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Post by seawell on Nov 17, 2022 15:47:47 GMT -6
Sometimes we think we're done with the Sta Level, only to later realize the Sta Level isn't quite done with us 🤣 Actually, I'm finding my Thermionic Phoenix MP is giving my Retro STA a run for it's money tracking my tenor vocals and bass. I do love Vari MU compression. That said, I'd love an alternative opto compressor to the one in my Millennia STT-1 which is a bit underwhelming. I've long wanted to try the phoenix! I'll echo what a few others have said here, for opto compression that isn't tube tech or an LA2A clone, I think buzz is great! |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 17, 2022 16:22:14 GMT -6
Actually, I'm finding my Thermionic Phoenix MP is giving my Retro STA a run for it's money tracking my tenor vocals and bass. I do love Vari MU compression. That said, I'd love an alternative opto compressor to the one in my Millennia STT-1 which is a bit underwhelming. I've long wanted to try the phoenix! I'll echo what a few others have said here, for opto compression that isn't tube tech or an LA2A clone, I think buzz is great! Phoenix is great. Terrible, cheap feeling pots though. Really bugs me. I am dying to get a Fat Bustard, but I think those pots are gonna piss me off too. |
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Post by prene1 on Nov 17, 2022 16:58:28 GMT -6
I’m still using an AS V-Comp I honestly need to compare the vcomp to the cl1b and see how much of a difference there Is. |
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Post by seawell on Nov 17, 2022 17:47:02 GMT -6
I've long wanted to try the phoenix! I'll echo what a few others have said here, for opto compression that isn't tube tech or an LA2A clone, I think buzz is great! Phoenix is great. Terrible, cheap feeling pots though. Really bugs me. I am dying to get a Fat Bustard, but I think those pots are gonna piss me off too. Ah man, that's a bummer to hear! |
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 18, 2022 1:48:19 GMT -6
I've long wanted to try the phoenix! I'll echo what a few others have said here, for opto compression that isn't tube tech or an LA2A clone, I think buzz is great! Phoenix is great. Terrible, cheap feeling pots though. Really bugs me. I am dying to get a Fat Bustard, but I think those pots are gonna piss me off too. The pots on my Thermionic Phoenix Mastering Plus are great and some of them are industry standard Elma switched pots, they're no less quality then the pots on my Millennia STT-1 which has given 15 years of faultless service. The knobs on The Swift EQ I will say are very basic and not at all fancy like my BEA 1073 for example - but oh boy THE SOUND - it's absolutely stunning :-) I've seen inside both units (I snook a peak) and they're both beautifully hand made, point to point wiring, all tube - not a single IC in the circuit. I will say, they need to be looked after and operated with a degree of care as they're hand made boutique esoteric British tube gear - I'm cool with that as the sound they produce is just so uniquely musical and attractive to my ear - both these units on the mix bus are full on cheating :-) Get that Fat Bustard, go steady with it and you won't regret it - Thermionic gear just sounds blinking marvellous imho. |
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 18, 2022 1:56:16 GMT -6
Actually, I'm finding my Thermionic Phoenix MP is giving my Retro STA a run for it's money tracking my tenor vocals and bass. I do love Vari MU compression. That said, I'd love an alternative opto compressor to the one in my Millennia STT-1 which is a bit underwhelming. I've long wanted to try the phoenix! I'll echo what a few others have said here, for opto compression that isn't tube tech or an LA2A clone, I think buzz is great! Which one? I've toyed with getting the Buzz Essence (plus they're made in New Zealand and my wife was made in New Zealand so she'll instantly OK the purchase :-) I demoed an UA LA2A re-issue a few years back (when they cost half of their current price!) and in truth I did think it sounded a bit "vanilla" for tracking at around 5dB GR were as the Retro STA Level has heaps of character just as a colour box with no GR! I did think if I'm going clean I may as well go solid state with more envelope control and someone mentioned the Essence as a great option for a well controlled clean Opto tracking comp. I'm thinking it might cover acoustic, bass and BV's and perhaps lead vox as an alternative to character Vari MU all the time. Do you rate the Buzz Essence? |
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Post by Ward on Nov 18, 2022 12:15:22 GMT -6
It’s a toss up between this new Heritage Opto comp or an AS opto (which would be half the price!) I keep telling the boss audioscape that the prices are too low. I didn't realize I should be pushing for a doubling of the price! |
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Post by Ward on Nov 18, 2022 12:16:28 GMT -6
I’m still using an AS V-Comp I honestly need to compare the vcomp to the cl1b and see how much of a difference there Is. I have both. How can I help? They're very different. |
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 18, 2022 16:53:27 GMT -6
It’s a toss up between this new Heritage Opto comp or an AS opto (which would be half the price!) I keep telling the boss audioscape that the prices are too low. I didn't realize I should be pushing for a doubling of the price! I guess every market has it's prices, you get popular for having the best "bang to buck ratio" or for having the best unique original designs, best feature set etc and everything in between - decisions are made by consumers on oddly small margins between products, not always financial. Would I guy an AS Opto Comp for $2200 .... maybe, but maybe not as the choices grow as the price bracket rises. Would I buy AS products that cost more but were actually in stock - that's a better question ;-) ..... (I know they have an issue with components at the moment) When I make a decision to buy something I will admit to paying more if it's in stock and it gets shipped straight away, which I realise isn't very savvy from a financial point of view! |
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Post by seawell on Nov 18, 2022 17:18:20 GMT -6
I've long wanted to try the phoenix! I'll echo what a few others have said here, for opto compression that isn't tube tech or an LA2A clone, I think buzz is great! Which one? I've toyed with getting the Buzz Essence (plus they're made in New Zealand and my wife was made in New Zealand so she'll instantly OK the purchase :-) I demoed an UA LA2A re-issue a few years back (when they cost half of their current price!) and in truth I did think it sounded a bit "vanilla" for tracking at around 5dB GR were as the Retro STA Level has heaps of character just as a colour box with no GR! I did think if I'm going clean I may as well go solid state with more envelope control and someone mentioned the Essence as a great option for a well controlled clean Opto tracking comp. I'm thinking it might cover acoustic, bass and BV's and perhaps lead vox as an alternative to character Vari MU all the time. Do you rate the Buzz Essence? My experience is with the Essence. I think it is a bit underrated due to being 500 series. It's a great comp! |
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 19, 2022 5:51:19 GMT -6
Which one? I've toyed with getting the Buzz Essence (plus they're made in New Zealand and my wife was made in New Zealand so she'll instantly OK the purchase :-) I demoed an UA LA2A re-issue a few years back (when they cost half of their current price!) and in truth I did think it sounded a bit "vanilla" for tracking at around 5dB GR were as the Retro STA Level has heaps of character just as a colour box with no GR! I did think if I'm going clean I may as well go solid state with more envelope control and someone mentioned the Essence as a great option for a well controlled clean Opto tracking comp. I'm thinking it might cover acoustic, bass and BV's and perhaps lead vox as an alternative to character Vari MU all the time. Do you rate the Buzz Essence? My experience is with the Essence. I think it is a bit underrated due to being 500 series. It's a great comp! Mmmh, I have a double space left in my 500 series rack, it's tempting but nows there's the Tubesessor as well to consider. I do really want to get an opto comp though, I only have the one in my Millennia STT-1 which whilst not being a cheap unit it's a bit under whelming as a vocal tracking compressor. |
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Post by chessparov on Nov 19, 2022 10:11:59 GMT -6
On the other hand, "Creamer" goes great with all those Tierra "flavored" line boosters. Truffle/Cocoa/Mint what's not to like?
Getting a bad crave for my morning coffee now.
Heritage should have gone all the way and named it the "Toobpressor".
Thrown a genuine imitation Chinesium tube in it. Then it would spawn a thousand tube upgrade threads. Free marketing!
Chris
P.S. I went to Guitar Center yesterday.
I asked the top Pro Audio salesperson there for a replacement toob, for my MXL V69.
He said it sounded like a good trade.
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 20, 2022 8:44:15 GMT -6
Hey Heritage fans and users.
I've never owned any of their gear, I presume from the pricing as cloners they're a considerable step above Warm and KT etc.
If I ponied up for a Tubesessor would I be getting something that will give me long service as my BEA, Millennia and Retro gear has?
Does Heritage Audio have decent build quality?
I'm very strongly leaning towards this unit as a tube opto option.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 23, 2022 17:00:49 GMT -6
The pots on my Thermionic Phoenix Mastering Plus are great and some of them are industry standard Elma switched pots, they're no less quality then the pots on my Millennia STT-1 which has given 15 years of faultless service. Get that Fat Bustard, go steady with it and you won't regret it - Thermionic gear just sounds blinking marvellous imho. The output posts on the mastering phoenix feel like cheap junk. The switches weren’t a problem. Ordered a Bustard though. Sound trumps feel. |
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 24, 2022 2:56:14 GMT -6
The pots on my Thermionic Phoenix Mastering Plus are great and some of them are industry standard Elma switched pots, they're no less quality then the pots on my Millennia STT-1 which has given 15 years of faultless service. Get that Fat Bustard, go steady with it and you won't regret it - Thermionic gear just sounds blinking marvellous imho. The output posts on the mastering phoenix feel like cheap junk. The switches weren’t a problem. Ordered a Bustard though. Sound *no politics*s feel. I have a Phoenix Mastering Plus I bought a couple of years ago and the output pots are definitely not an issue. They’re no better of worse than some of the pots on my Millennia STT-1 and that’s been in service for 15 years and I expect the same long service from my Thermionic units. But hey, I’m happy for people not to have a Phoenix Mastering Plus on their recordings …. I’ll take the Phoenix sound for myself and my recordings, I’m happy with that LOL  Enjoy your Fat Bustard - I love the Thermionic sound. The Swift EQ is also really stunning imho. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 24, 2022 23:43:28 GMT -6
The output posts on the mastering phoenix feel like cheap junk. The switches weren’t a problem. Ordered a Bustard though. Sound *no politics*s feel. I have a Phoenix Mastering Plus I bought a couple of years ago and the output pots are definitely not an issue. They’re no better of worse than some of the pots on my Millennia STT-1 and that’s been in service for 15 years and I expect the same long service from my Thermionic units. But hey, I’m happy for people not to have a Phoenix Mastering Plus on their recordings …. I’ll take the Phoenix sound for myself and my recordings, I’m happy with that LOL Enjoy your Fat Bustard - I love the Thermionic sound. The Swift EQ is also really stunning imho. Maybe I got unlucky. Owned 2 regular and a mastering though… |
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Post by Chad on Dec 16, 2022 12:07:53 GMT -6
Update: Demo of the Heritage Audio Tubesessor on YouTube
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Post by thehightenor on Dec 16, 2022 17:55:16 GMT -6
Update: Demo of the Heritage Audio Tubesessor on YouTube I thought this was a pretty awful video demo. The bass sounded better with the compressor switched out as the settings were, imho, making the bass sound a bit mushy. And the vocals were twice the volume when the unit was engaged so who knows if it sounded better or not, it was hard to get beyond it simply sounding twice as loud!! Honestly, if Heritage want to show this new compressor off you'd think they'd spend some time making a great video with balanced volumes and ideal settings. |
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Post by christopher on Dec 16, 2022 20:05:07 GMT -6
Huh. I had opposite reaction, I really enjoyed that video, a lot. I guess it shows can’t please everyone!
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,919 
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Post by ericn on Dec 16, 2022 23:15:06 GMT -6
Huh. I had opposite reaction, I really enjoyed that video, a lot. I guess it shows can’t please everyone! The difference between here and GS, here we can have an actual discussion, gs would be whose cock is bigger. |
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Post by thehightenor on Dec 17, 2022 4:46:34 GMT -6
Huh. I had opposite reaction, I really enjoyed that video, a lot. I guess it shows can’t please everyone! Hey, that's cool as the saying goes, you can't please all of the people all of the time. I'm pretty sure the video isn't a reflection of the quality of the unit which I'm sure it a very good compressor. Anyway, if I'm dropping this kind of money on a unit I'll be doing what I always do and organising a demo in my own studio space with my own music in comparison to the range of compressors I already own. The video has in no way put me off this unit as it's literally only a quick demo video. |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Dec 17, 2022 15:08:08 GMT -6
I almost always enjoy demo videos and shootouts, but the volume difference was so extreme in that one, it made me wonder who let that huge discrepancy slide.
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Post by prene1 on Dec 18, 2022 1:45:38 GMT -6
If they would already release it I would do a demo and post it.
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Post by seawell on Dec 23, 2022 19:14:42 GMT -6
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Post by Johnkenn on Dec 23, 2022 22:54:03 GMT -6
I picked up the UAD/softube cl-1B in the 6 for $399 thing. Tried to use it a couple times - and I have to say it’s grabby as shit. In the limited two times I’ve used the real one, I didn’t particularly care for it then either. Just my somewhat uninformed take.
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