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The Eventide Omnipressor is like no other dynamics processor you’ve ever seen. Incorporating compression, expansion, and even negative compression (yep, that’s a thing), this clever device gives you a massive range of dynamic control. The extensive controls make it possible to dial in smooth or pumping compression and limiting, gentle dynamic expansion, tight noise gating, and a variety of strange envelope effects.
The Omnipressor Model 2830*Au is a 50th-anniversary reissue of the original 2830 released in the early 1970s, which was notably used by Brian May of Queen—one of the masters of studio experimentation. This updated model features Lundahl input and output transformers, a switchable active-balanced sidechain circuit, stereo linking capability, and a Mix control for easy parallel processing.
To demonstrate everything the Omnipressor is capable of, Vintage King’s Nikhil Suresh put it to the test on a variety of drum, guitar, and vocal recordings. But before we get to the samples, here’s a brief overview of the unit.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Omnipressor is the Function knob: one simple control spanning expansion, compression, and negative compression. At the 12 o’clock position, the effect is neutral. Turning it to the left increases the expansion ratio logarithmically for a smooth transition up to a maximum of 10:1, while turning to the right increases the compression ratio to approximately 8:1 before it quickly reaches an infinite ratio and goes into negative compression beyond that.
The negative compression effect attenuates the loudest signals past their original level, with a range from infinite (complete attenuation) to -0.1:1 (slight ducking). According to Eventide, “Musically, this reverses the attack-decay envelope of plucked strings, drums, and similar instruments and gives the effect of ‘talking backward’ when applied to a voice signal.”
The Attenuation Limit and Gain Limit controls help keep the Omnipressor’s massive range in check, allowing you to contain the amount of compression or expansion. The unit also features a Sidechain circuit and a Bass Cut switch, which modify the detector circuit. The Link switch enables linked stereo processing with two Omnipressors.
The rest of the controls are fairly standard for a compressor: Input, Threshold, Attack, Release, and Mix. The large VU meter displays gain reduction and expansion with a range of 30 dB in either direction.
Now, here’s what you clicked for; high-definition audio samples of the Omnipressor in action! Turn up your monitors or put on your best headphones to compare and contrast these clips created by Vintage King’s own Nikhil Suresh.
We’ll start with a classic use case for heavy compression: stereo room mics on a beefy drum kit. For the “Squashed” track, Nikhil set the compression at maximum, with the fastest possible attack and longest release for super fat and distorted compression.
The “Hard Compressed” track uses a slight amount of negative compression with a slower attack and faster release mixed at 30% wet to add more “smack” to the shells.
For the “Blooming” track, Nikhil dialed up the mix to 50% and adjusted the attack and release to create a pumping rhythm that fills in the spaces between hits.
Finally, the “Destroyed” track shows you the ragged edge of what the Omnipressor can do, completely obliterating the initial transients to create an almost “reversed” sound.
Squashed Room Mic Settings
Hard Compressed Room Mic Settings
Blooming Room Mic Settings
Destroyed Room Mic Settings
Next up: a soloed snare drum track with a bit of cymbal bleed.
To isolate the snare hits, Nikhil dialed in a gating effect using maximum expansion with the fastest attack and release settings, a high threshold, and an attenuation limit of -20 dB to leave just enough bleed for a natural sound. For even tighter gating, Nikhil reduced the release time, threshold, and attenuation limit, letting only the snare and a few hi-hat hits through.
To demonstrate the compression effect, Nikhil dialed in a 4:1 ratio with moderate attack and release, which brought out the body of the snare while bringing up the cymbals as well (although this could be fixed with EQ).
Gated Snare Settings
Hard Gated Snare Settings
Compressed Snare Settings
Kick drums are another top use case for both compression and gating. This tightly mic’d track has a punchy bottom end and a bit of click from the beater, but there’s also a small amount of bleed present. To get rid of the bleed, Nikhil set the expansion to the maximum with a fast attack and medium release on the “Gated” track, which perfectly isolates the kick.
The “Compressed” track brings out the thump of the kick with a 6:1 compression ratio and moderate attack and release settings. Either of these would be an excellent choice for parallel processing.
Gated Kick Drum Settings
Compressed Kick Drum Settings
Now for a more novel application: double-tracked acoustic guitars. This stereo track is crisp and punchy on its own, but Nikhil used the Omnipressor to bring out different flavors of traditional and negative compression.
First up, the “Biting” track tightens up the guitars with 4:1 compression and medium-fast attack and release.
The “Squashed” track pushes things even further, with compression set to “infinite”, faster attack, and slower release.
On the “Destroyed” track, Nikhil used aggressive negative compression to exaggerate the pick attack and give a subtle growl to the sustained chords. The “Less Destroyed” track features the same settings with a 30% wet mix.
Biting Guitar Settings
Squashed Guitar Settings
Destroyed Guitar Settings
Less Destroyed Guitar Settings
Finally, Nikhil experimented with the Omnipressor on a soulful pop/R&B vocal track.
The “Compressed” track demonstrates typical vocal compression with a 4:1 ratio to control the dynamics just enough to pop out in the mix.
The “Destroyed” track squashes all dynamics with maximum compression, fast attack, and slow release.
Finally, the “Parallel Compressed” version uses mostly the same settings but dials back the mix to 50% for a full yet natural-sounding blend.
Compressed Vocal Settings
Destroyed Vocal Settings
Parallel Compressed Vocal Settings
As these samples show, the Eventide Omnipressor is a wildly versatile dynamics processor that really can do it all. From beefed-up and gated drums to biting guitars and in-your-face vocals, the Omnipressor excels in a huge range of applications, from the expected to the extreme. As Nikhil says, “The only issue I'd have if I owned one of these is not knowing what to use it on, as it would be great on a lot of sources.”
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