Atomisonic Dyno ray thing

[bigatomicmonster]

Hey pardner, don't forget that Tandy is from Fort Worth. Right up the cowpath from you!

I love this quote I got from Wikipedia:

In 1962, Radio Shack was purchased by the Tandy Corporation, which was originally a leather goods corporation, and renamed Tandy Radio Shack & leather.

Also from Wikipedia:

Tandy began in 1919 as a family leather business.

Sounds disturbing.

I'm reminded of the leather-costumed Gimp character from Pulp Fiction, available as an action figure in finer stores everywhere:

[blackdiscoball]

I'm reminded of the leather-costumed Gimp character from Pulp Fiction, available as an action figure in finer stores everywhere:

Just what the kids need. Bondage toys! Atleast now they have some ammo to talk about during therapy!

[trodden]

wow, never made the connection with Tandy Radio shack and Tandy Leather... which is funny.. cause those two stores were my favorite as a kid.

[RefD]

Tandy no longer has anything to do with Radio Shack and hasn't for years.

Tandy Brands Accessories (what remains of the old Tandy) is headquartered in the same building my wife works in (she works for a financial company) and is quickly going out of business.

[T-rex]

Doh, of course the TI is for Texas Instruments. I thought Tandy, Radio Shack and TI were all the same conmpany back in the day. I did not have the voice module, but I do have a bunch of cassette tapes with basic programming data saved on them. I have to find those and record those for later use. And the game Parsec, which as I recal rocked.

BTW, I am psyched to hear the Atomic Dyno Ray. I can't say I am familiar with the Level Loc, but from the description of the Dyno Ray it sounds interesting.

[kingmetal]

Here's kind of a dumb question - having never used the Shure unit and not having the pleasure of using a lot of outboard gear in my life, how does this thing stack up to, say, an 1176? It's one of the few outboard comps I've ever used and the simplicity of this box reminded me of the 1176, which I absolutely love using. Is it an apples-to-oranges comparison?

The price seems good, so if the TOMBers give it the thumbs up I'll put it on my wishlist!

[creature.of.habit]

Is that Jim Carey?

CG

kevin bacon.

[cgarges]

Is it an apples-to-oranges comparison?

Yep. The level Loc is nothing like any other compressor I've ever used. It's pretty much a one-trick pony, but it's a cool-ass trick. I think the Atomic box has the potential for being a much more flexible-type thing. If it's like all the claims, it'll still kind of be this one-trick pony, but easier to fit into different mixes. WIth the Level Loc, which is a not-at-all subtle "destroy it" kind of box with a fixed release, it either works or it doesn't. I think with the Atomic unit, the variable release time and line level input will make it much more flexible in terms of making that one trick the right sort of thing.

The Level Loc is often a really misunderstood box by those who haven't heard it.

Check out "Birthday" by Suzanne Vega. The backwards-sounding cymbals at the end are the byproduct of a Level Loc.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[bigatomicmonster]

Here's kind of a dumb question - having never used the Shure unit and not having the pleasure of using a lot of outboard gear in my life, how does this thing stack up to, say, an 1176? It's one of the few outboard comps I've ever used and the simplicity of this box reminded me of the 1176, which I absolutely love using. Is it an apples-to-oranges comparison?

The price seems good, so if the TOMBers give it the thumbs up I'll put it on my wishlist!

Hi Kingmetal,

Good question. The 1176, Level-Loc and the Dynoray are all FET-based feedback compressors. So they share the same basic "engine" type for compressing. But the way the Level-Loc and Dynoray do gain-staging is different than for the 1176.

Chris's explanation is a good one for describing the end result of their audio processing. The Level-Loc is pretty much a one-trick pony, but it is one heck of a useful trick. Application-wise, the trick can be used in a lot of the same places you might use an "all-buttons in" 1176 or a Distressor on Nuke, like on a snare or drum room mic, or as a drum buss compressor to add color.

Chris is also right on the Level-Loc being misunderstood. It's compression effect is unlike any compressor. It's incredibly fast to attack and pull down the signal, then does a slow release. The effect is a very strong "blooming" of the sound. You can tune that blooming in so that it's subtle, or to the point where it sounds like things are being played in reverse.

Sometimes the Level-Loc doesn't work to well in these applications. It had only one release time. So if you were trying to match its release on a drum aux to match a particular tempo, you might be out of luck.

So to make it much more useful, one of the first things we added to the Dynoray was a variable release time control, called "Decay" (After all, it is a Dynamic Death Ray. Decay seemed fitting). The Dynoray's release time can range from twice as fast as the Level-Loc (great for snares on fast tempo tunes) to twice as fast (which is looooong). Also like the 1176 and other FET compressors, the release time is also affected by the input volume. Those two controls are the most important for tuning in the right envelope. So we made put two big machine-metal knobs on the left side of the box for easy access. Because you'll be wanting to twist them the most.

Another thing the Dynoray shares with treasured versions of the 1176, but was missing from the Level-Loc is a class A discrete transistor line amp output stage. That drives both the unbalanced output and the balanced output. Aside from the functionality of those two output types, that also gives you two sound characteristics two choose from. The unbalanced output is straight from the line amp, but the balanced output goes through the line amp and then through a very hefty steel transformer from Cinemag. It's a big sucker, and tall. Luckily it just barely fit in the single space rack enclosure. It adds some "iron" to the sound.

Unlike the 1176, you can also use the Dynoray as a mic preamp and as DI for instruments like guitar, bass, and keyboards.

And with the "Disintegrate" mode, you can use the Dynoray as a super distortion box, pumping out class A transistor fuzz like nobody's business! It's a fun effect, because along with the distortion, the box is still shaping the signal with just a bit of its unique compression curve. It's a lot of fun playing through it with my old Beatle-bass.