Solid State Logic SSL Bus Compressor 2 + Sonible Smart:Eq

What SSL Bus Compressor 2 + Sonible smart:EQ 4 Is For

This pack is designed to speed up and make your mixing decisions more reliable, whether you are working on pop, rock, hip-hop, electronic, film music, or musical podcast productions. SSL Bus Compressor 2 delivers the "record-like" feel by solidifying a drum bus, an instrument group, or the master bus with musical compression that adds punch without squashing dynamics. Sonible smart:EQ 4 perfectly complements this role: it balances the spectrum, helps reduce masking between tracks, and guides you toward a clearer, more readable, and more consistent mix across different listening systems.

Main Features

SSL Bus Compressor 2: the SSL "glue," faithful to the hardware, optimized for digital

Inspired by the bus compressor from the famous SSL G Series console, SSL Native Bus Compressor 2 captures the response and character of the original model while adding enhancements suited to modern workflows. Its goal is simple: to bring your elements together in a unified movement, enhance attack, stabilize perceived level, and provide immediate cohesion to a group.

To adapt to your tempo, style, and the nature of the bus (drums, instruments, mix bus), the plug-in offers new Attack, Release, and Ratio values. This allows you to maintain the typical musical behavior of the SSL compressor with precise control, avoiding excessive pumping or degrading dynamic character, even at high ratios.

The Bus Compressor 2 also integrates a "patch-bay" approach in plug-in format: side-chain input and high-pass filter (HPF) in the side-chain. This is a key tool for cleanly compressing a bus, especially when low frequencies trigger too much gain reduction. The result: more punch, tighter low end, and a less cluttered mix.

Sonible smart:EQ 4: AI equalization, spectral balance, and unmasking

At the heart of Sonible smart:EQ 4, the smart:filter analyzes your signal and builds a correction targeting a profile: instrument, voice, bus, or even a genre-related aesthetic. The goal is not to replace your ear but to provide an ultra-relevant starting point, then let you take control with parameters that frame the algorithm's behavior.

You can refine the sound with the smoothing parameter for gentler corrections, enable Adaptive to better follow highly dynamic signals, and define the frequency range on which the intelligence should act. This approach lets you preserve artistic intent while quickly correcting excesses (harshness, veil, intrusive low mids, aggressive highs).

smart:EQ 4 goes further with intelligent cross-channel processing: in Group mode, it reduces masking with other tracks in a group without altering the channel itself, and in Track and Group mode, it combines balancing and unmasking for maximum clarity. The plug-in can process up to 10 channels simultaneously for mixing and spectral unmasking, with clear and consistent visual display at the group level. To maintain a constant level, you have Auto-Gain, and to shape the material, a dynamic band mode as well as full midrange processing.

Technical specifications

Type

Full software

Downloadable

Yes

Operating System (Mac)	macOS Sierra (10.12) or higher	Mac	AU, VST2, VST3, Native AAX
Operating System (Windows)	Windows 10 (64-bit)	Windows	VST2 (64-bit), VST3 (64-bit), Native AAX (64-bit)
Processor (Mac)	Intel Dual Core Mac running at 2.4 GHz or higher	iLok	iLok hardware or cloud-based authorization required
Processor (Windows)	Intel Core 2 processor (or comparable) running at 2.4 GHz or higher	Three smart:filter modes	Track, Group, Track and Group
Memory	Minimum 4 GB RAM