Aurora GTC2

I love this compressor! It's so versatile. It has two compressor types - FET and Opto - and even a button to combine the two, making this unit a virtual "Swiss Army Knife."

The FET setting gives you a warm, rich sound with tons of "glue" and harmonics. This sound reminds me of Kings Of Leon, that's very dense and gluey. Great for bass or other low end material.

The Opto setting is more open - think "Explosions In The Sky." It also has more headroom than the FET, yielding a louder signal at the same settings. I use this option a lot for vocals, acoustic guitar or other mid range or high frequency material.

Other pluses about the GTC2 is the fact that you can choose to link both channels via the Stereo button, easily switch between FET and Opto, change the meters to show gain reduction or output, set the attack and release to auto or manual, bypass the compressor or disengage the electronics altogether. All of this, plus the Combine button on each channel allows for some interesting and useful tones and settings.

I've used this compressor on everything from miked sources and line signals, to putting it on the master buss. This is not another Neve clone!