Description
A Compressor with History
It started out in 1993 as Ted’s idea to liven up some soundtracks for a video. That turned into the SC2 stereo compressor; the first of its kind, a magical tool for bringing drums to life and adding ‘fairy dust’ to finished tracks. Later in 2003, Ted introduced the P38; a re-design but with the roots of his original optical compression.
The EX version added smart facilities like ‘parallel compression’ and variable width control, and now the Mk2 adds a smart power supply operating from any mains voltage and more added ‘weight’ to the compressed sound.
The P38EX Mk2 works all the way from a super-quality ‘Levelling Amplifier’ with the sparkle of a well-designed opto compressor, up to an aggressive tool to add drama to a stereo drum track.
First demo
The compression is switched in after 6 seconds. Ratio about 3:1 with medium attack and release, ‘Greenbox’ selected, the difference is changes to tightness of the sound, it’s quite subtle.
Second demo
More obvious, P38EX MK2 switched in after about 8 seconds. Ratio about 8:1 medium attack and release, ‘VCA’ selected. There is a 3dB gain increase and the P38EX MK2 changes the effect of the tenor.
SB – Studio owner –
Holy **** – this is a complete beast! Been A/B ing with the Neve. Much punchier and tighter; the stereo width function is great. I’m sold😊.
Ted Fletcher –
The Neve, the SSL and others (and all the digital plug-ins) are still treating compression like a physics performance problem; it’s so much more than that! The flavours and the colours are the result of years of work and an element of luck; I put in the work and got lucky!