Manley ELOP or Kush Audio Fatso (UBK Mod)?

[Agno]

I know you opinionated slutz got something to say about this.

[Doc Mixwell]

What do you think?

I have an ELOP and will it leave my rack over my cold, dead body. Getting both would not be overkill, it would be mandatory to keep your GS ID card.

[geeek]

Can only comment on the Elop..

It's a very nice unit.. Does what it says on the tin.

It's got a different vibe to an LA2A in tone.. But compression characteristic is very similar, plus it's really cheap I'd say..

Very useful unit.. It's got a nice vibe I reckon.

[Agno]

Thanks guys, any comments on the ubk fatso in this scenario?

[jasonlivermore]

i have both. The UBK is way more versitile.

[Agno]

Originally Posted by jasonlivermore

i have both. The UBK is way more versitile.

Don't leave me hanging, dish out some details on how they compare for vocal tracking and mixing.

[jasonlivermore]

To be honest, neither sees much use with vocals, since I have 3 retro 176s, a vac rac ts3 and a sta level, and LA#A that I like better. The Elop is smooth and easy, but wont get down to business quite as much as the UBK Fatso. Also the UBK kills on drum parallel, bass, drum rooms, and guitars. The elop does ok on all of those, but not so good on drums. It is much safer. This could be good or bad, but I think the Fatso has more personality, and you can get a wider variety of compression uses out of it.

J

[Agno]

Originally Posted by jasonlivermore

To be honest, neither sees much use with vocals, since I have 3 retro 176s, a vac rac ts3 and a sta level, and LA#A that I like better. The Elop is smooth and easy, but wont get down to business quite as much as the UBK Fatso. Also the UBK kills on drum parallel, bass, drum rooms, and guitars. The elop does ok on all of those, but not so good on drums. It is much safer. This could be good or bad, but I think the Fatso has more personality, and you can get a wider variety of compression uses out of it.

J

So what do you primarily use your ELOP on? It sounds like you don't use it very much.

[jasonlivermore]

Your right, I dont. Works good for a Background Vocal group.

[Agno]

Originally Posted by jasonlivermore

Your right, I dont. Works good for a Background Vocal group.

Ha... sounds like you should sell it.

Any one else want to chime in on how they use either unit?

[Jonathan Starr]

Use the ELOP a lot here, mostly tracking and mixing instruments. It's also great on vocals, but I have multiple Requisite L1's and MC77's which fit the bill.

ELOP is very clean and smooth. Really nice and transparent and easy to set up.

[geeek]

I've found the Elop useful on backing vocal group..
Also on piano believe it or not.

It is a very smooth unit.. Not thick sounding a all.. It has a little sheen, but in operation it is quite transparent.

It works very nice as a makeup amp.. I think it has a nice character when driven a bit.

To be fair, for the money it's a great unit.

[toasteh]

Elop was never the big hit from Manley I reckon, several better choices out there, at least more versatile. How often are you going to record a backing vocal group? (Yes, I am aware thats not all its good on.)

[geeek]

Originally Posted by toasteh

Elop was never the big hit from Manley I reckon, several better choices out there, at least more versatile. How often are you going to record a backing vocal group? (Yes, I am aware thats not all its good on.)

Ha! I was talking about "group" as in a bus..

lol

I had a LOT of backing vocals stacked up on top of one another that I wanted to sit in the mix as one sound..

It's an electro-optical limiter.. It does what it says on the tin

[Ricey]

love the ELOP on bass and vox, or as a horn section group - throw an RNC after it for ducking and you've created a sofa for the lead vox to sit on

[epp]

It's a must to try before buy regarding the elop, it has a certain sound that you might or might not like - kind of a 90's vibe, hifi-ish and glossy. I feel that it sucks energy out of whatever passes trough it - it put's everything in zen mode - bass freqencies come out nicely though. There are better opto compressors out there in my opinion, but never take anything you read here seriously - I wouldn't (at least I'm not trying to sell something) - build is impressive though. I've no experience with the other box.

[toasteh]

Originally Posted by binary

Ha! I was talking about "group" as in a bus..

lol

I had a LOT of backing vocals stacked up on top of one another that I wanted to sit in the mix as one sound..

It's an electro-optical limiter.. It does what it says on the tin

my bad

[Agno]

Originally Posted by epp

It's a must to try before buy regarding the elop, it has a certain sound that you might or might not like - kind of a 90's vibe, hifi-ish and glossy. I feel that it sucks energy out of whatever passes trough it - it put's everything in zen mode - bass freqencies come out nicely though. There are better opto compressors out there in my opinion, but never take anything you read here seriously - I wouldn't (at least I'm not trying to sell something) - build is impressive though. I've no experience with the other box.

Most definitely, I plan on eventually trying both before I buy, I just have to get the funds to do it. I just use GS as a point of reference, nothing is absolute when reading opinions from so many directions. But it does help you gauge tho, statistically speaking.

Thanks Epp.....-Agno

[geeek]

Originally Posted by toasteh

my bad

No worries.. I genuinely did a 'lol' tho :D

Glossy/hi-fi is a bang on statement epp.

It has a strange quality about the unit.. I like it.. But not always suitable.

Loan one and give a it a blast.. It's a nice unit, very well built and versatile I'd say.

I liked it on quite a few things looking back actually.

[Agno]

Ok.... I've given it some thought.

If I got ONLY the UBK fatso, and not the Manley ELOP, would I be missing anything? I'm thinking about getting two UBK's. Hence the question.

[Benmrx]

I can only comment on the ELOP, but I have to agree with a post above that it in addition to it being a pretty nice Opto unit, IMO it's a little like the API 2500, where the unit really starts to shine is with its makeup gain.

I also use it quite a bit in bypass mode, following a distressor when tracking vocals. Might be placebo effect, but it seems to bring the "honk" factor of the Distressor down a few knotches.

Also, I'm curious how many ELOP users here had the model with selectable side-chain filter. Because that will really open up the unit quite a bit in terms of flexibility. I'm pretty sure that the earlier models didn't have this option.

Would love to try the Ubik Fatso, but I'm pretty certain my funds are going to get directed over to the new SSL X-Desk.

[Agno]

Originally Posted by binary

sheeny/glossy/90's sounding are true.. I found the same qualities in the unit.

I don't get what "90's sounding" mean?

I know you're speaking about the era, but what did the 90's sound like? I think it sounded different all around. But please explain.