ART pro VLA ll

[RFR]

I've been playing around with this for some time and must say pretty damn good. Others say pretty good for the money, as a qualifier leading people to believe its just good because it's cheap.

I'll just say it's pretty good. There are better comps for sure, and there are certainly worse comps.

One thing that surprised me was that I could also use it on the stereo mixdown buss. It is quiet enough and transparent enough for that purpose. Just a very light compression though, never going above a 2 to1 ratio.

Usually I'll use an Aphex Compellor for that because it IS so transparent, but the ART did just fine.

My only complaint is the stereo linking. When you bypass, you have to bypass both channels. You would think if ch 1 becomes the master controls when linked, then you'd only have to push one bypass button.

Oh well.
Those are some of my observations.

 

[Robus]

I hear you. It's one of the most all around useful pieces of gear I own.

 

[RFR]

What do use it for the most. Any preferences?

Have you noticed the bypass issue I was talking about?

Do you use it stereo, dual mono, or single channel mostly?

 

[Robus]

I nearly always use it in mono. The only time I link the two channels is when running audio from my keyboard into my DAW. I'm using it in tracking vocals, guitars, bass. It adds a nice fatness without compressing too much. It's definitely not transparent, but it sounds good. I'm a little skeptical of the bypass buttons generally. I think I still hear some tone change even when bypass is engaged.

 

[Farview]

Yes, you have to bypass both sides. It was that way on the original version too.

 

[Tadpui]

I wasn't too enamored with the Pro VLA II in stereo mode on a drum bus. Maybe I was expecting too much out of it as far as gain reduction. But I use the heck out of it in mono mode. 1 side is always doing vocal duty, while the other side usually handles bass guitar. It can do some pretty serious squashing without being too pumpy.

 

[miroslav]

I agree...it's not what I would reach for first for stereo bus use from my racked comp choices.
Also, I have two of the ORIGINAL original VLA's which don't have the Attack/Release knobs...just a couple of presets Fast/Auto. (the next generation of the VLAs had Fast/Slow...not sure if the Slow option was the same as the original Auto choice).
So without being able to really dial in the Attack/Release, I never bothered with them on the stereo buss, but even so, even with the newest versions, their circuitry and overall operation is similar, and I just liked them mostly for single-channel use on guitars and the other odd use.
Not saying they can't be used on anything and for anything, just saying that I personally liked what they did to fatten up guitars. I've used them on a lot of guitar tracks....though lately I've sorta gotten away from using anything during tracking, and I don't use a lot of compression in general anymore...not when tracking or mixing. It's all here-n-there, or to maybe alter the character of the sound, but rarely for the compression properties...I mean, I don't use them to control peaks and levels all that much.

Anyway...the Pro VLA comps are great for their price, and they can sit alongside some of the better hardware comps and still have a purpose.

 

[RFR]

I generally dont like ANY compression on my master buss. I'll throw on my Aphex Compellor to tame transients, and that fucking thing us transparent.

Recently I had some stuff mastered, and while I liked it, it brought up the verb in the mix. I went , "damn! My original mix didnt have that much reverb!"

So, I played around a bit with the VLA. Wanted to see what it did to the verbs, and such.

Sparingly used the verb didnt come up, and the mix fattened up a bit. Also the overall tone got a slight bit darker or richer. Anyway I liked it.