| The Neumann u473a compressor works great and sounds wonderful if you just need some minor to moderate, transparent sounding compression. It does not work so well if you want to crush something to death. You would want something like an 1176 or a dbx 160VU for severe compression, but for the mild stuff the Neumann U473a would work fine. I would consider a Neumann U473b to be high end. Please note the U473b (and a model) are very different from the earlier TAB made Telefunken U373a or the Siemens u273 (a and b). Still great, just very different sounding. Most all of the Neumann branded mic pres, compressors, and eq modules are really nice and worth owning. They were very expensive to manufacture in the day and Neumann lost so much money making them they shut the operation down and stuck to making just mics.
I own 8 TAB made Telefunken V376 mic pres which were made in the 1960's and early 1970's and they are some of the finest mic pres ever made. HOWEVER, THE V376b IS A DIFFERENT ANIMAL FROM THE 1980'S with different transformers, op amps and probably some integrated circuits. Its probably a decent pre, as most of the German broadcast modules, even the later ones, were good but its not a vintage classic like the much older TAB made V376. I would try and find a real V376 (no "a" or "b" after it), a Siemens made V276, or a later (mid late 70's) TAB made V676a. But then again, I do not know what you are paying for the V376b. If its a good enough deal, then it may be worth buying. |