Just would like to say thank you to Pendulum Audio for great customer service.


Last week, I dropped by Les Paul on our OCL-2 and bent the bypass on/off switch to the point it barely makes contact.


Yea I feel so terrible about it!! This is such a beautiful unit!


Anyhow, they sent us a new switch free of charge no hassles, no questions... just advice to be more careful arround the gear lol!


Just thought I'd share that.



Jason

With out any reservation,

Pendulum Audio is my favorite sounding gear made today, the highest level of build quality, and the best customer support. I am their biggest fan.

I just got an OCL-2. It does exactly as "advertised." It's the fastest optical sensor I've ever seen in a compressor, but you can make it be "slow and optical" if you want. But if you want to be semi-aggressive, unlike any other optical unit I've used, you can do it!

And it's extremely transparent, it's hard to make it sound "tubey". That's probably a virtue! I had a custom mod done to give me a variable drive and "tubeyness" and that's working out pretty well.

I'll second the high level of service. I bought a MDP-1 off the Board. The outs are unbalanced and I was having issues running it through the inserts in my front end. I left an e-mail to Pendulum at about 2 a.m. At about 6:30 a.m. I got an e-mail back. From Greg! After a quick exchange of e-mails, we get it up an working just fine. Jeez, what service! I'd have no qualms about buying another unit from Pendulum.thumbsup

This is good to hear. one of the lights just died in a VU on my ES8, will have to email them and see about a replacement. I love the ES8.

Hey Bob out of interest have you ever tried the Buzz Audio SOC 1.1 optical comp. I purchased 1 the other day, but it has'nt arrived yet, not till next week. Anyway I was wondering how the 2 units compare with each other in character of warmth and tone. I was going to buy the Pendulum but found a good deal on the Buzz SOC 1.1 and am unlikely to be able to try the Pendulum OCL2 for a while.

Thanks
Heath

I would like to also chime in on how great Greg Gualtieri and Pendulum Audio are. Superior products and great service from Greg.

As far as I'm concerned, all of you are preaching to the choir!

I have only been enjoying the Pendulum stuff for about a year now, but oh how I am enjoying it! Great sound, great build, great designer.

And price-wise, it's very reasonable for how good it is. You'd expect to pay more, really, like on the level of Fearn, EAR, or Thermionic.

Have any of you Slutz tried the Quartet and/or Quartet II ME? Hands down the best channel-strips out there!

Greg is definitely one the best people in the industry, as a person and as the head of his business. I've tried the Buzz & Pendulum both extensively. Their compressor envelopes are very similar...both have the capability to be lightning fast for an opto. Both are appropriate for two bus or mastering usage. As far as tone goes, there is some common ground at nominal levels. Both are open in the top and ever so slightly euphonic. With the Pendulum being Class A tube it's going to break up differently than the Buzz when pushed hard (were talking about some pretty heavy levels here though, the device before the compressor would have to pump out +22 or more to start hearing any saturation if I recall correctly from experience there is a lot of headroom there). Buzz is going to be releasing an all Class A unit in a 500 series format on the standard 16v rails (no IC's), and also as a standalone unit that will be running on 28v rails in their DCS2.2 unit which will be coupled with their all Class A FET compressor. So Buzz and Pendulum will remain complementary IMO.

Thanks Nathan that was a great rundown, cheers. I'm keen to try it, I can't wait till it gets here. The DCS 2.2 looks and seems like it will be a superb release also the REQ 2.2, keen to try that too. Now if only I were a rich man, haha.

Boys a thread about Pendulum and someone mentions Buzz audio - I think I'm in heaven

I have 2 Pendulums Quartets 1 and I absolutely love both of em. I tried em on 2bus last week and I was really really pleased - those things are pure magic. They sound really BIG. At the moment I'm recording some Vocals with em - I recorded the same singer with a very nice solid state pre - but I was fighting a bit with the "hardness" of those tracks while mixing. With the Pendulums the same singer sounds bigger/fuller now - really great.

Now Buzz: I don't have everything Buzz ever made - I feel so sad about that. I really love every Buzz piece I ever heard. The SOC is pretty new in my collection but I can't mix bass without it anymore. That thing has the right grip without getting mushy on the low end - amazing. I like how the Buzz holds a vocal in the pocket - it compresses witout ever being too obvious. I love it. (note: I never tried to get it pumping away - hmmm - I think I have to try that

I love both companies to pieces heh

Jo

The guys that recorded my album used a lot of Pendulum Audio gear. Everytime I asked, "What is that??!!!!!!???" It was always the same (3) things; 1) Pendulum Compressor, 2) Pendulum Mic Pre, 3) Distressor. That stuff sounds great

Now seriously you guys have to stop - now you come with Empirical Labs.

Stopp it or I write another rave review about the Distressor or the Little Freq heh



Jo

How about the Pendulum Audio PL-2 limiter? I'm considering getting this for mastering.

been thinking of a OCL-2 myself actually. anyone tried this for heavy drums?
opto comp is the sound i'm chasing.

Even with all the praise already in this thread, I feel like I still have to chime in and say how great pendulum is. I bought an OCL-2 used for a great price but ended up having a problem with the right channel that would only show up randomly. When I sent it in, Greg originally couldn't reproduce the problem and just gave it a stereo calibration since it was there already. When I experienced the same problem a while later, Greg felt bad he couldn't reproduce the problem while it was there, and proceded to replace most of the circuitry on the problem channel for absolutely free, even though he still couldn't reproduce the problem. Thant's right, absolutely free. My OCL-2 has worked great ever since. I had no warranty, receipt, etc. and he fixed it for free as if it were in warranty. Not to mention every time I called during business hours I got Greg himself on the phone within a couple rings. That's service folks. I own the Mdp-1a as well, and I recommend anybody who hasn't checked out the pendulum line get out there and try it as it is some of the best sounding gear I own and priced pretty low for what it is. Throw in their amazing customer service and it's a slam dunk.

I have a Pendulum MDP-1a and a Pendulum SPS-1. Most here are familiar witht the MDP-1a, but not the SPS-1. It's designed for gigging use for acoustic instruments, usually acoustic guitar with two pickups, or a pickup and a mic. It's great for live work. Plus it has mic pres and two 3-band fully paramentric eqs. Those work well in the studio too.

OCL-2 + parallel compression on all shells = larger than life




Jason

I have been exceedingly happy with my Pendulum equipment. I especially love the ES-8. I bought one a few years back and it says "VARIABLE MU TUBE LIMITER" on the front plate. Now on Pendulum's website there is no mention of variable mu and they are called "TUBE LIMITER." I wonder if there was a copyright issue with the words "variable-mu" or has the ES-8 changed.

I first bought Pendulum in 1998. Back then, I worked for a studio in Philly (now occupied by a rapper). Whenever I got a good budget, I would buy more Pendulum gear. Greg and I are great friends to this day. Pendulum was the first gear that took me away from my "vintage only" mentality. Eight years later, a million new gear companies popping up, and he is still making the best damn gear out there. The Limiter is the HEAT!!!

I haven't heard the other. Greg makes his own optical sensors which are very fast compared to every other optical sensor, reportedly. But maybe others do, too.

The Pendulum is a transparent-sounding unit, it can warm things up, but very slightly, usually "just enough", and it's very dependent on how much compression and what "speed" you use. Most of the warmth would be achieved through the compression action itself, rather than the electronics, which are very transparent. If you're looking for "creamy" as soon as you plug it in and before even adding any processing, the Pendulum is not the box.

BK

Thanks Bob, I thought you may have had experience with both units,cheers. Did you read Nathan's comparison? Was good.

PL2 great for tracking , just invisible until you get to the ceiling treshold, incredible fast unit, enough to react to snare drum and percussion. For mastering do not compare to software limiters this is a different concept of box good for non clipping the AD's but not a squeeze and volume riser type of limiter like the L2.

Bob has had only a brief experience with the Buzz SOC1.1 @ AES 2004 in SF on stereo program material. Not a great place to properly evaluate a unit, but I do recall he was able to hard bypass the unit I/O and hear the various attack speeds and other various parameters. Bob and Tim Farrant also had a very in depth discussion regarding the new Buzz DCS2.2 Class A compressor also. Both the Pendulum OCL-2 and Buzz SOC1.1 are capable of 1ms attack times.

I'm writing this from a hotel room at the Tape Op convention. Powerbook, wifi, late night caffeine buzz. The convention is over and I'm feeling sort of stirred up and inspired.

Anyway, I own an ES-8, which I consider to be one of nature's miracles. I had a chance to talk to Greg in the exhibit room and share my enthusiasm for his work. The man just... radiates music! Such a genuinely sweet guy. We talked about mastering (which is what I do) and we immediately were waxing rhapsodic about Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie sides! We talked about the role of the mastering engineer as custodian of musical history, which is a topic about which I am fiercely passionate. It was a very brief and inspiring conversation. He looked me in the eye the whole time and it was obvious how much he loves music and how genuinely friendly he is.

It was not an act. It was a not a thinly veiled sales pitch. It was an actual conversation. About how much we both love and respect music.

It's only a matter of time before our entire studio is Pendulum blue. (With a little bit of Fearn red for contrast.) Seriously. All hail Greg Gualtieri!

--- Chad

I second that emotion! Among my top three favorite comps of all time.

Luv it luv it luv it!

Save a space for Pendulum/Mercenary black, too. The Quartet II ME is a Wonder of The World. IMO the best channel strip on the planet.

Sorry...here's a link: Pen Q II ME

Bob - how is the noise level on the OCL-2. Also - would you recommend it for tracking vocals. I was considering a tube tech CL1B but the OCL-2 is 1/2 the price per channel.
THANKS.

Sorry but you as a seller - developer - whatever - have to say something like this. I think it would be wiser to just let the user comment on a thread like this.



Jo

Well I agree with you, and there are many engineers out there using them that would agree with my estimation of the QII or any of the Pendulum stuff. I don't HAVE to say anything I don't believe in. I have heard every channel strip and my honest belief as a recording engineer is that I have never heard better, period. Our Mercenary studio may have access to unlimited gear, but our rack-space IS limited. The QII occupies the top-spot in the preamp rack for a reason. It's always been there, and will continue to be.

But this brings up a bigger credibility question which I have addressed before and will address again.

First I must make very clear (again) that I was an engineer LONG befor I ever sold Pro Audio.

Second, I only chime in on a thread when I feel I have something of value to add, either positive or otherwise.

Third, I regularly post in-support of gear we are not a dealer for. In fact, as a company, we regularly recommend stuff we don't sell. Just a minute ago I was recommending Cubase, Nuendo or Logic to a customer who was wondering about whether to buy ProTools. We don't sell ANY DAWs at all, and he just asked because he values our opinion.

Fourth, if dealers were banned from posting about stuff they're dealers for, well there would be a lot less posting going on. And some of those dealers have much more of an axe to grind than we Mercenary guys.

Fifth, you may not know it, but we are not paid on commision. Our salary is guaranteed, and our job is not to sell, but to give advice and consult. I spend all day helping people find the right solution whether we sell it or not. So I really don't give a flying you-know-what whether you buy it from me or not. It doesn't effect my paycheck one little bit.

Here's the best way to think of Mercenary: We don't like it because we sell it...WE SELL IT BECAUSE WE LIKE IT!

How can I make this a sticky?