Compressors

SPL's new surround-ready stereo compressor offers clever programme-adaptive compression, as well as decompression and tube-saturation functions.

Hugh Robjohns looks at a pedigree mix compressor with a number of rather unusual extra functions up its sleeve...

TL Audio's successful Fat 1 stereo compressor now has a new sibling with its own built-in mic preamp. Paul White delivers the SOS verdict.

The inherent non-linearities and distortions of analogue equipment are sometimes sorely missed in this digital age. Empirical Labs offer their new FATSO Jr as a solution.

The new compressor in Focusrite's Platinum Range offers pre-programmed settings for ease of use, whilst still incorporating extensive manual parameter control. Paul White gets to grips with the Penta.

Drawmer's 1969 model, developed with US pro audio dealer Mercenary Audio, seeks to offer the facilities of their acclaimed 1960 valve-based processor, but with a more American sound.

The Phoenix all-valve compressor is a high flyer when it comes to quality and price. Will it help Thermionic Culture feather their nest?

Hugh Robjohns tries out a new stereo valve compressor hand-built in Britain, which shines both in the studio and the mastering room.

Millennia Music and Media Systems manufacture high-end signal processors with the usual feature of dual circuit paths — solid-state FET and valve topologies running separately, side by side. Hugh Robjohns checks out the company's opto-compressor.

Paul White gets inside Focusrite's new compressor to find out what really makes it tick.

The latest version of Behringer's Composer dynamics processor appears to provide all the facilities anyone could ask for, with a separate expander/gate, compressor and limiter for each of its two channels.

Does the new 266 compressor from dbx really excel?

We test ART's two compact tube processors to see if they sound bigger than they look.

The DDP takes the five dynamics processes you're most likely to want, turns them digital, and squashes them into a 1U studio workhorse box for under £600.

Paul White tries out a compressor that looks like a cross between a portable CD player and a Stealth soap dish, but discovers the sound is much bigger than the package.

Does the DPR422 have the right combination of price and performance to break BSS into the project studio market?

Is the dbx 160S pure technology, a work of art, or a little of both?

Can new technology really emulate vintage equipment, or do you have to use vintage parts? Paul White test a modern compressor that claims chameleon-like abilities to emulate classic compression sounds.

SPL claim to have come up with a completely new type of compressor. Paul White puts their assertions to the test.