Bump this thread for more thoughts....I'm seriously considering the GTC2 after getting a GTQ2.

I've had mine for about 2 years, and love it. The FET setting doesn't get much use, but the opto is badass, and the combo opto fet is also great. For some reason the fet setting doesn't work for what I do. I thought it would be great on drums, but it seems to take the piss out of them. On Combo, that is mediated by the opto, so it is more useful to me.

I do wish it had a sidechain, but you can sidechain a single channel with the other in stereo mode. I got mine used for $2k, so I can't complain. It really is the only comp I need. It is quite versatile.

Amazing on opto for hollowbody bass, my hofner beatle in combination with the Massive Passive is the best bass sound I have ever heard.

Anyone have any clips they can post using this comp? Can the FET do an 1176 type sound? Also, would be great to hear a before/after of it used on mix buss.

Ive had mine fir a few years now. I mostly use the FET setting. Auto timing and a low ratio. Barely tapping the compresson.
At least in my unit, the opto mode boosts the high end of the program quite a bit. I use it to add top to duller sources. Also works good on kick drum.

It took many months to get used to using this box, but now it has become my go to tracking compressor for nearly everthing. Vocals for sure.
Fet for "nuetral" opto for "enhanced"

The line amps do have a bunch of color and I often use the GTC as a gain stage with little or no compression.

That is odd, I have always found the opto to be transparent while the fet rolled off the high end. Maybe it's because I have it on opto all the time, and have gotten used to it. But I have never perceived a high end boost. I'm in Oakland as well, you have a studio here?

I definitely don't hear a top end boost in opto on any of the units I've used/ tested. Also, FET has the more "effected" or dirtier qualities that I notice right off the bat (although again no top end boost). Opto is easily more transparent.

I think your FET and Opto switch is reversed.

yeah- this better describes what I hear; a bt darker/woolier/heavier in FET and more clear/transparant in opto.

Switches aren't reveresed, but the unit had to be calbrated a few times - my ears were telling me it wasn't behaving as it was supposed to.\Geoff sorted it out after a couple trips to the lab. They changed some of the alignment procedures after dealing with my unit/ears!

Does anyone find the fet to be anything like an 1176?

Sure. You can get the same style of compression going... but, the attack/ release controls of an 1176 are not as wide ranging as on the GTC2. So, for a similar type of compression as an 1176, you're only going to be using the first 25% of the GTC2's attack range, etc.

It's capable of doing a lot more than the 1176 can.

I have the Aurora GTQ mkll and the GTC2 and the more i use them the more i know i made the right Choice. Thanks Tony !!! and Thanks Geoff !!!

I love the lights on it too. Has anyone tried the external link to use as a sidechain?

Hi

That's not impossible but needs a little care and ingenuity!

That link is a dc voltage between 0v (no compression) and +10v (compressing like heck).

So you need an audio interface that can work with your sidechain audio signal and have the necessary rectification and timing to drive that input proportional to the compression you desire.

Don't plug audio into that jack socket

I have an analog envelope follower on my Moog MF-101, it outputs 0-5v, I am pretty sure. It takes an audio signal and outputs control voltage, which I guess is just a rectifier, right?

I guess I could fiddle with it until it gives me the same compression as without the sidechain.

If it works, I will try running LFO's and modulation through it. Bet you've never done that, Geoff!

Hi

No, I haven't ! But the dc is steered by diodes so, if your dc level is below that generated by the compressor's side chain, it won't do anything.

Once the dc rises above the potential generated by the internal side chain the external signal takes over and forces the circuit to compress harder.

A minor tip though, if you harm the internal circuits in any way by applying an excessive voltage or similar mischief, the warranty is invalidated and you pay for the repair.

Posted from my iPhone

This is a great box! And Geoff and Alan and the Aurora guys are the best!
I've had mine for a few years now, alongside many other cool limiters (Chandler, Manley, Urei, Retro, ASB, Spectrasonics, Inovonics, etc.), and it really does many things well. My favorite is for kick drum, vocals, drum buss, and master buss. That said, I have used it on guitars, bass, horns, hand percussion, acoustic guitar, and other assorted sources, and every time it was really good.

Referencing an earlier post regarding the fet setting taking the piss out of a drumkit, I will nudge Geoff and Tony about my only teeny gripe with the unit and that is the maximum 5 millisecond attack time - pretty quick for a lot of things. This is probably what the poster is hearing as the piss goes away.... When I use an SSL compressor, I am almost always at 10 or 30ms on the attack time, and I believe that an 1176's slowest attack time is 17ms? Correct me if I am wrong, please....

I would love to see a mod for this - even getting up to 25ms would be huge...

I did talk with Geoff once about this, and I respectfully withdrew my suggestion-- also, it was a very busy time for Aurora, so I didn't want to push...

But -- this is a very minor quibble with an outstanding piece of gear! Aurora stuff rules....GTQ next on my list.....

This is incorrect... The 1176's attack time is measured in MICRO-seconds. At it's slowest setting, it is 800 microseconds or 0.8 milliseconds... compared to 5.0 milliseconds of the GTC2.

The GTC2 has an incredibly wide range of control for the attack and release settings.

Its one man's opinion, but this is a post that really makes me sit up and take notice

Fast forward a few years @ warlordpriest and the CL1B is back in my arsenal alongside the gtc2. They are both great, different flavors! If I could choose one would be the gtc2 for its versatility and dual channels, but sometime the TT is just what the doctor ordered!

You can hear some of their sounds in in this video, will work on more specific tests soon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7VqjGtfHUw

Do you think I would enjoy the gtc2 more than my Obsidian on the 2 buss?

Those are apples n oranges. Obsidian is vca/ssl style I believe. GTC2 is opto/fet/neve style. I bet you could great results with either.

Got a GTC2 (earlier model) and love it to bits. It sprinkles fairy dust on audio sources and magically makes more three dimensional and fuller.

Yeah the GTC2 is more like rhe Manley Slam but with Neve transformer like chocolate sound versus Manley Tube.

Glad to hear as I don't need to get the Manley SLAM now.

Oh no. You need both

The SLAM also has preamps. So not an exact comparison. In operation they are similar though.