Stereo Valve compressor for £250 ish

[MetalJonesy]

hey guys, im in need of a nice stereo valve compressor for around £250 for both the tracking side of things, and for using on the master buss.

The one im looking at at the moment is the old TL Audio Ivory Series 5021 MKI (as its cheaper than the MK2)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=110272064709&Category=23793&_trksid=p3907.m29

Ive used one of these before for a lengthy time and i loved it, but im just wondering what alternatives there are out there?

 

[gorath23]

The older ART Pro VLA's have a nice reputation.

 

[botus99]

The older ART Pro VLA's have a nice reputation.

I used a couple, and yeah those things sound great

 

[MetalJonesy]

they look great. which do you suggest the standard VLA Pro or VLA Pro II? theres only like £10 difference between them

 

[gorath23]

they look great. which do you suggest the standard VLA Pro or VLA Pro II? theres only like £10 difference between them

TBH I don't have a clue, but the boys over at Gearslutz *hides* are always on about them.

 

[Aaron Smith]

Check out the Chameleon Labs 7802... It's supposed to start shipping Q4 of 2008:

http://www.chameleonlabs.com/product6.htm


Also, the 7720 has been out for less than a year, but I can't personally tell you what the sound difference is:

http://www.chameleonlabs.com/product5.html

 

[LSD-Studio]

within that pricerange I wouldn't get anything "tube"...
for that money SS is pretty much ALWAYS better than something with an alibi tube in it

 

[gorath23]

within that pricerange I wouldn't get anything "tube"...
for that money SS is pretty much ALWAYS better than something with an alibi tube in it

I would tend to agree, in that, if I was buying any cheap outboard Compressors I think I'd probably look at the FMR Really Nice Compressor and RN Levelling Amplifer first.

 

[gorath23]

Check out the Chameleon Labs 7802... It's supposed to start shipping Q4 of 2008:

http://www.chameleonlabs.com/product6.htm


Also, the 7720 has been out for less than a year, but I can't personally tell you what the sound difference is:

http://www.chameleonlabs.com/product5.html

I may be wrong but I think the 7720 is a modern Feed-forward design whilst the 7820 is a slightly more vintage Feed-Back design? Isn't that the difference between VCA vs. Opto?

 

[Omega_Void]

Isn't that the difference between VCA vs. Opto?

Opto designs use the input signal to light up an LED or grain-of-wheat lamp, and an LDR (light-dependent resistor) to vary the gain in response.

VCA stands for voltage-controlled amplifier - a control voltage is tapped off the input signal, rectified (i.e. all the negative half-cycles are flipped to positive), and smoothed by a capacitor to give a voltage representative of the input level. An active device (the VCA) adjusts the gain applied to the signal in response to this control voltage.

Feedback and feedforward topologies are separate issue to whether the circuit is optical or electrically controlled. There's lots of different ways to do it.

within that pricerange I wouldn't get anything "tube"...
for that money SS is pretty much ALWAYS better than something with an alibi tube in it

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