I've heard some that were bright and edgy, others dark and wooly. The good news is that plug‑in emulations are thick on the ground these days, given the powerful influence that vintage units have had on the minds of software developers. If there are terms in this article that leave you scratching your head, there are a couple of sources I'd recommend turning to. I'm renting the Tubetech right now.... have to return it tomorrow. Sony C800G > Neve 1073 > Tube-Tech CL1B… Despite the reputation these units have for fast attack, though, Lord‑Alge was actually using an 1178 more for its sonic flavour with slower attack settings when we interviewed him back in SOS May 2007. Slightly faster than the 2A. What is a "hybrid" audio interface anyway? Steve Ouimette: Re-recording Hits For Video Games. (See the 'Parallel Compression Explained' box for more information on parallel techniques. The aforementioned funk part might benefit from the speed of a drum compressor to catch its transients, for instance, while the Emo landslide might need some of the 1176's tonal definition to make it bite. Moving on from the vocal workhorses, another compressor renowned for drums is the TG12413, a limiter originally built into each channel of the Neve‑designed custom consoles that EMI studios used for famous records such as Abbey Road and Dark Side Of The Moon. Rich Costey's preference for a parallel processing setup with this compressor also suggests that the tonality of the Urei, especially when driven hard, was of more importance than its ability to catch transients. Tube-tech CL change the image as a mono compressor. .01% less presence as an LA2 but more adjustable. The LA-2a also has a "thickening" effect that happens just by passing audio through all the tubes and transformers regardless of whether you're dialing in gain reduction. Or maybe it's that vocals, drums and bass just tend to need the most dynamic‑range control in a typical mix, so the choice of compressor (and indeed the use of compression at all) becomes less crucial with instruments holding a more consistent level. Sylvia Massey‑Shivy offers another couple of alternatives: Urei 1176 plus Teletronix LA2A, and Universal Audio 175 plus RCA BA6A. It's modern sounding and is great for most vocalists and bass guitar. Whether they truly recreate the real thing or just give you a hint of their flavour, there's now a bewildering number of classic compressor emulations in software. does anybody know of a la2a or 1176 style comp for 500 series. Gear: A bunch of stuff. Now that we have digital models and dynamic convolution technology, we're spoilt for choice when it comes to classic compressor flavours. Advice on ceiling-suspended microphone arrays. Although the original is now prohibitively expensive for all but the most maniacal of collectors, there are some excellent software emulations, such as this one from Universal Audio.Fairchild 670 stereo valve limiter (and its pretty much identical 660 mono sibling), and his penchant is shared by other high‑profile names such as Roy Thomas Baker, Steve Power and Tom Elmhirst. "I'm feeling the emotions in my fingers, so to speak. just that the la 2 has blown me away 1% more at times. This all-tube channel strip offers everything you need to get your vocal sounding radio-ready, including a world-class mic preamp, a passive Pultec-style EQ, a versatile compressor, and built-in de-esser for taming harsh vocal takes. When used as a send, it brings out the punch and clarity of instruments without affecting the overall level of the stereo output.”. By plugging the 670 into a drum bus and then compressing the Sides signal more heavily, you can emphasise and/or pump the room sound without compromising the transient snap of your main kick and snare sounds. #13. The basic concept is to mix both compressed and uncompressed versions of the same signal, thereby gaining some advantages over normal insert‑style processing when using characterful vintage dynamics devices. Check the manual and the designer's web site. At its most basic level, compression can be seen merely as a labour‑saving solution to mix-balance problems: if you control the levels of an overly dynamic instrument, it becomes easier to find a consistent fader setting for it. This means that you can overdrive a vintage compressor to emphasise tonal and distortion artifacts without nearly as much danger of ending up with a lifeless mixed sound. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers. The hugely popular Teletronix LA2A (now built by Universal Audio, and one of the first units modelled for their UAD platform) is great at transparent gain reduction, but can also yield the kind of vocal overdrive favoured by artists like Jack White of the White Stripes.If you like the character of the LA2A's non‑linear optical gain element, but the valve distortion artifacts aren't appropriate, then the slightly faster, valveless version of the same basic design, the Teletronix LA3A, provides another option favoured by two of the most respected mix engineers on the planet: Bob Clearmountain and Tom Lord‑Alge. The name of the plug‑in or emulation preset may also give the game away, of course: you don't have to try hard to guess the inspiration for URS's Opto2a emulation! The most virtuoso proponent of parallel compression, though, has got to be Michael Brauer, who not only runs a number of parallel compressors from auxiliary sends, but also mults his lead vocals through multiple different compressors, and also compresses complete groups of instruments via a four‑way stereo output-bus system on their way to the main outputs of the mixing console! I like to set the LA-2a so that the vocal is barely touching compression on moderate peak loud passages. The tube tech is more versatile and the LA2A is more "fool proof". As you do multiple takes, you actually learn the moves… and I'm following where he's going as far as how much he's projecting it. All contents copyright © SOS Publications Group and/or its licensors, 1985-2020. "I'm a big fan of using distortion, in small amounts. Beloved of Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick is the rare and mind‑bogglingly expensive Many engineers use the Fairchild 670 for the subtle sonic enhancement of its circuitry as much as they do for gain‑reduction. It's modern sounding and is great for most vocalists and bass guitar. I like the stuff that's got a bit of grit, like the old EMI compressors, if you can find them.” Michael Brauer concurs, speaking on the Chandler web site: "When used across the drum room [the TG12413] brings out an aggressive quality that I've not yet heard from any other compressor. The Urei 1176 is famous for adding a sense of edge and excitement to vocals.That pretty much wraps up the vintage units, but we can't leave the topic of vocal compression without touching on one very popular modern processor too: the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor. The tube amplifier circuit is basically the same, with the main difference being that the input transformer and the tube amps in the CL2A delivers a more “normal” amount of gain compared to the CL1B But the CL1B is nasty and I find it can do a little bit more than the the LAs. Nick Launay: "I don't like a lot of compressors because I find they're not fast enough or they're a bit too subtle or they make things sound too nice. I love the fact that they have a really quick recovery, and you can exaggerate it if you need to.” The extremely fast attack and release times available on many Dbx units are particularly worthy of investigation if you find yourself in a situation where you really need to sculpt the front end of your drums with precision.