I always know when a plug-in is a good fit for me when I return to it again and again, even when there is a long list of candidates available. Waves CLA-2A is one such tool. It emulates one of the most famous compressor/limiters of all time, the Teletronix LA-2A, while adding Chris Lord-Alge's personal presets.

'Hardware versus plug-in? Hardware versus plug-in?' In the early days of digital emulations of classic pieces of hardware, the argument could easily be made that the digital side of things was simply not on par with the original hardware.

Now it is a much more balanced argument with each having benefits and drawbacks. I'd like to have a giant stack of LA-2A and 1176 units racked up to the ceiling, but do I have $30,000 to drop? I always know when a plug-in is a good fit for me when I return to it again and again, even when there is a long list of candidates available. Waves CLA-2A is one such tool. It emulates one of the most famous compressor/limiters of all time, the Teletronix LA-2A, while adding Chris Lord-Alge's personal presets. Quick and dirty history: The LA-2A was (and still is under the Universal Audio brand) a tube electro-optical compressor that uses the T4 cell (an electro-luminescent panel and a light- dependent resistor) to achieve its gain reduction.

It has a fast 10 ms attack time, and a characteristic two-stage release that has a medium fast onset and then a very slow tail. The unit is known for its low harmonic distortion.

When pushed hard, however, the tube will get crispier on the top. Big, fat, and warm are common words used to describe the unit.

When you hear it, you know it. It's a vocal and bass sound you've heard on records for years — up front, and stuck there with its edges bleeding into the rest of the mix in the perfect way. The original units were made for broadcast but soon found use in studios on everything from vocals to drums to entire mixes. As more specific flavors of dynamics processors have emerged, I have seen the LA-2A used mostly on vocals and bass. The controls are bonehead simple — Gain and Peak Reduction knobs and a switch for compression or limiting. I was mixing Seattle band The Dip, an eight-piece retro-soul outfit, and I found myself using CLA-2A frequently as part of the vocal treatments to achieve a 'classic' sound that fit the style and vibe of the music. The vocal was originally tracked through a hardware LA-2A to catch peaks and capture the 'sound' to tape (literally!), but I found the plug-in useful when inserted into different parts of the chain to take that sound a step further.

As with the original hardware unit, you can get the plug-in's (virtual) tubes to sizzle a bit when you increase the gain. (Use this effect to taste.) I liked 2-3 dB of reduction in the compression setting on a vocal, locking the vocal right into place. In some cases, I combined the plug-in with a hardware compressor and was able to push and pull the vocal around while still maintaining the signature sound of the LA-2A. In addition to vocals, I used the plug-in on bass and liked the grit it brought when driving it a bit. Again, this compressor just sticks the bass right where you want it and keeps it there. On other sources, I ran through the presets and adjusted accordingly. It was not my cup of tea for everything, but it was certainly usable across the board.