Manley Variable Mu | Stereo Compressor Limiter with M/S & T-Bar Mod

Description: Manley Variable Mu | Stereo Compressor Limiter with M/S & T-Bar Mod Manley M/S modification allows various approaches to Mid/Side recording, playback and processing T-Bar Mod for smooth limiting curves, lower THD, and optimized per-channel phase and stereo channel matching Variable Gain vacuum tube (per channel): 2 x 6BA6 single pentodes wired in in triode mode Manley input and output transformers with pure nickel laminations in mu-metal case Flat frequency response from 20Hz–25kHz The Manley Variable Mu Compressor has been Manley's best selling product for many years. It is one of the very few compressors that has become a real standard in Mastering studios and contributed to most hit records over the last decade and probably the next. "Mu" is tube-speak for gain, and Variable Mu is our registered trademark for this limiter compressor. It works by using the "remote cut-off" or re-biasing of a vacuum tube to achieve compression. The precious vintage Fairchild 670 also uses this technique and is one of few all-tube compressor to do so, that we know of. Even the side-chain has glowing rectifier bottles. How's it work? The unique 5670 dual triode is at the center of the peak-reducing and compression action constantly being re-biased by the vacuum tube rectified side-chain control voltages which cause this tube to smoothly change its gain. Just like that. The compress mode is soft-knee 1.5 to 1 ratio while the sharper knee Limit mode starts at 4 to 1 and moves to a more dramatic ratio of 20 to 1 when limiting over 12dB. Interestingly, the knee actually softens as more limiting is used. Distortion can be creatively used by turning up the Input and turning down the Output while using very little or no compression. See the gain reduction curves here! You might notice that the Variable Mu Limiter Compressor has a ganged input control, but do not jump to conclusions that it is mono-unfriendly. Track away! There are separate threshold and output controls to make compensations with plus you can always adjust your individual source levels elsewhere, right? The advantage of the stereo input control becomes dramatically clear when you switch to link mode, and that's what our Variable Mu Limiter Compressor does better than anything else: final mix, 2-track, or mastering limiting and compression. Like one reviewer put it: Its like pouring a bowl of sweet cream over the mix. High Pass Side Chain This modification comes stock on all Manley Variable Mu Limiter Compressors since 12/2009, on both regular and mastering versions. This mod adds two switches to the front panel, one for each channel, so that when engaged, the side chain will not respond to frequencies lower than 100Hz. (We standardly use 100Hz as the -3dB point. Other frequencies can be custom ordered.) This HP SC Mod can be used with music with heavy bass lines or bass-heavy mixes where you don't want the bass driving the whole action of the compressor. The filter is a very gentle 6db per octave 1 pole filter, and will typically be down 1-3db at 100 Hz, and down 4-6db at 50Hz. As you decrease the frequency the amount of limiting will decrease also. At the extreme LF (<20Hz) there should be very little gain reduction going on. The whole intent of the filter is to keep very LF stuff (like a heavy kick drum) from activating the compression/limiting so that the overall level doesn't duck with every drumbeat. The T-BAR Modification Backstory: The newer Variable Mu units use 5670 tubes instead of the 6386. By now the availability of the original USA GE 6386 is poor; Manley doesn't have any left at all, and what they do have are not usable due to noise, microphonics, bad side-to-side match, etc. So does the 5670 sound different? Well, up to about 6db of limiting it's about the same. After that point, the 5670 version tends to sound more "squashed" than the original 6386 version. Some like it better, some don't - depends on what you're trying to do. To solve all these problems, Manley came up with a really good solution: the T-Bar Mod. This uses a pair of 6BA6 pentodes wired as single triodes to replace each dual triode 5670 (or 6386). The 6BA6 T-Bar Mod is the preferred system to use in the Manley Variable Mu® for reasons of ability to perfectly match each phase-halve section and each stereo set, ability to select for lo-noise and lo-microphonic sets for a low cost, and because the action of the 6BA6's so closely resemble the smooth 6386 limiting curves. MID/SIDE (a.k.a. Vertical/Lateral, or Sum/Difference) This modification opens the door to stereo encoding and decoding as well as exciting image enhancement processing capabilities. For instance, setting to compress only the in-phase information allows the augmentation of the stereo image as the out-of-phase content is left untouched. Or, conversely, if you need a "more-mono" mix for broadcast, or vinyl-cutting for instance, you can set it to kill off more of the out-of-phase info which leaves more in-phase material in the final result. Pro Audio LA is an authorized dealer Full manufacturer warranty (Pro Audio LA extends warranty to 2 years) Gear ships FREE via UPS/FedEx Ground w/ tracking & insurance These pieces are occasionally backordered All transactions must be completed on eBay About Pro Audio LA Pro Audio LA provides solutions focused on optimizing workflows. Better workflow equals better music. We sell gear, build custom cabling, design systems, integrate systems, and install systems. We also do acoustic consulting, design, and installation for both recording studios, residential spaces, and commercial spaces. We also have demo rooms in our store in Glendale, CA where you can come and try out gear, or rent out one of our acoustically treated rooms for a recording or podcast session. SSL Room Podcast Room Visit our eBay store here to view all of our products and services.

Price: 6299 USD

Location: Glendale, California

End Time: 2024-08-11T12:43:50.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD