The Herd V2

The Herd V2 by Safari Audio is a parallel compression powerhouse that packs three distinct compressors—Opto, VCA, and Devil—into one flexible plugin. Each has its own character and on/off LED, so you can stack a smooth optical squeeze with a snappy VCA grab, then unleash Devil for aggressive coloration. Shared Attack and Release controls keep the herd moving together, while Tone shapes the input character. Mid/Side processing lets you compress the centre and sides independently, and Gain-reduction metering with IN/GR/OUT switching shows exactly how hard you’re working. Blend rides the compressed signal back under the dry, so you can smash for punch and character while preserving every transient. Smart Gain and Link Gain offer effortless level matching, plus A/B compare, short-term LUFS readout, and a new oversampling algorithm. Ideal for drums, lead vocals, bass, and mix buses when you need extra energy and attitude.