I saw that. Very tempted to flip my generic version for that one. Although mine was a B stock (meter not perfectly parallel with faceplate), so resale might not make it worth it. I HATE being financially responsible!!

Any updates on the Faircomp?
Theres a great deal on one of the other brands Im thinking of snagging up, but id love to buy audioscape...
You guys are close to me so if I need service I feel better going with AS, especially with something like a Fchild.

Any word on what maintenance would or could look like with your design?

I got one and haven't seen a single snake in my studio since.

Hey all, I'm looking for my first vocal tracking compressor. My music is synth poppy. Wondering which should I go for. 1176 Rev A, D or even the V-Comp

Opto. Or better yet, Opto + A.

Only have the budget for one unfortunately, the other money was spent on a Soyuz 017 fet mic! Interesting, Opto was my first choice but I scratched it thinking the 1176 would be more suitable. But I guess if its for vocals only, the Opto makes sense. Thanks for your reply!

I'd go for the 1176 (rev D or A)
You can compress a lot without it sounding held down and it can give you that upfront sense of urgency. But that's based on my musical taste.

Before you buy the hardware, try plugin versions and see which one sits better for you. Any 1176 and LA2A plugin will do. Then there's no guessing

My mind goes to 1176 first for synth pop. But it really comes down to the dynamics of the singer and whether you want something that’s smoother or something that is more up front.

Actually is interesting you said that because the 1176 plugin always works well on my vocals but for some reason I never like the LA2A plugin on my voice. I assumed the hardware would be better but anyways the 1176 is indeed the safer choice and I already made it, just made the purchase. Thanks for your input!

I just made the purchase on a 1176 Rev A. Thank you for your input!

Next on my list. For my first one, I was going for versatility so I went with the 76F, actually. But yeah... 76A in my future.

Don't assume hardware is better per se. I love hybrid mixing, but mostly for the uniqueness factor. A lot depends on correct gainstaging and the quality of your conversion as well.
For example, on a lot singers, I tend to prefer the UAD gray plugin over the UA Teletronix reissues we have, and we do have great conversion. When I reviewed the Audioscape 1176 range and played the audio files blind to my friends and colleagues, no one could reliably tell what was HW and what was plugin. All just colors in the toolbox.

To me, there are times where I prefer hardware, even if the sound might be the same or similar. I find that I'm able to dial in decent results more quickly using hardware, and I find the experience of interacting with hardware more enjoyable as well.

One thing to perhaps keep in mind, the 1176 is aggressive, and you could potentially end up with overly compressed vocals or even simply the wrong release factor that you can't retreat from. If you know what you're looking for and know how to dial it in, then sure it's a great vocal compressor. More often so I will reach for opto's when tracking because they tend to be a bit more forgiving. I often find myself tracking through a TT CL1B or the Manley ELOP+ and then when mixing run through my 1176 and often in parallel where I can get it dialed in just right for the record.

For what it's worth, I thought both the Audioscape D and Opto comp were excellent, especially for the money. The V-comp was fun for mixing, wouldn't track vocals through it per se unless I'm looking for that sound.

I have an Audioscape 76F and a G BussComp. I bought a Warm WA-2A before I knew about Audioscape. I have thought on occasion about selling the Warm unit and upgrading to the Audioscape Opto, but honestly I've found that for me at this point the WA-2A is good enough. I'd rather have the Opto, but just doesn't make economic sense for me to take a beating selling the Warm.

I do like the fact that the Warm is only 2 rack spaces high. I know the Audioscape unit is 3 spaces and I think I read somewhere Chris explain why that is, and it sounded like a good reason.

If you're happy with the results of the WA gear then you're good to go. It's certainly possible that you might like the Audioscape better when A/Bing. Either way you're in good shape.

Well, basically let's put it this way: I don't know what I missing and probably better off that way.

Right now my racks are a little crowded so the 2U height works for me and the results are "good enough" AFAIC. Plus, as I said, I wouldn't get much for resale and would have to come up with a bunch more for the Audioscape Opto. I have to prioritize.

The only other piece of Warm gear that interests me is their C-12 mic clone. Got a chance to listen to it at NAMM, and it sounded pretty decent for the price.

They’ll probably sound different. Which is better or worse will be wildly subjective. If you like the results you’re getting now, I wouldn’t tail-chase with What Ifs.

If you get the chance, give a KT2A a shot. I know that's blasphemy on an Audioscape thread, but I like mine, and it was cheap. Someday I'll get the Audioscape 2A, but their stuff takes up serious real estate. It isn't a money thing.

I want a second EQP, but I really have to think that over, as two of them eats an entire one of my racks. 3u for the 2A.

My workflow gets better the smaller my footprint is.

If you like the opto action but want a little more aggressiveness you can always go for Audioscape's 3A variations. Love the 3a and 2a styles both, as well as vari-mu.

I disagree about using just any plugin, the attack & release characteristics vary massively between plugins, and that's what defines both those compressors, so if the plugin doesn't get it right , you could choose the wrong device. Its very important with LA2a's because of the dual stage release, 50% fast then 50% slow, a lot of plugins don't do this, & 1176's have adaptive release. I've tested or own everyone available, some of the best are Softubes FET II & Opto, UVI Opal is the best LA2a Ive heard. For hardware 1st choice is Bluestripe 1176 because of the vocal enhancing tone it provides, or an LA3a for the same, which is preferred by some engineers for vocals such as Bob Clearmountan but also great on bass, guitars & even drums.

Anyone got any CL20 comps yet and something to listen to? Waiting for my pair, GASing out....

Came here to ask this same question. Who are all the lucky bastards that have gotten these CL-20's and what are people thinking about them?

I just stopped by here to say that the D Comp kicks ass. It can be very subtle to dirty. The other day I was mixing a track and had most of my comps already engaged that I would normally use to track acoustic guitar … I wanted to re-record the acoustic guitar so I ran a stereo mic pair into 2 coil pre amps, shaved off a db at 3k, HPF at 80 hz or so… into the D Comp then into the DAW… in the mix just a touch of Soothe, a touch of corrective eq, and reverb and it sits wonderfully in the intro which is just acoustic guitar and vocals. For the rest of the song I just used one of the stereo tracks panned wide and then back to Stereo for the 2nd intro . With Diode bridge you think of adding grit to drums, bass, etc… but the D Comp worked so well on the acoustic guitar just bouncing the needle 1-2 db gain reduction. My point is that with great hardware, a great sound can be dialed in quite easily with much less processing than with plugins. At least that’s my experiences

Still waiting for mine 😪

Ordered two of the wine colored 500 series V3a’s.
Excited.

Me waiting for the Faircomp:

I saw stam is adding digital recall to their buss comp, any chance digital recall might be in the audio scape future? I would buy way more stuff if possible.. right now I have my la3a set at 6 gain 6 reduction and don’t change it, using it as a buss comp for synths, or guitars depending on the song. Love what it does. It’s in every mix. I am always doing recalls and mixing various clients who take weeks and come in so I’ve gravitated to the Wes audio for recall, but if you guys can add it I’d love to get way more flavors and options. Seems like this is the future, for me anyway… or is this sacrilege when your goal is near exact replicas of old vintage, I really have zero idea how hard this stuff is to implement

We had one last mechanical change required to case design from switching from rotary controls from input and ac threshold, to stepped pots. First case run ordered, getting closer indeed!

Never say never! We'll just say, anything people request often we always have in dev. It's always a revolving door of new designs in development (10-15 things at once) We just never want to let the cat out of the bag too early announcement wise, that puts pressure to release a product early, and then there may be issues with the first run, etc. We really take our time to make sure everything is rock solid before announcing it to the world and come out with proper proof of concept photos, videos etc. We never want to rush to be the first to do something, just the first to do it right.

To answer your question on recall, it truly depends on the product. Something like a complex mastering eq or a buss comp with a lot of features, it makes complete sense for this feature. But for something like an LA-2A design, it likely isn't necessary. Cheers!