This article 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.'"

In the studio footage for the last Slayer studio album, you can see the Distressor working in the background while Kerry is tracking at 1:16

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

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

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!

Used for the soundtrack of Deadbeat, as specified in the appendix of this August 28, 2014 Electronic Musician interview.

James Iha’s Studio Gear

Thanks to Clear Lake Recording and engineer Brian Blake for the specs on James Iha’s Deadbeat music and recording equipment:

Recording/Studio: API DSM console, KRK V8 monitors, Mac Pro, Pro Tools 11

Guitar Recording Chain: Neumann U87 and M49B mics, Focusrite ISA 215 mic pre/EQ, Focusrite Red 2-channel compressor, Neve 1073 mic pre/EQ

(Borrowed) Guitar Amps: Matchless DC30, Swart AST, Ampeg B15, Fender Deluxe

Other Essential Recording Pieces: API 2500 compressor, API Channel Strip, Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor, Radial DIs

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

In the studio footage for the last Slayer studio album, you can see the Distressor working in the background while Gary is tracking at 1:04

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.

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 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."

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.

seen in the background of this video