Hey guys! I’m currently trying to streamline my setup from multiple preamps and compressors to a single compressor and preamp (golden channel). I’ve already settled on selling my VP28s for a Neve 1073 with EQ, however I’m wondering what I should do as for a tracking compressor. I currently have a BLA Bluey and a JLM LA500a. Whilst I absolutely LOVE both of these units, I feel as if a distressor could most probably do a pretty good job of what both of these units do.
What is your opinion? I’m not looking at any other compressors as I’m looking at a single compressor that does lots, and the distressor is one of the only ones!
Let me know if I should stick with the two I have or sell them off for the one!

I use a Distressor for tracking. Love it. Very versatile.

Distressor is on a kabillion albums so you really can't go wrong with it. Super versatile too, can blow shit up or do a more gentle opto/LA2A thing, with saturation to taste with the distortion settings.

Awesome! Anything in particular or just on everything? I’m looking for acoustic, vocal, bass and percussion and I’m guessing it can do all!

And I’m assuming I can use the distortion circuits without actually compressing too??

I'd rather have the Bluey than the Distressor. It may emulate an 1176 and LA-2A, but still doesn't sound as good as either of those units, IMO.

I own 2 Distressors, so no bias against them...but If I had to choose between them and my 1176s, that is an easy decision (keeping the 1176s).

Fully agree here. Distressors are awesome I own two but there's no replacement for a 1176. I'll never be without one.

I sold my distressor a few months ago. It sounded too plastic/artificial to me and didn´t bring anything to the party which has not already been covered by my other compressors. Not that it´s a bad piece of gear. I simply have so much top notch stuff that I don´t need a swiss army knife which does all the jobs only 90% good.

My JLM LA500s see a lot more work than the distressor ever did.

Works great for tracking especially if you don’t overdo it. Stay in the lower ratios, slower attacks, not too deep reduction. I like the distortions, it’s amazing especially on electric guitars, synths and snares.

The circuit itself is a hot rodded 1178, in mono. So, for sure comparable to a 1176.


I find a distressor to be generally “better” than a real 1176, because 1176 can have a way of sapping up the low end, whereas a distressor can basically pass the full bandwidth through without lopping it off.

Personally, for tracking I usually prefer something with autorelease/fixed release, like LA3A style. I don’t want to get anything pumpy while tracking. Nathan makes a good point about settings.

Yeah gotcha! That’s fair enough then. My LA500a gets a lot more use as a typical tracking compressor over my 1176, maybe I should patch it in a bit more.

I do love my Bluey… I just used to use it more when I’d mix with hardware, now that I’ve gotten rid of my mixing hardware and am building more of a tracking chain it doesn’t get used as much- I should patch it in a bit more than I am really!

The LA500a are so good aren’t they… so transparent! I guess since I don’t have heaps of top notch stuff that’s why I was thinking of grabbing the one Distressor as my go to thing every time.

Thanks Nathan! Definitely part of the reason I wanted to grab the distressor was just the distortion circuits.

Totally agree with you there- I guess that’s why my LA500a gets more use than my 1176, it’s much easier to use and more forgiving!

Nope.
A Distressor sounds and does what a Distressor does...both good or bad depending if you like/dislike those aspects.

It does not sound like an La2a, La3a,1176 or DBX 160/165 no matter what you read online.

I was unfamiliar with this LA500a until now. Looks cool. I use LA3A clones for tracking compression most of the time.

By the way, this is some reference on the distressor topology, regarding my description of it being a modded up 1176/1178 basically: https://groupdiy.com/threads/distressor-vs-1176.117/ …provided so that people can just read facts instead of quote me and argue :-)

Love mine too

TyI've used those before they sound really good but for tracking nothing can beat 1176 for tracking to me except MAYBE my buzz audio soc 1.1. Good old transparent opto love. Id legally marry it if that was any way possible.

I'm still amazed how they got that unit to sound like it has tubes in it.

Neither of your current units are authentic or original anymore than a Distressor would be. If you want the Derr distortion magic, you simply need to test the unit, to see if it meets your taste.

Cool thanks man; for me it’s not really about if it sounds like any of those but more or less do what the two I have do. The LA500a is super transparent and is great for vocals which is what I’d need the Distressor to do, and then I use the FET for more aggressive compression and colour which I sorta know it can do!

Yeah man they’re such great compressors, can’t go wrong with them!

Awesome- next vocal sesh I might punch in the 1176 and see what I come up with!

It’s not really about being authentic in sound or what not, they’re just tools for a job… I want to be able to do transparent kinda compression and then I want to do more aggressive stuff. If it can do that then I’m sold! The distortion modes it has are an extra for sure

I own a Jim Williams modified Distressor and while much more transparent and open compared to the original, it still has the "Distressor" tone which you either like or it sounds like running the audio through plastic.lol

The original Distressor has been said at times to sound like a compressor with a "head cold". Nasally and pinched, which is why its a great snare compressor, but on vocals can be either or.

Lastly the Distortion modes while great in theory, don't really sound like any traditional Distortion per say.

Not tube, tape or through a GTR Amp. To me its always been a hit or miss type of thing. The Distressor biggest plus is as a dynamic envelope shaping tool and while again cool in theory, doesn't mean anything if you are after a specific tonality from your compressor.

Distressor is fine for tracking . Just tweak the dials to suit the material. You can get better results if you can mix a bit of dry signal in there and set it up as parallel compression.
I like using the filters on the side chain for vocals.

Is this true? I’ve seen a ton of discussions about the circuit and never had anyone actually reference the circuit it’s aping. This seems like a deeper revelation than others have claimed (1176 claims).

Awesome, thanks for the information. Maybe it’s best to stick with what I have and then for distortion grab one of the DIYRE colour boxes or something? I guess the bluey also can do parallel compression built into it which is awesome. Thanks man!

Maybe, but the best thing to do is try one out with your music in a studio and decide that way. It might just be what you are hoping for and it might not be. The only way to really know is to try one out and see.

Yeah, you can read through the groupdiy thread I linked in the next post I made in this thread, for more details. It’s more like the later silverface era 1176 or an 1178 in implementation than the earlier 1176s. Dave Derr is such a clever guy, and wrapped the whole front end control setup onto it of course…far beyond what a lot of designers are capable of.