Insider’s Secrets
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Versatility
You’ll undoubtedly find lots of other uses for your 2-LA-2. In his review, Batzdorf commented on the
versatility of the LA-2A, saying, “The thing about [it] that makes it so good in the right application is
the way it can control the most unruly signals
incredibly tightly and still sound completely natural.
No pumping, no compression nasties. Just a smooth,
dense sound... the LA-2A sounds astoundingly good
on lots of sources: acoustic guitar, pizz cello
(simulating acoustic bass for review purposes), alto
recorder, and spoken voice.”
Mixing and Premastering
Any recording can potentially benefit from line-level
tube-stage processing. The matched T4s in the 2-LA-2
mean that it is capable of processing even an entire mix
without altering the stereo imaging. A little gentle
compression or limiting can add polish to a final mix and help “glue” the many components together
(similar to the way that the limiters that are used in radio and television transmission sometimes
improve the sound of mixes). Also, by reducing the overall dynamic range, the apparent loudness of
the overall track is increased—something that is becoming increasingly important in today’s loudness
wars.
Even if you don’t opt to compress or limit the final mix, it’s often worth passing the signal through the
2-LA-2 in Bypass mode. Even though the gain reduction circuitry is disconnected in that mode, the
signal continues to pass through the 2-LA-2’s transformers and tubes, picking up their signature
warmth, giving your mix a creamier finish with a broad but gentle low-end boost.
Ducking Applications
When the 2-LA-2 is placed in stereo Link mode, the Peak Reduction knobs in each channel serve to
mix the two incoming signals to the side-chain circuit of both channels. In most musical
applications, you will want the left and right signals to affect the compressor equally, so that a
transient occurring in one channel will serve to increase compression or limiting in both channels the
same way. Thus, for normal operation in most musical and recording applications, it is important that
the Peak Reduction knobs for both channels be set to the same value.
However, one byproduct of this circuit design is that it allows you to make the gain reduction circuitry
more sensitive to one channel than the other. If you therefore increase the amount of Peak Reduction
in one channel relative to the other, the compressor will be more sensitive to transients occurring in
the that channel. This can sometimes be useful in broadcast applications, where you might want to
“duck” a musical bed, for example, whenever an announcer is speaking. It can also serve as a
creative tool in musical applications: for example, you might want to have one instrument
automatically lowered in level whenever another instrument comes in, and then return to its original
level when the second instrument stops playing. Or you can create dramatic ambience effects by
using a transient (say, a snare or kick drum hit) fed into one channel of the 2-LA-2 to raise and lower
the level of a room mic track fed into the other channel. Your only limit (pardon the pun) is your
imagination!
“
The LA-2A can control the most
unruly signals incredibly tightly
and still sound completely
natural.
”
— Nick Batzdorf,
Recording
magazine
Try processing entire stereo
mixes through the 2-LA-2.
