Crème – Bus Compressor and Mastering Equalizer

The Crème combines a passive EQ based on the Pultec principle and a high-end bus compressor in a single device.

Many successful mixing engineers share one thing in common: They mix with a compressor and EQ in the master channel. The EQ is usually set to subtly boost the bass and treble, while the bus compressor compresses the sound by a couple of dB. This gives the engineer an idea of how the mix will sound after mastering, even when still in the mixing stage. It also helps in finding the right volume balance for individual sounds (especially vocals).

The Crème puts the very best of both in one device. The passive EQ has been reduced down to the most popular applications: Bass boost, to give greater definition to the bass, and treble boost, to give the mix the necessary shine. The boost has been made switchable to enable total recall and reduce the boost to more appropriate levels for use in the master channel.

The bus compressor has a few additional functions such as a low-pass filter for the side chain and an additional ratio of 1.5:1 for especially subtle compression.

The placement of the EQ and compressor in the mix can also be switched.

Similarly, the Crème is also suitable for use in the master channel.

Do you want to softly and inaudibly balance the track or give it a particular rhythmic signature? The Crème’s VCA compressor can do all this.

Its powerful and characteristic sound can bring every mix to the next level. The compressor can really work hard, giving the mix a noticeably more open and brilliant sound.

The compression is very harmonic in nature, the sound always remains transparent, and the individual instruments find their own place in the mix. The often lamentable loss of high notes in compression simply doesn’t happen here – rather, the signal sounds like it has already been fed through an exciter.

The basses sound like a unified whole, refined with lean dynamics. The basses sound like a unified whole, refined with lean dynamics. The basses sound like a unified whole, refined with lean dynamics.

The switchable high-pass filter in the side chain ensures that, when required, even heavy bass sounds don’t lead to pumping.

Effect of the low-cut filter in side chains on compression

Passive equalizers with their elaborate circuits with coils and capacitors are still among the most popular sound makers in master compression.

We chose the filter circuitry from the original Pultec for good reason: it already made our Classic Equalizer a high-performance sound machine.

No other type of EQ manages to sound good (almost) no matter what the settings. Soft and silky highs that deserve the name. A bass boost that gives the mix a solid foundation and thrust, without squashing everything into an indistinct nothingness.

We took the filter circuitry from the original Pultec and carefully updated it. Unnecessary controls have been replaced by fixed values. Similarly, unnecessary frequencies have been removed from the mix bus.

All controls have been replaced with rotary switches for greater precision. Limiting the range of settings possible to reasonably required values has made adjustments much more precise. This gives the Crème its accurate stereo tracking features.

The result is an EQ you really have to hear. Hear it only once, and you’ll forever miss its absence. If you’ve never heard it, it’s that EQ that you’ve always been looking for.

Low-shelf filter frequency response

High-shelf filter frequency response

General

• Stereo device
• EQ switchable before and after the compressor
• Lowcut filter in side chain

Equalizer

• Passive EQ (Pultec style)
• Bass boost frequencies: 20-30-60-100+140+200 Hz
• Bass boost level: 0-5 dB switchable
• High boost frequencies: 10-12-16-18-20-24 kHz
• High boost level: 0-5 dB switchable

Compressor

• Lowcut filter: 60-120 Hz
• Attack: 0,1-0,3-1-3-10-30 ms
• Release: 100-300-600 ms-1,2s-Auto
• Ratio: 1,5-2-4-10
• Rasted potentiometers
• Freqency responce: 20 - 40.000 Hz +/- 1,5 dB
• Balanced inputs and outputs
• Internal power supply with toroidal transformer
• Height: 88,4 mm (2U), width: 483 mm, depth: 250 mm

Full review

Full review (english translation)

I wanted to double-check my ears and my art, so I asked a mastering studio in Berlin to master one of my titles.

After they were done, they told me that they used a Tube-Tech multi-band compressor, an Avalon EQs and the Waves BCLs, and I was pleased with the result (it sounded almost the same as the version that I had mastered).

But even at this point I was surprised how much more open my own master sounded for which I had used Crème and EQP1. I then asked the mastering engineer to add a little midrange, and I did the same with the EQP1 and compared again.

Of course, one version sounds different than the other, but it’s obvious how much more open, softer and fluffier your blue boxes sound.
I was really amazed and very happy as I feel re-affirmed to have made the right investment.

... I have now properly tested the Crème and am really impressed by what it can do!

The compressor doesn’t tamper much with the sound in any situation.

Despite the heaviest level of compression, nothing is lost from the spectrum, unlike a few other plug-ins I know.

The EQ is also very impressive. Simply a very nice Pultec-style EQ that never sounds aggressive, no matter how far you push it.
VERY HARMONIC! ...

... While the EQ is at least ‘officially’ a shelf EQ, it behaves almost like a bell EQ with a low-cut filter: Beautifully broad and soft.
This characteristic makes it possible to boost the bass frequencies without simultaneously squishing everything down into the subbass frequencies.

This means the higher frequencies also avoid sounding aggressive and irritating… The result is very pleasant and almost creamy.

Definitely a better choice than buying 16 plug-ins at 99 euros each when you only actually need two. ...

... You have created a really fantastic device in the form of the Crème. I had a lot of fun testing it.

The Crème blends the mix in a pleasant fashion, bringing out artefacts that you simply can’t pull out in a digital mixdown.

Even on a stereo electric guitar recording through two amps, the Crème brought the signal nicely forward it was possible to shape this a bit with the EQ ...