NEOLD U17

Analog Heritage
In 1954, a truly unique compressor appeared on the scene: the U17. Built by Allgemeine Telefon-Fabrik in Hamburg for the NWDR broadcasting network, only a few dozen units of this exemplary analog masterpiece were manufactured, making this gem one of the rarest compressors ever built.

Crossing Bridges
The U17 combines a solid state diode bridge using Germanium crystal semiconductors with all-tube and massive transformer-coupled amplification – a most sophisticated hybrid design. The best of both worlds!

The original hardware was intended to provide gentle and unobtrusive compression, and the plugin offers just that in the most beautiful way… but it also adds a couple of serious setscrews, mutating the gentleman into a veritable two-face.

Dignified Power
A preceding soft clipper adds pleasant coloration while taming heavy transients before entering the actual compressor, which can blend from gentle and transparent to straight and aggressive operation with its powerful Torque control. In fact, the U17 combines everything we love about the golden era of analog design with a very modern and experienced approach to dynamics processing.

• Painstakingly modeled on legendary, extremely rare, analog studio hardware from 1954
• Unique combination of a solid-state diode bridge with all-tube transformer-coupled amplification
• Flexible and easy-to-use soft clipper combined with a vintage compressor
• Torque control for blending from gentle and transparent to straight and aggressive
• Auto modes for attack and release
• Sidechain monitoring button

• 

  Jason "JJ Boogie" Reichert

  Producer & Guitarist (Arrested Development, Eminem, Damian Marley)

  The Neold U17 compressor is smooth smooth smooth! Unlike many other compressors plugins that are finicky and take a while to dial in, this one was intuitive and quick which makes workflow so much… Read More

• 

  Simon Li

  Faye Wong 王菲, Eason Chan 陳奕迅, Waa Wei 魏如萱, Lala Hsu 徐佳瑩

  It is gentle and smooth but don't be fooled by it. It has some serious vibe and beautiful color under the hood. The Soft Clipping section (Density & Emphasis), the Torque Control (Knee &… Read More

• 

  Richard Chycki

  Mixer/Engineer (Rush, Dream Theater, Skillet, Aerosmith)

  The NEOLD U17 is remarkably vintage, remarkably powerful, and remarkably full of character. If you need a unique tonal flavor not found in your current plugin arsenal, the U17 offers next-level… Read More

• 

  Craig Bauer

  Grammy-nominated Mixing Engineer (Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Public Enemy)

  The NEOLD U17 compressor is unlike any other compressor in my vast vast arsenal of plugins. Its sound ranges from rather subtle and clean compression to coloration and tonality that's not… Read More

• 

  BT (Brian Wayne Transeau)

  Musician, Composer, Singer, DJ and Audio Technician

  As someone that adores and uses outboard hardware regularly from vintage pieces to modern ones - I’m completely blown away by the nuance, character, depth, and warmth of NEOLD U17. This is a… Read More

• Stranded in a deserted island...

  ★★★★★

  by George G

  May 3, 2023
  ...and allowed to have only one compressor, this would be IT!!!!
  Probably the best digital compressor I've ever used (and I have dozens of high end ones).
  The clipping stage is… Read More

• Piano

  ★★★★★

  by Defying Silence

  December 11, 2022
  Working on a new song using this on a piano track certainly does something magical. The U17 can take the harshness out of a piano by compressing it down in a way nothing is lost yet adding color,… Read More

• U17

  ★★★★★

  by BluelagoonStudios

  November 4, 2022
  The compressor is now part of my toolbox, mostly used on the mix buss on certain instruments, or vocals. It depends on the material that I mix. And always only a few db's, but the coloring is… Read More

• U17

  ★★★★☆

  by Z

  October 24, 2022
  VERY PUNCHY! not a huge fan of the UI though. All the NEOLD plugins I've tried are very good. This one adds fatness and a little "magic"

• outstanding compressor and tone box

  ★★★★★

  by Mario Blankenberg

  July 20, 2022
  A super versatile compressor with very well thought-out additional features. Can't think of any tone you wouldn't get out of this box. Hardly ever heard a plugin where you feel like you are actually… Read More

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 12 down to macOS 10.11
Windows 11 down to Windows 8

Mac
Intel or Apple Silicon architecture

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM