Universal Audio 1176LN Leveling Amplifier

In a recent mixing session I had a vocal track recorded through a Shure green bullet mic live. Inherently, the mic had a great over-driven sound but also picked up a lot of ambient drums and guitar. I used UA's 1176LN to compress the track. I used a 12:1 ratio and right away could hear the vocals more in the foreground of the track and substantially decreased the ambient noise. Just what I wanted. The compression was very smooth and didn't really suck the tone out. I highly recommend this unit for bringing up weak or over-driven signals to tape or in the mix.

reviewed by Matt Puryear.

Unit available for Rent or Sale at Rock n Roll Rentals

Summit DCL-200. Reviewed by Ali Ramzanali

Summit Audio, a company that stands by its name by being the 'peak' in its class. I had a chance use the DCL-200 while mastering Ethan Kennedy's upcoming album "Raucous." The DCL-200 is a refined piece of gear, and it shows; every knob is calibrated to a near-perfect linearity, the build is rugged, the VU's are highly sensitive, and even the switches reflect the integrity of this compressor. After about 15 minutes, the 12AX7A tubes warm up to a blissful level of amplification- I would suggest running any clean signal through this machine with the compressor bypassed. The 'slope' represents the ratio of the compression - ranging from 1:1 (0) to 7:1 (10). Side chain capabilities make it easy to hook up to an EQ to de-ess vocals - if that's what you need. The DCL-200 is a must-have in any studio. Rent it today and hear for yourself. $75 a week, $150 a month, or sale price $3339.99.