Images Courtesy of Pulsar Audio
There are plenty of excellent compressor plugins available these days, and most producers already have several sitting in their plugin folders. The problem usually comes down to deciding which compressor to reach for and whether you need something that will control dynamics transparently, introduce additional harmonic character, or help manage the peaks that keep your drums from sitting properly in the mix.
Those different requirements can quickly turn a simple compression decision into several processors working together.
Pulsar Audio is addressing that situation with IPA 25, a multi-VCA dynamics processor modeled around the behavior of a classic American bus compressor. The plugin takes the familiar VCA approach and extends it with additional circuit models, detailed sidechain processing, and built-in clipping and limiting.
For Black Friday, Pulsar has reduced IPA 25 from its regular €149 price to €69, making it an interesting option for producers who want to expand their compression tools without buying several separate plugins.
What interests me most about IPA 25 is the ability to change the character of the gain-reduction circuit while maintaining the same underlying compression settings. Rather than simply adding saturation after the compressor, the different modes affect how the signal is processed during gain reduction.
That gives producers another way to control the relationship between dynamics and harmonic content, particularly when working with drums, bass, and complete mixes.
Four Compression Modes in One Plugin
IPA 25 includes four processing modes: Original VCA, Clean VCA, V-Mu, and N-Diode. The Original mode recreates the character of the hardware that inspired the plugin, including its RMS detection and program-dependent release behavior. Clean VCA provides a more transparent option, while V-Mu introduces tube-inspired harmonic characteristics and N-Diode provides additional distortion associated with diode-bridge compression circuits.
I’ve discussed similar considerations in my article on analogue emulation plugins, where Pulsar’s processing tools were among the options examined for introducing analogue-style tonal characteristics.
The idea of using compression for tonal adjustment also appeared in our How It Was Made feature with Wehbba, where he explained how compressor saturation and sidechain filtering influence his approach to drums, bass, and mix processing. IPA 25 combines several related functions within one interface, allowing producers to experiment without continually replacing processors.
Sidechain EQ, Clipping, and Limiting Expand the Options
One of IPA 25’s more interesting features is its sidechain section, which includes a four-band visual EQ, external sidechain support, adjustable stereo linking, and three detector modes called NORM, MID, and LOUD. These controls determine how the compressor responds to different parts of the incoming signal, letting you prevent certain frequencies from triggering excessive gain reduction or focus the detector on particular aspects of a recording.
That control can be especially relevant when processing electronic music.
A drum group containing substantial kick energy might trigger excessive compression if the detector responds primarily to the lowest frequencies, while a bassline could require a different response depending on the relationship between its sustained notes and transient information. In our How It Was Made feature with Hannes Bieger, he discussed using API 2500 compression on drums and explained how small amounts of gain reduction can influence the results. IPA 25 builds on that general hardware approach while adding visual feedback and detector controls.
Pulsar also offers a zero-latency operating mode for recording applications where monitoring delay must remain minimal.
Pulsar Audio’s Black Friday Sale Brings IPA 25 to €69
The advertised Black Friday price brings IPA 25 down to €69 from €149, saving €80. Pulsar is also running a wider promotion with discounts of up to 70% across selected products, alongside a buy-two-get-one-free offer.
For producers who already own a conventional VCA compressor, the main reason to consider IPA 25 is the additional control rather than the basic compression functionality. Switching between circuit models, adjusting detector behavior, and incorporating clipping or limiting into the same plugin could simplify several recurring mixing tasks, particularly on drum groups and bus channels.
At €69, the Black Friday offer makes those additional features easier to consider, although the trial is worth using to determine whether they offer anything your existing processors don’t already handle.
Find the current promotion and download the trial through the official Pulsar Audio IPA 25 product page.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
