DarkStype

DarkStype — S-Type Bus Compressor

A clean, focused S-Type bus compressor in the IGS 500 VU lineage — schematic-accurate THAT2181 VCA topology with class-A op-amp stages and RMS detection. No transformer, no extra coloration, no distractions: just the pure S-Type response with the controls that actually matter.

Topology:

• THAT2181 VCA per channel
• Class-A op-amp input and output stages (+20 dBu headroom)
• THAT2252-style log-domain RMS detector
• Selectable sidechain mode: London (summed mono) or New York (left only)
• ~0.012% THD at 0 dBu, ~0.04% at +12 dBu, ~0.15% at +20 dBu

Controls:

• Threshold: -60 to 0 dB
• Ratio: 2:1 / 4:1 / 10:1
• Attack: continuous 0.1–30 ms (log-skewed, centered at 3 ms)
• Release: continuous 0.05–1.5 s with Auto Release (dual-time-constant, S-Type / G-Series classic)
• Makeup: 0 to 30 dB, with Auto Makeup
• Mix: parallel compression blend
• Sidechain HPF: continuous 0–500 Hz (default 80 Hz)
• Oversampling: x2 / x4 / x8