1176 compressors: Hairball, CLA-87 and UAD 1176LN

[bebopcola]

Nice shootout. The hairball clones are definitely worth the money to my ears. As primarily a bassist and a performer myself, I'm holding out for a local compressor expert to review the transformer equipped origin cali76 FET compressor in a pedal format for live use.

[gsbe]

Thanks. Cool idea about the pedal version. I'd like to know more about that. Sorry about the terrible bass playing.

Next, I will record a drumset and run the mix through the 3 different versions of 1176 with the "all buttons pushed in" setting. I will also add a Distressor on the 10:1 Opto setting for comparison.

[Yummerz]

Yeah, they're virtually identical tonally. The Hairball has just a bit more, well, hair on it, and a bit more depth and space, with less of that solid digital feel.

[gsbe]

Originally Posted by bebopcola

...transformer equipped origin cali76 FET compressor in a pedal format for live use.

I read your post again and figured out that you were talking about an existing product from Origin Effects called the Cali76. That's really cool, I'd love to audition one of those. Their other pedal, the SlideRIG, also looks very interesting. Thanks for the heads-up.