Let’s have a look at the IGS Audio One LA opto compressor. The unit, which pays heritage to vintage classics like the Teletronix LA-2A and the Urei LA-3A, is hand-built by the small Polish company IGS Audio. The One LA is quite a rare to find when looking at the quality-price ratio, it’s seldom you find quality hand-built gear at prices this low in the pro-audio equipment market.

Using only quality parts the One LA features fully transformer balanced inputs and outputs and has, just like the original Teletronix LA-2A, an all-tube signal path.

The original LA-2A compressor is based around a T4B photo cell and an electro-luminescent panel which in combination with each other generates the compression. The original T4B photo cells can’t be produced anymore due to environmental restrictions not allowing the production method to be used.

In process of making the One LA, IGS Audio started to create their own custom-made photo cells called T4BX that is equivalent to the original T4B. Carefully selected components and individual measuring and matching of the photo cells guarantees that each One LA unit sounds it’s very best.

If you’re interested in reading more about the IGS TB4X photo cell, check out this article that the company has published to shed some more light on the specs and manufacturing of the photo cell, link to TB4X photo cell article.

Build quality:

No need to be disappointed when opening the rack case, gorgeous build quality parts and nice wire dressing. PSU components are placed on a separate board, wiring straight and nice. Toroidal transformer is shielded with a metal plate to keep it from disturbing the signal path. If you take a look at the picture of the signal-path board below, next to the socketed tubes you’ll spot the custom made T4BX photo cell. When passing audo through the unit you realize that the signal to noise ratio definitely passes the tests!

Looking at the rear panel of the One LA you’ll find the regular connectors excepted on a compressor, Euro socket for the PSU, a fuse holder and audio input and output on XLR connectors.

You can also see that the enclosure is prepared with holes for dual input-output XLR connectors, this is because IGS Audio also offers a stereo version called 2LA (Double Leveling Amplifier Model). If you look at the top shot of the innards you also see that the PSU board isn’t filled out with components, this also due to that the same type of PSU board is also used in the stereo version.

Specifications:

Usage

The One LA is very easy to use, you’ve got three parameters to work with. Switch for Compress or Limit (Limit mode uses a ratio and is more aggressive), Gain and Peak reduction.

If you increase gain and go too hot into the compressor it’ll overdrive, if you use too much peak reduction it’ll start pumping. You find the relation between the two and you get a great gentle opto compression going.

The One LA can also be useful just for adding a little color to the signal, by keeping the peak reduction at 0 and using only the gain knob you can use the unit as a gain stage and from running the signal through the tube circuit, get that ‘little extra’ added that a track sometimes benefits from.

All in all, super easy and fun to use!

Sound clips

Good sound is a such subjective topic that an review says so much more with them added. We’ve passed some vocal, acoustic guitar and electric bass tracks through the One LA to give you an idea of how it sounds. We’ve got Pro Tools 8 HD as the DAW passing the audio, Digidesign 192 I/O for conversion and the One LA working the otherwise raw recordings:

• Vocals (One LA bypassed)
• Vocals (One LA compress-mode, around -7 dB peak reduction)
• Vocals (One LA limit-mode, around -8 dB peak reduction)

• Electric Bass (One LA bypassed)
• Electric Bass (One LA compress-mode, around -10 dB peak reduction)
• Electric Bass (One LA limit-mode, around -11 dB peak reduction)

• Acoustic Guitar (One LA bypassed)
• Acoustic Guitar (One LA compress-mode, around -4 dB peak reduction)
• Acoustic Guitar (One LA limit-mode, around -5 dB peak reduction)

Thoughts on tone and sound

Opto compression in general smoother compared to eg. compressors with a VCA circuit. The response time of the light that generates the compression in an opto compressor tend to soften the attack and release times, thus giving a softer and slower feel to the sound.

This is something you also notice when using the One LA, if you try to tame fast transients from drums you will notice that it’s not the right tool for the job. But if you are looking to gently level a vocal track you’ll find that passing a nice vocal recording through the One LA will do magic to the sound. It adds sheen and weight to the track in an amazing way!

If your vocal track is of the more dynamic kind you’ll want to volume automate the track first, or use a faster VCA-style compressor in front though to take out the highest fast peaks before hitting the One LA, as otherwise you might have a hard time getting it to compress correctly without overdriving when the fast peaks hits the input. Setting it in ‘limit mode’ you’ll find it slightly more aggressive and fast but it’s still far from fast and snappy.

Before I patched it into the signal chain the first time I tried to envision how it was going to sound, and I have to admit it kinda surprised me. Being an optical tube compressor I guessed that it was going to add weight and warmth and slight darken the vocal track. But to my surprise it more-so adds a nice sheen and presence in the top as well as putting a nice weight in the lower registers. Still I wouldn’t call it overly colored as it’s very gently in the way it shapes and changes the signal.

The answer to  ’how flexible is this unit?’  is quite simply, it’s not a swiss-army knife compressor. But taking a first look at the sparsely populated front panel with two knobs, four switches and a big VU meter should tell anyone who’s used to work with audio that it’s not in the tweak-ability that the One LA’s power lies. It’s quite a one trick pony but it’s amazingly good at what it does.

I’ve tried it out on several different instruments and audio tracks and find it most often ends up on vocal tracks. It also worked nicely on electric bass and sometimes for adding magic to an acoustic guitar recording or a piano (in this case a mono piano as the unit reviewed is only one channel). But to sum up after testing and trying, it’s definitely on vocal tracks where it really hits a home run!

Conclusion:

Being priced at 1280€ the One LA is one of the cheapest LA-2A inspired opto compressors out there on the market. After testing the unit I can assure You that the low-price is not something that you should be worried about.

The One LA, as all other of IGS Audio’s gear, use high quality parts all through the signal path and the sound quality and operation is astonishingly good. The One LA comes with a 3-year factory warranty, which also is better than what many of the big commercial companies offer. I can say nothing but good about the One LA opto compressor and I warmly recommend it if you are looking for a hardware unit that will add that extra glow to your tracks!

• Check out the IGS Audio webpage here.
• You will also find IGS Audio on Facebook.

It kind of came as a surprise for most of us when Avid annouced the release of Pro Tools 10 and their new AAX (Avid Audio eXtension) plug-in format on the October AES Convention.

The first question that popped up for me was would it be worth upgrading Pro Tools 9 to Pro Tools 10. What would you get if you upgrade?

So for those of you who have been thinking about it, here comes a short list of some of the interesting features you get when upgrading:

• 32-bit floating point (higher headroom in the DAW)
• 5x more effective processing on the new cards
• 64 channels I/O per card, so need for a skyscraper of card slots anymore if you need many in and outs.
• The new AAX (Avid Audio eXtension) plug-in format allows better workflow when sharing sessions between DSP-accelerated and native Pro Tools rigs.
• The new AAX format will be what Avid will build on, so hold on for new releases and upgrades regarding plugins on that platform as well.
• New Channel Strip Plug-in & Down Mixer Plug-in
• Clip Gain feature, allows you to easily do unique gain adjustments for each clip (very useful when working with e.g. dialog for film and television)
• Overall speed-up of the software, opening projects and executing different tasks is quicker than on PT8 and PT9.

So how much is it?

Pro Tools|HDX:  includes the HDX PCIe card, Pro Tools HD 10 software, and the HD series interface.

• New Pro Tools|HDX systems start at $9,999 US MSRP.
• Pro Tools|HD 1 owners can crossgrade to Pro Tools|HDX starting at $7,999.
• Pro Tools|HD 2 owners can crossgrade to Pro Tools|HDX starting at $6,999.
• Pro Tools|HD 3 owners can crossgrade to Pro Tools|HDX starting at $5,999.
• Pro Tools|HD Native owners can crossgrade to Pro Tools|HDX for $7,499.

Pro Tools 10 software:

• The full version of Pro Tools 10 retails for $699 US MSRP (NOTE: that Pro Tools HD 10 software is only bundled with Pro Tools|HD systems only, not available for separate purchase except as an upgrade).
• Pro Tools 9 upgrade to Pro Tools 10 for $299.
• Pro Tools HD upgrade to Pro Tools HD 10 starts at $999.

Check out the Avid pages for info on crossgrade pricing for Pro Tools LE, Pro Tools M-Powered, and Complete Production Toolkit.

Some nice November news from Brainworx, release of a plugin version of the, said-to-be superb, Vertigo VSC-2 ⋅ Quad Discrete VCA Compressor.

I remember reading some reviews on the real outboard version about a year ago and this seemed to be one amazing piece of compressor, being priced at around $6000, it’s not for the humble home studio to own!

Now with the highly respected Brainworx making a plugin version of it and the Vertigo people stating that when comparing the two in the studio they can’t hear a difference between the plugin and the hardware unit it seems that this piece of software is a “must-try” and probably “must-buy” as well!

GTlounge.net is definitely looking forward to try this thing out!

IGS Audio is a small Polish company which create boutique hand-built audio outboards for professional studio use. When looking to buy top quality audio gear one soon realize that it’s no cheap field to get into. The attention to detail, calibration, cost of parts and time it takes to build analog equalizers, compressors and mic preamps often makes some hefty price tags if you decide to go for quality pieces of gear.

IGS S-Type Compressor, humble but professional looking.

The interesting part of IGS Audio and also the reason why they caught my eye was exactly this matter. When I found their site a couple of years ago I was, after reading the specifications about the different pieces of gear they sell, surprised by the great prices they offer.

This was the very reason to why I contacted Igor of IGS Audio on the matter of getting a Mastering Edition of his Vari-Mu compressor for my mastering studio, Backstreets Mastering. While at the same time see if he was interested in getting some other pieces of his gear reviewed here at GTlounge.net. After exchanging a few mails with Igor we decided that he’d send an S-Type Mix Bus Compressor along with my order for review.

The units arrived neatly and securely packed in separate cardboard boxes. The first feeling I got when I spotted the S-Type in it’s plastic wrapping was, this looks like a real quality piece of gear! Already at that point I felt that this will be a fun review to write.

In the review below we’ll look into the build quality, features, controls, sound and performance of the S-Type compressor.

Will it stand up against the compressor in an SSL console?

How well does it really perform?

Is the quality-price ratio right?

Is this you definitive answer to glueing a mix together?

…these are some of the questions we’ll try to find and answer to. We’ll do some blind testing with sound clips comparing the S-Type to the bus compressor in a real SSL G8000+ console.

Build quality, millimeters, nuts and bolts

The 1U rack box that houses the S-Type compressor is matte black, sturdy and of high quality. It gives a nice first impression! The faceplate is painted a semi-gloss black with laser etched silver markings and text. All in all it gives a serious professional appearance to the unit without being overly blinky and space-ship reminiscent.

The VU meter is a Nissei brand that looks similar to the classic Sifam Presentor style meter with a custom bone-white IGS Audio bezel.

Close-up of the VU meter.

The connections on the back features panel mounted XLR input and output, a slow blow fuse holder and a 3 pin IEC socket for the power connection. IGS uses torx screws for the rack box so if you don’t have a T8×50 torx screwdriver you need to get one of those if you want to peek inside the box.

Back panel.

Guts

When removing the lid of the rack box to get a peek of the guts and innards of the S-type compressor, some of you might be surprised how simple a build it actually is.

Main PCB board.

Everything is basically housed on one main PCB  board, with an addition of the power transformer and a small vertical mounted support board to which most of the front controls, switches and pots are fastened. The wires is neatly clamped together and carefully placed to minimize noise and interference.

Nice and tidy build.

The S-type compressor is a VCA compressor meaning that the core of the compressor is a VCA chip that, so to say, “does the work”. The original SSL bus compressor from which the IGS S-type compressor has taken it’s inspiration uses a DBX 202c VCA chip, this chip isn’t made anymore and is today very hard to get a hold of. The factory replacement when servicing a SSL consoleis the THAT 2181 chip and this is also what IGS Audio has used in the S-type compressor.

Front panel controls mounted on separate PCB.

The potentiometers used in the S-Type compressor is of the Alps brand, they feel smooth when used and are regarded to be of high quality. The switches that are used for setting Side-chain, Ratio, Attack and Release also feel really sturdy.

Controls

Looking left to right the front controls are as follows, VU Meter, Threshold, Sidechain Hz, Ratio, Attack, Release, Output, Bypass switch, On/Off switch.

VU Meter: As noted above, Nissei with custom bone-white bezel.

Threshold: Smooth potentiometer that ranges from -20 to +20.

Sidechain Hz: 6 position switch. Selectable values: Off, 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, 180Hz, 250Hz.

Ratio: 3 position switch. Features ratios 2:1, 4:1 and 10:1.

Attack: 6 position switch. Selectable values in milliseconds: 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, 10, 30.

Release S: 6 position switch. Selectable values in seconds: 0.1, 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 2.0 and Auto.

Output: Gain make-up, potentiometer that ranges from 0 to +20 dB.

Bypass switch

On/Off switch

The straight forward controls are topped off with some nice big chicken head knobs. No flimsy looking or feeling controls, everything is solid and sturdy!

Compared to the original SSL compressor

All in all a high quality, sturdy built unit.

The question that always comes up when a company releases a so-called “clone” or “inspired by” product, be it a hardware processor or a plugin for a DAW, is “How does it compare to the real deal?”.

Well to answer that question for you, I took the S-Type compressor with me to work to put it up against the bus compressor in the behemoth SSL G8000+ console we have there.

We ran some drum recordings through the SSL bus compressor, the S-type and also took samples without any compression on it so that you can listen for yourself and get an idea of how it sounds compared to the original piece of gear that the S-type compressor is, to some extent, based on.

The drum tracks were played out of Pro Tools HD8 directly patched to the input of the SSL consoles bus compressor and then back to Pro Tools, thus not passing through any channel strips of the console that otherwise could color the comparison clips.

The same procedure was done with the IGS S-type, Pro Tools HD8 directly to the inputs of the S-type and then back into Pro Tools. The converters we used were the standard Digidesign 192 IO.

When we started we lined the three different paths up with with a 1 kHz sine wave to get exactly the same levels going through both compressors and the uncompressed bus, so that we could an A-B-C test with SSL, IGS and uncompressed. Then we set both the SSL and the IGS compressors controls to be the same.

We decided to hit the drum clips with aggressive attack settings on both compressor as it would easier show how the two units are different from each other.

When hitting play and starting to swap between the different compressors we instantly noticed that the two units sounded different from each other. At fast attack the SSL compressor sounded a lot more distorted and colored than the IGS S-type. I presume this makes sense since it’s generally known that the newer THAT 2181 VCA that sits in the IGS S-type should provide a cleaner sound than the original DBX 202c VCA that sat in the SSL consoles compressor.

The SSL compressor is way more gritty when pushed with extreme settings like in the clips below, you’ll hear the kick drum is distorted with the SSL while the IGS S-type holds it tight and clean. Both sounds can definitely be useful, just very different from each other.

Later when tweaking the controls and A-B switching every now and then, we found that the IGS S-Type definitely share its characteristics and behavior with the original SSL compressor but at extreme settings with eg. fastest attack it is way cleaner sounding than it’s “grandfather”.

When we backed off and set a slower attack and more “gentle” values, the SSL started sounding less colored more like the IGS. But it didn’t do the same type of clean that the S-type was capable of…

Sound clips and comparison

Note that on the Ratio 2:1 clips both the SSL and the S-type compressed around 8dB on the loudest hits. With Ratio 10:1 slightly more…

Let’s take a listen!

Uncompressed clip

SSL Bus compressor Ratio 2:1
Threshold: -15
Makeup: +15
Attack: 0.1mS
Release: Auto

IGS S-type Ratio 2:1 
Threshold: -15
Makeup: +15
Attack: 0.1mS
Release: Auto
Side-chain: Off

…some more aggressive Ratio settings below

SSL Bus compressor Ratio 10:1
Threshold: -15
Makeup: +15
Attack: 0.1mS
Release: Auto

IGS S-type Ratio 10:1
Threshold: -15
Makeup: +15
Attack: 0.1mS
Release: Auto
Side-chain: Off

Conclusion

So what’s the final verdict on the S-type compressor? Well, while inspired by the SSL bus compressor it doesn’t sound the same. It’s more transparent and doesn’t implement the same amount of “mojo” in lack of a better word. But it’s much more versatile and user-friendly as it has more controls, among other things the very usable side-chain filter. When used on whole mixes it’s really an indispensable thing to have, as soon as things are a little more complex and you still want to retain the punch, groove and clarity of the kick drum and bass… turn on the side-chain filter and vóila!

If you are looking for your first outboard stereo compressor a word like transparency might sound slightly boring to you, as you think you can do the transparent thing in the box and need something colorful and gooey. But don’t let clean turn you down, while being transparent it still adds things that’s on another level that your regular DAW compressor and being more transparent than the original SSL bus compressor is actually a good thing in my opinion. Especially for those who don’t have racks of outboards as it will automatically make the compressor suitable to a much wider range of material and tasks!

The IGS S-type compressor has an extremely good price-quality ratio compared to a lot of similar products out there on the market. While a price tag of 1190 € isn’t cheap, when it comes to hand-built professional quality analog gear it is quite an awesome price for a stereo compressor.

I was very satisfied with the unit when I tested it and if I was on the look-out of a “SSL style” bus compressor the IGS Audio S-type would definitely on the top of my list. Being solidly build, having quality switches and controls, superb sound and a price tag that doesn’t break the bank… you can’t go wrong with this one!

• For more information on the S-type and other products, check out the IGS Audio webpage.
• You will also find IGS Audio on Facebook.

Check out the new video for “Baby Alright” from the Cajunga. It’s the first single from their upcoming album, which is to be released in the fall of 2011.

FINALLY – PRESETS FOR ALL ELYSIA PLUGINS

We have received quite some requests for presets ever since we have started to release our products as plugins. While discussing this at the Musikmesse 2011, sound designer and early elysia adopter Denis Goekdag kindly offered his support.

Denis started straight away and created ten presets for each of the four elysia plugins currently available. On top of this, we have added the suggested settings from the alpha compressor and mpressor manuals.

Of course these presets can only be starting points for your own explorations. Please keep in mind that especially the threshold and ratio values have to be adapted to your specific audio material…

>>> DOWNLOAD THE PRESET PACKAGE HERE <<<

If you have a minute or two, please visit my brand new website and go push that “Like” button on the facebook pages

• www.backstreetsmastering.com
• Backstreets Mastering on Facebook
• Backstreets Media on Facebook

Thanks for reading GTlounge.net.

Regards,

GTlounge.net Administrator and Publisher

Today’s video: Recently released video from the Gaslight Anthem.

The Syracuse based folk rock band the Vanderbuilts released their new EP, Far from Here, in the beginning of May. It’s available for free download at the bands official webpage, www.thevanderbuilts.com. Check it out!