Analogue Effects

Vintage Digital

Before digital signal processing came along, everything was analogue. Just because it isn’t digital doesn’t mean it isn’t as good! There are analogue effects from the sixties and seventies still in use in studios today even though there are digital or plugin counterparts available. One of the more well known analogue effects would be the Urie 1176 limiter. There would be very few records in history that does not have a Urie 1176 (or one of the many derivatives of it) use don it somewhere. Cult status certainly applies to the Urie 1176.

Another that is still used today even thought it was first made in 1957, and that is the EMT 140 plate reverb. To this day, the EMT 140 sounds amazing, and there are plenty of plugin options that try to emulate this great reverb, but no one is in a hurry to put their hardware out to pasture just yet. Roland’s Space Echo devices like the Roland RE-201 are worth a small fortune these days, as guitar players and studios chase after that warm sounding delay that only analogue tape can provide.

Released in 1951

Pultec EQP-1 Program Equalizer

First introduced in 1951, the Pultec EQP-1 Program Equalizer was the first passive equalizer on the market. Upon it’s introduction, it changed the recording world forever, offering a new way to manipulate sound. The fact that Pultec equalizers in one form or another are still in use today, is extraordinary.

Released in 1957

EMT 140 Plate Reverb

The EMT 140 was the worlds first artificial reverb unit and it changed the recording world by allowing any studio to have “reverb on tap”, even smaller studios who did not have physical echo/reverb chambers. A echo/reverb chamber is essentially a large room, a very large room usually, with a speaker at one end and a microphone at the other. Usually there would be multiple microphones placed at varying distances from the speaker to provide long or short reverb times.

Released in 1959

Fairchild 670 Tube Limiter

The Fairchild 670 Tube Limiter was the brainchild of Estonian immigrant to the USA, Rein Narma. Rein licensed the design to Sherman Fairchild and the rest as they say, is history…a legend was born.

Released in 1962

Teletronix LA-2A Leveling Amplifier

The Teletronix LA-2A was released in 1962, and along with the Urie 1176, is one of the most iconic compressors ever made, and is still in use today. With Universal Audio having purchased the Teletronix company way back in the mid 1960s, this iconic compressor is available new, made to the exacting specifications.

Released in 1967

Urie 1176 Limiting Amplifier

There are not a lot of limiters designed in the 1960s that are still in production today, but the legendary Urie 1176 is one such beast. While the name Urie has long since vanished from the pro audio world, this limiter can still be purchased brand new from Universal Audio.

Released in 1969

Teletronix LA-3A Leveling Amplifier

If you took the gentle optical compression of the Teletronix LA‑2A, and fused it with the solid‑state punch and clarity of the Urie 1176, you would have the Teletronix LA-3A. It has become a secret weapon compressor for many engineers, with a unique character capable of moving sounds right to the front of your mix.

Released in 1971

EMT 240 Reverb Foil

In 1971 after huge success with the EMT 140, EMT delivered the EMT 240 Reverb Foil. The surface of the vibrating 0.02 mm gold foil measured only 30 X 30 cm. The foil was contained in a double enclosure affording very high isolation from airborne and solid-borne disturbances, sufficient to allow placement of the EMT 240 even in mobile units or – at a sound pressure level of 105 dB – next to monitor loudspeakers

Released in 1974

Roland RE-201 Space Echo

The Roland RE-201 when it was released in 1974, was an engineering masterpiece. It featured a sophisticated tape-echo effect and a built-in spring reverb, with different sound variations selectable via 12 different operating modes.

Released in 1975

Aphex Aural Exciter

An effects box that provided a very special kind of enhancement to your tracks, that you could not buy, but instead had to rent, really? The Aphex Aural Exciter was something of a mystery box when it was released in 1975, but it provided a solution that was perfectly timed, however is no longer relevant in today’s recording world.

Released in 1975

Eventide Model FL201 Instant Flanger

Flanging may not be a popular effect these days, but back in 1975 when the Eventide Model FL201 Instant Flanger was released, it was. The Eventide Model FL201 Instant Flanger was designed to simulate true tape flanging and offered a much deeper flanging effect than anything previously available, it was widely used on many legendary recordings.

Released in 1976

dbx 160 Compressor/Limiter

The dbx 160 and 161 are single-channel compressor/limiters combining sophisticated technology and user-oriented features in a compact package. Unique circuit designs, such as true rms level-detection and feed-forward gain reduction, place the 160 and 161 in a completely different class from conventional compressor/limiters.

Released in 1976

MXR Model 126 Flanger/Doubler

For more than 30 years now, both engineers and musicians have relied upon the MXR Model 126 Flanger/Doubler as one of best-sounding bucket-brigade* flanging effects ever made. Through its signature flanging, doubling, and delay effects, the MXR Model 126 Flanger/Doubler imprints a very unique sonic signature on guitars, bass, keys, drums, or just about any source needing depth and movement.

Released in 1976

Klark Teknik DN50 Spring Reverb

The Klark Teknik DN50 Spring Reverb was introduced around the mid seventies, just prior to the launch of digital reverbs.

Released in 1978

dbx 162 Compressor/Limiter

The dbx 162 compressor/limiter is one of the most iconic studio compressor/limiters to have ever graced a studio. The dbx 162 compressor/limiter is a stereo device using true rms level detection circuitry tor signal sensing and sophisticated voltage controlled amplifiers as the gain control elements.

Released in 1979

AMS DMX Series Keyboard Interface & Chorus Controller

The AMS DMX Series Keyboard Interface and Chorus Controller is an ultra rare device to add on to the AMS DMX 15-80S Digital Delay. The chorus controller can be used to add functionality and effects to the DMX 15-80S.