Empirical Labs® EL8 Distressor
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Get the colorful sound of the world’s most popular compressor.
The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is revered in studios the world over as the modern, “must-have” compressor. Versatile with tons of color, the Distressor picks up where the legendary UA 1176 and Teletronix LA-2A compressors leave off — giving you a modern tool that’s equal parts utilitarian and creative, as heard on thousands of hit records.
Included Versions
UAD Native
Runs on your Mac or PC without UA hardware.Apollo Realtime & UAD‑2
Runs accelerated on Apollo interfaces and UAD‑2 hardware.UAD Native plug-ins run on both macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer and Windows 10 and 11. Go to our UA Support page for system requirements.
- Track and mix with the only authentic emulation of the EL8 Distressor — the world's most sought-after modern compressor
- Radically shape guitars, drums, and vocals with nearly infinite gain reduction variations
- Harness plug-in-only features like Dry/Wet parallel processing and Headroom for user‑customizable operating level
- Creatively color instruments and vocals with famous “Dist 2” and “Dist 3” modes
- Embellish, pump up, or destroy bass, synth, and room mics with custom detector filtering
- Mix with presets from Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes), Vance Powell (Jack White), Jacquire King (Kings of Leon), Jimmy Douglass (The Rolling Stones), and more
TAKE A LISTEN
Learn how to Add Energy to Drums
Grammy-winning engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, The Dead Weather) and the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor plug‑in.
Shape with the Only End‑to‑End Distressor Emulation
The EL8 Distressor Compressor plug-in gives you all the features and tone of the original hardware. Simply compare other Distressor emulations for yourself, and contrast the original hardware’s ultra-fast attack time to quickly hear where most plug-ins fail, and the authentic UAD Distressor succeeds.
Find the Perfect Compression Ratio
The crux of the Distressor are its staggering variations in compression — 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 6:1, 10:1, 20:1 and Nuke — each offering unique sounds. Use the 1:1 ratio to gently warm up synths or strings without compression, while adding musical harmonics. Conversely, the Nuke setting gives explosive excitement to room mics or your entire mix.
Add Color with Distortion Modes
The Distressor's iconic Dist 2 and Dist 3 modes give you a wide palette of compression textures, letting you shape sources with even or combined even/odd-order harmonic distortion, from delicate thickening to burnished tape to fully saturated.
Focus Dynamics with Powerful Sidechain Controls
The Distressor’s sidechain control gets rid of unwanted low-frequency pumping — perfect for drum bus processing — while Band Emphasis tames strident vocals and harsh “power region” instrument peaks. You can also harness "plug-in only" features like Dry/Wet Mix for easy parallel compression on a mix bus or instrument group.
“The UAD EL8 Distressor feels just like the hardware, giving me results that I’ve been missing in the box.”
– Jacquire King (James Bay, Kings of Leon, Tom Waits)
“The Distressor is capable of such radical compression tones, that it becomes its own instrument. I’m confident the UAD version will become just as useful as the hardware.”
– Joe Chiccarelli (Jason Mraz, Beck, The Strokes, Morrissey)
“The Distressor is the perfect all around compressor, and no studio should be without a few of them. Now with the UAD Distressor, you can have as many as you need!”
– Vance Powell (Jack White, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs)
“From subtle compression to destruction, the Distressor handles everything with style.”
– Hector Delgado (A$AP Rocky, Selena Gomez, Lana Del Rey)
“The Distressor truly is the desert island dynamics tool, for controlling levels or creatively reshaping instruments into sounds that couldn’t be heard otherwise.”
– Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House, Future Islands)Watch The Reviews
5-Min UAD Tip
In this video, learn how the EL8 Distressor compressor can transform your mixes into something truly special.
Customer Reviews
E. Alexis
February 1, 2024
Worth Every Cent
If you found yourself looking through the reviews for the distressor, you pretty much already have your answer. Yes, it's worth having this in your arsenal and yes, you will probably use...
Read Moret. fassbender
February 1, 2024
this smacked my tracks up
fantastic compressor, using it daily. a great tool to control dynamics and punch.
Read MoreA. Hunt
January 25, 2024
This is becoming my go-to comp
Clean and dirty. Use it on anything
Read MoreH. Hamid
January 17, 2024
a legendary compressor
Heard a lot of good things about this compressor that I had to have it in my tool set.
Read MoreH. Hamid
January 17, 2024
a legendary compressor
Heard a lot of good things about this compressor that I had to have it in my tool set.
Read More -
Customer Reviews
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor
E. Alexis
Worth Every Cent
If you found yourself looking through the reviews for the distressor, you pretty much already have your answer. Yes, it's worth having this in your arsenal and yes, you will probably use this on most of your mixes if not all of them. Great saturation feel, and just a positive element to any vocal or instrument.
t. fassbender
this smacked my tracks up
fantastic compressor, using it daily. a great tool to control dynamics and punch.
A. Hunt
This is becoming my go-to comp
Clean and dirty. Use it on anything
H. Hamid
a legendary compressor
Heard a lot of good things about this compressor that I had to have it in my tool set.
H. Hamid
a legendary compressor
Heard a lot of good things about this compressor that I had to have it in my tool set.
L. Jáger
Super!
I recommend this versatile compressor.
n. else
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor
Excellent little Compressor. I had experimented with the Kiive unit so though an amateur was familiar with the layout. Though mostly rely on presets with some minor tweaking. Very Satisfied
H. Powell
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor
The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor Is a must have for my Studio. I have a lot of different Compressors, but this one is the best. There’s nothing like it for any Instrument
J. Smith
One to rule them all
This thing is fantastic. Great on its own or so versatile to work with many other compressors
A. Volpato
The distressor is amazing
I love the plugin of the distressor. It is amazing, I just wished there was the gain reduction showing on the pro tools mixer. Other than that it is perfect
Y. Elkayam
Just wow!!
This sounds just like the original, and instead of buying a unit and using it on one thing I can put this plug in on whatever I like!! I love love love the mix knob…such a clutch addition.
Yonatan
www.wordofmouth.love/
www.westhollywoodpilates.com/O. Gurtovoy
Very interesting compressor
Great!
M. Mårtensson
Best software compressor I own.
I have many software compressors but this is by far the best and most versatile compressor.
C. Tabatadze
no words
just to tasty this distresoor
C. Tabatadze
Cool distresoor
recomenneddd awesome sound
c. holley
The Real Digital Thing!
I have the hardware version. I only have one, so I was never able to place it on my mix bus. Now I can and I love it! Highly recommended!
W. Krol
Amazing sound.
Wide sonic aspect!
J. Romero
Very versatile.
Simple to operate and contains the best of classic compressors.
An amazing tool.L. Morandi
Compressore mitico
Assolutamente fantastico rispecchia il carattere e la versatilità delle macchine analogiche Fantastico consiglio vivamente
L. De Caro
Excelente
Plugin maravilhoso , usando muito nas produções.
