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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 11, 2018 11:11:20 GMT -6
Sexy...British guy gives it even more cred.
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Post by guitfiddler on Nov 11, 2018 11:39:22 GMT -6
Sexy...British guy gives it even more cred. No male and female vocal demo? What gives? Interesting
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Post by matt on Nov 11, 2018 18:31:57 GMT -6
I want two, a matched pair, but my wallet says no. I bet they go fast.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Nov 11, 2018 18:42:37 GMT -6
We had a pair for a very long time. Every time I’d use them I’d be disappointed.. which is a bummer cause they look and seem to be so damn cool. To me it’s that piece of gear that people want because there are so few around in good working order - they honestly just aren’t that great though IMO
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Post by Ward on Nov 11, 2018 20:55:59 GMT -6
We had a pair for a very long time. Every time I’d use them I’d be disappointed.. which is a bummer cause they look and seem to be so damn cool. To me it’s that piece of gear that people want because there are so few around in good working order - they honestly just aren’t that great though IMO The stars align again. 100% agreed!!
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Post by EmRR on Nov 11, 2018 21:11:04 GMT -6
I’ll third it. Had several examples available to use in the mid 90’s, they never won on anything and never sounded good, unless you badly needed something to add a squishy blurry band pass effect. They could be had for $200 back then. Prices shot up the day after UA relaunched.....lots of people were happy to cash out as fast as possible, at least until they realized they should have waited another year for them to go 20x+ in value.
My next least favorite vari-mu has been the stock Manley....
....they must work for someone, but i gotta think if they tried a whole lot of other old vari-mu’s they might move on.
They do live in that more popular 2-3 RU territory that a lot of people seem unwilling to leave. Many won’t even consider any of the many 5-8 RU wonders.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 12, 2018 8:45:18 GMT -6
This is a well done shootout between 7 compressors, including the Retro 176. I liked the CL1b the most, then the 176. I'm curious to see what you guys think. It seemed really nice on the lead vocal to me, but I know Jeremy knows what he's doing and trust his take on it.
When we did a mic shootout at his studio, we used the SSL 9000 preamps, we compared them to vintage Neve pres a little later, and the Neve most definitely didn't sound better than the SSL did. Still, I seem to prefer the Neve style sound at home, so it can be confusing sometimes. Basically, if I could afford the CL1b 'd be done for lead vocals.
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Post by adamjbrass on Nov 12, 2018 8:51:23 GMT -6
I'd rather use a 176.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,817
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Post by ericn on Nov 12, 2018 9:09:39 GMT -6
The first 175 I used in some guys basement room was wonderful it just made a less than talented singer sound like a star,, so after that I was always reaching for a 175 every time one was available. Well after being disappointed in well maintained rooms time after time after time after that I started to realize that something wasn’t right with that first 175 in the most wonderful way possible and not to reach for a 175. About 15 years later I ran into the guy who owned that first 175, I was flush with cash and asked if he would be interested in selling it, well it seams 7 years earlier it had blown smoke eneded up being rebuilt by a very good tech and never sound the same again so he sold it to some some collector. So if sounds good it just might be getting ready to blow smoke amake sure a fire extinguisher is handy and be ready for disappointment in the not to distant future. Plenty of other good comps out there.
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 12, 2018 10:22:31 GMT -6
We had a pair for a very long time. Every time I’d use them I’d be disappointed.. which is a bummer cause they look and seem to be so damn cool. To me it’s that piece of gear that people want because there are so few around in good working order - they honestly just aren’t that great though IMO I’ve never used one...but wouldn’t doubt you’re right.
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 12, 2018 10:23:50 GMT -6
The 176 is badass.
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Post by matt on Nov 12, 2018 10:24:51 GMT -6
Interesting comments, thanks! I would have never guessed, I've always assumed that anything made by Retro would be worth having. Perhaps my next piece of Retro gear will be a Revolver instead. Or a Doublewide II. Or a 176.
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Post by iamasound on Nov 12, 2018 11:44:06 GMT -6
I never used this one in particular but have the Manley as well as soft versions, and I couldn't get on with any of them, at least for vocals. I kinda felt silly not to have adored the Manley with all the hype from people I knew. Now after the replies from some of you'all I don't feel so dilly any more.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 12, 2018 11:55:04 GMT -6
I've heard one once, and thought it fantastic. I liked it better than any 1176 I'd heard, and certainly more than the 175B from what I can tell from the video.
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Post by m03 on Nov 12, 2018 11:55:57 GMT -6
Interesting comments, thanks! I would have never guessed, I've always assumed that anything made by Retro would be worth having. I think this hangs on it aiming to be a perfect clone of an original 175-B, which apparently has some shortcomings itself. I seem to recall reading somewhere about the interstage transformer being one of the things that lead to it sounding bandwidth-limited, and maybe this was why the Retro 176 included a switch to allow you to disable it.
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Post by EmRR on Nov 12, 2018 12:05:24 GMT -6
With / without interstage transformer makes compression behave differently, it isn’t just about the sound of the transformer.
175 and 176 are the same thing with the exception of variable ratio on the 176. The output transformer has extra taps to make that possible in the way they do it.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 12, 2018 12:39:16 GMT -6
I've wondered about something, in the video I posted above, how is that guy switching between compressors at the tap of a button?
I'm sure you're right EMRR, but the 176 in the video sure sounds quite different from the 175B in the original video above. Granted, it's different instruments, etc.. but it does seem like a different compressor to me.
Does Retro's Double Wide sound anything like their 176?
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Post by jeremygillespie on Nov 12, 2018 16:44:11 GMT -6
I definitely dig the Retro 176. I have no idea what’s different about it, but it’s got “that” thing in spades to my ear.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 12, 2018 21:44:47 GMT -6
That's what I'm talking about. There's an odd balance with compression, it can be your best friend or a curse. While all those compressors were good, the Retro 176 and the CL1b stood out. I like what they do much more than the LA2A, which often sounds heavy handed to me.
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 12, 2018 23:01:10 GMT -6
Ultimately, the Sta could be too much of a good thing too. Wish I could afford to have a bunch of different flavors, though. The 176 is definitely more versatile...I’d take that or the RS124 all day.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,817
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Post by ericn on Nov 13, 2018 7:31:10 GMT -6
Ultimately, the Sta could be too much of a good thing too. Wish I could afford to have a bunch of different flavors, though. The 176 is definitely more versatile...I’d take that or the RS124 all day. The thing with the RS124 is it just has so many flavors of goodness in one box, sort of a sweet Distressor. The Sta- Level is one of those boxes that is either perfect for you or it just doesn’t work, but when it works it makes every thing sound like butter.
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Post by Ward on Nov 13, 2018 10:35:39 GMT -6
That's what I'm talking about. There's an odd balance with compression, it can be your best friend or a curse. While all those compressors were good, the Retro 176 and the CL1b stood out. I like what they do much more than the LA2A, which often sounds heavy handed to me. The CL1b remains my vocal go-to, usually in combination with the pro replicas Bluestripe. Just an amazing combination. And I liken them to cooking with Thai Curry and Chili. A little goes a long way!
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 13, 2018 11:10:57 GMT -6
I hope I can afford one someday soon.
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Post by longscale on Nov 13, 2018 20:25:46 GMT -6
No experience with the 175, but I do enjoy the Retro 176. I find it hard to make it sound bad. Some compressors like the API 525 mess with my head. I don't hear the 525 crushing while tracking - but then hear it later during playback. Not so with my 176. I don't know why this is, but I've learned to go very easy with the 525. The 176 I can slam and not regret it.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 13, 2018 21:10:14 GMT -6
Good to know longscale. I have the UAD API plug, and it feels the same way you described, not overdone while tracking, but later on, it's feels just too crushed, no matter what setting I use. Maybe it hits certain frequencies harder?
Oh, welcome to the forum, this is the first post of yours I've seen.
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