Recording - October 2014 - 71

level relative to peak, without the stereo
image collapsing." This is best used for 2bus and mastering work; in simple terms, it
keeps the source audio sounding more
open and not as obviously compressed,
with the compressor sounding less "jumpy
and pumpy" on fast strong transients. The
next button engages a classic Soft Knee
curve, and the last button selects between
Auto (program dependent) or Manual
attack and release settings.
Three buttons next to the VU meters control
their display function as described above.
The last of the buttons on the Dangerous
Compressor is labeled Stereo; when it's
engaged, the Left channel's Threshold and
Makeup Gain controls affect both channels,
with Attack and Release knobs remaining
independent for each channel. Engaging the
Stereo button also sums the control voltage to
the VCAs, so both channels will react to
whichever side triggers the compressor first
(preventing sounds from "pulling" to one
side when compressed). This makes accurate matched stereo operation and recall a
breeze.
The right side of the unit contains the
familiar compressor controls. The first
knob is a stepped pot to control the Ratio
which goes from 1:1 up to 20:1. All of
the other controls are variable and
include Gain with settings of -10 to +10
dB, Threshold with settings of -20 to +20
dB, Attack with 1 ms to 100 ms settings,
and Release from 10 ms to 500 ms.
In use
If you are keeping track, this is a compressor with 17 different controls and features, 22 if you count both channels. This
may sound pretty extreme when many
vintage compressors offer as little as two
or three controls! But what's most interesting to me is that despite the amount of
control, the Dangerous Compressor is not
really all that dangerous. In fact, quite the
opposite-its main overall goal is to be
as transparent and unobtrusive as possible, and many of these unique features,
like Sibilance boost and the Contour controls, really help it achieve its goal.
As a VCA-style compressor it is equal
parts clean, smooth and fast. As far as a
color or tone goes-this unit has none! It
offers no sonic signature of its own and will
not alter the tone of your sound, unlike many
vintage-style compressors, which often alter
your sound just by running signal through
them with no compression happening.
The one thing to be aware of is that
while it won't alter your sound, the
Dangerous Compressor is still a compressor, and it can and will help you shape
your sound. Transparent compression
does not mean that you don't hear its
effect on a source; you do become aware
of smoothing, added fullness, tamed
dynamics-and even pumping if you
wish!-depending on your settings.

Having said that, the Dangerous
Compressor sports many parameters that
do help the compression be less obvious.
This is especially helpful on delicate
acoustic music, 2-bus work, and even
mastering, for those sensitive to the sound
of compression.
I used the unit on acoustic and electric
guitars, bass, vocals, the drum bus, and
the 2-bus during my time with it. I did like
it best when doing its job gently, but
appreciated that it can get extreme and
slam hard when needed. Unlike a FET
compressor, the one thing it never
becomes is aggressive.
My hands-down blown-away moment
came when tracking a vintage Gibson
acoustic guitar, where it really helped the
fingerstyle playing and strumming stay
controlled, yet nicely pop forward in a
smooth solid way. My second favorite use
was on the 2-bus, where it can be quite
subtle or you can clamp down in a fast
SSL-esque way. This unit's transparency
makes it a natural on any bus where you
don't want all of your hard work to
change with the sound of a compressor. It
was quite nice on the drum bus for a jazz
recording; that is one place I don't often
compress a drum buss, but its transparency worked beautifully.
On vocals I am pretty set in my ways,
preferring the smoothness found in tubebased optical compressors. That said, I
did find the Dangerous handy during
tracking for controlling outbursts and transients, and I liked that it did not get in the
way of the initial vocal performance.
Likewise, with electric guitars and bass
it was a case-by-case scenario. Often I
preferred my old standbys, especially on
electric guitar, but I was surprised by how
much I liked the Dangerous on bass in
folky and alt-rock settings. It kept the bass
sounding raw and natural, yet thickened
it up-not with added tone, but tight control. Very cool!
Conclusion
This is one of those interesting pieces
where its lack of obvious character actually defines its character. This is without a
doubt the most transparent compressor I
have ever used, and the more I learn it,
the more uses I find for it.
As lovely as it is for tracking difficult
sources, on the 2-bus it simply shines. If your
job description includes any kind of mastering work, you need to put this magazine
down, go call your local retailer, and
arrange for a demo immediately! The
Dangerous Compressor stands out from
many me-too units in what it can do... and
what it doesn't sound like while doing it.
Price: $2799
More from: Dangerous Music,
www.dangerousmusic.com
RECORDING October 2014

http://www.swirlygig.com http://www.swirlygig.com http://www.recordingmag.com http://www.dangerousmusic.com

Recording - October 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - October 2014