Some really nice DIY...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
If you head on over to this thread on the Prodigy-Pro forums, you can read all about David Cannikin’s beautiful clone of the Gates Sta-Level compressor, pictured above. The real Sta-Level is an incredibly rare piece which generally goes for $1000 to $1500 when it goes at all. Same family as the LA2A, a tube-based opto-compressor. Here’s a pic of the Real Deal:
Quite frankly, I like David’s better. Check out the thread for pictures of the awesome point-to-point wiring. What a cool box.
6 comments
I have one stupid question - why are all tube-based opto-compressors made with an LA2A-ish interface (which I love btw)? It seems this one-knob compression isn't really popular with "normal" compressors...
I'm sure there's a very good answer that isn't "fuck if I know." But a 5U compressor that has only "input," "output," and a switch for fast or slow release kind of appeals to my sense of asthetics. I wouldn't complain or the t00b c0ps will come knocking.
-CR
for some reason it seems like the better the compressor, the less knobs it has.
for example: the Alesis compressor manages to have like 12 controls per channel, whereas an LA2 has like one.
shit .. grand pianos don't even have volume knobs. my Hammond is severely lacking in the velocity response category.
i hear the Distressor is nice, but it seems to have a lot of knobsl. i'm scared.
Distressor's friggin great....if a bit on the expensive side :)
Just for reference: The Sta-Level is not an optical compressor like the
LA2A, but it is a vari-mu, like the Fairchild 660/670, the Altec 436, RCA BA-6A etc.
Really? I thought it was optical. (Checking...) Doh. You're absolutely right. My bad.
-CR
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