New Great River 500 series compressor

[TRW]

Pulse Width Modulated...

Pye or Trakker/STC-8 territory?

Looks well featured. Dan is clever.

[G-d-S]

Anyone has a better picture of the comp?

[henge]

Whoa!!! Anybody hear this?

[Dan Kennedy]

Hi Guys,

Just got back home from San Francisco, I'll get some better pictures for you.

The compressor is a new design, although I've been working on it for a few years. It is
not like anything else out there.

It's in the beginnings of production, watch for it soon.

[cjonesplay]

Variable control between feed-back and feed-forward compression... such a clever idea!

[dxavier]

The 500 series is getting relentless. WOW!

[GlitterBalls]

Awsum stuff

[superwack]

I'm sort of confused (it's me most likely) but the new comp is definitely styled - knobs, coloring, etc. - like the Harrison 32 eq next to it as opposed to the Great River mic pre but I don't think it's a "harrison"...

Looking forward to trying it out!

[rollmottle]

Want. Need. TIA.

[NathanEldred]

It looks great, I can't wait to hear it.

I found some closer pics here:

Great River Electronics 500 series compressor | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[ionian]

I'm curious about the pulse width mod. How does that affect the compressor?

Regards,
Frank

[Dan Kennedy]

Still in tradeshow recovery mode, but the PWM is the gain control element, as opposed to FET, VCA or opto.

It's fast, clean and has a unique character.

The FB/FF control has a remarkable influence on the sound, hard to describe, but it mostly makes the unit go from super smooth to aggressive, without changing other things too much. It's a fun knob.

They'll be available soon, check them out.

[ionian]

Definitely. Thanks for the explanation.

[Baz]

Excited to hear this!

[Grummy77]

Oh snap! This might change everything for my tracking comp plans! Excited. Can't to hear examples of this one.

[Avening]

Dan,

Just a random question, so don't look in to it more than you need to ...

But why the decision to design the aesthetics of you new compressor like the Harrison EQ, rather than your 500NV? Neither here nor there really, but I for one LOVE the look of your 500NV and other Great River 19" rack gear. Figure it might do a better job of "brand blocking" a 500 series rack as well with the Great River theme instead of the Harrison theme ...

Anyways, just curious is all. Looking forward to hearing your new creation!

[bigfurry]

Avening,
As a proud owner of two GR mic pre/eq rack units, I agree that besides their incredible sound they also look much better than the Harrison 500 series. It's marketing 101 to have your premium signature line have a similar look, and keep the Harrison look for Harrison products.

Anyhow, I can't wait to try this new creation! Dan makes amazing and unique products that help me make better sounding music. I only have the highest praise. Can't wait!

[mixerguy]

Price ?

[One To One]

Originally Posted by henge

Whoa!!! Anybody hear this?

I haven't had a chance to use the PWM 501's yet, but i've been using Dan's prototype compressor for a while now. It's essentially the same compressor as the 500 version minus the HP filter and variable FF/FB control. This has a five position FF/FB switch instead.

So, how does the prototype sound? I would say it's smooth, full, and clear. With a compression action that can go from gently taming/smoothing to a full on audio assault.

[Grummy77]

The only samples of a PWM compressor I heard seemed incredibly forgiving on the top end. As in most compressors really seem to shave off the sparkle on things like cymbals and hats, but not the PWM comp I heard. It was smooth all across the board and no damage to the sparkle up top. In your experience do you think this GR comp fits that sort of description?

I have high hopes on this.

Price?!

[dandeurloo]

I thought I would post a picture of what I have been using on some mixes this week. These are serial #'s 1 & 2! They sound really really great and I'm very excited to have them. Thus the reason for posting the picture.

So far I have used them on drums, bass, acoustic guitar and vocals. They are very flexible with a very nice tone. A few things I have noticed they stand out on.

1. You can see in the photo of the one on the right. I have it set to be a peak limiter. I'm using that one on a peaky acoustic guitar just grabbing some of the peaks. Works like a charm.

2. Another stand out for me has been how you can control the groove/length of the bass and drums. The PWM 501's do this better than any of my other compressors I have. I love this about them, so much so that I haven't used them on other things as much as I should have by now!

3. Because of how flexible these are they work really well in series with another compressor. So if you are trying to do the classic 1176 into a LA 2a and don't have one or the other. These would work really well filling in either type of gap. I personally do series compression a lot instead of one compressor doing all the heavy lifting.

Once I get done with these current mixes I will test them out on the mix buss. I'm sure the variable HPF will be extremely handy on the mix buss.

As far as the tone goes, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when I first heard them. The PWM compressors I have heard have a wide range in tone. The Pye comps are very colored (love them) and the Cranesong STC-8 is very transparent (love it). I would say the tone of the PWM 501 isn't overly colored or transparent (kind of like the GR Harriosn EQ, just right). These are gonna become work horses around here.

Oh, the variable feed forward and feedback is a cool tonal shaping feature. I actually forget about it sometimes and need to play with it more than I have but so far it has been a quick and easy adjustment. I like features like that!

Another great product from Great River.

[Grummy77]

Sweet!!!
Thanks for the mini review. Can't wait to hear more.
I wonder how much these are going to to for when available. Any word on that yet?

[drBill]

Nice!!! The 500 series just got a huge boost. Look forward to hearing these bad boys!!

[henge]

I want this...BIGTIME

[ionian]

Thanks for waking this back up, Dan. I had completely forgotten about this (and I posted in this thread back in November! haha) but now that you reminded me, I can't wait to check these out and hear more.

One question - what does the PWM knob do? Does that affect the compression element somehow?


Thanks,
Frank

[warhead]

Originally Posted by drBill

Nice!!! The 500 series just got a huge boost. Look forward to hearing these bad boys!!

I look forward to receiving them too, let us know when we can get some Dan!

War

[dandeurloo]

Originally Posted by ionian

Thanks for waking this back up, Dan. I had completely forgotten about this (and I posted in this thread back in November! haha) but now that you reminded me, I can't wait to check these out and hear more.

One question - what does the PWM knob do? Does that affect the compression element somehow?


Thanks,
Frank

The Red Knob is the makeup gain. The PWM is part of the name PWM 501.

[henge]

Actually I'll wait for the 19 incher. No 500's here and I don't want to start a lunchbox because I'll be broke in a month!!LOL

[ionian]

Originally Posted by dandeurloo

The Red Knob is the makeup gain. The PWM is part of the name PWM 501.

Ah! Ok, I see it now! lol...I thought the words, "Output level" was for the meter!

Thanks again,
Frank