Tonelux Dynalux

Brimming over with useful and interesting features, is the Dynalux the last compressor you’ll ever need?

Tonelux’s Dynalux is a high‑quality two‑channel VCA compressor that offers an almost bewildering array of hands‑on controls, some of which access some very unusual and interesting features. Its designers tell me that their aim was to create “one of the most full‑featured analogue compressors on the market”, and even the most cursory look at the front panel leaves you in little doubt what they mean by that: in total there are 17 black knobs, each with a simple‑but‑effective white stripe to indicate its position, another 17 metal toggle switches, four moving‑coil VU meters, and various indicator LEDs. As well as modern but arguably now almost expected features, such as a wet/dry mix control, there are much rarer ones that I’ll describe below, not least particularly well‑featured side‑chain equalisation.

In short, then, the Dynalux promises to be supremely versatile. But Tonelux are also keen to emphasise the sonic and technical performance. It’s a fully discreet design, which includes Tonelux’s proprietary TX‑240 op‑amps, TX‑260 output stage buffer, and TX‑100 output transformer. The frequency response is quoted as <5 Hz to 70 KHz (‑3dB), and the noise floor, with the dynamics section engaged, is stated as greater than ‑90dBu. It promises to sound good too then, so let’s find out if it delivers...

Overview

A 2U 19‑inch rackmounting device, the Dynalux is housed in a folded‑steel chassis, of solid construction and with slotted side panels for ventilation. On the front is an attractive‑looking panel hosting the absolute forest of controls. My first impression of those was that it has a touch of ‘overwhelm’ about it, but in practice I found that the identical left‑to‑right layout of the two channels’ controls, which are arranged either side of a simpler‑looking central section, meant it wasn’t so intimidating after all.

I’ll get to the channel controls shortly, but in between them are the four moving‑coil meters. These are set up so that you can always see for each channel the current amount of gain reduction being applied on one meter, and either the input or output level on the other. These are joined by a few controls to configure the unit for stereo operation (of which more later). And on the far right of the panel is the biggest of the toggles, an on/off switch that’s accompanied by a large jewel light to indicate its status.

While I’m on the subject of status indication, there are so many controls here that, say Tonelux, they felt it impractical to use LEDs for everything; hence the extensive use of toggle switches. There are a few key facilities that have LEDs, but for the most part it’s simply a case of seeing whether the toggle switch is pointing up (on) or down (off). Perhaps not so good for a dimly lit live rack, but fine in most studios I think.

As well as the balanced I/O on XLRs, there’s a dedicated external side‑chain input for each channel.

On the rear, each channel is given an XLR for the transformer‑balanced I/O, and each has an external side‑chain input on quarter‑inch jack. A switch on the front toggles between the internal and external control signals and, to prevent confusing accidents, the jack is normalled so that engaging the external side‑chain when no jack is plugged in doesn’t interrupt standard operation. Ordinarily, I prefer side‑chain insert points to key inputs alone (the return doubles up as an input anyway), but that’s not really necessary here on account of their being such comprehensive built‑in side‑chain shaping. Completing the back‑panel socketry is an IEC C14 power inlet, which accepts 50 or...