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Free TLS 1295 LEA Compressor VST Plugin Goes 64-bit

By Tomislav ZlaticJanuary 3, 202146 Comments3 Mins Read

Tin Brook Tales released an updated version of TLS 1295 LEA, a freeware LA-2A compressor effect in VST plugin format for Windows and Linux.

So, the new year begins with a blast from the past. Tin Brook Tales released multiple freeware VST plugins in the early 2010s. These plugins weren’t really mainstream, but those in the know recommended them as some of the best freeware compressors and limiters on the market.

See also: Analog Obsession Releases Britpressor FREE Vintage Compressor

Unfortunately, Tin Brook Tales’ old plugins were only compatible with 32-bit VST plugin hosts on Windows. As time went on, most users switched to 64-bit Windows installations, and these old freeware gems were forgotten.

Until now, that is!

TLS 1295 LEA is a compressor plugin inspired by the LA-2A limiting amplifier, and it’s now available in 64-bit VST plugin format from Windows and Linux. In addition to the new 64-bit version, TLS 1295 LEA now also comes with an updated user interface and more features than before.

Take a closer look at TLS 1295 LEA user interface below.

TLS 1295 LEA is inspired by the LA-2A limiting amplifier.

Whereas the TLS 1295 LEA plugin does borrow its core functionality from the original LA-2A units, it adds numerous added features and workflow enhancements. The user can fine-tune almost every parameter, from the envelope timing and saturation level to the side-chain high-pass filter and dry/wet mix levels.

The plugin also features a gain reduction meter, a clipping indicator, copy/paste functionality, A/B testing, and built-in MIDI learn. Select any parameter and assign a MIDI CC to it.

TLS 1295 LEA is one of the best freeware compressor plugins around. If you liked Molotok by Tokyo Dawn Records, consider adding TLS 1295 LEA to your plugin arsenal. These two compressors complement each other rather well.

Check out the official TLS 1295 LEA demo video below.

TLS 1295 LEA is available for free download from the developer’s DropBox account. However, I’m linking to the KVR Audio forum thread where you can find the download link and more information about the plugin.

At the moment, only TLS 1295 LEA was updated with a 64-bit version for Windows. Here’s hoping that some other Tin Brook Tales will get the same treatment later this year.

More info: Tin Brook Tales (240 KB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows & Linux)

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Tomislav Zlatic

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

46 Comments

Tomislav Zlatic
on January 3, 2021 3:45 pm

Many thanks to U-o for the info about this epic freebie!

Reply
Jamie M.
on January 3, 2021 4:15 pm

first freebie of 2021!!

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 3, 2021 4:31 pm
  
  Yes, and a great one at that! :)
  
  Reply
Animus
on January 3, 2021 5:32 pm

Interesting sound to this one. Kinda thick, kinda puffy. Very versatile depending on how you set the settings… for example on a drum loop i was able to make it respond to only the snare while keeping the kick and hats mostly untouched in a really nice way. I found for deep reaction on non-loud material i had to boost the input gain with an extra plugin which is not a problem. Seems meant for “swimming in compression”. It clips like analog with too hot of level so between that and the timid threshold, careful gainstaging is key.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 3, 2021 7:13 pm
  
  Thanks for sharing the analysis! TBT plugins always sounded best on drums.
  
  Reply
BenJ
on January 3, 2021 6:37 pm

It’s from 2019..check the date of the file….the video is also from 2019

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 3, 2021 7:12 pm
  
  But it was first discovered in 2020. :)
  
  Reply
  - Darryl Lim
    on January 4, 2021 2:47 pm
    
    You mean 2021 haha! :P
    Yeah it’ll take me some time to get used to this hehe.
    
    Reply
    - Tomislav Zlatic
      on January 4, 2021 2:50 pm
      
      LOL! Yeah, exactly. I usually start getting it right around February. :)
      
      Reply
Bani
on January 3, 2021 8:26 pm

I’m gonna download this! Very glad the developer took this time. We’d all wish that TDR’s old x32 plugins would be available in x86! (Nasty DLA, Density, etc)

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- Kirill R.
  on January 4, 2021 7:34 pm
  
  You mean Variety Of Sound.
  
  Reply
- Ble3azy
  on January 12, 2021 6:49 pm
  
  that was VOS not TDR. VOS lent his saturation algorithm to SlickEQ by TDR that was all.
  
  I do sorely miss VOS especially NDLA though.
  
  Reply
Ozmer
on January 3, 2021 8:42 pm

Which is better? The Black from ik multimedia or this?

Reply
- Bani
  on January 3, 2021 9:54 pm
  
  Different things. The black one is modelled after a (black) 1176. This is modelled after a (white) LA2A (+ extra features). So its apples to oranges. Can’t compare.
  
  Reply
  - Ozmer
    on January 3, 2021 11:22 pm
    
    Thanks 👍
    
    Reply
ambedo
on January 3, 2021 11:07 pm

Suprised you havent posted about Fircomp yet, it seems to be quite popular among the gearslutz crowd

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 4, 2021 11:56 am
  
  Whoa, that one totally slipped under my radar. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out today.
  
  Reply
El°HYM
on January 4, 2021 1:00 am

Just great to see this popping like out of nowhere in 2021.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 4, 2021 11:56 am
  
  Same here! Big fan of old TBT plugins.
  
  Reply
Masked tiger
on January 4, 2021 4:05 am

ayyy first freebie in 2021 niceeee

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 4, 2021 11:56 am
  
  Yes, a nice way to start the year!
  
  Reply
Tropical Chill
on January 4, 2021 5:26 am

Cymatics’ first plugin, Diablo Lite has been released for free! (Limited time)

Reply
- Jamie M.
  on January 4, 2021 11:16 am
  
  lmao it’s literally just an attack knob and a soft/hard clipper
  why would i want that
  
  Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 4, 2021 11:58 am
  
  I saw it – not a bad plugin at all, but it’s pretty much just a clipper with a transient boost.
  
  Reply
Marcus Herbold
on January 4, 2021 5:30 am

Ill take it for a spin. If it sounds as good as it looks this is a very nice plugin.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 4, 2021 11:58 am
  
  I think it sounds better than it looks.
  
  Reply
Synthiemental
on January 4, 2021 1:19 pm

TBT back on the scene, yay! Now we need Bootsy / Variety Of Sound to come back into the 64bit Era! Speaking of it, the LEA has some sonic similarities with the ThrillseekerLA (not too surprising). Haven’t found anything like ThrillseekerVBL in the 64bit universe yet though.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 4, 2021 1:32 pm
  
  +1! Would love to see the old VOS plugins ported to 64-bit VST (especially FerricTDS).
  
  Reply
  - Synthiemental
    on January 4, 2021 2:47 pm
    
    Yeah, Bootsy’s Stateful Saturation was quite a gamechanger, yet today we still see big commercial plugin developers selling overpriced static waveshapers as “analog emulations” to naive customers.
    
    Ferric TDS did everything right: tape saturation & compression without the unpleasant artefacts & “lofi beats to study to” type overdone wonkiness.
    
    Fabien & Vlad need to finally get Bootsy back into the DSP lab to brew some 64bit magic antidote to sterile sounding digital tracks together.
    
    Reply
    - raf
      on January 5, 2021 9:47 am
      
      If i remember correctly this Statefull Saturation is implemented in TDR Slick EQ.
      
      Reply
      - Synthiemental
        on January 5, 2021 1:07 pm
        
        Sure, but we’d love to see a 64 bit dynamics plugin with the stateful saturation. In TDR / VOS Slick EQ the sonic footprint of the saturation is deliberately kept very low, ThrillseekerVBL on the other hand can be driven into quite obvious territory. In combination with the great compression action it exhibits a unique, very analog like character.
        
        Reply
- Bani
  on January 4, 2021 5:09 pm
  
  Absolutely this. We’ve asked him many times but he insists its not necessary because you can bridge it. They really are amazing plugins.
  
  Reply
- pacmusik
  on January 8, 2021 6:28 am
  
  ThrillseekerVBL is amazing, I recently installed it again and it gives a unique game, picks up those tracks that are missing something …
  
  Reply
Jamie M.
on January 4, 2021 2:51 pm

ooh bpb site got a makeover!

Reply
Michal Ochedowski
on January 4, 2021 5:18 pm

Meanwhile Plugin Boutique really lowered the bar with January gift. Considering latest additions in November and December this isn’t especially inviting.

Reply
- Jamie M.
  on January 4, 2021 8:25 pm
  
  yeah lmao, it’s either yet another poor W.A. plugin that sells for €10, or a COURSE in compression, while there are numerous videos explaining the concept. seems like a lot of companies are lowering their standards, though in november had reason lite, and december had that vintage compressor which was nice, but now it’s real disappointing.
  
  bet you €10 that fundamental bass will go free in 2021
  
  Reply
  - Michal Ochedowski
    on January 4, 2021 10:09 pm
    
    Well, I think we have to give it up to Plugin Alliance. They really came through last December with their 20 USD/no minimum spend vouchers, which could be used three times. What’s more they rolled out those two welcome-21 vouchers in 2021. That’s a huge deal for musicians using their stuff. Competition is fierce, at least for some companies :)
    
    Reply
    - Jamie M.
      on January 5, 2021 10:03 am
      
      while i’m well grateful for the vouchers, plugin alliance should be a bit careful with the distribution of so many voucher. Just in that 30 day span, i picked up everything i could want from the site. So i think they should watch out for saturation
      
      Reply
Klaus
on January 6, 2021 10:37 am

hätte es gerne weiter benutzt , denn es klingt wirklich gut . aber leider verursacht es einen bösen crash , in wavelab 9.5 (win 8.1 , 64 bit) , wenn ich das plugin nach dem rendern aus dem plugin-slot entferne ! kritischer fehler … wavelab schliesst sofort ;( schade … hoffe auf nen patch .

Reply
Pacmusik
on January 6, 2021 10:28 pm

Have you noticed that Variety of Sound’s facebook is back on track after 5 years? has published 2 posts in the last days … I have not found a replacement for jewels like Thrillseeker VBL, Ferric, etc … Can we dream of reissues of its 64-bit plugins? Please, yesssss!!!!!

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on June 26, 2021 12:37 pm
  
  VOS 64-bit is coming soon!
  
  Reply
antti maatteri
on January 10, 2021 10:49 pm

put that thing on a track master and it does a pretty nice job in tingling out the heavy distorted synth parts in relation to the drums.
nicely done. cool offering for 2021 too, thx.

Reply
Nohvembr
on January 22, 2021 7:01 am

Delivers such a ready and tight sound. Easily on par with paid compressors.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on January 22, 2021 9:36 am
  
  Totally! Great compressor.
  
  Reply
Ray Zar
on October 14, 2022 12:03 am

Can’t believe I never heard of this Limiter, it is a game changer and it’s free, you are a GENIUS!!
It sounds so damn good, THANK YOU!!

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on October 14, 2022 2:16 pm
  
  Glad to hear you liked it! :)
  
  Reply

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Free TLS 1295 LEA Compressor VST Plugin Goes 64-bit

46 Comments