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What You Need to Know About the SSL and 1176 Compressors
The SSL and 1176 compressors have been wildly popular since their inception.
That’s why it’s so surprising that two of their most unique characteristics have often gone without mention.
If you’ve used these compressors, or intend to do so in the future, read along to know some strange but incredibly important facts about how they function.
SSL Compressor
Setting a higher ratio may even compress less, considering the automatic threshold adjustments are not exact.
It’s common knowledge that if you increase the ratio on a compressor, the amount compressed should increase as well. This is of course, if the threshold and other settings remain the same.
When it comes to the SSL compressor, increasing the ratio won’t lead to an increase in gain reduction. So what’s happening here?
It turns out that in both the hardware and software emulations of the compressor, changing the ratio automatically alters the threshold, in an attempt to keep gain reduction the same.
This is due to the designer’s desire to allow the engineer to hear the compression equally across ratios. This may be helpful to some, but if you didn’t know this fact, you may have compressed either more or less than you intended.
Keep this in mind the next time you use the SSL compressor. Set the ratio first and then dial in your other settings - otherwise you may compress too much or too little.
1176 Compressor
The attack range's from 20 microseconds to 800 microseconds. Setting 7 being the fastest, and 1 the slowest. The release, 50ms to 1.1s.
This compressor is so popular, that an emulation of it is a ProTools stock plugin. Odds are you’ve used this plugin, or the hardware.
What you may not have noticed is the peculiar choice in attack and release settings.
Logically speaking, if you increase the attack or release settings, the actual release and attack times should increase too.
Well, if you used the 1176, this may not have been the case.
Turns out the lowest setting on the 1176, in this case the number 1, represents the longest attack and release times. Conversely the number 7, represents the shortest attack and release times.
So if you’ve been wondering if your 1176’s gain reduction meter is broken, it’s not.
Conclusion:
The engineers behind some of the greatest pieces of audio equipment weren’t known for their shortage of creativity. Perhaps that’s why some of these strange and unique design choices made it into their gear. Keep an eye out for these designs, since they may make the difference between a great sounding mix, and one that wasn’t compressed correctly.
Have you ever come across a strange design choice in audio?
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
