Pulsar

< More metering
As well as old-school VU-style meters,
with their needles bobbing up and down
to the tune of the left- and right-side gain
reduction, the 1178 also gives you modern
digital metering. LED-style meters for in/
output let you monitor both channels on the
way in and out, and check gain reduction.
And you’ll notice that 21st-century gain
reduction graph, helping to visualise the
compressor’s release behaviour and the
difference between hits as they happen.
< Mid/side and stereo detection
These switches open the 1178’s stereo
options: Between the Input and Output
knobs, you can switch the unit into Mid/
Side mode instead of the regular Left/
Right, taking control over the centre of the
audio or everything stereo. By unlinking
the channels, we control Input, Output,
Attack and Release for the Mid and Side
signals separately. Between the Attack and
Release dials, the SC switch chooses if
the detection circuit listens to the channel
separately, together, or swaps them over.
Sidechain EQ >
Most are used to some fi ltering
functionality on a compressor plugin. By
removing some of the lower frequencies
from a compressor’s signal path, it reacts
less to kick drums and bass information,
reducing harsh pumping. Pulsar 1178
goes further, with an entire sidechain EQ
to carve frequencies out of (and into) the
signal once it hits the detection circuit. So
you can emphasise the compression of a
snare, de-harsh cymbals, and control
where compression is emphasised.
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.
< All buttons in
Let’s talk Ratio control. A very 1176
feature, you can select four standard
compression ratios or go with the
all-buttons-in selection. This emulates the
trick of pushing in all the ratio buttons on
an original 1176 or 1178 FET
compressor, smashing the signal in a
compression action, also affecting the
attack/release timings. Thanks to the
onboard Mix control, the All button gives
extreme parallel compression, blending
the original and processed signals.
Testbench | Reviews
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