Are they audio compressors, exercise equipment, or beefy cars? With a name like vintage-style "muscle" compressor, it's hard to tell what the De la Mancha GTO and GTX really are. Luckily for us, De la Mancha clarifies, saying that the compressor pair (Windows VST; $29) take the lead from their muscle car namesakes for brute power, pure speed, and loud noise.

These vintage-style "character" compressors are tuned for maximum control and ease of use, each with their own kind of vintage coloring. GTO, a peak compressor, is designed to be powerful and fast; GTX, on the other hand, is better at delivering smooth RMS and refining the shape of a knee control. Both have fast attack and release times and a wide range of threshold, ratio, and output boost. The GTO and GTX also feature an external sidechain, wet / dry mix for NY compression, and a hard limiter. What's more, the metering covers input, output and gain reduction, showing real-time and peak level. Let's look at the full list of features:

• External sidechain, parallel compression, and comprehensive metering
• Subtle coloring from a blend of harmonics, saturation and noise
• Internal or external sidechain routing
• Wet / Dry mix control for phase-free blending of dry uncompressed signal
• RMS window can be set for smooth cruising or sharp response [GTX only]
• Knee amount can be changed from gentle curve to sharp edge [GTX only]
• Stereo input detection can be linked or unlinked
• Distortion reduction for very short release times
• Optional hard limiting on final output
• Metering covers stereo input, output, and gain reduction
• Non-linear knobs for precise control at small values
• Presets covering all functions and different configurations

If you purchase a pair by November 1st, you will receive GTA for free! GTA is a stripped-down, "hot-rodded," limited edition version of GTO with fewer features. For demos and more details, visit the company Web site.