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Post by cowboycoalminer on Feb 2, 2018 12:54:48 GMT -6
I've always been crazy about the SSL sound. I had a 4k for awhile and missed it terribly. I decided to pull the trigger on one of these after stumbling onto it through a search. The build is rock solid and the sound is excellent. Couldn't be more pleased with a purchase. Great communication and fast delivery. I highly recommend it for a true stereo buss comp. After I bought mine, I found out that littlesicily has one too. Curious to get his take on it. www.audio-scape.com/product-p/audio-scape-buss-compressor.htm
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Post by littlesicily on Feb 2, 2018 13:41:00 GMT -6
I've always been crazy about the SSL sound. I had a 4k for awhile and missed it terribly. I decided to pull the trigger on one of these after stumbling onto it through a search. The build is rock solid and the sound is excellent. Couldn't be more pleased with a purchase. Great communication and fast delivery. I highly recommend it for a true stereo buss comp. After I bought mine, I found out that littlesicily has one too. Curious to get his take on it. www.audio-scape.com/product-p/audio-scape-buss-compressor.htmYes, I love mine as well. I looked at the STAM but preferred some of the build features with the A.S. and buying in the US felt better to me.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Feb 2, 2018 15:14:02 GMT -6
I feel the same way, Sal. It's a killer deal on this much compressor.
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Post by nick8801 on Feb 2, 2018 15:18:09 GMT -6
He builds a nice la2a clone I have my eyes on as well!
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Feb 2, 2018 15:20:57 GMT -6
He builds a nice la2a clone I have my eyes on as well! I noticed that too, Nick. It sounds killer on the examples on his site, and again, from reading the manifest of parts, kicks butt on a lot of Chinese built units. This guy might be the real deal.
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Post by drbill on Feb 2, 2018 16:42:47 GMT -6
I really like my Audio-Scape GSSL as well. I tend to go back and forth between that and the Serpent. Both are great. The GSSL is cheaper. I considered the Stam and passed as well. It's not that more after shipping charges, and I like to buy USA if possible. That and it was a matter of a couple of days and I had it - not months. PLUS, when mine did come, it came bent up - and I had a new one in a couple of days. Great "no questions asked" customer service. From Audio-Scape that is, not from UPS. LOL
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Post by rob61 on Feb 2, 2018 17:08:01 GMT -6
I really like my Audio-Scape GSSL as well. I tend to go back and forth between that and the Serpent. Both are great. The GSSL is cheaper. I considered the Stam and passed as well. It's not that more after shipping charges, and I like to buy USA if possible. That and it was a matter of a couple of days and I had it - not months. PLUS, when mine did come, it came bent up - and I had a new one in a couple of days. Great "no questions asked" customer service. From Audio-Scape that is, not from UPS. LOL I have the Serpent and dig it. What is the difference with the Audio-Scape?
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Post by indiehouse on Feb 2, 2018 17:32:32 GMT -6
I really like my Audio-Scape GSSL as well. I tend to go back and forth between that and the Serpent. Both are great. The GSSL is cheaper. I considered the Stam and passed as well. It's not that more after shipping charges, and I like to buy USA if possible. That and it was a matter of a couple of days and I had it - not months. PLUS, when mine did come, it came bent up - and I had a new one in a couple of days. Great "no questions asked" customer service. From Audio-Scape that is, not from UPS. LOL I have the Serpent and dig it. What is the difference with the Audio-Scape? I imagine very little. More features on the Serpent. I have the Serpent SB4001 and had then Stam. The Serpent seemed to have more headroom. The Stam got dirtier quicker.
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Post by drbill on Feb 2, 2018 20:03:05 GMT -6
I really like my Audio-Scape GSSL as well. I tend to go back and forth between that and the Serpent. Both are great. The GSSL is cheaper. I considered the Stam and passed as well. It's not that more after shipping charges, and I like to buy USA if possible. That and it was a matter of a couple of days and I had it - not months. PLUS, when mine did come, it came bent up - and I had a new one in a couple of days. Great "no questions asked" customer service. From Audio-Scape that is, not from UPS. LOL I have the Serpent and dig it. What is the difference with the Audio-Scape? I'd say the A-S is a little cleaner, a little wider perhaps?? Kind of splitting hairs, but it may have more headroom.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Feb 3, 2018 6:36:04 GMT -6
I agree will dr Bill. It sounds polished and wide, cleaner maybe. It doesn’t alter the sound of a mix, just reigns the middle in and squeezes the sides out. Tucks the bass and vocals in etc. That’s the signature SSL sound. I had a Stam for awhile myself but never could get satisfied. Something I couldn’t put a finger on bothered me about the sound.
And as has been mentioned above, fantastic customer service. That’s a big deal for me.
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Post by jdc on Feb 3, 2018 8:15:23 GMT -6
well this looks promising
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Post by mikec on Feb 3, 2018 8:27:30 GMT -6
This might be just what I need for the insert on my Silver Bullet.
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Post by joseph on Feb 3, 2018 10:24:41 GMT -6
I wonder if he would do a custom dbx VCA version rather than That or whatever he's using, or even transformers on the output.
I have a turbo-mod GSSL with goldcans and it's definitely grimier sounding. Although the ratio calibration is different and it's not perfect on mine, it does the 30-10ms attack 100ms or auto release thing perfectly.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Feb 3, 2018 11:05:50 GMT -6
I wonder if he would do a custom dbx VCA version rather than That or whatever he's using, or even transformers on the output. I have a turbo-mod GSSL with goldcans and it's definitely grimier sounding. Although the ratio calibration is different and it's not perfect on mine, it does the 30-10ms attack 100ms or auto release thing perfectly. I have an RJR with Lundahls and I think DBX VCA's. Might be worth looking into if you're in the market. Mine is the second to last here... www.regularjohnrecording.com/vca
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Post by stam on Feb 3, 2018 11:33:58 GMT -6
I agree will dr Bill. It sounds polished and wide, cleaner maybe. It doesn’t alter the sound of a mix, just reigns the middle in and squeezes the sides out. Tucks the bass and vocals in etc. That’s the signature SSL sound. I had a Stam for awhile myself but never could get satisfied. Something I couldn’t put a finger on bothered me about the sound. And as has been mentioned above, fantastic customer service. That’s a big deal for me. Really? Why did you not contact me, there was probably something wrong with your unit. Audio Scape makes great stuff, as far as components and schematics it is probably the same as the SA4000 MK2. There is not much room to do anything different, we all clone the same thing and it's a very simple thing to do.
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Post by indiehouse on Feb 3, 2018 12:27:55 GMT -6
I agree will dr Bill. It sounds polished and wide, cleaner maybe. It doesn’t alter the sound of a mix, just reigns the middle in and squeezes the sides out. Tucks the bass and vocals in etc. That’s the signature SSL sound. I had a Stam for awhile myself but never could get satisfied. Something I couldn’t put a finger on bothered me about the sound. And as has been mentioned above, fantastic customer service. That’s a big deal for me. Really? Why did you not contact me, there was probably something wrong with your unit. Audio Scape makes great stuff, as far as components and schematics it is probably the same as the SA4000 MK2. There is not much room to do anything different, we all clone the same thing and it's a very simple thing to do. What's the difference between MKI and MKII? Can I turn a MKI into a MKII?
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Post by stam on Feb 3, 2018 13:45:58 GMT -6
I will put together a kit very soon A lot of differences, more info soon, this is a thread about another product so I rather not disrupt it further
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 3, 2018 14:00:42 GMT -6
This circuit is probably the easiest to make sound great and the easiest to make sound horrible. The GSSL has a mono sidechain, the put the HPF in there, but the original SSL design doesn't need it, the L/R VCA's are what make that compressor glue and sound so transparent. I built my own version but included transformers on the inputs and some gain stage changes. It's kind of like a RED 3/SSL all in one, I love it. I also built a parallel 15k+ mix knob that lets you inject what is kind of like the Clairphonic back into the main output. Took a while and theres a few people that put ideas in my head to get to that point, but man I couldn't imagine not having that buss compressor. Even if it's not compressing it still makes the mix better. I'd seriously go full out Rocky Balboa if someone tried to take that from me.
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Post by joseph on Feb 3, 2018 14:30:00 GMT -6
This circuit is probably the easiest to make sound great and the easiest to make sound horrible. The GSSL has a mono sidechain, the put the HPF in there, but the original SSL design doesn't need it, the L/R VCA's are what make that compressor glue and sound so transparent. I built my own version but included transformers on the inputs and some gain stage changes. It's kind of like a RED 3/SSL all in one, I love it. I also built a parallel 15k+ mix knob that lets you inject what is kind of like the Clairphonic back into the main output. Took a while and theres a few people that put ideas in my head to get to that point, but man I couldn't imagine not having that buss compressor. Even if it's not compressing it still makes the mix better. I'd seriously go full out Rocky Balboa if someone tried to take that from me. Yep, to clarify it's the GSSL without turbo mod that has the mono sidechain. Your custom compressor sounds awesome.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Feb 3, 2018 17:53:45 GMT -6
What Jerome said. This A-S is a true stereo design, not summed mono. Sounds mint.
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 3, 2018 19:43:33 GMT -6
This compressor is a good one to have modded. It's basically a GSSL with the Turbo and a case. That's what I did, a GSSL, put the Turbo in it and then a mix knob that has an active summing circuit that I modified to create an airband. I put my own favorite input transformers in and modified the gain stage on the input because the transformers are actually a 2:1, so you get a little flavor, just a taste, but Lundahls don't really do anything like Neve or other Iron'ish trannies, they just make a really nice sound in their own way. Rigging them up so they are in a 2:1 allows you to push the front end a little harder. I did this because I have two of the DIYRE pultecs pushing into it, so when you feed that musical broad highend and lowend into the front of my compressor those trannies just do something really beautiful. Of course, because my signal takes a hit from the 2:1 I had to modify the feedback gain on the front end of the compressor amps, which I replaced all of them with the OPA16xx series of opamps (this is a massive upgrade in and of itself, you need soic to DIP boards**)
But, my main point is that this is a great inexpensive GSSL to buy and start customizing to fit your setup. I loved the RED3 because Sal sent me a mix that he'd put through his and I was going crazy wanting that compressor, but then I didn't like how if you pushed it any it clamped and choked, one of the main complaints of the RED3. The SSL you can really hammer and it stays wide open, but, it doesn't IMO take buss eq well, and that's because of the solid state front end. So I just sat down and figured out how to get the best of all my wants and my needs. This allows me to use less eq and compression in the tracks which makes my mixes more solid and less phasey.
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 3, 2018 21:15:07 GMT -6
Any possibility of a bom for your mod or no way !
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 3, 2018 21:44:34 GMT -6
LOL Nope..... Sowy
I kinda like having a one of a kind. But, I laid the blueprint, anyone can make their own version of my buss comp. Just be creative..... no rules..... So many possibilities out there with little independent circuits that can be wired into these babies.
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 4, 2018 13:23:02 GMT -6
Thx for the heads up here guys. Just ordered one .
I had been looking for another stereo comp. Although I have a Stam, I think I am a big ssl fan too, so another flavour of ssl will suit me fine!
I am very interested in stam’s Mkii diy kit, so this could work out well.
I’m with cowboy, impressed so far: Chris was very helpful and quick with his email communications!
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,817
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Post by ericn on Feb 5, 2018 9:50:39 GMT -6
This compressor is a good one to have modded. It's basically a GSSL with the Turbo and a case. That's what I did, a GSSL, put the Turbo in it and then a mix knob that has an active summing circuit that I modified to create an airband. I put my own favorite input transformers in and modified the gain stage on the input because the transformers are actually a 2:1, so you get a little flavor, just a taste, but Lundahls don't really do anything like Neve or other Iron'ish trannies, they just make a really nice sound in their own way. Rigging them up so they are in a 2:1 allows you to push the front end a little harder. I did this because I have two of the DIYRE pultecs pushing into it, so when you feed that musical broad highend and lowend into the front of my compressor those trannies just do something really beautiful. Of course, because my signal takes a hit from the 2:1 I had to modify the feedback gain on the front end of the compressor amps, which I replaced all of them with the OPA16xx series of opamps (this is a massive upgrade in and of itself, you need soic to DIP boards**) But, my main point is that this is a great inexpensive GSSL to buy and start customizing to fit your setup. I loved the RED3 because Sal sent me a mix that he'd put through his and I was going crazy wanting that compressor, but then I didn't like how if you pushed it any it clamped and choked, one of the main complaints of the RED3. The SSL you can really hammer and it stays wide open, but, it doesn't IMO take buss eq well, and that's because of the solid state front end. So I just sat down and figured out how to get the best of all my wants and my needs. This allows me to use less eq and compression in the tracks which makes my mixes more solid and less phasey. I always wondered why knowbody ever did a API flavor transformer and 2520 based GSSL variant!
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