" LA2A " Compressor like settings .... some SUCCESS .... see Post #8 & Post #10

ben ifin

ben ifin

Experienced
SOME SUCCESS - UPDATED AT POST #8 and POST #10 BELOW

Hey all

Was doing some studio work during the week and was using both my KPA and Axe ..... mainly Vox / Marshall sounds for all tracks.

Did 2 primany tracks with the Axe .... then 2 primary tracks with the KPA and blended / mixed as we wanted .... suffice to say it printed to tape great - no surprise there.

It was a short session so we just took a L+R out of each and away we went.

As he always does :) the engineer ran my outputs through his [very] old Teletronix LA2A - I didnt have any compressor blocks engaged in either my KPA or Axe.

Needless to say, the LA2A did its "magic" ...... made the guitar just a touch creamier / stickier and just sound "right" without [to me ears at least] messing with the tone of the sound and especially not "muddying" up the lower strings ...... I'm sure any who have recorded with one know exaclty the magic-mojo they impart ..... anyway .....

..... so .....I grabbed my phone and took a picture of the settings:-

-> Gain Knob set to a whisker under 40
-> Peak Reduction Knob set to a whisker under 50
-> Gain Redection Knob set to straight 12.00 / straight up [ not +10 or +4 ]
-> Comp / Limiter toggle set to " Comp " - must have been an older unit as this switch was on the back of the unit

Anyway .... home a few days later and am trying to copy / emulate these specific LA2A settings with one of the Axe Comps ...... but am having a bugger of a time .... :(

So .....

-> can anyone suggest which Axe 2 Comp to use, and what settings to set it to, in order to get this LA2A compression ?

Thanks,
Ben
 
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The nice thing about the LA-2A is that there's only one knob that affects its performance—the Peak Reduction control. (The Gain knob is a simple level control; the knob you're calling "Gain Reduction" only affects the front-panel meter.)

Pull up the "Studio Comp" compressor. Play with Threshold and Ratio to zero in on the compression you're looking for.
 
On the LA2A (or other comps for that matter), the magic is not remembering the setting of the threshold ("Peak reduction" on the LA2A), but listening (duh), and watching the needle to see, how much it actually compresses. I have an LA4A so haven't had reason to try replicating it, but I think the Studio Comp is the way to go as Rex mentions, but I would def also give the pedal comps a try, as they are a bit more dirty, and might color in a cool way.
 
You may want to check out the preamps in the cab block also. If you were recording to analog tape, more than the compressor was probably affecting the sound.
 
read this: https://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2003/june/text/content4.html

The program dependent attack and release times will be impossible to re-create.

But start here:

Type: Studio Comp
Knee: Softest
Detect: Peak

Ratio: 4
Attack: 20ms
Release: 120ms
Auto: OFF
Makeup: OFF

Threshold = peak reduction
Level = gain

The "warmth" will have to come from an amp block, drive block, or cab block preamp.

I would put this between the amp and cab blocks and mess with the cab block preamp to add some warmth using saturation and drive.
 
Part of the magic of an LA-2A is the opto-compressor tube at the heart of it. The compressor blocks in the Fractal are vca based, so they behave and sound a bit different. You can get close to the sound in some ways but the behavior & sheen will be a little different.

Many have asked for an opto-compressor to be modelled, so it may be on a list to do at some point.
 
The softest knee, peak compression and slow attack are gonna get close but not the same as the original.

But, there are other opto compressors and plugins that don't capture a real LA2A vibe either.
 
Hi all

Firslty, my sincere thanks for all the help and suggestions.

What I have been looking for is a "compressor" setting that I could apply equally to all my presets - clean, crunch, dirty, o/drive, solo etc.... like I tend to do in the studio and with my old real rigs.

I know a lot of people think non-clean sounds shouldnt have or need compression ...... but I dont hear it that way at all ..... threes a reason an LA2A [or similar] is on just about every recorded guitar track you have heard since time began .... well at least since the LA2A was "discovered" for "rock" use :)

Anyway, after trying a lot of different comps / settings, we kept coming back to the Axe "basic" Dynamics comp - our settings are as folows:-

This is the setting to place this COMP Block BEFORE the AMP



This is the setting to place the COMP Block AFTER the AMP [and pre-CAB Block]



The only difference between the two is that on my rig with my guitar and presets, when placed AFTER the AMP Block, the COMP Output needs to come down -2db ..... no doubt this will vary from setup to setup.

For me ...... even though I am after the " LA2A Magic " from the studio which has the LA2A "after the speaker mic " ...... placing it BEFORE the AMP Block sounds tighter than AFTER the AMP Block ..... it just "grabs" the guitar more "tightly" if that makes sense.

Also, the other critical thing for me was that I wanted the Comp to track the guitar signal as close as possible to "1:1 proportionally" as I roll my guitar volume down .... again, for me, putting it PRE the AMP did this by far in the most natural way.

Of course though, each to his own ..... put it where it sounds best to your ears and your settings :)

I have it each preset wit the WAH Block first and [now] this COMP block next.

My presets are basically all Vox'y / Marshall'y sounds and my main guitar is a 1990 USA Standard Tele with a Kinman Broadcaster in the Bridge [ around 5.8k ] and for my guitar and my presets and in a live gigging situation using a real cab and no IR's this gets me close enough to what I want - studio is real LA2A :)

Its a bit sticky and gluey and doesn't mush up the low strings too much and it hits the front of the amp with just a hint of zing :)

Anyway, though this might be of some asistance to others :)

Thanks again,
Ben
 
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Nice stuff, Ben! Thanks for sharing your work with us.

I keep coming back to one thought, though: if you're trying to recreate what you get in the studio, shouldn't the comp come after the amp?
 
Hey Rex

Thanks for your kind words.

We did actually try that and I have updated my post above accordingly as intuitivly we too expected it to sound better POST Amp.

However, as I wrote above, for me ...... even though I am after the " LA2A Magic " from the studio which has the LA2A "after the amp " ...... placing this setting BEFORE the AMP Block sounds tighter than AFTER the AMP Block ..... it just "grabs" the guitar more "tightly" if that makes sense ..... it kept the snap of my Tele whereas as POST, it seems to get a bit looser .... again that it to my ears with my set up ..... others may well, and no doubt would see and hear it differnelty :)

The other big critical thing for me was that I wanted the Comp to track the guitar signal as close as possible to "1:1 proportionally" as I roll my guitar volume down ..... again, like a LA2A .....

I actually find setting and applying great [not just OK ] compression is very very hard to do.

Its very annoying when you have a great COMP when your guitar is on 10 but then when you roll down for some "cleaner" signal, the COMP still "compresses the be-jesus out of your clean softer dyamics" .... :) ....... really hope I am explaining this in a sensible way :) ..... putting this setting PRE the AMP Block did that much better and more cleanly than in the POST AMP block ..... again though, this will probably vary from rig to rig and guitat to guitar

More broadly, whey best PRE the Amp instead of POST the Amp ?

My best guess / reasoning is probably that we are tweaking a Comp that isnt modelled on an LA2A to do what an LA2A does ..... so the normal / expected signal chain methodologies dont automatically apply ..... all that matters is what "hits your ears" the best :) hence why I say we got very close, but not a home run as they say .... but way way way more than good enogh for live work

..... basically this is a long way of saying that if Fractal had an LA2A I would be stunned if it didnt sound better POST the Amp instead of PRE the AMP as that is where they do their "magic" ..... so until then ...... for me .... with my set up and my presets ....... PRE the AMP block it is .....:)

All the best
 
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You have to go with what works, and let theory fall by the wayside if need be.
 
Hmm, there's a bug.

The Dynamics type has a Filter parameter on the hardware which doesn't appear in AE, and AE shows an Emphasis parameter which doesn't appear on the hardware.
 
Was this done in an older firmware version? I'm getting the same thing as Yek, filter instead of emphasis in the Dynamics type.
 
Above was with FW 2.01 b [ pre release version ] and Axe Edit prior to 3.6.0.

Axe Edit 3.6.0 and the 2.01 Release Firmware now show Filter instead of Emphasis [its now fixed/correct :)]
 
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