Atomic Squeezebox

[idylldon]

I've read a lot about these lately, much of it praise about the unique sonic attributes this magic box possesses. It seems like these are destined to become as legendary as the Fairchild limiters as time passes.

For those of you who have used one, what is it about the box that sets it apart from the rest of the pack? Is it truly an all-tube design?

I would love to see a picture of the innards of this thing. I was on another website recently, but the picture didn't last very long, and I didn't get a very good look at it.

Cheers,
--
Don

[malice]

I don't have a great experience with this, but yes, it seems to do some quite impressive amount of gain reduction without artefacts (that doesn't mean it is colorless).
Yes, it helps with extraordinary dynamic voxes. Yes it is all tube design. Maybe Slipperman could help you more, he owns one for quite some time now.

Now as to be legendary, it is very difficult to say.

The Fairchild is legendary, but I really don't know if it is because of its inner qualities or the insane price you have to pay to own one.

You have to wonder what is best for a piece of gear : become a "legend", or become a "standart".

I'm moving this thread to my forum because mixie is not too keen on gear talks ;)


and smillies :D

malice

PS: I'm paging Slippy ...

PS 2: Yeah, I saw the thread disapear in the other forum, that was fast.

[otek]

The Fairchild is legendary, but I really don't know if it is because of its inner qualities or the insane price you have to pay to own one.


....Or the fact that they were used on many of The Beatles's albums.

Rock and pop does that to sounds. A sound thet get's used by a phenomenally well-liked and oft-listened to band becomes a norm of sorts. People start craving that sound, and it perpetuates itself.

40, 50 years down the line, people are still playing Les Pauls and Strats, Jazz Basses and vintage Marshall amps.

[Slipperman]

ASB is both a monster box and a pain in the ass.

I do not have the stereo unit. And so I couldn't tell ya what it sounds like on the 2-bus or a drum group. Which is the FIRST thing I think of the Fairchild on.

On many sources it will do STUPID amounts of gain reduction without TRADITIONAL compression artifacts(pumping, breathing, motorboating, etc.)

It DOES NOT treat anything below about 150 cycles in the same fashion it treats everything ABOVE 150Hz.

I dunno what's going on with that...

From a practical standpoint you just hafta lean the quirks of all of the various boxes when you get them and deal with it. The ASB is no exception.

Simple brief example. This would NOT be your first choice to of box to bash a sibilant vocal. EVEN more searing hi-end lisping than say... the Chandler LTD-2. And that's really saying something.

Bewildering to use and adjust at first... lotta knobs and switches with obtuse and possibly misleading names... and it's tough to HEAR it work... All of which is worth the battle in the long game as far as I'm concerned.

Kinda like a superduper rocket-age version of the UREI 175.

When it's right, it's as right as rain.

Hope this has helped.

SM.