Review

Compressor & Limiter Reviews

By George Shilling and Russell Cottier

Purple Audio MC76 Mono FET compressor
Dec 23 2008 Mono FET compressor
Purple Audio MC76

I have yet to meet a recording engineer who dislikes or actively avoids using Urei 1176 limiters . Every commercial music recording studio worth its salt usually has two or more of these mono units in the rack as standard.

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Roll Music RMS755 Super Stereo Compressor
Dec 23 2008 Super Stereo Compressor
Roll Music RMS755

Minneapolis-based Roll Music… (which is a different company from Rolls Corp in Utah, here ‘Roll’ is derived from the difference between ‘Rock’ and ‘Rock and Roll’ music) …claim that the RMS755 is designed to squeeze life into your mix, not out of it.

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Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5043 Compressor / limiter duo
Dec 23 2008 Compressor / limiter duo
Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5043

Industry legend Rupert Neve adds a compressor to the Portico series, George Shilling finds the way in. Rupert Neve founded the famous Neve console company many decades ago, and it is many years since connections were severed with what is now AMS-Neve.

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SSL X-Rack Mixer Modular rack system
Dec 23 2008 Modular rack system
SSL X-Rack Mixer

I took a look at the SSL X-Rack a while back but back then the only module available was a Dynamics processor.

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TFPro P10 the Mighty Twin Dual channel strip
Dec 23 2008 Dual channel strip
TFPro P10 the Mighty Twin

‘You ain’t seen nothing like the Mighty Quinn’ sang Manfred Mann. George Shilling ain’t seen nothing like the Mighty Twin… Ted Fletcher, the original Joemeek founder and designer, now develops products under his own name.

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Vertigo Sound VSC-2 Stereo VCA compressor
Dec 23 2007 Stereo VCA compressor
Vertigo Sound VSC-2

This German unit is also known as the Quad Discrete VCA Compressor, but the first thing to point out is that the Quad does not refer to multi-channel audio, as this is strictly a stereo unit.

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Crane Song Trakker Mono compressor / limiter
Dec 23 2003 Mono compressor / limiter
Crane Song Trakker

The Trakker is a new mono compressor/limiter from Cranesong. Although similar in appearance to the STC-8 Stereo Compressor, the designer has taken a somewhat different approach.

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Aphex 661 Expressor Tube Compressor / Limiter
Dec 23 2003 Tube Compressor / Limiter
Aphex 661 Expressor

A friend of mine has a theory that any audio equipment is guaranteed to be good if it is American and has an 'X' in its name.

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dbx 160S Two channel compressor / limiter
Dec 23 2003 Two channel compressor / limiter
dbx 160S

The dbx 160 was standard equipment in any studio worth its salt when I started in the business. Not for the faint-hearted, I always suspected that this half-rack, 2U machine was compressing far more than the meter indicated.

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Drawmer Front End One MX60 Mic / line channel strip
Dec 23 2003 Mic / line channel strip
Drawmer Front End One MX60

In the high-end 'voice channel' market, one can easily forget that Drawmer were an early entrant with the Vacuum Tube 1960. They now enter the crowded budget end of this market with the feature packed 'Front End One' MX60.

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E.A.R. / Yoshino 660 Compressor / Limiter
Dec 23 2003 Compressor / Limiter
E.A.R. / Yoshino 660

Esoteric [es–o–ter'ik], adjective inner; secret; mysterious; taught to a select few – This is the dictionary definition of the ‘E.’ of E.A.R. (Esoteric Audio Research), which says much about the philosophy behind the company and its designs.

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Fat Man
Dec 23 2003 Stereo valve compressor
Fat Man 'Fat One' by TL Audio

I was just a few days into my health diet when the Fat One arrived, threatening to spoil things.

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Joemeek MeekBox VC6 Input amplifier and channel strip
Dec 23 2003 Input amplifier and channel strip
Joemeek MeekBox VC6

Since the introduction of the Joemeek Compressor a few years ago, Joemeek have been steadily increasing their range. They have found a particular niche with the all-in-one type of processor for use mostly as a direct-to-tape microphone processor.

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Joemeek MeekBox VC2 Valve channel strip
Dec 23 2003 Valve channel strip
Joemeek MeekBox VC2

I have long been a fan of Joe Meek's productions. I even went to a Joe Meek Appreciation Society event a few months back. But until recently I had not tried any of the famous JoeMeek range of outboard equipment, designed by Ted Fletcher.

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LA Audio Classic Compressor Two channel compressor
Dec 23 2003 Two channel compressor
LA Audio Classic Compressor

There are currently available many compressors and other outboard devices which use vacuum tubes and which have fairly hefty price tags. Some of these units have a limited range of useful features, and many lack the qualities of vintage valve designs.

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Thermionic Culture Phoenix Stereo valve compressor
Dec 23 2003 Stereo valve compressor
Thermionic Culture Phoenix

Vic Keary has been involved in Pro-Audio since the 1950s, when studios often had to customise and build their own solutions. This environment has ultimately led Vic to the happy position he now occupies as Research and Design guru of Thermionic Culture.

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