After auditioning this awesome new piece of gear through Vintage King, I’ve officially expanded my rack to include the new compressor from Dangerous Music. This is my third VCA compressor, complementing my existing Neve Master Bus Processor and The Dramastic Audio Obsidian, and allows me to have a great range of sonic options that cover all my bases. What sold me on this compressor is just how transparent it is which is due to the DC coupled transformer-less design and mastering grade components. You can add huge amounts of gain reduction and not hear any impact on the clarity of the mix (not that I recommend large amounts of gain reduction). I’m still experimenting with using this on records, but I am really enjoying having the flexibility to A/B between the Neve and Dangerous to determine what flavor I want, and really fine tune the tone.
The Dangerous unit won out on one of m
y more recent projects: a soon-to-be-released E.P. from the thrash/ska/punk/soul group MeanMugg. While I was mastering this record, I really noticed how good this compressor is at keeping the center image from suffering. It is designed with two detectors that trigger compression independently from the left and right channels so you don’t have any problem with stereo image drifting. At first, I was a bit apprehensive that it didn’t have stepped controls. In mastering you want to have the left and right channels detented for precise stereo matching and also be able to recall settings at a later date. However, this wasn’t a problem because in stereo mode the left channel of the compressor becomes the master channel. And for recalls I use the downloadable PDF recall sheet from dangerous and can easily log my settings. Compared to the Neve, this unit retained all the top end information and kept it clear and quick, just the way I wanted.
I’m pretty excited to keep integrating this compressor into my workflow, and to experiment with it on new projects. Dangerous Music makes rock solid stuff–I also use their summing box the 2 buss Lt for stem mastering, the Liaison to help integrate all of my outboard proccesors, and the BAX EQ in my studio. I definitely recommend their gear if you’re looking to improve your own setup.