La-2a, 1176

S

sbcgroup2

New member
Bulls Hit said:
I generally EQ & compress the doubled snare track, usually with the 1176.

Sometime I double the drum submix and compress with LA2A for additional volume
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I sent you a PM email on this question...just repeating it for any one else to reply... I am looking at the 2-1176 and the 2-LA2 compressors and want to make a purchase soon. I have read that the LA2A is more application specific and that you wouldn't want to use it on too many tracks because it could ruin (or exremely color) your mix way too much. Is this true? Would the new 2-LA2 solve this problem because it has a "fast" attack switch?

My preamps are API 512c's...not sure if that would interact much better with one than the other, etc.

Thanks!
 
if you ask me, all compressors(along with mics and preamps, at that) are to be considered "application specific"

now to be less vague...you're right in thinking that the LA-2A probably isn't the best thing to throw across a huge # of tracks - while optical compressors rule on some stuff, they have characteristics that i wouldn't want on certain things
 
Hmmmm... the Pendulum Audio "OCL-2" is an optical attenuator based compressor that you can easily use over every track in your song without a struggle... so while the LA-2A "reissue" may be a bit "wooly" for that kind of a task, it can be done.

Decisions like this are always going to be a matter of working style and personal taste. There are probably on the order of 20 channels of pretty high end compression in my room with few of them being great for everything, but all are basically useable at all times.

I won't comment on the 2-1176 or the LA-2A's because I'm not a fan of either unit... but I know they've sold a ton of them and there are a whole bunch of satisfied customers in this world... which could either mean that those units suit their sense of aesthetic or that they don't have a whole lot of experience with other units [neither here nor there... I'm just saying I'm not a fan, YMMV].
 
sbcgroup2 said:
I have read that the LA2A is more application specific and that you wouldn't want to use it on too many tracks because it could ruin (or exremely color) your mix way too much. Is this true?


Thanks!
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Well you have to understand that anything you put your signal through is going to have an affect on your signal.

Granted, some companies go to extreme lengths to ensure total and complete transparency. Then with a corporate price tag.

You can't possibly hope to pass a signal through a piece of gear, meaning the signal has to be processed through things like op amps, capacitors, resistors, passive components, active components, etc without some kind of change.

The way that gear interfaces is one thing, but what it's made of is a completely different story. I mean, think of a valve compressor? A valve mic?

I personally think the LA-2A and 1176 are great pieces of gear to have at specific moments. No carpenter builds a house with one hammer. It's just a tool of many.

Just like your API preamps, the LA-2A and 1176 have there own sonic characters. Perhaps not alot of it (for the sake of keeping transparency), but enough to feel a difference and have enough people return to them on future projects.

It's a taste thing. It's a time proven thing. But it's mostly a personal thing.

So I personally don't favor the idea of using the LA-2A and/or 1176 all over a mix for the above mentioned reasons.
 
I have both the LA2A and the 1176LN (not the reissues) and they are both definite flavors. I love what the 76 does...the LA is cool on some things. Neither are what I would call clean or uncolored..that said, the 76 just sounds like pop and rock to me. Vox, guitars, snare all seem to get a vibe from it that I haven't found in another box. That is just my opinion and there are tons of other boxes that some people like much better..My thought is try some different one's out until you find the vibe YOU like :)

Ray
 
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