Although the Modern and Vintage Compressor units have nearly identical controls, the sound and response characteristics couldn’t be more different. The Vintage Compressor was modeled on vintage UA LA-2A™ and 1176™-style response curves, but has more flexibility to tailor the sound. This unit is warm and musical and works best with individual elements.

  • THRESHOLD
    Sets the audio level at which the unit starts to compress the signal. If the input signal is below the Threshold level, the unit does not apply any compression. Once the level crosses the Threshold, then the compression begins to affect the signal.
    Range: 0 to -60db
  • RATIO
    The range of dynamic compression once the compressor engages.
    Range is 1:1 to 16:1
  • GAIN
    A make-up gain stage that adjusts the overall output volume to compensate for compression level-reduction.
    Range 0 to 24 db
  • PEAK/RMS
    Allows the choice of PEAK Limiting or RMS Compression curves. Peak Limiting detects audio transients that are louder than the set Threshold level and applies compression to control those Peaks to whatever level you’ve set. RMS Compression detects an audio signal’s average level and applies Compression to the overall signal. This helps make the whole audio signal louder. With RMS, there is no specific ceiling for the audio as there is with Peak Limiting.
  • ATTACK
    Adjusts the amount of time it takes to start compressing once the audio has gone above the Threshold level.
    Range: 0.1ms to 400ms
  • RELEASE
    Adjusts the amount of time it takes to stop compressing once the audio has gone below the Threshold level.
    Range: 10ms to 5000ms
  • LIMIT
    Engages and disengages an additional “brick wall limiter” at the output. The compression controls continue to work regardless of whether or not the brick wall limiter is engaged.