Help: Identify vintage quadraphonic compressor - Gearslutz.com Gearslutz.com
 


All Advertisers
Services Directory Reviews Jobs Deal Zone Merchandise Marketplace Music Biz Articles Video Vault Tips & Techniques
Go Back   Gearslutz.com > The Forums > Mastering forum
Reload this Page Help: Identify vintage quadraphonic compressor
Register Posting Guidelines Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Chat Room [2]

Help: Identify vintage quadraphonic compressor
New Reply New Reply Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 24th April 2011   #1
Gear maniac
 
Tubefreak's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 274

Thread Starter
Help: Identify vintage quadraphonic compressor
Hi,

This compressor just came in, found it on ebay. Unfortunately the seller knows nothing about it's origin. And I wonder if someone here might know more about it.

There is a sticker on the top from Deutsche Grammophon Ges. (DGG), so maybe it was made for them. It's a four channel compressor build around black can DBX 202 chips. Although these chips are known (according to wiki) for noise and distortion, I didn't notice this during a short test.

The cool thing about this comp is that you can link channels 1+2 and 3+4, but also all four together! I would reckon that this would only be useful for quadraphonic recording/mixing/mastering.

There is no bypass on the unit, the signal always runs through the circuit. Setting the ratio to 1:1 eliminates the gain reduction. The output control is boost only, which is nice.

The PSU is from a company from the Netherlands. Also on the inside is some writing in dutch. So maybe someone in the Netherlands made it (for Deutsche Grammophon), resided in Germany and is now back in the Netherlands.

Only for a couple of minutes I've test the unit. It sounds fine and the compressor works good. On a good solid mix it sounds like a bootstrap comp where the high level stays intact, and the low level audio is brought up. Very nice!!! On spiky mixes it reacts to the peaks as expacted. The attack and release are very useful and both go from (very) fast to reasonably long.

What stands out is that it's not really sensitive to low end. There is no pumping caused by a big low end on a kick!!! Which is a big plus (I sold an original P38 because it was way too sensitive and had no side chain options). Someone really did their best during the design to keep it from pumping! This might be a valid wish for a mastering comp for classic music, which would explain the DGG sticker. There is also some info on the net about DGG doing some tests with quadraphonics.

So, anyone any ideas? Could it be a one off build in the Netherlands for DGG? Any idea on it's era of birth?

All pics can be viewed at www.tubefreak.com/pics/quadcomp/

Kind regards
Maarten van Helden
Tubefreak is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 24th April 2011   #2
Lives for gear
 
wado1942's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Boise, Idaho
Posts: 2,620

I wouldn't guess that to be a custom job, but maybe a limited run. Either way, great find! I'd love to have a unit like that.
__________________
Stephen Baldassarre
www.gcmstudio.com
wado1942 is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 25th April 2011   #3
Gear addict
 
Mo Facta's Avatar
 
Joined: Nov 2008
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 319

The meters, knobs and writing remind of an Orban 424a compressor:



Pinch of salt, all that.

Cheers
Mo Facta is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 25th April 2011   #4
Lives for gear
 
dietrich10's Avatar
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,022

Send a message via AIM to dietrich10
Perhaps used for disc cutting since it is 4 channels and made as alternative to the two pairs of mono u4733s in germany?
__________________
www.completemastering.com
dietrich10 is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 25th April 2011   #5
Gear nut
 
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 85

I think Dietrich is right

probably it cames from a cutting room...
Yann Dub is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 25th April 2011   #6
Gear maniac
 
Tubefreak's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 274

Thread Starter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yann Dub View Post
I think Dietrich is right

probably it cames from a cutting room...
That would make a lot of sence. But I would expact the compratios to be more subtle, like 1:1.5 like the U473. It's on my list of future ugrades for the unit.
Tubefreak is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 25th April 2011   #7
Gear addict
 
joeaudio's Avatar
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Garden State
Posts: 408

Verified Member
Thanks for sharing. It's got all the necessary adjustment knobs, hasn't it?
What do the three toggle switches do?

Joe Y.
__________________
Joe Yannece
joeaudio is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 25th April 2011   #8
Gear maniac
 
Tubefreak's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 274

Thread Starter
Left and right link two the channel, center switch links all four.

I wonder if that last function is useful for quadraphonics or just normal stereo operation when you switch channels for vinyl mastering...
Tubefreak is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 27th April 2011   #9
Lives for gear
 
neilwilkes's Avatar
 
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: London, England
Posts: 1,129
My Recordings/Credits

What are you selling it for please?
I still work with Quad files an awful lot, and this would be wonderful to have.....
__________________
Opus Productions Ltd - surround sound & high resolution audio
DAWplus E5-2687W, 32GB RAM, W7 Pro 64-bit, RME RayDat 1, UAD-2 Octo & 2x UAD-2 Quad, Adam Audio A7 x5.
Cubase (latest) & Nuendo (latest)
neilwilkes is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 27th April 2011   #10
Gear maniac
 
Tubefreak's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 274

Thread Starter
Hi,

Just found out it's a Philips/Polygram unit made in the Netherlands. If I have more info, I'll post it.

I'm not planning on selling the unit, I think it's a wonderful (sounding) piece and would like to keep it. But if you are seriously interested you can always PM an offer I can't refuse
Tubefreak is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 27th June 2011   #11
Gear nut
 
Mono-Peter's Avatar
 
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 134

I have also one and love it. It was a small series produced by / for the Polygram studios. To me they sound a little like the SSL bus compressor, they can be very squeezy and just glue the mix together, at least that's my experience.



they have also been in the master section of the Polygram consoles. Take a close look on the mid of the console...

__________________
you are what you have (Confucius)

https://soundcloud.com/petervonlandau/dixigas-9-to-5
Mono-Peter is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 28th June 2011   #12
Lives for gear
 
wado1942's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Boise, Idaho
Posts: 2,620

Nice, well looks like you have an interesting find.
wado1942 is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 28th June 2011   #13
Gear maniac
 
Tubefreak's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 274

Thread Starter
COOL. Great to know that another beast is still alive. It sure sounds VERY nice. I've added a true bypass circuit and some background lights for the GR meters.

Killer unit.
Tubefreak is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 6th September 2011   #14
Gear addict
 
okailla's Avatar
 
Joined: Oct 2004
Location: Waterkant
Posts: 395

I once saw these Polygram comps as a stereo version, went for next to nothing on ebay. Several years ago there was a thread about them here.
It is also pictured on the HE Studiotechnik webpage.
okailla is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 6th September 2011   #15
Gear maniac
 
Tubefreak's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 274

Thread Starter
You mean this one?


There are some differences in the circuit, don't know how much they differ in sound though.

For mastering I found the minimal setting of 2:1 too heavy handed, so modified them. It's now something like 1.2:1 / 1.5:1 / 2:1 / etc. The subtle ratios work great, very nice glue!

Maarten
Tubefreak is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 28th December 2012   #16
Gear maniac
 
toulcit's Avatar
 
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 275

For what it is worth I got the mono version. Which I think sounds really nice.
Only controls are different, also works as a de-esser.
__________________
http://www.edenmixing.com

For all your recording, mixing work. Using both analogue and digital proccessing.

Simple 16 channel mixer call sheet app for android http://edenmixing.com/android_apps
toulcit is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 28th December 2012   #17
Gear maniac
 
Tubefreak's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 274

Thread Starter
Cool, got some pictures?
Tubefreak is offline  
Reply With Quote
New Reply New Reply Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook  Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter  Submit Thread to LinkedIn LinkedIn 

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread Thread starter Forum Replies Last Post
Need help identifying vintage (german?) console stefanb Geekslutz forum 21 28th February 2013 01:53 PM
help my identify ... vintage mic jlaugh87 So much gear, so little time! 4 20th January 2011 08:37 PM
help: identify the mic udi9 So much gear, so little time! 8 13th August 2007 10:13 AM
Webster Electric Tube compressor schematic dcline So much gear, so little time! 1 16th February 2007 07:22 PM
can you identify these drums for me? smalltownjon Drums! 24 14th February 2007 03:58 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:46 AM.

Home - Search Forum - Contact Us - Terms Of Use / Privacy Policy - Advertise on Gearslutz - All Advertisers - Top
 
 
Powered by vBulletin®
Gearslutz.com LTD - UK Company Number 7597610.
Registered Office - 35 Ballards Lane, London, N3 1XW.
Hosted by Nimbus Hosting.

By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies.

SEO by vBSEO ©2011, Crawlability, Inc.