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Another inexpensive 1176 clone has hit the market...


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Klark Teknik has announced that its 1176-KT FET-style compressor, which marks homage to the classic 1176LN model, is now shipping.

 

The 1176-KT has a modernised and discrete signal path utilising custom-engineered MIDAS input and output transformers.

 

With an easy to operate user interface, the compressor offers three ratios: 4:1 for moderate compression; 8:1 for severe compression: 12:1 for mild limiting; and 20:1 for hard limiting. Additionally, ‘All-button’ mode is included for aggressive vocals and especially effective when applied to drums, bass, guitar and room microphones.

 

An attack knob adjusts the time it takes for the compressor to respond to audio that exceeds the threshold. To accompany this, a release knob adjusts how long the compressor remains engaged after incoming audio falls below the threshold. Similarly to the attack knob, the release knob response time is faster when clockwise and slower when counter-clockwise.

 

An illuminated vintage-style VU meter keeps the 1176-KT in style with the original Klark Teknik processor, applying visual confirmation of gain reduction and output level based on which meter button is selected.

 

The 1176-KT comes in a 2U steel rack mount enclosure for live touring. Neutrik XLR connectors ensure reliable audio connection while a universal power supply with auto-voltage sensing is included for worldwide usability.

 

It is available at a suggested list price of $689.99.

 

 

http://www.music-group.com/Categorie...76-KT/p/P0BR3#

 

 

 

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I'd love to give one (or two) a try...

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Your enthusiasm over it implies you think it would be better than a plug-in?

 

You can't track with a lot of plugins, and a 1176 is a fantastic tracking tool. Sure, it's great for mixing too, but I'm just as likely to want to use one when tracking as I am when mixing...

 

Do I think hardware is better than software? Generally, yes... but each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and I happily use both. Hardware has better interfacing and an immediacy to it, and often it can sound subjectively a bit better, but you're limited in terms of the number of tracks you can use it on - one track per unit at a time. You can post-process multiple tracks if you want to spend the time doing it, but that can be a bit of a pain. With hardware, it's always better if you can have one unit per track you want to use it on, and that can get expensive fast - not to mention it takes a lot of rack space to house it all.

 

The very best plugin stuff, like the Universal Audio DSP-based plugins, is getting closer and closer to the sound of hardware and some of it is really outstanding, but it's still not always dead-on. It does have the advantage of being usable on multiple tracks simultaneously, which is more important when mixing than when tracking.

 

I'm always happy to hear about cool new hardware that is affordable. Especially if it brings classic hardware tools to the hands of people who previously couldn't afford them and who had no idea of how cool / useful they are. The 1176 is one of the world's all-time great compressor/limiter designs IMHO, but they've always been rather expensive (~$2k per channel), and because of that a lot of people have never used one. Will this Klark-Teknik give more people the chance to use a good 1176-style compressor? We won't know until we can hear and use one, but it looks interesting to me, and with a price that low, I hope it turns out to be a solid performer.

 

Of course, there's also Warm Audio's WA76, which is their take on the 1176 and is priced similarly, but I haven't had a chance to try that one out yet either...

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I'd assume that they are instrument level as they are pedals designed mostly for live playing. Question would be are they good enough to track with - possibly with the raw signal also recorded and mixed down through an 1176 plug-in so you can eliminate the possibly suboptimal pedal in post?

 

BTW you implied that an 1176 plug-in would have too much latency to track with. I've not tried it but I'd be surprised if you couldn't get it under 5ms which would be fine with headphones I'd think? A non-look-ahead compressor should have almost zero inherent latency methinks? That begs the question - is there a look-ahead that is 1176-like but more-betterer? ;)

 

I've recently been looking for a pitch shifter with low enough latency and artifacts to use live and am pretty happy with the Digitech Drop. I play short scale basses and tune D or Db standard for different bands where the rest of the band tunes E or Eb. I sometimes (maybe two songs per band) need to tune up to standard to get the open strings I need so was using a capo for that. I'm now trying standard EADG and using the pitch shifter on most all songs, dropping 2,3 or rarely 0 or 1. I'll continue to record without the Drop by retuning as I think it sounds slightly better but I'm not 100% sure of that LOL. Question - is there any free pitch shift plug-ins worth checking out?

 

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