I'm looking to add a comp to my channel strip (so far a GAP Pre73 stock with the EQ73 insert), and am trying to decide between the Comp54, Comp54 modded, WA76, and the yet to be released GAP Comp76. As a compression noob, I suppose I should first ask about the general difference between 2254 and 1176 style comps. I've googled this, and just get things like the 2254 is "rounder". I don't really know what that means. I've listened to clips on the ZenPro site, and can't hear a big difference, and I'm also curious to know how these particular comps behave on extreme settings. How do they distort? What kind of tricks can you do with one and not the other? Which is "dirtier"? Any insights to get me started are much appreciated! Thanks.

It can be difficult to nail down the absolute sonic differences between pieces of gear without ending up using lots of hyperbolic adjectives, especially between two pieces of gear designed to do exactly the same job (especially when they are designed to transparently reduce dynamic range). The differences can be very subtle.

In general, the biggest difference for me between an 1176 and a 2254 is the time constants - attack and release times. The 1176 is world-renowned for its very fast attack time, meaning it's fantastic for controlling and taming peaks. It's especially good for snare drums as it can grab the initial attack and you can really change the transient character. On something like a vocal, the 1176 is a great workhorse for reducing dynamic range significantly - on many versions of it you can get up to 7-10dB of gain reduction without really hearing any artefacts. It can also release very quickly, meaning it can put out a very solid, controlled sound. At extreme settings, with a high input, the 1176 can get extremely aggressive and distort in a subjectively pleasant way. You'll hear it get used a lot on gritty rock vocals.

The original 2254 is a much less transparent limiter. The attack and release times are not constantly variable; instead, a choice of four options for each means it's not only less flexible than an 1176 but also the fastest times are nowhere near as fast. That means that the compressor is less well-suited to transient material - drums, percussion etc - and more suited for instruments with sustain. I love using 2254s on bass, piano, and sometimes vocals.

However, additional character differences are imbued by the choice of components used to achieve the gain reduction, and also to handle the input and output of the circuitry. Transformers vs transformerless, FET, optical, tube and vari-mu... they all have slightly different sounds and varying strengths and weaknesses.

Without getting into the circuitry design too much, you will find that a 2254 (at least, if it's true to the original) will be somewhat more 'sluggish' to react to your material, and therefore can be described as having a 'gluey' or 'squashy' character to it. An 1176, because of its time constants, could be described as 'aggressive', 'transparent' or 'gritty'.

It's difficult to really pin down the differences without using lots of different compressors and seeing for yourself what they do, but I hope that helps.

1176 is your best bet. 2254/33609s are finicky tracking compressors.

It's worth noting that I've yet to hear a 2254 "clone" that comes close to recreating the mojo of the real thing. My favorite by far is the BAE 10DC, but even that doesn't sound much like a Neve. Sorta does its own thing, in large part because of the vastly expanded time constant options.

Thanks, TonyD. That is an excellent and thorough explanation!!! Sounds like for a first all-around comp, the 1176 may be a better choice for covering a variety of sources. I'm leaning towards the WA76 due to its great reputation.

On the low-low end, I think the GAP is the only option, and to get it modded bumps the price up above the Warm.

Much of the GAP gear, among them the 54, will be available factory equipped with Carnhil Transformers in a few weeks. Just saw it on their home page some days ago. Might be worste the wait.
I have the 73DLX and use it with the Warm Audio WA76. Mostly use the WA76 on bass. It is fantastic.
I like the GAP gear so far. What's interesting about the Comp76 is that it comes factory equipped with a Link-function and a dry/wet mix function. The WA76 not.

Yeah, I saw that, along with their new 1176 comp. With the WA76, are you able to get pleasant distorted effects with bass? It's something I'd like to play around with. Thanks.

Define "distorted"!
You get a lot of saturation if wanted. And both the input and the ouput stage has this large Transformers you can push.

Like a warm, slightly overdriven sound. But without the fizziness that I get when trying to do that with my Pre73 (recording direct). Maybe the Carnhill mod allows this?

Transformers don't necessarily mean coloration, just as transformless doesn't necessarily mean clean.

Anywho, the 1176 is fast enough in both attack and release that you can easily use the time constants to create distortion (which is what happens when the detector starts following individual ups and downs of the incoming waveform, as opposed to the signal as a whole). The 2254 can get a bit crunchy in the same way, but nowhere near the way an 1176 does. To my ear, the compression action of a 2254 is more of a "squish". I know. That sort of description is meaningless. Sorry.

As for regular old coloration (separate from distortion brought on by gain reduction), with an 1176, it's highly dependent on the Rev. To my ear, Rev G and beyond tend to be a bit cloudier in the low mids. Sometimes in a good way (I really love Rev H and its sibling the 1178 on drum rooms, for example; the emphasized low mid tends to add a nice dimension and weight to things in that capacity). Revs D thru F have the most well-known 1176 high-mid "crunch". And I've only ever used a Rev A a few times (and never a Rev B or C), but those things are by far the dirtiest of the bunch, and as I recall, the compression behaves a bit differently, too. It's definitely more aggressive to my ear.

The UA 1176LN reissue is a great unit, but is relatively "clean"-sounding. You can still wrangle some grit with fast attack and release, but the tone of the box itself isn't particularly apparent.

Please note that everything I say is specific to actual Urei/UA 1176s and Neve 2254s and 33609s. I've never used the GAP stuff, nor the WA76.

Thanks! I think the WA76 is trying to clone Rev D, so we'll see how that works out.

Here are some audio examples of the WA76 and Bass.


The example on the button is the result of a very high input level. On the page it is called "Drive".
Don't care about the german language. The "Klangbeispiele" (Sound-Examples) on the bottom-table should be easy to understand.

https://www.amazona.de/test-warm-aud...-kompressor/5/

Thanks so much for posting this! I like the way it distorts.

Just used it today with a Stingray and the all-buttons-in-option and the distortion/saturation/drive seems to be a bit more pronounced than in the demos above. Meaning: you get more of this if you want to.

Kind of warm but broken and very pleasing 'cause in the all-buttons-in setting you kind of want the "pumping" of the compressor to be audible. Hard to describe. The aggressive part of distortion kind of gets tamed after the compressor sets in but it is still there, just quieter but gets loud again if you plug the next tone hard enough. Very musical.

I was trying the Antelope BAE 10DC to track vocals and noted it sound pretty darn good and worked well...i love the comp+lim. It actually made me want to buy the BAE hw version. Torn between that and 1176 for tracking vocals if talking 19"...500 still looking for best 1176ish

To me, lol, the cheapest one sounds best. The Klark. It sounds the punchiest to me.