A Modern Classic Compressor/Limiter The four large white knobs gleam at you as you enter the control room, announcing that this is not going to be your ordinary dynamics processing session. Vintage compressors are coveted — and rightly so — for their sonic qualities, but if there's a modern analog unit that belongs in the pantheon of all-time-great dynamics processors, it's the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor. Which leads to the question: what do George Massenburg, Bob Clearmountain, Steve Vai, and Mick Gazouski have in common? They're all in the Distressor early-adopters club. Former Eventide engineer Dave Derr's ground-breaking design, released in 1996, has to be the most sui generis compressor we've come across.The bee's knees As the rest of the audio world caught on, the Distressor found a home in studios racks worldwide, alongside the venerable classics that were inspirational in its design. Rave reviews ensued, with enthusiastic users reporting