You guys are quiet on here!

Seen no threads since its release so wondering hows your dragon peforming ?

Is it taking place of your previous comps?

I'd like to hear about this comp too.

I want to know what people think as well.

I bought 2 of them right when they were first released. I am even more impressed with them now than when I posted my first initial reply about a month ago. These compressors sound absolutely incredible and work on anything I put them on!

Stereo link a pair of these bad boys and start flipping switches. It's incredible how quickly I can create 'Frankenstein'-like compression settings that I'm unable to achieve with any other comp in my studio. I was in need of some more 60hz kick in my drum buss, so I just flipped the 'boom' setting. There it was.. but extremely tight and not flabby whatsoever. I wanted a snare to crack harder, so I flipped the 'bite setting', last I just wanted to see what 'sheen' would add to my buss, so I hit it and it brought a nice touch of 10-12k to my overheads. To be honest, at first the compression sounded great, but was too blatantly crushed in the mixx, that's when I fell in love with the 'mix' knob. I started slowly pulling the wetness out of my buss until the drums just sank into the mixx. I couldn't believe what I was able to do in the matter of just a few moments using the dragons on my drum buss.

I primarily use the Dragons for my drum buss, vocals, bass, and saturation on my master buss. I have used them once on an electric guitar buss and I was able to get a serious bite while keeping a ton of control over my guitars.

These things kick ass on vocals! I'm involved in a lot of pop records at the moment, and there is nothing like the 'sheen' setting for vocals! My money chain is to track with the 1176 or LA2A for dynamic control (maybe 3-5db) then insert the Dragon as an external plug while in the mixx to really fit the vocals (or bass) where I need them (usually using the 'mix' option again). It seems like these Dragons have a sweet spot on the output transformer around the '7' setting. I typically leave it glued there, then adjust using 'mix' and my input for however much compression I need out of the unit.

The saturation settings on these compressors have allowed me to create some of my favorite sounds I use in my production. I have been re-sampling a lot of my current sounds through the Dragons using saturation to give me some of that 'hit to tape' sound. Vocals also sound amazing when you start throwing some saturation on them.

I have yet to really test my limits with these compressors, however, they are used in every single project I'm working on right now and it seems like every time I try a new setting, something awesome comes from it.

There is only 1 big problem at this point.... I need another pair!!!!

Got serial number 67 here for about a week and I am happy with it. Very happy!

First I have to admit, that this guy is my first outboard compressor. I have only experiences with the software versions of Tube Tech CL1b, Chandler EMI compressor, Waves Fairchild (PuigChild), SPL Vitalizer and Softube FET compressor. So no real life experience with hardware comps here.

I bought the Dragon as my main tracking compressor for acoustic and electric guitars, bass, vocals and drums. By now I have tested it with all of it except drums. The results are quite fine!

While my software compressors all have a sweet spot that is very narrow and then tend to realy collaps with a slight move of attack or release, the Dragon is very forgiving and sounds glorious most times even with odd adjustments.

This guy sounds clean and very expensive in common mode. Just set slowest attack fastest release and 2:1 or 4:1. Then it shines on nearly every instrument with 3 to 7 dB and also with up to 15 dB for some vocals it is quite natural sounding. Then you can take the charakter settings to help your EQ a little by shaping the tonal charakter of the instrument. That easy! Tracking becomes an easy home run.

By taking vintage mode or the saturate feature you can drive it on a darker side while staying very detailed and expensive in sound charakter. No darkness is appearing sound wise only compression wise!

And if it sometomes squashes to much I use the mix knob to dial in some original till it fits (very nice feature). I only have to try squash mode on drums soon.

My recording chain by now is Chandler Germanium preamp for color, Forsell SMP-2 for clean and acoustic, allways followed by a Chandler Tone Control and then into the Dragon. Because the Tone Control and sometimes the Chandler Preamp give me so much mojo I am very happy to have such a very clear and detailed compressor for most of the time. And the saturation feature, the vintage and squash mode give me some more aggressive sound, if I need it.

The Dragon is a realy great allrounder. I like it, that the sound you get is very pure and expensive. On top you can have saturation or slight overdrive if you dial it in and you can squash the signal if you like but it is an add on to its expensive high class transformer sound (a very good add on indeed).

It is not a one trick pony where you have the mud in the compression path and can't take it away or have to control the mojo with the compression controls.

The Dragon always does what the controls say. Not more but that is more than enough and more than most of my (software) compressors do. And this thing is very cheap with all the features and the expensive sound compared to the other (one trick aggressive) FETs out there.

Try it, buy it and make good music!

thumbsup

Very positve reviews, Money just cant justify it at the moment as i have the ubk fatso, hammer & nail combo on my priority list.

There's a post running around asking about a good all-around comp. Of course people are mentioning 1176's, Distressors and the like, but I asked if anyone had any insight on this unit...I don't think anyone has yet to respond. Glad I ran into this thread.

Im very interested in the dragon too... i will try it ...if its not up to par i will just sell it...but interesting little product.

The Slate Dragon is capable of a ton age of character tune age. It can be in yo face, or smooth and rounded sounding. You can give sounds more aggression and teeth instantly with this thing. Drums are going need helmets. Overall when using it like any compressor, it has a very clear tone, and grabs like you expect that it would. It definitely breaths fire.

Thanks for the comments Adam. I was messing with the DRAGON on my mix last night and put it on "vintage" mode with a slow attack and fast release with "saturation" on 1 and "bite" on, and I was able to add a ton of crack to a really lazy snare drum. I haven't messed with "vintage" mode much so this was a cool find.

Mercenary has DRAGON's in stock so I hope people can take advantage of their great "try it" policy, you won't be dissappointed.

How would a Dragon work as a mastering compressor for doing about 3-4 Db of gain reduction that's "hi-fi" and "euphonic" i.e. not totally clean and transparent, but not TG1 colored.

I'll use two of them linked at 2:1 with the hi pass at about 100Hz with fully open attack and fastest release doing about 1 db (which is plenty on these machines) if I want the mix to have more spread. The Dragon's add a bigness and width. Since the controls aren't on switches its not exactly ideal, but its certainly doable.

Just got my first Dragon two days ago, loving the beast, and already know I need another one.

Steve, or anybody: is there any problem using more than one of the character switches engaged at the same time? What does that technically do?

Nope. I do it all the time. Especially on drums. For vox that need to poke out of mix with some gloss, I like bite and sheen.

Cool! I am digging both bite and boom on bass guitar--gives it a huge sound that fills out the bass register, yet cuts through the mix. Thanks for designing this beauty! It's definitely the answer to my compressor needs, and it's a heck of a lot of fun messing with all those possible settings!

They're pretty cool, the main thing is you have to learn to train them.

I was recording stereo guitars Fearn > 421 and SM 57 > My Dragon's
I could not understand why I lost the Killer sound I had
Opps Had the Dragons on Bypass Click,Click Ahhhhhhhhh their we go.
RockerStudios Loven me Giant Lizzard's

Hi! I got my Dragon yesterday and noticed something Really weird. Since it hasn't been mentionned in the various thread, I suspect I might have a faulty unit.
My dragon is actually producing sound. I mean, acoustic sound. I put it across a vocal track, and since I was not monitoring at very high level, I heard something like a faint pre-echo of the vocal. I switched the main monitors off and could still hear this faint vocal, it was coming from the Dragon ?! Started playing with the different buttons & knobs, and when the saturate is on 3, it's not a faint thing anymore, you can clearly hear the audio that's passing through the Dragon.
I took it out of the rack and opened the top panel and tested again. Yep, it's there, of course even much clearer with the top off.
How is that possible, and I guess it's not normal? I made a small movie with sound, I can try to post it if it can help understand/convince anyone...
Cheers
Eric

its alive!.........aliiiiiiiiiive!!!!!!

I'd like to hear more opinions about this compressor from real users.

I do EDM and was thinking about getting a Dragon instead of a Distressor for processing drum machines, synths, and to breathe life into ITB samples. Anyone using the Dragon on electronic sound sources?

I have 2 now and alto Im new to them I had them inserted into my toft for mix down this weekend and they shined on the Snare and Bass channels
could realy hear the diference in the Snare when on bypass lost all the punch,crack did some Rap vocals last week Clients where very happy also did some 80's Rock Vox Kicked ass
I love them but I have never owned an Distressor to compare the 2

I had a couple for a few weeks but I ended up not buying them. Just didn't work for me I guess....

Interesting what did you not like about them and what do you prefer

just got mine in this weekend, gonna fire em up today, will let u know how it goes!

kp

Hopefully Griffon Boice will chime in, he does a ton of EDM with Dragons.. So does Jay Gordon (former Orgy frontman/producer/writer)..

BTByrd I can probably arrange to get you a demo unit or two

I love mine. Wish I had two.
I find myself using compressors as much for their tone as for their actual compression of dynamics... and there's something about the Dragon that I find really beneficial, especially for lead vocals.

I'm trying to think if there's any lead vox on the upcoming LOW record that wasn't run through it during the mixing process... often times at just 2:1, with the mix knob adjusted to taste, maybe with some sheen or bite depending. Seems minor, but made a difference.

Wish every compressor had a mix knob...

mB

Retailers in europe/uk?

edit: nevermind, just saw that. Not familiar shops though.

Well, I suppose I'll know soon enough... just put down a deposit!

Dragon's are now exclusively distributed in Europe by www.sub6distribution.com

Well.... we tried them out at the same A/B tests we did with the Apogee Symphony I/O v. X-Series on an SSL 9000J/. We spent about 8 hours on the whole test.

Just suffice it to say that we had a few vintage 1176's and after matching levels, we kept choosing the vints.....but if we didn't have them, might be different.

Again, I'm speaking from the point of usefulness to me, not if they are good/bad/etc. I don't just follow trends but choose what works for me. I have no clue what other people's needs are and I'm sure the Dragons will be a hit after having used them for a week or so.

Personally I like the mix knob and other functions on it and it shows that Slate put a lot of time and effort into this but have a few personal opinions about a few things like the Sheen value cut in half (too bright for me) and also found the units (we had 2) a bit darker/duller than the vintage 1176s (restored by Studio Electronics).....

I'll do another test in a month to see at that time....