Published 23/1/08
The Swiss Army Knife of compressors?
Safe Sound Audio, the independent UK hardware manufacturer whose P1 recording channel we reviewed back in SOS October 2003 (read the review on-line here), have announced a new rackmount unit called the Dynamics Toolbox.
It’s a 2U device with two channels of dynamics processing which, according to Safe Sound, “preserves the purity and warmth of its predecessor and adds a whole set of new features”. Each channel has a compressor, a limiter, a side-chain input and a dedicated VU meter. The channels can be linked for stereo bus compression. The compressor has controls for threshold, ratio, attack and release, but it also has additional features that make it very versatile.
Each channel has a Peakride button which, when engaged, initiates a special mode (Safe Sound call it a ‘compression format’) that levels out the input signal without creating an overly affected sound. The company say that this works especially well on vocals and acoustic instruments, and is useful when tracking.
Side-chain filters allow the device’s trigger signal to be EQ’d before reaching the compression circuitry, and you can plug in an external device, so you can process audio using another signal. The Dynamics Toolbox also has a wet/dry mix on each of the channel outputs, so users can dial in parallel compression settings, where a small amount of heavily compressed signal can be mixed with the clean signal.
On the back panel, the device has line inputs and outputs on TRS jack, along with side-chain sends and returns, allowing processors such as EQs to be patched into the side-chain. Interestingly, there are two main line outputs per channel: one for an electronically balanced line output (which has a ground-lift facility), and one for an optional transformer-balanced output, to which the user can choose to have a high-end Jenson, Cinemag, Lundahl or Sowter transformer wired, at extra cost.
For further details on the Dynamics Toolbox, which costs £1174 including VAT, visit Safe Sound’s web site.
Safe Sound Audio +44 (0)113 259 1522
www.safesoundaudio.com
It’s a 2U device with two channels of dynamics processing which, according to Safe Sound, “preserves the purity and warmth of its predecessor and adds a whole set of new features”. Each channel has a compressor, a limiter, a side-chain input and a dedicated VU meter. The channels can be linked for stereo bus compression. The compressor has controls for threshold, ratio, attack and release, but it also has additional features that make it very versatile.
Each channel has a Peakride button which, when engaged, initiates a special mode (Safe Sound call it a ‘compression format’) that levels out the input signal without creating an overly affected sound. The company say that this works especially well on vocals and acoustic instruments, and is useful when tracking.
Side-chain filters allow the device’s trigger signal to be EQ’d before reaching the compression circuitry, and you can plug in an external device, so you can process audio using another signal. The Dynamics Toolbox also has a wet/dry mix on each of the channel outputs, so users can dial in parallel compression settings, where a small amount of heavily compressed signal can be mixed with the clean signal.
On the back panel, the device has line inputs and outputs on TRS jack, along with side-chain sends and returns, allowing processors such as EQs to be patched into the side-chain. Interestingly, there are two main line outputs per channel: one for an electronically balanced line output (which has a ground-lift facility), and one for an optional transformer-balanced output, to which the user can choose to have a high-end Jenson, Cinemag, Lundahl or Sowter transformer wired, at extra cost.
For further details on the Dynamics Toolbox, which costs £1174 including VAT, visit Safe Sound’s web site.
Safe Sound Audio +44 (0)113 259 1522
www.safesoundaudio.com
