Buzz SOC-1.1

[Neve Sucks!]

Any verdict on this compressor?
I´d like to try one. It looks cool!

Tim,
Where can I get on hold of one? I´m located in Gothenburg, SWEDEN.
PM me.
Also. are you planning any compressors to your 8ch rack?

Thanks!

[Neve Sucks!]

Well,
I just saw this!!!!!
WOW!!!!!stike stike

[Tim Farrant]

Hi Neve Sucks !!

That screen name has always made me laugh. To try the SOC in Sweden get hold of...

Estrad Musik
Folkungegatan 54 102 61
Stockholm, Sweden.
Contact Mr Stefan Fanden
T +8-505 950 00
F +8-505 950 01

mailto:stefan@estradmusik.se

The ARC Recording Channel is still in development, but basically you have a Hi-speed Mic Pre, Opto Compressor (SOC), a new FET Peak Limiter and new 4 band EQ. Each section of the EQ can be switched into the Compressor sidechain or into the audio path. Any EQ section switched to OUT is available as a seperate I/O on the rear panel and this applies to the Compressor/Limiter as well.

Since this mock up was done, I am toying with the idea of ditching the big VU and adding LED meters with more range, and freeing up some panel space.

There are several direct outputs available making t is possible to use the ARC as a seperate Mic Pre, Instrument DI, EQ and Compressor all at the same time !!

Not ready yet but getting closer...

Thanks for your interest..
Tim

[Neve Sucks!]

Yeah, the A.R.C looks super fly!
Looks like you´ve covered all possible settings. I can´t think of more features right now. You´ve got goodies like variable impedance, saturation......
Make the eq smoooth like an old Helios or something and you got your self a winning channel strip!!!!

[cymatics]

[i]Originally posted by Neve Sucks!
Make the eq smoooth like an old Helios or something

Hey Tim, what was the design objective with the eq? neutral/surgical? colored? etc

Is it based on (or in the vein of) any 'classic' designs?



Great looking peice by the way.

- jon

[thethrillfactor]

Originally posted by Neve Sucks!
Any verdict on this compressor?
I´d like to try one. It looks cool!

Thanks!

The compressor is great on background vocals and acoustic guitars(solo and stereo).

Sometimes its a great choice on a lead vocal mixdown.

Its nice unit for the money.

[Tim Farrant]

Originally posted by cymatics
Hey Tim, what was the design objective with the eq? neutral/surgical? colored? etc Is it based on (or in the vein of) any 'classic' designs?

Well I suppose it can be both surgical and smooth, the mid bands have a fairly tight Q available, it varies from about 2 octaves down to 1/4 oct. The shelving sections are a modified Baxandall type, very smooth. We are currently experimenting with different type pots to acheive a nice feeling control so you can do fine boost/cut.

I was thinking of adding an "air" type eq as well, boost at 25Khz, does anybody find this sort of control useful ? To be honest I've never really used them myself.

Any other ideas for features most welcome !! - it's not too late, but will be in a couple of weeks when we lock down the final design.

Cheers
Tim

[faeflora]

For the 20K+ eqing, I mostly find it useful to get the curve I'm looking for below 20K. Like if I boost at 22db with a low Q I can get the lift I want around 18.

[epicenter800]

Tim - an airband eq would be killer. It would definitely be the cherry on top. Any ideas on pricing, yet? I can't wait til it becomes available!

[Drumsound]

Tim,

Any plans to put out a stereo Peak Limiter based on the one in the channel strip?

[cymatics]

Originally posted by The Buzz
I was thinking of adding an "air" type eq as well, boost at 25Khz, does anybody find this sort of control useful ? To be honest I've never really used them myself.

Any other ideas for features most welcome !! - it's not too late, but will be in a couple of weeks when we lock down the final design.

I find an 'air band' most useful on the 2 bus as opposed to individual tracks, so I don't know how much use I'd get out of it on a 'channel strip'.

I like the idea of the 2 mid bands of the eq section covering 4.5 octaves with a x10 for an additional 4.5. My only suggestion would be to have the two mid bands staggered a bit, eg.:

mid band 1 - 20 Hz to 480 Hz (+ x10)
mid band 2 - 830Hz to 2000 Hz (+ x10)

That way you can play the shelfing filters off the parametrics (steep roll-off at 60 Hz with a tight sharp bump at 50Hz). But then again, I'm a complete lush when it comes to extreme eq'ing, so others may not find that feature so useful?

Oh yeah, to second Drumsound's inquiry, I'd be very curious to hear if a 2 channel stand alone version of the FET limiter section would be feasible? Of course I haven't heard it, but the idea definitely intrigues me!

- jon

[Tim Farrant]

Originally posted by Drumsound
Tim,
Any plans to put out a stereo Peak Limiter based on the one in the channel strip?

Yes I have thought about that, obviously we need more controls, ratio, attack etc etc... But, there seems to be a proliferation of FET limiters available already - does the world need another ?? What can we do to make it stand out from the crowd ?

Jon, thanks for the feedback on the midbands, there is some merit in your idea. Being able to get down to 40Hz on the mid might be useful.

Look out for the udated version in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks all for the feedback so far....
Tim

[faeflora]

Hi Tim. When you designed the Buzz SOC, did you aim for a classic opto sound in both slope and distortion characteristics? I'm just curious if you ended up making whatever sounded cool to your ears or if you used other opto comps as a reference.

[Tim Farrant]

Originally posted by faeflora
Hi Tim. When you designed the Buzz SOC, did you aim for a classic opto sound in both slope and distortion characteristics? I'm just curious if you ended up making whatever sounded cool to your ears or if you used other opto comps as a reference.

Well I have always liked the Urei LA3 response but found it a bit limited because you could not adjust the release and ratio. So the idea behind the SOC was to come up with an opto compressor that had more control and faster attack.

I experimented with different types of LED-LDR elements that are available off the shelf but decided I needed to build my own to get the sound I was looking for. I ended up with 4x LDR's illuminated by a quad LED light block. The light block is driven differentially, sort of like a Class A/B power amp, so 2x LDRs control the positive audio peaks and the other 2 control the negative. This arrangement gave me the best sounding compression to my ears.

I also came up with a way to speed up the LDR's inherent slow attack time - but how I did this shall remain a secret for now !!

The end result is cleaner sounding than the LA3, but it's possible to hammer the thing and get some pretty wicked vocal sounds. The faster than normal attack time makes the SOC usable on the 2 buss IMO, and I use it a lot for this task, but generally no more than 6dB gain reduction on a 5:1 ratio, makes things sit nice.

Hey, thanks for your interest people.

Cheers
Tim

[faeflora]

I just read about the LED backlighting for the meters. Cool! No more bulbs!

[StuartMac]

I also love this compressor, and regularly use it on the 2-buss, although I prefer only to take two or three dB off the 2-buss generally with ANY unit. I also love the Buzz for tracking bass and often lead vocals as well. And clean guitar. And acoustic. And squashing room mics.......

[robot gigante]

I was wondering about the SOC- 1.1 on the 2-bus, so it's good to hear opinions about 2- bus use. Does it cloud things up a bit with a couple db's of compression or is it a fairly transparent piece?

[thethrillfactor]

Originally posted by robot gigante
I was wondering about the SOC- 1.1 on the 2-bus, so it's good to hear opinions about 2- bus use. Does it cloud things up a bit with a couple db's of compression or is it a fairly transparent piece?

Didn't like it as much on the 2 bus.

I like it better on individual instruments though.

It definitely has its sound.

The words that come to mind are clean and flashy.