It’s a Valentine’s Day giveaway: UA is giving away their newest model plug-in, the UA 1176 Classic FET Compressor, today through February 28. This is the native plug-in that runs in any DAW.
The 1976 Universal Audio 1176 is one of those classic pieces of hardware that gets endless models – but Universal Audio has a direct lineage to creator Bill Putnam Sr. If you don’t have one of UA’s software models it now is a good chance to get a lifetime license that won’t expire.
Now, you might well wonder which 1176 we’re talking about here. (Universal Audio motto: “How deeply can we confuse you with as many 1176 variants as possible?“) This seems just to be the 1176 rev E – the one with the all-black panel. UA 1176 Classic Limiter Collection and its Rev A, Rev E (LN), and AE anniversary editions. That same collection is available in full as part of UA’s Spark, which is one of the few subscriptions I’d recommend, just because of the extent of the library.
Go to the sign-up page, then either log into your UA account (or create one if you haven’t signed up already), and the download is available via UA Connect. No additional authorization is required after running the installer from there:
Honestly, one 1176 is going to be more than enough for most people and having three choices is a bit confusing even for experienced users. So this is a great way to get started. Drew from UA also has some really sound advice for how to approach the parameters:
UA’s sound modeling savvy is pretty unapproachable, so modeling hardware’s most appealing characteristics is a big part of this. But so, too, is the hardware. Yes, on one hand, there’s no reason software plug-ins should ever copy physical devices; a computer isn’t a rack of gear. But some of the staying power of certain hardware devices is that their interface causes the user to behave in a particular way. That means there is something that happens when you approach this hardware panel, even if it’s virtual.
Universal Audio 1176 Classic FET Compressor – giveaway and download
The controls
Let me sum up Drew’s guide/advice in case you want to read and not just watch:
The controls: Input, output, attack, release; fixed ratio buttons; meter display switches (on the right of the VU) … and no threshold.
Input / output: SInce the threshold is fixed, drive the Input control first, then compensate with Output.
Imagine turning the Input and Output toward each other for more compression and away from one another for less. (see image)
Attack / release: Attack and Release are flipped from your likely expectations – clockwise is faster, counter-clockwise is slower. There’s a nice way of showing that in the video – turning up attack so it’s faster diminishes the transients on the drums; turning it counterclockwise lets those peaks through. Turn the release up so it’s faster, and you get a more aggressive compression; it’ll sound compressed all the time as you turn the release down. So, most of the time, you’ll want to think about a slower attack (turn it down) and a faster release (turn it up).
Ratio: 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1, and the signature accidental feature of the 1176 – engineers discovered that they could mash in all buttons at once and get an all-ratio compression.
Cheat sheet – where to start
I like Drew’s starting point; this is one anyone can follow (you could Post-It this to your desk):
- Slow the attack down, speed up the release
- 4:1 is a good starting point
- Turn up input control so the VU meter shows the gain reduction you want
- Adjust output so you can bypass and retain the same level
Now, he’s hitting the “everything you put this on will sound better” angle, but that’s not just marketing. A surprising amount of classic music production and processing techniques is really about that: finding a design with very few controls, and setting it in such a way that hits pleasing results for a lot of ears across genres. Part of the reason to be a little rigorous with modeling the 1176 is that all those limitations – the fixed ratios, the interface design – made it work.
I think there’s a strong argument for making this your go-to compressor. (I might add the rival Eventide Omnipressor as my other tool for wider dynamics processing, but you get the point.) Focusing on that one tool and staying results-oriented is never a bad idea; you can always get fancy later.
So this is a welcome addition, and even I grabbed that license.
Uh… happy Valentine’s Day!
