The PYE 4061S Stereo Levelling Amplifier is the latest Ted Fletcher design to be released under the Alice brand. It reapplies some of the work featured in his earlier opto compressor designs whilst combining it with the advantages provided by feed-forward technology, which helps to avoid issues such as compressor overshoot.
The unit’s inputs feed a pair of balancing transformers working in Ted’s ‘current mode’, a method which is said to produce an extremely linear output with minimal distortion. The audio is then passed to a sum and difference matrix, which is equipped with a width control that determines the level of the difference signal, offering adjustment over the audio’s stereo width. A feed is taken from the sum signal and converted to a regulated DC current with controls for attack and decay, and both the sum and difference signals directly feed a pair of amplifiers which are controlled by the DC current, and operate in feedback around a pair of op-amps. The compressed signals are then converted back to stereo by buffer amplifiers.
In terms of controls, a large Input Gain switch is followed by controls for the Stereo Width and Balance functions, all of which are placed to the left of a pair of PPM meters that were developed specifically for the PYE 4061S. The ratio is dependant on the incoming signal level, and so there is no dedicated control — below -20dB, it is almost 1:1, and it increases rapidly to an eventual value of 20:1 as the signal approaches 0dB. Attack and Release switches provide a range of options from 0 – 25 mS and 100 – 4000 mS respectively, and are followed by a Gain Makeup control.
Inputs and outputs for each channel are provided both on XLR and quarter-inch TRS connectors, and mains power is delivered to an internal PSU via a standard IEC inlet.
Pricing & Availability
The PYE 4061S is available now, with pricing available upon request.
https://www.alice.co.uk/product/pye-4061s-stereo-compression-amplifier/
