Distressor Brit Mod

tsw · Post by **tsw** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:49 am

I recently had the Brit Mod installed in my Distressor and it had an unexpected side-effect. The 1:1 ratio now compresses really hard when Brit Mod is NOT turned on.

Anyone else have this happen? Doesn?t seem right, does it?

Thanks,
Andy

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 3:45 pm

Mine does this too. I thought this was normal for a Distressor but I'm not really sure??? Anyone know?

Tim

Rivers · Post by **Rivers** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:34 pm

By definition 1:1 is not compressing with or without the brit mode.
The brit mode does make the input meters go crazy though.
The meters may be lighting up but nothing should be getting compressed at 1:1...maybe distorted/added harmonics/ midrange emphasis/but not compression.

BTW the Distressors are great but the meters have tendency to lie about what is going on.
Rely on your ears not your eyes when dialing in the Distressor

tsw · Post by **tsw** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:39 pm

Rivers wrote:By definition 1:1 is not compressing with or without the brit mode.
The brit mode does make the input meters go crazy though.
The meters may be lighting up but nothing should be getting compressed at 1:1...maybe distorted/added harmonics/ midrange emphasis/but not compression.

BTW the Distressors are great but the meters have tendency to lie about what is going on.
Rely on your ears not your eyes when dialing in the Distressor

Here's the thing: Like I said, it's compressing really hard at 1:1 with Brit Mode turned off. Not only are the meters telling me this, my EARS are confirming it.

For whatever it's worth (not that it has anything to do with the original question), I've never found the meters to be inacurrate.

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:17 pm

abrawner wrote:
Rivers wrote:By definition 1:1 is not compressing with or without the brit mode.
The brit mode does make the input meters go crazy though.
The meters may be lighting up but nothing should be getting compressed at 1:1...maybe distorted/added harmonics/ midrange emphasis/but not compression.

BTW the Distressors are great but the meters have tendency to lie about what is going on.
Rely on your ears not your eyes when dialing in the Distressor
Here's the thing: Like I said, it's compressing really hard at 1:1 with Brit Mode turned off. Not only are the meters telling me this, my EARS are confirming it.

For whatever it's worth (not that it has anything to do with the original question), I've never found the meters to be inacurrate.

it definatly SOUNDS like it is compressing when it is doing it. sometime pretty hard. i don't even remember if the meters are going off. although i don't hear it all the time. must depend on the settings. i never really paid that much attention to it. i just though it was just one of the distressors quirks. oh, mine does have the brit mod....just for the record.

tim

tsw · Post by **tsw** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:20 pm

Evergreen wrote:it definatly SOUNDS like it is compressing when it is doing it. sometime pretty hard. i don't even remember if the meters are going off. although i don't hear it all the time. must depend on the settings. i never really paid that much attention to it. i just though it was just one of the distressors quirks. oh, mine does have the brit mod....just for the record.

tim

Yeah, mine has it too. In fact, the whole point is that 1:1 never compressed at all before I got Brit Mode. But now that I have Brit Mode, 1:1 compresses really hard with Brit Mode turned off. Weird.

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:28 pm

abrawner wrote:
Evergreen wrote:it definatly SOUNDS like it is compressing when it is doing it. sometime pretty hard. i don't even remember if the meters are going off. although i don't hear it all the time. must depend on the settings. i never really paid that much attention to it. i just though it was just one of the distressors quirks. oh, mine does have the brit mod....just for the record.

tim
Yeah, mine has it too. In fact, the whole point is that 1:1 never compressed at all before I got Brit Mode. But now that I have Brit Mode, 1:1 compresses really hard with Brit Mode turned off. Weird.

i bought mine with the brit mod so i don't really have any idea what it sound like without it. it is really weird though. you would think 1:1 means 1:1.....oh, well.

tim

Rivers · Post by **Rivers** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 6:08 pm

That seems weird.
I bought mine with the Brit mod as well but I've never noticed it compressing in 1:1 although it can mangle the sound depending on how you have it set.

surf's up · Post by **surf's up** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:04 pm

Not to hijack this thread (too much) but when I was researching the disressor, the brit mod was very hyped, and I figured why not go ahead and get it, it doesnt add all that much to the price. Now that I have had my distressor for a few months, I hardly ever use it (the brit mod). It doesnt seem to fit in anywhere. Any suggestions or antecdotes on what situations youve had success with it?

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:17 am

drewkon wrote:Not to hijack this thread (too much) but when I was researching the disressor, the brit mod was very hyped, and I figured why not go ahead and get it, it doesnt add all that much to the price. Now that I have had my distressor for a few months, I hardly ever use it (the brit mod). It doesnt seem to fit in anywhere. Any suggestions or antecdotes on what situations youve had success with it?

The brit mod can really mangle the sound. i love to use it on drum machines. it makes them real crunchy. i tend to use it with WAY more extreme settings than the "all buttons in" mode that is outlined in the little instruction sheet.

tim

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:40 am

Here is a sample of the crunchy drum machine. This is a rough mix of a uncompleted song I was working on. The intro is the raw unprocessed drum machine. The drum machine is doubled in the intro with one set back in time a bit to give it that feel. At 9 seconds it is one drum machine with the full crunch brit mode workin'. I think the second synth at the very end (1:45) was going through distressor in brit mode too. Enjoy!

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/timothywalker/Indiana.mp3

Tim

slowblue · Post by **slowblue** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 5:17 am

That sounds freaking awesome

surf's up · Post by **surf's up** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:16 am

hmm. well that does sound really cool. quite nasty without losing much punch. i use pretty much all acoustic instruments, ive tried it on drum bus and it always seemed to distort things too much. maybe its just a matter of having the right song to use it in.

Russian Recording · Post by **Russian Recording** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 10:57 am

Rivers wrote:By definition 1:1 is not compressing with or without the brit mode.
The brit mode does make the input meters go crazy though.
The meters may be lighting up but nothing should be getting compressed at 1:1...maybe distorted/added harmonics/ midrange emphasis/but not compression.

BTW the Distressors are great but the meters have tendency to lie about what is going on.
Rely on your ears not your eyes when dialing in the Distressor

I had this same problem and asked them about it. If you get the Brit Mod, it in fact does compress in 1:1, which to me was a bit of a dissapointment. This is what they sent me:

Empirical Labs wrote: Your EL8X or Distressor with Brit Mod WILL compress in 1:1! You should have recieved a flyer with the units that describes the functionality and explains that 1:1 on a unit with Brit Mode, is now a ratio... even with the Brit Mode Toggle switch OFF.

The Brit Switch also will affect all ratios when ON. Inside the unit is a jumper which can turn off compression when in 1:1, however, you will no longer have the "ALL BUTTONS IN 1176 RATIO" available. From what you have said, your unit seems to be working properly.

The 1:1 on a Distressor with Brit Mode always functions as a ratio, but is explicitly tailored to sound like the LN1176 with all buttons IN, (THE Brit Mode), when the Brit Mode Toggle Switch is ON. With the Brit Mode Toggle Switch OFF, 1:1 becomes a non-specified ratio, which is quite steep, but still has a nice KNEE.

Thanks for purchasing an Empirical Labs Product!

Empirical Labs

Doublehelix · Post by **Doublehelix** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:25 am

OK...so help me to understand this a bit better...

When I switch in the Brit Mod, the compression is taking place as a 1:1 ratio no matter what the compression ratio is set to?

Also, with the Brit Mod version, there is some compression going on at 1:1, with or *without* the Brit Mod engaged???

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