LALA is Analog Obsession’s first emulation of the LA-2A Classic Leveling Amplifier.

Still, it will do a fine job on guitar, bass, synth, vocal, strings, and keyboard tracks.Analog Obsession has released LALA, a freeware emulation of the LA-2A tube compressor in VST, VST3, and AU plugin formats for digital audio workstations on PC and Mac. Or if you need some very specific compression settings (bus comp, for example). That being said, there are plenty of times where using an LA2a is a bad idea, like if you're trying to control the dynamics of a very fast signal like a snare or drum OH. I'd rather spend 10 seconds setting a compressor with 2 knobs than 5 minutes fucking around with a crazy fab filter comp that has way too many options. The la2's big advantage is its simplicity. It's variable release makes it sound very transparent on many sources. It's attack/release/ratio are all program dependent, so it actually is a lot more versatile than you might think. If you absolutely crank an LA2a you can get some nice tube saturation. That means you can hit a lead vocal with like 5-7 dB of gain reduction and it will still retain its punch and clarity, while simultaneously having it be slightly more reigned in and smoothed out. It also has a very slow attack time which tends to let the aggressive transients of a signal through. It's a relatively clean compressor, meaning you need to hit it pretty hard before you get any sort of character out of it. Especially monophonic, melodic material like bass and vocals. LA2a works exceptionally well on many sources. for rock, it's amazing cuz everything is loud. if you want to preserve natural Dynamics, then don't use the LA-2A. For the most part I would say that it's NOT sterile, but it isn't anywhere close to being colored. idk why people think it has good character, but if you say it has tube character you might as well use a tube in a different outboard stage. when I heard the summit audio tla-100, I thought that was how the LA-2A SHOULD have sounded. modern interpretations of LA-2A tone are much more forgiving, and I'd actually prefer something like the cla-2a vs the original. If you've ever heard a original LA-2A or a modern T4 LA-2A, you'll be pretty offended. In terms of color, the color on the LA-2A is honestly shit. so it's not really vintage style at all, it just works really well for keeping levels even. the 50% release is 60ms but the 100% release can be a lot higher than that. the attack is 0.01ms, but the release can be slowish depending on how it reacts. the rms-esque compression is very effective on recordings that are very peaky, although you will find tracks that aren't peaky may just not need it. It was originally very useful, and it later was separated into a effective rms compressor or soft limiter in it's newer models.

leveling means it uses both compression and limiting styles.

The LA-2A was originally a leveling unit.

Cla 2a compressor limiter