1176 in stero

[hougahn]

Hi, I am looking to get a second 1176 (reissue) and hook them up stereo. I noticed this on the ua website

"1176s are famously funky when it comes to stereo operation. An external stereo adapter (the 1176-SA) is needed if you want your 1176?s attack and release to track together. The pair of 1176s have to be connected and unconnected on the rear of the units with the dedicated 1176-SA RCA connections, which means that switching your units between mono and stereo is done behind your rack. The 1176-SA runs on 9v battery, and therefore causes your meter calibration to drift as the battery loses energy"

this doesnt seem like a big deal to me. is it? i mean what is famously funky. just cause its behind the rack.

someone told me the 2-1176 can sound "pinched" i dont know what that is either.

i do know i love the 1176. It sounds awesome.

[MikeCzech]

I love my 2-1176.. I'm not sure what was meant by the 'pinched' description either, but there is more noticable characteristic in stereo operation.

I could be wrong, but what I'm hearing in stereo operation seems to take on the attributes of both channels parameters summed together, as opposed to one master channel. I'm not 100% sure, but it sure seems that way to me. For example, if each channel is on 8:1, it takes on the characteristics of 16:1 compression. I could be way off, but there is a difference in stereo mode that sounds more like what you'd expect when you cut the parameters in half.

[sthslvrcnfsn]

i tried using two of the single UA 1176s without the coupling device you speak of across a mix one time for fun. I tried to match up the attack and release as best i could, trying to listen for the way the drums and bass reacted. i should've been listening to the vocals. i should've been using something else.

Don't get me wrong, i loved using those when I could (not part of MY setup, i'm poor, refer to the PRO VLA thread), but I mean, I just think they are a one-instrument kind of thing. That mix didn't turn out sounding good because of them, but I love them on guitars like crazy. and vocals. yum.

try it yourself and see.

Man, it's been a year since I've used one of those.
jim!

[Professor]

I can't really speak to the functions of a dual 1176 setup or a 2-1176 as I've not used either.
But what is tricky about sending a stereo source or mix into any 'dual mono' compressor is that your image will drift from side to side as one compressor fires or releases before the other. Even if you have the settings exactly the same or you try to compensate for an uneven stereo signal going in, hell even if you're sending in mono, minor differences in the component tolerances can still shift the image around as one device reacts differently from the other.
In some designs for 1176-style, stereo units, the builders have chosen to use one side of the pair or perhaps one side fed with a mono sum as the trigger for both compression circuits but I don't know if that's how UA is implementing their 2-1176, and I'd be surprised if that is happening between two mono units.

One sure fire solution is to use a sum & difference matrix to hit the two compressors. Here you would duplicate your stereo tracks and sum the L+R signals to one unit (now the "Mid") then invert the R signal on the other pair and sum them as L-R to send to the other unit (now the "Side"). The levels hitting the compressors will be quite different so they will really need to be set to similar settings and then left to run independently, or set so the Mid is triggering the compression for both units. After compression you can decode the two as a typical Mid-Side pair to recover the stereo image. What's nice about this is that any famously funky differences in the channels are shown as subtle variations in the width of the stereo image and not a drift from side to side, which is much harder for listeners to detect. It also gives you a really cool width control over your stereo source or final mix.
There are lots more details on this idea on another thread from a couple week back about MS and phase relationships. And there is some interesting info about it at Ted Fletcher's site since he uses that as a design feature in his stereo compressors.

-Jeremy

[Slider]

I've setup a parallel stereo drum sub using two mono 1176's unlinked.
Maybe I'm just not picky, but it's never bothered me.
If I was running a whole mix through them, I would link them.

[JohnDavisNYC]

I know Michael Brauer uses a pair of 1176s in stereo unlinked... something about that on the gearslutz guest spot he had... someone asked him if he minded the stereo image drift... his reply was something along the lines of 'obviously not, because i use them that way on every record i mix...'

or something like that.... i'm tired... details are escaping me....

cheers,
john

[hougahn]

well thanks for all the good advice. I think i will end up using another 1176 with the stereo adapter, once i can afford it. i've really fallen in love with all the sounds possibly with this compressor. i ran a mix through it in mono just to check it out and it sounded freakin cool.

also, the lamp already burned out. whats the deal with that

anyway
thanks again
matt

[3db@1K]

I've setup a parallel stereo drum sub using two mono 1176's unlinked.
Maybe I'm just not picky, but it's never bothered me.
If I was running a whole mix through them, I would link them.

I am the same way with most of my stereo application of 1176. Although when I choose to use them on a 2mix (which is not often) I will put a tone in a channel at 0 VU and strap each 1176 accross it and set the output accordingly to o VU. Then set the input so they sound as if they are working togther.