Recording - June 2010 - 27

With more of a classic modern rather than a vintage sound, this eq is definitely not for the tone-shy. If you want transparency then run the other way! Little Devil Compressor The FET-based Little Devil Compressor is an obvious culmination of many of Mr. Goeke’s previous designs, and really owes a lot to the Germ Compressor. Dominating the top of the unit is a vintage-style kidney-bean shaped VU meter, which registers the amount of gain reduction the unit is performing. Below that is the input attenuation knob, and Wade recommends setting this close to full for optimum gain staging of the unit. In this sense the Little Devil does not have a traditional Threshold control and as such is similar to a vintage TG style compressor. Next to the input is the curve or knee selection switch with a choice of a Germ or Zener mode. While these terms should sound familiar to anyone who has used the Chandler Germanium Compressor and/or one of the Zener-diode-based Chandler TG compressors, they are actually quite different. Unlike the soft and medium curves of the Germ Comp, here on the Little Devil, the Germ setting is the more aggressive and grabby of the two, while the Zener is quite gentle. Wade described it to me as almost a “reverse Zener” knee. Moving on we come to the wet/dry knob (introduced again on the Germ Comp), whose function is to blend the compressed signal back with the dry uncompressed signal, and thus achieve parallel compression in one box, vs. complicated routing schemes on a mixer or DAW. The output knob controls makeup gain; at its lowest settings it allows you to bring the signal down below unity gain. The three-position Ratio switch contains “ear tuned” settings marked Low, High, and Med. It should be noted that these settings function very traditionally when in Germ mode, but in Zener mode, they interact and change the time constraints. According to the manual, the higher the ratio, the slower the timing. Below that a six-position sidechain knob allows the unit to pass any signal below the selected frequency through the unit uncompressed. The choices are: Out, 30, 60, 90, 150, and 300 Hz. Release is another three-position switch again selected by ear and marked Fast, Slow, and Med. A fully sweepable knob adjusts Attack, and yet unlike a typical compressor, the settings are uncalculated and arbitrary—in other words, again, use your ears. Lastly, the compressor features the same hardwire bypass as on the eq.

Ummm, what? If you noticed one theme on all of the controls, they are all tuned by ear, most of them do something different than they would on a normal compressor, and some of them are even backwards—even the Mix knob goes from wet to dry, instead of the usual other way around. All of this is to let you know that this compressor will probably frustrate you right out the box as you try and force it to work like you think it should. It took me a few weeks to become comfortable with how it works and then it was fine. Two comps in one One half of the Little Devil is fast and aggressive and loves to eat drums and electric guitars for lunch. It has the bold vibe and similar sonic signature of the Little Devil Equalizer and is a great rock’n’roll compressor. Even at ultra-heavy compression levels it retains a musicality that reminds me at times of how you can slam a Distressor and yet have it still sound good. The other half of the Little Devil is ultrasmooth, and almost optical in nature. In Zener mode it is a great choice for acoustic guitar and even classical instruments, where a little compression is nice but you may not want to notice it. Both choices work well on vocals depending in the style of music. One thing you cannot do with this compressor is link it, a common dilemma on many 500 Series units. This makes it so-so for stereo-buss duties, especially the master buss, but then again, it was designed as a mono channel compressor. Burnin’ for you? While the Little Devils are nowhere near as colored and vintagey as Chandler’s Germanium line, nor as forward and aggressive as the TG series, they do have a distinct, thick sonic signature, and it is a beautiful one. As such this makes them two of Chandler’s best allround pieces. At a street price of $1250 for the EQ and $1050 for the compressor, they are in line with most 500 Series modules as well as most high-end single channel rack gear. Are they the hot ticket for your studio? At this level it is all about need and personal taste. If you are eq or compressor hunting and are a member of the 500club you need to check them out. If you are not a member of the 500 club, these could very well convince you to join. Prices: Little Devil eq, $1250; Little Devil Compressor, $1050 More from: Chandler Limited, 222 South Cherry Street, Shell Rock, IA 50670. 319/885-4200, www.chandlerlimited.com.
RECORDING JUNE 2010

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Recording - June 2010

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