Cheapest Tube Compressor on Amazon

Cheapest Tube Compressor on Amazon
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I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
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[Eventual]

My ART X-15 foot switch has been in use for 30 years. I called them up asking for a power cable for it and they sent it free of charge, 25 years after buying it. It was then that I knew ART was one of the great companies serving the music community. Of course we all grew up on ART multi effects and learned MIDI from them. Here's to many more!

[LouisLinggandtheBombs]

Compressing on the way in while recording is definitely the way to go. Performance is everything! When bands hear something that sounds like a record in their headphones, they get inspired.

[DaveFore_AudioEngineering]

I use this across the output of my TV out going to the receiver. It's great for leveling dynamic material like movies and obnoxious commercials from the local cable company.

[cybermexi-]

You know a series of "cheapest version of normally expensive gear" would be pretty interesting

[xNARCx]

Picked it up for $200 new on amazon!
Pro Tip: Keep your eyes on something for a while if it isn't an urgent purchase.
Price went back up to $350 the next day.

[GeekTherapyRadio]

I bought this a few years back. When I ordered it, I also ordered a pair of Mullards thinking I would no doubt have to upgrade the tubes to squeeze a bit more out of the unit.


That was 2012. I still haven't put the Mullards in. Haven't needed to. This compressor is truly exceptional for the price. Hell, it's exceptional at two or three times the price. It is extremely transparent and compliments damn near any source you pass through it.


I think a lot of people buy the ART because it's cheap and wind up keeping it even when they eventually add the 1176, etc next to it.

[mattsmith]

I've wanted one of those for years. I instead settled for the ART Project Series Tube MP/C. Not nearly the same types of controls but it gets the job done for less than a C note.

[skylarcarlson]

I love the idea of the cheapest studio gear. Something that everyone will appreciate. There is a lot of good budget gear out there.

[TheCatoLee]

3:00 Dry vocal test. Female vox. no comp
3:24 Compressed VLA 4:1 ratio
3:52 Compressed VLA 4:1 ratio
4:14 Stacked vocals compressed 4:1
4:48 bassguitar Control/ raw
5:59 Bassguitar w/Comp
5:36 Drumit raw/uncompressed
5:46 Drums Comp 20:1 fastest attack & release, roommics (nice blending in)
6:34 Mixbus guitar and female vok
7:29 Snaredrum raw, then copmressed

[borndrumming]

I have owned its preamp counterpart for years now. I love the MPA II. i installed some Dr.J ax12s in mine. The best part about it is the ability the impedance match your mic on the way in. Then the balanced line out the back brings the best sound the mic can have with out impedance issues. I am gonna definitely get one of these now. Thanks Glenn!

[mattcrackswise]

I've been using one of these, paired with the MPA II, on room/ambient mics for a while now. Especially with my ribbons (the MPA's variable impedance really comes in handy), I can really boost the gain on the pre and then squash with the VLA for maximum ambient resonance.

[RoseCoraPerry]

Truly an honour to work with you in your studio Glenn. Hope to do it again sometime :)

[adamlee]

Dude, I've been using large format art splitters, direct boxes, and recently added a headphone amp to the studio and I'm consistently impressed by the quality and price. Was just looking at the compressors a few weeks ago.

[asleep]

I was part of a test for the original Pro VLA before it was released to the public. Was doing a live performance and advised the sound engineers that they were going to get a very hot and properly compressed signal (and that they should not run their compressors for the show). They left them on and I shut down a 10KW sound system twice during the performance. The one we used was a Pre-production unit that ART GAVE the writer (my good friend)...Pro VLA is one of the best tube compressors I've ever used to this day in a studio.

[dalenfreeman]

That metallica esk bit at the end sounded great!

[ikweetvannixx]

I’ve been using a bunch of cheap ART active DI’s for more than ten years now, and they’ve been rock solid trough all the abuse... never thought they’d last more than a year :)

[aguitarmaker]

Man, I have one of those ART Channel strips. I run the tube preamp in the yellow all the time and knock off 4 to 6db with the compressor in optical mode. The EQ section is fine, but usually I just bypass it and EQ in the box.

[frankardos]

had one of those for 10 years and it STILL works great and STILL sounds awesome. No joke those comps. plus stereo bridge function with all the clean headroom for boosting whatever you want. TRS and XLR not to dig!!! Cool review bro.

[espenstoro]

Nothing wrong with a cheap compressor if you use it for what it's good at. Sounds pretty neat to me.

[FunkAndFluff]

Another unit worth trying if you haven't already is the Art Pro MPA 2 dual tube preamp. I really enjoyed using it when I did to record electric guitar, bass and drums. The impedance control is your friend, to the degree that it makes for a great DI bass tone-shaper. The only downside is that you don't want to use it on quiet sources because it can get a bit noisy when cranked. I tried it out on room mics and regretted it, which is why you want to use it with loud sources and/or Cloudlifters. Great review as usual, Glenn.