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< Attack and release

The 1178 – just like the 1176 – is a FET

compressor capable of extra-fast attack

times, up to 20ms. Pulsar’s 1176, like the

original, gets to its fastest extent by turning

the Attack knob up higher, not lower. The

Release dial has this same inverse travel,

but it doesn’t go quite as fast. You can get

a real handle on how quickly your Release

is letting go of the signal using the top-right

digital gain reduction meter. There are more

Attack settings in the Sidechain panel,

which we’ll check out later.

Starting to compress >

The 1178 has no Threshold control unlike

many compressors. Instead, you push up

the Input gain to send the signal harder

through the compression circuit, and then

back off the Output gain control to

compensate the level again, keeping an

eye on right-hand meters. There’s an

onboard Power switch to bypass the

compression action while keeping levels

the same. The two matching control strips

act for the left (top) and right (bottom) of

the signal, and are linked by default.

Reviews | Xxxxxxxxx

Pulsar 1178

The Urei 1176 is one of the most vaunted

compressors in history thanks to its

super-fast attack times, but also for its

famous all-buttons-in trick. The stereo

version of this classic FET hardware was the 1178,

and married those super-useful features with the

ability to work on two sides of a stereo signal at

once. Pulsar’s 1178 takes what producers loved

about the 1178 (and 76) to digital territory. All the

classic features are present, including a simulation

of that all-buttons-in effect which smashes the

signal. But Pulsar have also added mid/side

capabilities, a selectable saturation stage, full gain

reduction metering, and an entire EQ to work your

magic on the compressor’s detection circuit.

Saturation styles >

Pulsar’s 1178 features an additional

Saturation section, which lets you select

from four modes to imbue the signal with

analogue goodness. Tape mode simulates

the imperfections of recording to tape;

Triode mode takes on the sound of a Class

A tube ampliﬁ er with an emphasis on odd

harmonics; Warm is a subtler distortion that

smooths out higher frequencies; and Clip

gives you a rougher digital clipping effect.

Each style of saturation uses the Calibration

screw below to raise or lower its application.

TESTBENCH

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Summary of content (2 pages)

PAGE 1
Reviews | Xxxxxxxxx FM | TESTBENCH Pulsar 1178 > The Urei 1176 is one of the most vaunted compressors in history thanks to its super-fast attack times, but also for its famous all-buttons-in trick. The stereo version of this classic FET hardware was the 1178, and married those super-useful features with the ability to work on two sides of a stereo signal at once. Pulsar’s 1178 takes what producers loved about the 1178 (and 76) to digital territory.
PAGE 2
A FET accompli Urei’s 1176 and 1178 used FET (Field Effect Transistor) components, which led to both having remarkable quick attack timings – as low as 20ms. If this wasn’t a distinguishing enough feature for Urei’s compressor family, there was another special property: when all four Ratio buttons were pressed in together, these compressors would exhibit extreme gain reduction behaviour, affecting the timings of the compression action as well as the depth and strength.