“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!
Features
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.
What's New in Rev 3
- 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.
Testimonials
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 $99.00
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
Hear the Difference
↳ Drums - Dry
↳ Drums - Default Preset (5-8 dB Gain Reduction)
↳ Drums - PUMMELED KIK SN Preset (10-15 dB Gain Reduction)
↳ Drums - RIVET EXTREME Preset (20 dB Gain Reduction)
↳ Drums - RIVET EXTREME Preset (Blend set to 2)
↳ Drums - Only Saturation (Soft Clipper set to 8)
Videos
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.
User Reviews
245 reviews for AROUSOR
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andrew brenner –
Almost there it’s 2020 no more Iloks let us install the license on my computer
Doctah B Sirius –
I have used Impirical Labs As go to hardware for many years and the software blew me away. On drums, bass, vocals and guitar it the best software compressor I have used. It has the ability to warm up the coldest tracks with just a few tweaks. It never sounds bad, Ever. I Love it!!!!
Stéphane Collin –
This compressor proved immediately to be very intuitive and musical. It does easily what you want it to do while always remaining nice sounding and agreable to hear. I use it for tracking almost anything. The attack shaping options prove to be of great use, and the extended gain matching is just a must.
Woody Mitchell/The Woodshed –
I bought a cheap imitation of the Distressor plugin that was never stable and caused constant headaches, though I loved what it did. Decided it was worth a premium price to have the real thing. It’s absolutely excellent; I’ll be using it extensively on every project. But I had to upgrade my iLok 1 to iLok 3 for a shameful $49 plus $2 for “handling,” then my cheapest shipping option was $24 for five-day Fedex delivery. $76.56 for a USB jack with a chip to upgrade my license! What’s more, the iLok wants me to re-authorize the plugin every time I open my DAW. So, one star off for the wretched ripoff for a questionable device. Make no mistake, the Arousor is a 5-star plugin, but the experience was marred by iLok, which I would give minus-1000 stars if it were possible.
Todd Moore –
Never had the hardware version, but am happy to have the next best thing available on my mixes. No equal.