Waves H-Comp Hybrid Compressor

H-Comp combines the performance and precision of modern compressors with the charming, and enduring, sound quality of tubes, transformers, and transistors. Even better, unlike the immutable nature of “character” compressors, you can choose from four distinct analog personalities.

Whether warming up today’s tracks with a vintage vibe, packing percussive power and punch into rhythm tracks and loops, or sweetening vocals with the nostalgic sheen of tubes, H-Comp delivers.

Choose Your Analog

Four analog options process both the wet and dry signals. Dial in the desired vibe, from the thick sound of transformers and tubes to the fizz of transistors. Even with no compression dialed in, H-Comp can add subtle analog magic.

Choose Your Punch

“Character” compressors are known for their punch—but you can’t change the basic character of the compressor. H-Comp can, so you can set the amount of punch you want, not what the compressor wants to give you. And, it’s independent of the attack time.

Mix Control for Parallel Compression

Vintage units rarely had Mix controls to blend the compressed and the original source. H-Comp knows the value of “New York”-style parallel compression. Furthermore, the gain reduction meter takes parallel mix settings into account—more dry shows less gain reduction.

Sync Release to BPM

Of course, you can set release time manually. But you can also set it according to BPM, or even sync to the host tempo for novel pumping and pushing effects—try it with drums, or anything percussive.

Integral Limiting

Why not make a vintage compressor as easy to use as a modern one? Peak limiting keeps the output under control even with lots of punch, and automatic makeup gain keeps consistent levels, regardless of the compression amount.