ART Pro VLA II

[PelliX]

Hi there,

I've got a lead on a cheap ART Pro VLA II, presumed to be fully functional, etc. For most of my compression in the studio I'm using a TL 1295 (plugin) and some outboard DBX units. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with these units and can comment on their actual day to day performance? It looks like a nice bit of kit and the reviews I've seen are favorable, but we all know that's not everything.

Any feedback?

 

[Whizzercone]

It's a $400 compressor with tubes that don't really do anything. If it is really cheap and you really need another hardware compressor maybe. It might be ok for $100, but you can buy a few plug in comps for that money that are probably going to sound better and can be used on more than one thing at a time. FWIW YMMV

 

[PelliX]

It's a $400 compressor with tubes that don't really do anything.

I was wondering about that, we all know the Chinese "LED behind the valve things"... I would be a little surprised to see ART doing exactly that. How much "dem toobs colour teh sound" as they outline, I'm not so sure. Might be fun to roll a few weird ones through there and see if anything does any 'miracles'.

If it is really cheap and you really need another hardware compressor maybe.

They're just shy of 600 (euros) new here, I'm looking at picking this up for 300. I was actually looking at stereo/dual 1176 kits, but there don't seem to be any. Sacrificing 4U and about 1K for two homebrew 1176's doesn't really grab me. There are a couple of stereo models that obviously cost a deal more, but you end up paying a lot for whatever name is on there and the design rather than the guts.

It might be ok for $100, but you can buy a few plug in comps for that money that are probably going to sound better and can be used on more than one thing at a time. FWIW YMMV

I try to steer clear of (paid) plugins, plus I'm on Linux so the VST support is meager at best. You do make valid points, obviously.

Have you actually every played around with one and put it through its paces?

 

[Mike_LA]

No experience with them but I looked in my local market and the price seems ok.

 

[Trelwheen]

The ART Pro VLA is a well-known sleeper in "outlaw" audio engineer circles. It's an optical compressor, very forgiving. It does a great job whether you're just wanting to smooth a few transients or smash the crap out of something. The starved plate tubes are in the audio path and do their job adding a smoky satin sheen to your tracks if desired.

I've used one for years on dozens of projects. In my opinion they are well worth the price, even new. I've got lots of other compressors and limiters at up to $3,500 / channel and the VLA still gets fired up for anything I want to embellish with some of that uniquely serious color and character.

 

[PelliX]

It does a great job whether you're just wanting to smooth a few transients or smash the crap out of something.

That's good to hear. I'm a little miffed about the lack of side-chaining but I have other gear for that if need be, indeed.

The starved plate tubes are in the audio path and do their job adding a smoky satin sheen to your tracks if desired.

I've been unable to get any voltages/specs, so I guess that's a case of 'find out'. At least I won't have to rip it out of the the rack every month to put in new valves...

I've used one for years on dozens of projects. In my opinion they are well worth the price, even new.

This is what I was looking for! Well, not an endorsement per se, but hands on experience. Lovely, thanks!

 

[Trelwheen]

Glad it was helpful. Go grab that thing

 

[PelliX]

Glad it was helpful. Go grab that thing

Working on it, man! People are slow to respond sometimes.

I'll use this time to score a schematic and check I have replacement parts... The last seven or so purchases of equipment second hand have been defective contrary to the description provided by the seller... Last case in point was a Tek scope from '87 that had been re-capped. Well, received in what looked near mint condition. Display was a little dodgy on the focus, you could either have the edges or the center focused. Oh well, nearly 40 year old CRT, what do you expect, right? Well, after implementing a rudimentary GPIB/serial interface I managed to get full control of the scope and was able to snag 'screenshots' from it. Then it died with a bang and the smell of electrolyte. Ripped it open (my preliminary inspection had had it out of the case but I hadn't removed the outer layer of boards to get inside). Well, I was greated by an exploded Mallory cap and a few more bulging. Shotgunned the lot of that type. Of about 10-12 caps, 3 still measured in spec but were a little leaky, the rest were well gone. Replaced them and buttoned it up - now the focus is fine, too. What they meant by "re-capped" is that someone snipped the original line filter cap (that went bang) and top-side tacked on a new one. The blast mark that melted the jacket on one of the primary filter cans was still there.... TL;DR if people were just honest about something being buggered or on the verge of failing - fine. I'll take on gear like that at the right price. Love it.

 

[ido1957]

Friend bought one when we first began recording. Had a much better result with Presonus unit and stopped using the ART.

 

[PelliX]

Friend bought one when we first began recording. Had a much better result with Presonus unit and stopped using the ART.

What kind of Presonus? I've heard they had a couple of decent series, but I've never seen anyone really rave about them. Their interfaces and preamps however attract some positive feedback.

 

[Trelwheen]

Working on it, man! People are slow to respond sometimes.

I'll use this time to score a schematic and check I have replacement parts... The last seven or so purchases of equipment second hand have been defective contrary to the description provided by the seller... Last case in point was a Tek scope from '87 that had been re-capped. Well, received in what looked near mint condition. Display was a little dodgy on the focus, you could either have the edges or the center focused. Oh well, nearly 40 year old CRT, what do you expect, right? Well, after implementing a rudimentary GPIB/serial interface I managed to get full control of the scope and was able to snag 'screenshots' from it. Then it died with a bang and the smell of electrolyte. Ripped it open (my preliminary inspection had had it out of the case but I hadn't removed the outer layer of boards to get inside). Well, I was greated by an exploded Mallory cap and a few more bulging. Shotgunned the lot of that type. Of about 10-12 caps, 3 still measured in spec but were a little leaky, the rest were well gone. Replaced them and buttoned it up - now the focus is fine, too. What they meant by "re-capped" is that someone snipped the original line filter cap (that went bang) and top-side tacked on a new one. The blast mark that melted the jacket on one of the primary filter cans was still there.... TL;DR if people were just honest about something being buggered or on the verge of failing - fine. I'll take on gear like that at the right price. Love it.

Holy bat smoke !!

I've been ripped off a time or two on used gear. But considering I've bought lots of it over the years I guess I've done ok overall.

Somebody above mentioned PreSonus. They make several different starved plate pres, channel strips and comps. I haven't used any of them but I have a buddy across town who has several PreSonus pieces in his recording rig and his tracks sound pretty good to me. Might be worth checking out

Also look at Bellari. I understand they're not making Pro audio gear anymore but they made some really good low end pres and comps. I still have a pair of their MP 105 tube preamps. They are ideal if you want something puffed up with lots of color, and they're great for bass guitar.

 

[PelliX]

Holy bat smoke !!

Reel to reel, "perfect working order". Caps knackered, one belt gone, even the motor run cap... was dodgy, VU light dead, etc. All fixed up and in use, even yesterday.

Insulation tester, "good as new". Half the buttons dead, would not operate, though it did have the clingfilm on the display, so the 'new' bit wasn't a lie. Cleaned button pad and circuit board with alcohol. Flawless ever since.

Multimeter, "good as new, batteries not included". Segment of buttons didn't work or work correctly. Inspected, shortened two leads that never got snipped (one was touching the button traces on the board). Cleaned button pad and board with alcohol. Flawless ever since.

HP 54600A, "perfect working condition, no probes". Well, bit skewed picture and buttons 2 and 3 under the screen didn't work. Re-calibrated CRT and traced a fault in the display button board to a break between two layers of the board at a handover point. Bypassed trace and re-did the bozo's attempt at fixing another section of the board that was fine. Working fine since (and I can play Tetris).

Tektronix 2430... oh yeah, I mentioned that one.

A total of three Alesis DM-5 drum modules. All advertised as working perfectly. The first one had jacks corroded so badly I had to work at them for an hour with Peek, pipecleaners, rust solvent, etc. Then found out the opamps on the trigger inputs were mostly blown. Figured I could hang it on the MIDI bus and use it as a drum sampler. Removed some of the jacks, shorted a bunch of traces to prevent the trigger inputs from flapping. Joy, internal battery was dead. Desoldered and replaced it. Also removed the ugly hack that had resulted in a monstrosity of a headphone output flapping in the breeze together with the volume pot because some harry hacker couldn't get the pot in the board or open the front panel assembly. Fixed all that. It works now, but it's on spare unless I need a slave unit for the second DM-5 (they can do a nifty MIDI overflow thing). Oh and it's missing the volume knob (that one never needs) but one can acces the pot.

2nd DM-5 was advertised as working perfectly. Had to replace filter caps to get it work reliably. Another front panel assembly where the headphone jack had come loose. Just tightening and reassembly was enough. Guess what, CMOS battery was nearly dead. Replaced, working. Older ROM version (and a different chip) to the other. Not a problem for me, but I wanted two as to give my drummer one for his e-kit and the newer revisions fixed some trigger bugs. No update path. Fine, works for me.

3rd DM-5, again advertised as working perfectly. This was was actually in good shape except for some dust and the CMOS battery being dead. As I bought it from a company vs a private seller I dropped the guy a friendly message outlining that I'd just replaced the battery and I was fine with it, but that he might want to check that on units of this age because most customers aren't like me. He agreed and we had a laugh.

You starting to get the picture?

 

[ElvisNixon]

I know this is a lot more expensive than the ART, but is handmade in the USA and they use quality parts including a seemingly endless supply of vintage NOS components, check out the Audioscape Engineering AS78 which is a faithfully executed UREI 1178 with modern features added that are very nice (like a sidechain).

Audioscape makes a range of gear based on vintage gear with just the right twists. They are inexpensive compared to a lot of popular brands. I have an original 1178 and a AS78 and I reach for the AS78 a lot of the time. They also make a 240V/50Hz version. I own several of their products and they all sound great. It’s worth saving up for for sure. Here’s a pic with the 1178 in the top of the rack:



Here’s their website: Audioscape AS78 Stereo Limiting Amplifier

I am not affiliated with Audioscape other than being a happy customer.

 

[PelliX]

Audioscape makes a range of gear based on vintage gear with just the right twists. They are inexpensive compared to a lot of popular brands. I have an original 1178 and a AS78 and I reach for the AS78 a lot of the time. They also make a 240V/50Hz version. I own several of their products and they all sound great. It’s worth saving up for for sure. Here’s a pic with the 1178 in the top of the rack:

That's a sexy compressor rack you have there!

As you probably read, I've been looking at 1176's and other compressors by various companies (or even kits, actually). My problem is finding a solution that doesn't cost and arm and a leg while ideally combining two channels in 2U. The AS78 sure is a sexy looking piece of kit, and maybe "an arm and a leg" is not fair. Damn it, now I'm wondering...!

To be continued.