AMS delay, Sound Toys Echoboy, Empirical Labs Distressor, Chandler TG1, Dbx Disco Boombox > "On the Mix window screen you can see that there are bass DI, bass amp, bass AMS and bass delay tracks. The AMS is a delay that I applied at Blackbird and that I then printed to Pro Tools. The delay is the Echoboy delay, which I added during mixing. The idea was to get a different texture than I could with the AMS delay. Both delays had different delay times, different qualities of sound, and different feedback and modulation effects, and the idea was to spread them out and fatten up the sound, give it some space without putting a reverb or something poky–sounding on it. By spreading the bass out a bit you also make it sound bigger. In addition, there's some Distressor and TG1 compression and some EQ on the bass, as well as some more subharmonic synthesis, again using the DBX Disco Boombox. I have a slightly more modern version of the box." The item can be seen in [this image](https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/I/IT_King_05-9J8VlDNthEe.c4maMNnPBvIm8BjOfmvj.jpg) from the same interview.

A pair of Empirical Labs EL8 Distressors can be seen at the top of the rack below his desk on the right, in this Instagram of Markus Schulz's studio setup.

In these video interviews we see a pair of Distressors in Flume's rack.

Used to submix the snare drum on *Only by the Night*, as stated by producer Jacques King in this December 2008 *Sound on Sound* interview. > "The snare was recorded in similar fashion to the kick. I had the option of various mics that all went through a BCM10 and were submixed, through a GML 580 EQ, then a [Empirical Labs] Distressor, just to give it some control and make sure the snare hit the tape at the right level. On the track sheet a transformerless Shure SM57 is indicated. It was something I read about a couple of years ago, and it's a really good thing. It gives a nicer, more transparent, usable sound that requires less EQ. You lose a bit of level, but typically the things that you record with a 57 are so loud anyway that it doesn't matter. So I asked the people at Blackbird to take the transformer out of one of their 57s and they were gracious enough to do this. After recording I also ran the snare and kick through an Eventide DSP4000 on a Big Muff setting, and recorded that in Pro Tools during the transfer to the computer." > Standard EL8s are visible in [this photo of Blackbird Studios' Studio D's outboard gear rack](https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/I/IT_King_03-BKM1wV5s7D745s7J3sYx0lW3D0UKBjlQ.jpg) and [this photo of most of the gear used on "Sex on Fire"](https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/I/IT_King_05-9J8VlDNthEe.c4maMNnPBvIm8BjOfmvj.jpg) (both from the same interview), as opposed to the EL8X.

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this *Sound on Sound* interview about the production of *Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends*. It is visible in [this photo](https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/I/IT_Brauer_03-JjAhhW6Aa1V1Nd710Uf1hkLaQXwv2lFO.jpg) from the same interview. > Vocals: Waves Renaissance & Digidesign de–essers, AMS reverb, Zoom 1202, Lexicon PCM81, Watkins Copicat, Empirical Labs Distressor, Federal, Gates, Fairchild 666, EAR 660, Neve 1176 & Awa G7201 compressors > > "I used two Renaissance de–essers on Chris's voice that were doing different things, and then a stock Digidesign de-esser. That was it for the plug–ins I added on this session. The Sonnox Oxford and the Eoisis were not out yet at the time. > > "The analogue things I did on the lead vocal are really interesting. As I said, I initially mixed the songs on my own, because the band was in England re–recording some songs, so I knew I might have to recall each song. But on this song I pretty much nailed it, apart from that Chris wanted the vocals to be more exciting and different. In the end the vocal had some AMS non–linear reverb on it, while the main sound came from an old Zoom 1202 reverb and a Watkins Copicat delay, plus a special patch that I created in the PCM81, which is a much bigger reverb. So it's a combination of things, but you don't really notice them, all you notice is that Chris is in a very present, big room. When I had found that combination 'Violet Hill' really became a song, it really came alive, because his voice was able to fight through all the stuff that was going on and make it personable. There's no reverb on the rest of the track, which is another reason why the lead vocal sounds so huge: it's not fighting another bunch of reverbs. If you send everything to reverb, you don't hear it, but if you send only one thing to reverb, it'll be huge. > > "For the main part of the song I had a Distressor on the insert of the lead vocal, and I sent this to another five compressors: the Federal, the Gates, the Fairchild 666, the Neve 1176 and another Distressor in Nuke mode. They're all coming back individually on the board, and it was a matter of blending those compressors. As usual in my way of working, the compressors are there to give attitude and tone, and don't necessarily compress. For the end bit of the song, where it's just Chris and the piano, I used the Awa G7201 limiter/compressor. It's an Australian compressor and it has an incredible air and presence. It's a unique sound that you can clearly hear at the end, as it's the only effect on the vocal on that point. Finally, the church group background vocals are sent to the same combination of reverbs as the main vocals. No other effects, no EQ. It means that all the vocals in the main section blend together."

Used for the drums on *Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace*, as stated by mix engineer Rich Costey in this March 2008 *Sound on Sound* interview. > **Drums: Quad 8 310, Pultec EQP1, API 550a, Neve 33609, API 2500, Lexicon 960, Urei 1176, Smart C2, SPL Transient Designer, room mics** > "I had just gotten some Quad 8 310 EQs before I began the Foo Fighters project, and I found that cranking the s[**]t out of the mid-range with the Quads helped the drums quite a lot. On most of the album the bass and snare drum went through the Quad 8s, with severe amounts of mid-range added. Quad 8 grew out of Electrodyne and was very popular in the 1970s, particularly with film companies. I obtained some channels that came out of the Motown Sunrise console and they're basically three bands of EQ and a mic pre and output level, and the Q gets tighter as you push it up. The Quad 8s are a little bit rounder and warmer-sounding than similar API modules. I also used the Pultec EQP1 and API 550a on the bass drum. > "I had a bunch of different side-chain compressors on the drums that would change from song to song. On some songs it would be the Smart C2, medium ratio and fast recovery, on others the Neve 33609, the Urei 1176, the API 2500 or the Empirical Labs Distressor, and the SPL Transient Designer on toms. You can use the SPL to lengthen the sound of the toms. I don't compress all the drums at the same time, I'll compress individual parts and mix the compressed sound in with the natural sound of the drums. There was relatively little compression implemented on the drums in this song, because the band didn't care for it. They wanted the drums to sound more raw. > "Throughout the album mix I might have used a bit of Lexicon 960 on the drums for reverb, but the room mics — amongst them a heavily compressed foldback microphone — were so good that I tended to use those. I tend to like room mics that are on the darker side. If they're too bright, you can't turn them up very loud because you then also get all kinds of messy cymbal noises. One other thing to note is the drums that come in after the intro of the song. When the whole band is slamming accents like that, you want to make the drums sound very aggressive, and this meant pushing room mics, pushing compression mics and so forth. As I said, there were a lot of rides."

Two Distressors can be found in Owl City's personal Minnesota studio's outboard equipment.

Used on Flo Rida's vocals for "Low", as stated by mixer Fabian Marasciullo in this *Sound on Sound* interview. > Vocals: Waves Renaissance Vox, De–esser, Metaflanger, Renaissance Channel and S1 Stereo Imager, Digidesign Revibe, Line 6 Echo Farm, McDSP Analog Channel, Neve 8068 desk EQ, Neve 33609, Empirical Labs Distressor, Dolby 740 > > (...) "The rest was done outside of the box. I used the Neve desk for EQ, and on the hook, ie. on T–Pain, I had a Neve 33609. On Flo I had a matched stereo pair of Distressors. I would have a hundred Distressors if I could. I use them on everything, vocals, drums, bass, guitars. They are just magical. Finally, I sent all the vocals through a Dolby 740. It's an old Dolby unit that was made for film music. It acts like a compressor, but it's an EQ. You can set it so that when the guy sings harder, he sounds a bit brighter. It's a really interesting device, and it gives me a glistening on the voice that no other EQ can give me."

Tommy Lee has two of these and uses them for vocals, snare and occasionally room recording.

In this video detailing the production of "One", Axwell mentions that they're in Metropolis Studio in London. According to http://www.thisismetropolis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Studio-A.pdf, there are two Distressors in Studio A, where this video— and the production of "One"— took place.

In this Instagram video, Angger's camera pulls away from his computer screen to the right, revealing an EL8 Distressor compressor processing the mix.

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this *Sound on Sound* interview about the production of *Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends*. It is visible in [this photo](https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/I/IT_Brauer_03-JjAhhW6Aa1V1Nd710Uf1hkLaQXwv2lFO.jpg) from the same interview. > Bass: EAR 660, Altec 436B, Dbx 160, Akai S612, Moog MKPE > > "The bass was interesting. I had the same bass track coming back on two channels, and on one of them I had the EAR 660 compressor, going into an Altec 436B compressor, going into my Moog MKPE three–band parametric EQ, all going via the inserts. That channel was for the low end, giving the sound its fullness. On the other channel I had a Dbx 160, crushing heavily, with the bottom end taken out. That gave the bass its punch and mid-range. I also sent the basses to an Akai S612 sampler. A friend of mine turned me on to doing this. I don't use it as a sampler, but as a distortion device. If you put the Akai in microphone mode and you overload it, you get really nice warm distortion that you don't really notice, but it sounds good. If I want something more vicious than the Akai, I'll use the [Thermionic Culture] Culture Vulture instead, which I feel is one of the best pieces of equipment for adding some attitude. It's great for when tracks are recorded too cleanly. Finally the basses, like the drums, went through Bus B in my multi–bus compression setup, which consists of Distressors going into my Avalon E55 EQ."

In this photo from Thomas' Instagram, there are two Distressors in the center of the shot. The screws are to the right of the white border, which is indicative of the original EL8 model as opposed to the EL8X.

In the photo "Studio A.." you can see two Distressor compressors in the middle rack of Justin Vernon's (Bon Iver) studio April Base

Visible in this photo of recording engineer Stephen Sedgwick in 13 Studios, taken from [this October 21, 2014 interview by the The Polymath Perspective](http://www.polymathperspective.com/?p=3313). > As far as studio processing goes, there presence of six Empirical Labs Distressors in the racks clearly shows that the product is a firm studio favourite. "The Distressors are great compressors and very versatile,” agrees Steve. "They are good on drums and vocals and for general recording." The EL8 was used for Albarn's vocals on Gorillaz's "Charger", as mentioned by Sedgwick in [this July 2017 *Sound on Sound* interview](https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/inside-track-gorillaz-charger) about the production of *Humanz*. > "I usually compress vocals with outboard, either using Empirical Labs Distressors or sometimes the Summit TLA 100A or Tube-Tech CL1B compressor." (...) "I recorded Damon’s rough vocals with a Neumann KMS105 condenser, which sounds pretty good and doesn’t pick up a lot of sound from the room, so it works great if there are other people around and he quickly wants to lay down some ideas. But when it came to recording his final vocal takes I used the Flea 47, which is a really great-sounding Neumann U47 clone. I usually recorded it via a Chandler LTD1 mic pre, and then either a Distressor or a Tube-Tech CL1B compressor."

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this *Sound on Sound* interview about the production of *Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends*. It is visible in [this photo](https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/I/IT_Brauer_03-JjAhhW6Aa1V1Nd710Uf1hkLaQXwv2lFO.jpg) from the same interview. > Drums: Neve 1083, Urei 1176, ADR Compex, Pye & Chandler EMI compressors > > "I put some samples behind the kick and snare. I have built up a collection of a few hundred kicks and snares, so I can try many different types. This is where I spend a lot of time searching for the right sound. I may spend two hours trying to get the drum sound right. This is not to say that the original drum sounds in this track were bad, in fact they were great. So I'm building on top of them, I'm not replacing them. I can't remember the last time I actually replaced a drum sound. I just added a little bit to the kick and snare to enhance them. The snare sound is very important for a song and sometimes I vary it throughout the song, maybe downplaying one of the chorus snares in the verse, but in this particular case the snare sound doesn't change. > > "The main drum sound is coming from their snare, which I had up really loud. They had a nice overhead snare sound that already had reverb and stuff on it that was also very important to the sound. The kick and snare both went through my Neve 1083 EQs. I put the room sounds through my great, very vicious, old British Compex compressors. I also put the cymbal room sound through the Compex. The Compex compression makes the sound grainier and more aggressive. The toms, which were really well recorded, went through my stereo Pye compressors to make them more explosive, and were also sent to my stereo 1176 compressors and my Chandler EMI compressors. The 1176 and the Chandler are also explosive, so basically the tom sound was f[***]ing explosive. I maybe added a bit of compression on the hi–hats, and did very little with the mono overheads." > > (...) Finally the basses, like the drums, went through Bus B in my multi–bus compression setup, which consists of Distressors going into my Avalon E55 EQ."

Used as Chris's compression on the Drones tour

Used on *Icky Thump*, as stated by recording and mixing engineer Joe Chiccarelli in this October 2007 *Sound on Sound* interview. > “As far as compression is concerned, I applied a couple of drum submix compressors, probably API 2500 and Chandler Zener. On other songs I also sometimes used the SPL Transient Designer and sometimes an [Empirical Labs] Distressor. I set the API to fast attack and fast release, to get a bit of a pop to the snare, and blended that back in with the original. The Chandler has more of a round, warm, vintage sound. I set it to heavy limiting with a fast release, and blended that in to give the drums more character. I would say that the compressors were used on this album to make a statement, so I wasn’t shy of using extreme settings. I also may have sent the snare via loudspeakers to Studio A’s live room and blended that in to give more ambience.”

The #24 post explains that they use one of these for Maynard's vocals, with Tool.

"Drums: NI Battery, Waves Renaissance Bass, Avid Reverb One, Valhalla Room, IK Classik Reverb, Elysia Mpressor, Empirical Labs Fatso and Distressor, Neve 33609, Dbx 160 and 120, Valley People Dynamite, Drawmer DS201."

In this video at 1:36, Para One of [L'Atelier](https://equipboard.com/band/l-atelier) and [TTC](https://equipboard.com/band/ttc) shows his studio, including an Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor, for the process of making his second album 'Passion'.

At 1:36, you can see part of his rack and you can clearly see a distressor in there.

[This article](http://www.emusician.com/artists/1333/recording-bob-dylan/40613) says, "Shaw then compensates by adding some additional low end and a little airy EQ around 12kHz, then heavily compressing the signal through an Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor. 'I drive it untill the red lights don’t blink anymore,' he says. 'You can hear all the bleed from the band into the vocal microphone pumping under the compression and it adds a cool thickness to the sound.'"

The "Compressor, Distressor" sitting on top of the preamp is an EL8 Distressor by Emperical Labs.

"Main Rack." Two Distressors can be seen, thrid and fourth from the bottom.

Used on the 2Sides Tour, as mentioned in this November 12, 2018 article by Meyer Sound. > Wright mixes Derulo behind a DiGiCo SD7 augmented by his hand-picked outboard gear, including three Midas XL-48 preamps and Universal Audio Apollo interfaces. The vocal chain for Derulo includes a Neve 1073 preamp, an Empirical Labs Distressor and a Manley Vox Box. Derulo currently favors a Telefunken M81 capsule on his Shure wireless handheld, though Wright has experimented with an SE V7 capsule and is also considering a DPA d:facto capsule.

In this photo, which shows MacDonald's rig, Empirical Labs Distressor is seen. Many thanks to narcist for the info!

In the October issue of Sound on Sound Magazine, in a photo of the band's studio, in the bottom right corner in a partially obscured hardware rack you can see 2 Distressor 's mounted on top of each other.

In this photo, 2 Emprical Labs Distressor units are visible.

"Tito, who acted as engineer, had a bunch of API preamps and some outboard gear, like [Empirical Labs] Distressors, which he used on some of the snare tracks." - Rostam

"Tim Holmes (of Death In Vegas) was with us, encouraging me to use more professional methods, like running the mic through [Neve](https://equipboard.com/items/ams-neve-1081-mic-preamp-equalizer) preamps and running the bass and vocals through an (Empirical Labs) Distressor." - Kevin Parker from this *Tape Op* article.

In this photo, posted on Caspa's [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/caspadubstep), his workstation can be seen, which includes an Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor, in the bottom right.

Tom Rowlands, of Chemical Brothers fame, working in his studio. Just check out the complete list of this synthesizer nerd … an instant daydream … and also explains the original sounds on their records!

At the [0:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=35&v=D65llNDTrFs) minute mark of this video the Empirical Labs Distressor is shown in Mark Ronson's studio

In Tape Op interview with Larry Crane, he mentions buying an Empirical Labs Distressor during recording Portastatic's "Summer of the Shark" album at home: > If I'm working on a Portastatic record and I'm at an impasse or I just finished a song and I don't really know where to go next, I just sit down at the piano or start using something that I'm not necessarily as comfortable with and it leads to something. I recorded Summer of the Shark at home and I needed some gear. I borrowed some stuff and I bought an [Empirical Labs] Distressor. That changed my life. That alone gives you ideas.

The Empirical Labs Distressor. Geez, another compressor. But I'm a sucker for colored lights and this unit has a blue LED next to the Nuke button. I can't say anything but YES to that. I began using the Distressor in my King Crimson touring rig. Since the attack of my tapped instrument is so intense on the bass strings, I would put this compressor right at the front. I would set it to 20:1 and sort of soft limit the highest energy notes. If I didn't do this, then I would have to turn down the input on the pre-amps far lower than they liked. Then I would split the signal into a clean line and distorted line. This two would come back together with the Raven Labs 2 channel (yes, I am selling that one) and into a final compressor: the DBX 160. The last compressor turned all the disparities of the two lines back into one big sound. Now I just use the Distressor in my studio for recording bass and guitar and vocals and percussion and harmonium and violins and bagpiges and.....

According to Instagram photo, one of many rack mounts he uses is also an EL8 Distressor.

In this studio photo posted by Cheney, the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor can be seen.

You can spot it in the corner left.

Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor

This interview says James Blake uses the Empirical Labs Distressor for his live show

A FOH stage hand sent out a couple pictures of Chris Stapleton's live rig on May 27, 2016 in Simpsonville, SC at the Charter Spectrum Amphitheatre. The stage setup clearly matches the setup seen in various videos around the web from early-2016 shows. The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor can be seen in Chris' rack setup.

In this photo of the rack posted by Benton on his Instagram page, one of the things visible is the Empirical Labs Distressor.

"I use my Distressor all the time. I’m going to buy a second one so I can use one for the kick drum and one for the bass," says Riva Starr, in [this article](http://www.attackmagazine.com/features/interview/riva-starr-interview/).

4 minutes into this video, we can see 2 Distressors in the rack. "You can use that in a very creative way, so you can distort stuff, and compress the waveform, so it sounds really, really tight..."

sharooz takes future music on a studio tour

Michael says he uses a Distressor Compressor in this interview

1x Distressor can be seen at the bottom of rack in this photo from artist's studio.

In this heavy bass recording tutorial, Glenn Fricker can be seen using a Voxengo Boogex, AudioTechnikk Equilibre and a Modern DeathCore Compressor VST. For the analog route, he uses a Tech 21 Sansamp Bass DI and a rackmount Distressor.

Visible at 0:10 in this video.

Pdogg shows a pair of (edit: EL8X) Distressors.