Solid State Logic Launches Blitzer

Put a little vibe in your stocking this year with Blitzer — a powerful ‘attitude compressor’ available exclusively as part of SSL Complete. While its name may hold similarities to a certain famous reindeer, Blitzer is actually the latest addition to Solid State Logic’s rapidly growing range of plug-ins available in their SSL Complete subscription. Emulating classic hardware compressors like the FET ’76 limiting amplifier, valve ‘2A’ levelling amplifier, Fairchild and others. Blitzer is a mojo machine, full of vibe and character to help your tracks take off — no magic sleigh required.

Following hot on the heels of the highly praised 4K B channel strip plug-in, Blitzer is an analogue attitude compressor, capable of delivering everything from soft, saturating compression to explosive brick-wall limiting. In addition to powerful transient shaping and luscious vintage-style harmonic drive for adding colour to your tracks, Blitzer offers 10 unique compression curves across 10 ratios — each with a unique shape and tone inspired by some of the rarest and sought-after analogue dynamics processors. Harness the distinct response of vintage tube, VCA, FET and optical compressors, all within a single easy-to-use interface.

The perfect tool for both mixing and mastering, Blitzer is versatile and loaded with sound sculpting tools. During mixing, slam room mics using the familiar ‘all in’ BLITZ! mode, give vocals body and character with valve-style levelling, or energise instruments with heavy hyper-saturated compression. When mastering, Blitzer provides a comprehensive pallet of analogue compression styles suitable for a wide range of genres. Dial in the DRIVE function to gently warm or decimate an incoming guitar or synth signal and use the MIX function for instant parallel processing. Warm tracks with soft-saturation and gentle harmonics without compressing using Blitzer’s 1:1 ratio.

With Blitzer’s detection sidechain high pass filter (HPF) it is easy to remove unwanted low-end frequencies from triggering the compressor — which can be ideal for drum busses. For those unruly vocal tracks, try using the bell filter to remove harshness to make it fit better in the mix. Other helpful features include AUTO GAIN for maintaining levels, a cross-platform preset system with A/B and undo/redo stack, and SSL’s easy to use contextual help system — so you never feel left out in the cold.

Blitzer is available exclusively as part of the SSL Complete subscription — the fastest way to access nearly $5000 worth of SSL Plug-ins — from $14.99 per month (Ts&Cs apply). Access a 14-day free trail of Blitzer by simply downloading the plug-in and clicking ‘try’ when prompted or try out your entire SSL studio with a 30-day SSL Complete trial available on the product page.

Key Features

• Apple M1 Native Support: Blitzer is a universal binary, and features M1 Native support.
• Classic analogue compressor plug-in inspired by hardware such as the ’76’ Limiting Amplifier and ‘2A’ Levelling Amplifier.
• Versatile character compressor delivers everything from soft saturating compression to explosive brick-wall limiting.
• 10 unique compression curves, each with a unique shape and tone.
• Add colour to your instruments using the DRIVE control; add gentle warmth or decimate your signal.
• Use the 1:1 ratio to warm your tracks with soft-saturation and gentle harmonics without compressing.
• AUTO GAIN maintains your levels based on the threshold and ratio.
• Use the MIX control to dial in parallel compression and punch.
• ATTACK and RELEASE controls let you tailor the compressor response to your source material.
• Dial in some of the dynamics of the original signal using the TRANSIENTS attack modification control.
• Slam room mics using the “all in” BLITZ! Mode.
• Use the HPF to remove unwanted low-end frequencies, perfect for drum busses.
• Tame unruly vocals and harshness using the detection sidechain bell filter.
• Built-in help – simply click the ‘?’ and mouseover the GUI to find out more.
• A/B for quickly switching between presets.

Blitzer is available in several formats including VST2, VST3, AAX and AU.