$199.00
“The Arousor is a compressor plugin without equal! Instantly exciting and instantly musical. There’s no turning back!” – Greg Wells
The Arousor is the only classic knee compressor plugin made by the creators of the Distressor, Empirical Labs. It’s been well over 20 years since Empirical Labs released its first compressor, the Distressor. From those early days on, Empirical Labs has been bombarded with requests for a great compressor plugin for those working in the box… and it had to be one with the creamy sound and ease-of-use of our own award winning hardware compressors. We are sure you will find the 20+ year wait worth it!
Attack Modification
Fine tune the attack curve of the compression envelope with AtMod. The attack modification knob slows down the initial slope of the attack envelope to add just a little bit more of the transient back into the track. Whether it’s to get a little bit more snap on the snare track or more thump on the electric bass, the AtMod will let the transients through without losing your desired amount of compression.
Colorful Saturation
Advanced Detector Sidechain
Dial in exactly where you want the compression to trigger with 2 bands of sidechain EQ. This advanced detector sidechain EQ expands both of the preset detection filter circuits on the Distressor into a controllable hi-pass and parametric sidechain. Control the exact point on the frequency spectrum where you want compression to be triggered without losing any low-end.
Rivet Mode
Get maximum gain reduction with the Rivet mode along with all of the ratios you know and love from the Distressor. Modeled after the Distressor’s Nuke Ratio, Rivet provides the steepest compression ratio a compressor plugin can provide to slam room mics and more.
AROUSOR LT INCLUDED
As of 6/29/2022, all purchases of Arousor include the Arousor LT.
- Two OPTO Modes based on the time constants of a classic and a modern LA2A
- Soft Clipper Expert Panel that allows for introducing more second harmonic distortion and the ability to place the compressor input before or after the soft clipper circuit.
- Detector Sidechain EQ now includes a listen mode to hear what frequencies are affecting the compression detector.
- Two new ratios (6.5:1 and 7:1) can now be accessed by enabling “ALT” mode in the ratio section.
- The GUI can now be enlarged to double its original size for more comfortable editing.
- iLok Cloud activation is now available rather than just iLok USB activation.
Try the Arousor for Free for 15 days.
• Download the Arousor Installer at the link the link below.
• Install the Arousor and click “TRY” the first time it is opened.
• Activate the Arousor to an iLok USB or iLok Cloud.
Free
Own It
Buy the Arousor on our store.
• When you purchase the Arousor from our online store you get 1 license with 2 activations when you redeem your activation code.
• Get free upgrades and support.
• Activate the Arousor to an iLok USB or iLok Cloud.
• Includes Arousor LT license in a Locked Group (as of 6/29/2022).
$199.00
Subscribe
Pay Monthly or Annually.
• $4.99/month or $49.99/year
• Get access to AROUSOR at a low monthly price!
• Includes AROUSOR LT
• iLok USB or iLok Cloud Required
$4.99/month or $49.99/year
Rent-to-Own
Pay Monthly towards a Perpetual License
• $9.95/month, 20 Payments
• Pause or Cancel at any time
• Includes AROUSOR LT
• iLok USB or iLok Cloud Required
$9.95/month for 20 months
Share presets, tips, experiences, and more on our forum
Follow the Arousor Thread on Gearspace
FAQs
Do I need an iLok USB to use the Arousor?
Not anymore! Now, you can activate the Arousor to iLok Cloud!
How do I upgrade to Arousor Rev 3?
Arousor Rev 3 is free for all current Arousor users. All you have to do is download the latest installer from the downloads page.
Is the Arousor an emulation of the Distressor?
Yes and no. The Arousor is more of an evolution of the Distressor than it is an emulation because it has much more advanced features like the AtMod and the Soft Clipper.
Daniel Antix –
I own 4 Distressors and I’m digging the arousor, especially the flexibility in the detector circuit. The only think I would like added would be a bypass switch for each section.
Barnaby Hall –
This is really close to the hardware, which has always been one of my favorite compressors. The price is quite high compared to other comparable plugins, but you do get that sound you are buying it for.
Dee (macb3th) –
As a home recording enthusiast for over a decade, I’ve experienced a mass of hardware and plugins during a period where I’d spend much time housebound.
Recently I’ve had to “downgrade” my home studio to the bare minimum, meaning bye-bye to quite a few favorites including my “colorful” preamp etc.
I’ve always been interested in the Distressor so I was intrigued by the AROUSER. I followed a thread on Gearslutz which Dave Derr has dedicated a lot of time to, and while I was initially concerned about the price, I was soon convinced that I’d be adding an invaluable tool to my arsenal.
I knew immediately the AROUSER it was something special, the saturation alone is tasty and I hadn’t experienced this quality before from a software product.
Very happy customer using minimalist setup: mic/instrument – interface – DAW.. Enter The AROUSER … bliss
Thank you Dave et al for your friendly interaction.
My advice – try the demo, you will probably fall in love *
Florian Stangl –
thats the first and only compressor plugin i ever need..
thanks
Beckwith –
This is my new default plugin compressor. I’m a Hardware Compressor junkie and I don’t say this lightly (Manley VariMu, Langevin Stereo Opto, Dbx160, 1176, 2 3630’s)…. This is the closest to hardware I’ve ever heard, painfully close to hardware compression, it goes DEEP and goes FAST like HW comps and doesn’t do that digital grossness that you so often get when you push it super hard. I bought this after 30 seconds of demoing…
To my ears this sounds 95-99% exactly like the distressor. This plug in is shockingly f*&^%$# awesome.