Warm Audio WA76 in all analog home studio setup: any good?

[gio153]

Hi! I'm new here!

Not sure if I'm at the right place, but I'm looking for opinions here: I am looking at a Warm Audio WA76 Limiting Amp / Compressor - is it any good in an analog setup? Reviews on the net are pretty convincing. I'm looking to beef up drums, but maybe guitar and bass will need it too.

PS I'm into the hot recorded, late 60's raw soul/funk sound and still learning in setting up a home studio. Any comments or tips would be greatly appreciated...

Bonus question, as I'm a total newbie: are there perks to record the compressed signal, or would it be better to use the compressor after its original signal has been recorded (provided there's an extra track available, or at mixdown?). Hope the question is clear Thanks for any info!

Erik

[I'm Painting Again]

I just checked it out..looks fantastic especially for the price compared with an 1176..but it's hard to tell without using it for sure

I have the Orban 418a that's a stereo limiter that is similar to this..like an 1178..but with a Mu control..the limiting on it is cool..the circuit has a softening effect on the high and mid frequencies that really makes the sound easy on the ears..quite remarkable

so maybe if you can find one you can be squishing on the cheap because I think when they appear they're not very expensive..

aye-aye-aye just went to ebay..looks like the days of "sleeper" gear for cheap are a distant memory..

anyway..

yea it'd be good in an analog setup, it's an analog piece that fits into the workflow perfectly

perks ?!?!

this depends who you ask.

"I can run my signal through this thing like 7 times and it sounds so distorted and cool..it was perfect for that rock guitar line"

"good grief this thing is terrible..one pass and my beautiful french horn turned into a swarm of bees..F that thing"

if you're looking for "fattening" running it through on tracking and then mixing will add more distortions than using it just in one place..

this comes at the sacrifice of fidelity (faithfulness to the source)

all subjective

overall..

in essence you got the sound of the circuit and the sound of the limiting effect..

theoretically some old cheap hi-fi amp or tube preamp, etc. etc. and a computer plug-in limiter could get you something similar in sound (though more of a pain/longer to set up and track/mix with)

the one box in the rack and hooked to a patch bay setup is all about convenience and speed

not particularly about sound quality

[gio153]

Yo, thanks for the reply. Looked into the Orban 418a, looks like an expensive vintage unit indeed haha.

Good point about the distortion used when compressing multiple times... I should definitely try that!

[I'm Painting Again]

graag gedaan

harmonic distortion is a significant in "musical" sound fattening. Like when you put something to tape and it sounds the way it does a big part of that is the addition of the distortions of the root frequencies of the notes and their associated overtones.

so if the device distorts "musically" you get what equates to more body.

the other part is the volume play of the comp/limiting effect and that can but not in all cases equate to a "fatter" sound.

The harmonic content of an overdriven tube amplifier consists primarily of 2nd order and 3rd order harmonics with some 4th order harmonics. The harmonic content of an overdriven transistor amplifier is primarily 3rd order with suppressed 2nd order harmonics. 2nd and 3rd order harmonics are the most important from a viewpoint of electronic distortion. Musically the 2nd harmonic is an octave above the fundamental and is almost inaudible, yet it adds body to the sound, making it fuller. The 3rd harmonic is a musical 12th. Instead of making the tone fuller, a strong 3rd harmonic makes the tone softer. The odd harmonics (3rd, 5th, etc.) produce a "stopped" or "covered" sound. The even harmonics (2nd, 4th, etc.) produce a "choral" or "singing" sound. Adding a 5th to a strong 3rd harmonic give the sound a metallic quality that gets annoying in character as the amplitude increases. A strong 2nd with a strong 3rd harmonic tends to open the "covered" effect. Adding the 4th and 5th harmonics to this gives an "open horn" character. The higher harmonics, above the 7th, give the tone "edge" or "bite."

[mechanic]

my $0.02 (I'm a hobbyist, not pro by any means)


I bought a wa76... and I had told myself that I wouldn't buy inexpensive clones of gear anymore... because I'd rather have less gear but gear that is high quality.

I was shocked at how noisy this thing was. (I've never used a _real_ 1176 to compare) . I also couldn't properly calibrate the meter (even opened it up as the website suggests)...

I wrote Warm about the noise and got a response like (I'm paraphrasing) ... "yeah, it's noisy, but we're sure you can make great recordings with it"... I was disappointed with that response, and I've considered buying another to see if is just as noisy... I sorta regretted not saving up for a distressor...

Notice I said 'buy another'... not 'return it'.

I love what this thing does to a snare. When I use it on a snare I'm like "oh yeah, that's the sound"... BUT I wouldn't track with it... unless I split the signal... because I don't want to only have that noisy signal.

I've played with it on vocals but haven't kept them... it's good for vox (makes them sit right up on top), but didn't suit what I was doing.

I've also crushed some drum room mics with it... it's not my goto for that, but I do like it.

tl;dr : the wa76 is _noisy_ but it has that sound.

[I'm Painting Again]

ohh good to know

on the distressor..it's very clean..not really any self induced noise that's significant in my experience..but i will say that it sounds kinda flat (not 3d) and for me does not work for certain things I want to have a particularly dimensional sound..two in stereo can somewhat remedy that and there are other workarounds to getting it the way I want sometimes..but ya know..annoying..its still pretty darn great and exemplary in certain applications..it can do all the different compressor sounds but lacks in tone a bit..in other words similar to how an EMT plate contrasted with a convolution plate sounds..something like that..take a good listen before you buy because you mentioned high quality over clones..I'd put distressor in the very good clones camp..

[losthighway]

If I had to start all over, one thing I would repeat was buying a DBX 160x for subtle control, and a Symetrix 501 for destroying things. I've never gotten "past" either of those boxes, even with some cool Chandler pieces, and a Retro Sta Level clone.

The Warm 76 was looking pretty attractive to me too on the same pitch "Like an 1176 but way cheaper". I wonder if saving up for the Purple is more worth it. I'm sure people over at Gearslutz have had flame wars on the topic, worth a search I'm thinking.

[vvv]

The slutz seem to prefer the WA, for what it's worth.

I bought a 1176 Gyraf clone offa someone here - it's awesome, tho' ya gotta build one, at about the same cost as the Warm.

The Purple is quite a bit more $.

Not at all the same, but somewhat similar in being colored (tube make-up stage), is the VLA2. I like it sometimes, but find it noisy sometimes ...

I also like the RNLA. I like it a lot on vox, and guitars, especially.

Simple compressor-color wise, a dbx 160 or 166 can be great, typically on bass and vox for me, altho' the 166 can be excellent on stereo stuff like keys and acoustic guitar.

A DOD 866 is very similar, somehow related to the dbx 166, but a lot cheaper.

I really like Meek stuff, also, and the MC2 and C2 are tons of fun and I use 'em on everything.

You don't ever hear about the Symetric 522, but now that I have one, you just did. I especially like it on electric guitar.

All of the above except the Gyraf are under US$300 used, some closer to US$200, and all capable of effective compression as well as some cool coloration.

[Wagz]

From what I've heard of the Warm I'm not completely sold on it.
I'm all for good gear for a good price but I don't like buying things I'll want to replace.

I hear mohog does a good price for 1176 clones. A bit more price wise, but a good chunk less than a reissue 76.

aside from the the DBx 160A and x are solid for comps under $1k
Been looking on ebay, orbans seem to go around $500 pretty regularly and those seem to be pretty liked.

[Injured Ear]

For a swiss army compressor I would look into the FMR offerings.
You can do insane drum crushing with an RNC.
You can pretty much do anything with an RNC.

I bought an RNC at a point when I was working around different studios in NYC and couldn't always get a pair of Distressors in the room. It was convenient enough to fit in my backpack and patch in and get that NUKE setting drum crush happening.

[digitaldrummer]

I built one of the Hairball Audio HB76's. of course parts alone cost nearly as much as the WA76. Then again it sounds great and I don't think its overly noisy. and still a fraction of the cost of a new 1176.

Mike

[joel77]

I have the Warm Audio WA 76 and I don't find it noisy at all. It adds a warmth that I've never found with other comps I've tried and certainly not with any plug ins.

If you're looking for the sound and thickness of an 1176, you're not going to find it with the other comps mentioned here, except from the real 1176 or it's clones.

If you want super clean, non-coloring compression, don't get any 1176 or clone. That is their character, after all. I've used the FMR RNC1773 for years and love the sound of it's super nice mode. If you want clean, you might want to check out one of these. I have several different dbx models as well and they all work for different applications. Great gear!

Just my 2 cents.

Joel
Studio 52

[Binze]

I record and mix a lot of old school Soul, Afrobeat, and Psych. I own both the Orban 418A and the Warm Audio WA76. I really dig both of these compressors. Not having owned an original 1176, I can't speak to the authenticy of the unit but I do love what the WA76 does on bass, horns, and electric guitar. The 418A is my go-to on drum overheads or mono front of kit mic. It's not the most versatile compressor, but honestly that's not usually what I'm looking for in my outboard. It has an aggressive punch to it that I find very pleasing.

[jdier]

When I was in a similar search to you considering many of the 1176 variants and off shoots, I was also looking at the Warm unit (FWIW, I believe the noise problems have been cleared up, but I would check with your dealer.)

I wound up buying a Daking FET III stereo unit and it has served me very well.

In addition to being two separate comps, it can also work stereo linked for applications like drum buss or 2-buss.