Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

JBL/Urei 7110: Urei is famous for their 1176LN and other "vintage" compressors; for a while in the 1980's, the brand was owned and manufactured by JBL. The JBL 7110, a mono line-level rack unit, is supposedly based on the Urei LA10; there were also stereo versions, the Urei LA12 and JBL 7112. This is a fantastic comp for bass, with a big full low end, a smooth warm sound, and low noise. It has one unique feature, a knob to pan between two different modes of compression: peak and average. It's hard to put into words how this works or sounds, but different settings can act/sound more like an optical comp, or more like a VCA comp, and there can be a subtle EQ-like effect as certain frequencies are compressed differently as you pan between the two modes. Unfortunately, setting the knob to 2:00 or higher (towards the peak mode) results in a lot of buzzy clipping on a strong bass signal; but that still leaves enough knob-turn to work with for audible variety. The action is capable of being very punchy or very smooth.
 
A/B compared to a Symetrix 501, the 7110 was darker, with strong warm/thick mids, but the highs seem a bit "choked"; the 501 was more transparent in the highs, and a bit more boomy in the lows. The 661 is more even-sounding from the lows to the highs (compared to both the others), which makes it seem to have a wider frequency range with no "humps". The 7110 can match one or two tones/actions of the Distressor; so it's not nearly like an 1176 or LA3A for studio purposes, but it is a good rugged gig-ready way to cop a bit of those flavors enough for a live rig. For those of you into modding gear, the 7110 was designed to be upgradable with a Jensen output transformer, for the tonal qualities it can add. It is a very simple and easy mod, you just have to track down the correct model and size of transformer.
 

 
 
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