Brainworx bx_opto

Tone-Laden Optical Comp, Subtle to Slammin’

The Brainworx bx_opto compressor combines some of the best colors, character and features from what Brainworx has learned modeling the optical circuits of some of the world’s best-loved compressors. Rather than recreating a hardware product in software, the bx_opto takes the best aspects and anomalies from these legendary light-dependent circuits to create a software compressor you’ll wish you could buy a hardware version of. The result is a beastly little dynamics processor, teeming with character and spitting out sounds no analog optical compressor can. 

Most optical compressors are appreciated for their musical, program dependent character introduced by anomalies in the light dependent circuitry of the sidechain; the general speed of compression is cemented by the given behavior of the compressor’s Light Dependent Resistor (LDR). Hardware opto-compressors can only allow users the ability to adjust the effect of this character by introducing a separate resistance circuit that gives some control over the compression envelope. 

After intense experimentation and listening tests, Brainworx found a way to adjust the compression envelope by allowing users to adjust the speed at which the LDR regains its dark resistance, producing a sonic character impossible to replicate with a hardware optical compressor. Combine that with the sweepable sidechain filter (20 Hz – 20 kHz) and you have a potent way to smash and pronounce your way to a most unique sound. 

The end result is a compressor that can beautifully perform seamless dynamics management or create dramatic compression effects. The musical characteristic that optical compression circuits possess, that is, responding differently to different input signals (often referred to as “program dependency”), has made optical compressors a favorite of professional engineers and producers for decades. The Brainworx bx_opto not only delivers that musical quality, but opens up new sonic possibilities with its variable speed knob, simulating changes in speed at which the photo cell in an optical compressor reacts to light. This gives you control over release times that shape transients in such a manner no hardware optical compressor can match.