pro art Vla II compressor

R

RobbieD

New member
hey guys is this a good compressor?? ive read some info on it and people say it has a nice tone to it, how does it change the tone in wat way??
 
I have two Pro VLA comps (not VLA II). I bought one new back in the mid-90s...and picked up another just a month ago, great deal on eBay --- $110, but it only cost my like $20, the rest was eBay cash. :)

Anyway...I use the VLA on a lot of different things when tracking. There are all kinds of great comps, and I have several others too, but these certainly are not bad for how inexpensive they are. It's very straightforward, not much to fuss with.

How does it change the tone...well, it's not an EQ, but it does adjust the dynamics and can add a touch of beef to the sound...though you can push it harder and put some hair on things.
 
wow, really?

thick/fat isn't clear?

ok, so thick/fat = more midbass.

thin/skinny = less midbass.

hair = subtle distortion on the transients (sometimes a good thing).
 
Yup... sometime a little hair is a good thing... neatly trimmed mind you...

Don... Don... Don... it was a joke man... I was trying to get someone to say "warm"... or maybe even "tube"

And here I thought our relations, had relations... at Woodstock
 
MOFO Pro said:
Yup... sometime a little hair is a good thing... neatly trimmed mind you...

Don... Don... Don... it was a joke man... I was trying to get someone to say "warm"... or maybe even "tube"

And here I thought our relations, had relations... at Woodstock
Click to expand...

LoL damnit

missed that completely - joke went right over my head

sorry dude for being slow LoL

edit: must've been that special ... herb
 
NP Don,

Sometime's my humor's so dry, I don't even know whether I'm trying to be funny or not... at least I think...
 
ART is one of those companies that does everything pretty okay, a good value for the money. I had a Pro VLA as well, they're okay, more of a mix down leveling amp than a tracking one, it's really okay at everything, not great at anything. I blew through a ton of low dollar compressors and limiters before I heard what a great one could do. I really suggest investing in something like a Drip Electronics LA-2A. You'd have something that you'd never sell, and if you know how to solder, it would only be a couple hundred more than the ART.
 
I was checking out the Drip Electronics website...but it's a bit confusing. DO they just sell the main PCBs...and then you have to find all the other necessary parts to build....or do they sell complete kits, and you just build?

If they have complete kits (I really have no desire to scrounge for parts)...that Fairchild 670 is awful tempting!!! :cool:
 
miroslav said:
I was checking out the Drip Electronics website...but it's a bit confusing. DO they just sell the main PCBs...and then you have to find all the other necessary parts to build....or do they sell complete kits, and you just build?

If they have complete kits (I really have no desire to scrounge for parts)...that Fairchild 670 is awful tempting!!! :cool:
Click to expand...

No kits, but they provide you a bill of sale though showing you where to get those parts. It's a sticky subject because they're selling them as "art" so they won't sell the parts with it. Very bizarre. The way I look at it is that for a lot of us, it's the only chance we would get to affording an LA-2a, Fairchild or Pultec so the pain in the ass factor is worth it.
 
So you're paying $400 for just the PCB... what's your total cost after parts (i can't believe those transformers are cheap).

And it sounds as thought they're selling "art" to get around the fact that they're stealing designs, and it's illegal. Something Behringer gets hammered for all the time on this forum.
 
Their contact info is just an email...I tend to be wary of businesses that work that way.
How do you deal with build issues, since most of the other parts are up to you to spec/acquire (a PITA IMO), and where can you send it for repair (yeah, they say that any reputable audio repair can fix it), but by the time you buy all the other parts yourself, it's going to get pricey, especially for the Fairchild build...so I'm not too keen on taking a chance on a possible $3000 doorstop. :D
 
I've had one for about 2 years and I think its totally badass. I use it for parallel comp on drums and its awesome. I'm pretty sure at this point I've used it on everything (Bass, guitar, drums, vox, keys, strings, horns, etc.) and have never said "oh god this is not working for this" which is something i've said about most of my other pieces of rack gear at one point or another. I've heard it referred to as the poor mans LA-4.

Get one.
 
I can only speak from my own experiences, but I ordered the opto compressor, and the pcb was about $125 at the time, and when all parts including the box, transformers, knobs, and tubes were tallied it was about $600. I had some resistors open up at some point in the power supply and I dealt with the guy through email and eventually I took it to the tech who I take everything to (no surface mount components, single-sided PCB, so it is a pretty straight forward repair), and since the schematic and build were detailed. I know somebody who did the Fairchild, $3k was about what it cost him, he likes it though. I'm just throwing it out there as an option and I would definitely build something again (the Pultec and the Redd 47 are on my list).
 
So again...how much work was it to gather all the needed parts besides the PCB?

I know of several electronics suppliers...but I hate wingin' it and just getting any old generic parts.
Some guys like to "refine" the original design and choose other parts/specs besides the ones called for...but time is precious, and I have no desire to play with the specs or scrounge for parts, especially if it was going to be one of the more expensive builds.
 
I didn't see you had asked that. It was actually pretty easy, at least with this build. With the Fairchild, I have no idea. An LA-2A is much less of a complex circuit. I think I had to do two separate orders, one for the transformers from Sowter and one for all of the small stuff, so it wasn't too bad.
 
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