The mod I was referring to is something that he initially did only for himself. He told me about it only after I asked him if there wasn't something more that could be done with it, and then agreed to do a few for me. I asked him if he was ok with me telling other people about it and he said yes. It makes it a bit smoother and more effortless sounding with no potential for power transformer hum that the normal one would occasionally exhibit. He replaced the power transformer with a toroidal and replaced some of the opamps that require a higher voltage.

Not sure if it would change your mind, but I found the normal mod to still be a touch hard sounding.

Got it, first time hearing about it to be honest.

Yeah at this point I am looking more at different tube units, but with no transformers in the circuits and less "stuff" in general( I've kinda made my way through a whole mess of solid state units over the years, the first one i tried i remember was the Sontec DRC-202 which was interesting though i had no idea what i was doing with it so i just turned the knobs till i got something workable).

I'm curious what you've found for tubes w/o trannies. The best most transparent tube compressors cost. I'm guessing we'd both like Electronaut's M97 but it's serious money at $7777, though worth every penny, I'm sure. A vari mu with unique features, it can be used straight in with no preamp if one wants, so there's that expense removed to balance the budget. Not sure the current status of his production. He's a one man operation and had run into some rough waters a while back, from what I gather. With any luck, I'll own one someday, though I've got a couple things ahead of it on my list.

What I notice is some of them come across as too "polite" which i guess is the right term for it. Its the ballistics that i don't like sometimes, which to be honest makes them great for mastering I guess, but doesn't bring anything to the game sort of speak. If I choose to use a comp on a lead vox, in some sort of way it will be part of the overall sound, so I would want it to not only hopefully to do its job in terms of control, but bring something unique to the table.

Now that's not to say when mixing a lead those characteristics won't work, which honestly in certain circumstances is welcome. Sometimes the vocals are tracked so well, that when mixing the song you really don't want to screw them up. So something "polite" yet useful is warranted or needed.

To be honest the costs of stuff never bothered me. If its going to deliver what i need, just show me where i have to send the payment.

I try to get the qualities I want up front and stay out of the way them downstream, but that is essentially impossible beyond a certain point, so I choose my compromises best I can.

The Electronaut M97 is not devoid of transformers but it promises to be about as optimized as it gets.

Still loving my special mod 651 since I read your post
years back on it! It's slick as ice on vocals when you want them to be clean and 3d. I even had Jim do a
2nd, and have since been using the pair on drum bus and even stereo 2 bus. I find that it cleans up a lot of mud and can tighten to a tee. Definitely great on the 2 bus for some limiting and also on drums... So far with the limited experimenting, re:drum buss, I've found it excels for me the most getting drums focused and slam super hard with a smooth transient that still hits you in the chest. I find that it also cleans up the low mids nicely while still letting low end through esp if using the SC. I love driving the input hard and giving a blown out effect, esp after bumping up the lows prior to going in. It's a true Swiss army knife in the most pristine and functional way.

Aphex should bring it back with the mod.

Clearly this is a "Best (Bauss?) Casse Scenario".

I've yet to find ANYTHING that I didn't like tracking with the CL1b, that I would use a compressor during tracking. I can't speak about your JW modded distressor, but I own an unmoved one and I would never use it for tracking a vocal. I haven't tried the ITB comps you mentioned for one reason, because I mix OTB. If I ever go ITB I will take a look at those. I record horns quite a bit, I record and produce contemporary jazz artist Paula Atherton, she's an excellent player and has a big fat sound so she's pretty easy to record, I have a heavily modded TFunk Ar-51 with a Campbell capsule that sounds wonderful on her horn. And my chain is mic- ADL 600-CL1b. Her current single is #10 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz charts, and that's the sound you hear on that record.

Try this .... any singer


Flea 47 or any legit 47 that's not overly bright

Pope Pre (swap, the output, transformer from stock to Avedis). Hi and low bass EQ pushed to 1:00

Retro doublewide (or sta level) in double mode

Chandler 660 position 1

I thought the Retro Doublewide...
Was only for Movie Trailers.

I think it'd be fun if 1176s came more back into style on pop / hip hop / EDM vocals... But I guess for that to happen, we'd need punchier more energetic/aggressive performances... Which would mean we need a fundamental change in the psyches and attitudes of rising talent in those genres... Which means I don't know, what would it take? Another major war or some sort of social unrest to get people passionate again??

I'm not a compressor warmonger by any means ������ but it would be fun to hear that grit again. The only time I'm hearing it these days is maybe on Olivia Rodrigo or or Demi Lovato releases.

Multi stage compression to keep artifacts minimal and perfect de-essing and perfect riding of dynamics is great and all, but Im kinda reminiscing over just unashamedly slamming a vocal with gritty compression lol.

I wanna hear Demi more.

Yeah she's really been doing some cool styles and production lately. There was a thread on Reddit about how her new single a year or so ago was so brickwalled that it was "garbage" or whatever, but I thought it was cool as shit as a stylistic thing, super blown out and grimey. Reddit kiddos are all about the audio engineering ruuuuules haha

I think it was an attempt meant as a "pun",
a play on words...
Demi More as in Demi Moore.

Ahhhhh didn't catch that lol

Reminds me I lost my copy of Disclosure and need to grab another, what a stellar Michael Douglas performance.

Aphex should team up with Aphex Twin to release a special edition something or another hehe

I don't think Richard uses any Aphex gear, at least none listed on the Syro gear list. But I guess if I were him I'd probably not want to reveal if I used anything Aphex cuz it might just come off as ... I don't know, corny? Then again, is there anything merely utilitarian among the vast amount of crazy / obscure shit Richard uses? Aside from his Midas board heh

The Pendulum OCL-2 is an incredible compressor on vocals or whole mix. It can be super clear and transparent adding 3D to a mix or you can dial in vibe for a vocal — it is an optical compressor. Too bad they aren’t being made anymore. I have used it on vocals before, but recently have been using it on drums & electronics to bring them vibe & more 3D

The Chandler Zener Limiter is also really great on vocals — it worked best on a mix lately after patching up different options. For tracking vocals though, I still think the LA-2A is the best I think I might start adding a touch of Zener after it though in the chain 🎛️

Does anyone have suggestions for starting point settings for a Manley Vari-Mu on vocals? Or an 1178?

Vari Mu is pretty hard to get wrong. A medium attack and medium or medium-fast release is a good starting point, and if you start with the threshold at 12 o'clock you can either dial it back or forward or drive the input til you get the desired gain reduction behaviour. Hitting 2-4dB on the meter is usually plenty, and if softer parts are not hitting the meter it doesn't mean it's not doing anything, have to just use your ears. But unless you're pinning the GR meter then it's unlikely to sound bad. If sibilance becomes an issue then dial back the amount of GR happening and mess with the attack time. Compress mode probably safer than limit mode while tracking but again, hard to make it sound bad. Obviously this is all dependent on the vocalist and the song... The UAD plugins react relatively similarly to the hardware, mess around with them and you'll get a feel for the compression curves.

I use a similar technique for 1176's (3-7dB on the meter for louder passages and peaks) so using one side of an 1178 should be similar.

Thanks Lance — I’ll try it out again. I love it on a full mix or on a master, but have just never liked the quality on vocals… maybe because I am hitting it too hard

Older thread, but for fun:
Lately Im using a distressor into a 2254, almost like a 76 into a 2a kind of feeling.
Distressor kissing peaks, 2254 hugging the vocal with its beautiful 400ms release. The cool thing about the 2254 other than the lovely color, is the limiter. Its nice to catch some more peaks just a bit with the 100ms release. That compressor is about as smooth as smooth gets.
Ive been tempted to run them serial, at the risk of heaps of color - so that I can hit the limiter on the 2254 first, and then compress. I find it a nice solid state alternative to the 1176 into LA2A; although I have some 76s and a 2A on the way now for more versatility.

The real conundrum for me is the Vari Mus. There are SO MANY cool vari mus that can shine on vocals....I have a phoenix I prefer to use on busses - but when it comes to a nice mu for vocals its like, "do I get a RS124 (that thing sound UNREAL), A STA Level, A 660, a 176, or maybe one of those newer Locomotive Audio units? Its really tough...im crying for my wallet on that day...but I do envision myself with a 124 and an RS660 at some point, but that Sta level is a thing of beauty too...send help

Do you think the last paragraph of comps you've mentioned would be good on some hip hop soulful vibes I was told get a rs124 and follow it up with a 176 or 1176 or get a 660 and keep it in limit mode constant 1 or 2 for tracking vocals and or mixing if you could get 2 for a vocal or just 1 what would it be for tracking and or mixing

I’m there too! Slamming my 2-bus vca 20dB followed by a 2500 pinned as well.

Vocal - 1176a clone 10-15, into an La2a for the release/smoothing. 20dB+ all around. Fix the harsh stuff itb if I can… if not… moving on. Energy is the way to go. Up front.

Pushing a burl rig’s I/o and not worried about artifacts now and then…. Figure AI will have a harder time copying it

I recently grabbed a Hazelrigg VLC and plan on pairing it with the VNE for the ultimate vocal recording chain. Currently tracking vocals with a touch of Locomotive Audio 14b or Airfield Liminator. Might put the Airfield up for sale to grab the VNE but would hate to see it go but it plays in the transparent lane for me so that would be redundant. The 14b isn't going anywhere...and I got one of the last point to point units.

Can you share the song. I find Myself slamming all my comps too. Few stages during tracking and mixing, always sounds good to me

This is pretty new to me slamming the mix bus. Love to hear some thought behind that approach

Ride the Fader?

Chris