Cosmotronic - Messor

Messor is a versatile stereo compressor module with some special capabilities, CV inputs for Attack, Release and Filter cutoff. The Gain CV controls the makeup gain, but also doubles as a Stereo VCA with the Gain knob off.

Messor masters all tasks you’d expect from a compressor, from gluing a mix together to squashing drums, sidechaining kicks and sculpting transients. On the front panel you’ll find the usual controls of a compressor, attack, release, threshold, ratio and makeup gain, as well as a switchable high-pass / low-pass sidechain filter.

It is a VCA based feed-forward compressor. The magic happens in the internal sidechain that shapes the gain reduction envelope. The ratio can go past limiting and into over-compression, which can completely reshape transients. Being modular, of course there are CV inputs for Attack, Release and the Filter cutoff. Because the gain reduction envelope has a dedicated output, you can use it for turning a filter or other VCA's into compressors. There's a bypass switch, and another Warm/Pure switch, that can bring in a bit of additional saturation and compression in the form of analog tube simulation circuitry. Lastly – of course – there's the option to insert an external sidechain signal for that classic kick sidechain compression.

With all these features the Messor can go beyond simple compression and is a great tool for sound design.