The Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor is a solid state optical compressor with integrated limiting, designed to be used across every stage of music production, from individual tracks through to mix bus and mastering duties. The Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor departs from traditional optical compressor designs by combining the musical, natural behaviour of an optical element with modern, state of the art analogue circuitry. While many classic optical compressors are rooted in designs from the 1960s and 1970s, the Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor represents a significant evolution, built on Burl Audio’s extensive real world production experience and analogue design expertise.
At the heart of the Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor is an optical gain reduction element paired with a fully balanced, end to end, Class A, discrete transistor signal path. Both the input and output stages are derived directly from Burl Audio’s Mothership mastering analogue cards, the BAD4M and BDA4M, ensuring mastering grade performance and consistency with Burl’s flagship conversion systems. Switchable BX1 input and BX5 output transformers allow the user to tailor harmonic character, while maintaining extremely low noise and exceptional tonal integrity.
The Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor also incorporates a fast FET limiter circuit, allowing engineers to control high level transients in a smooth, musical manner without unwanted pumping artefacts. This ability to compress and limit within a single unit makes the Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor particularly attractive for both mixing and mastering applications. A side chain low cut filter ensures low frequency energy remains full and natural, making the unit especially effective on bass heavy material, vocals, and full mixes.
For vocal processing, the Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor includes a dedicated de-esser circuit, enabling fast and effective control of sibilance with a single switch. A switchable 10 kHz high frequency boost is also provided to add clarity and presence to darker or duller sources. With stepped controls throughout, including input, output, threshold, attack, release, and ratio, the Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor delivers precise, repeatable settings suitable for professional recall and mastering workflows.
The design goal of the Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor was to create a single compressor that excels on every source. Musical and weighty through the body of a signal, yet capable of taming peaks before analogue to digital conversion, the Burl Audio BC5000 BIGFOOT Compressor combines versatility, tone, and control into an indispensable studio tool.
Features
- Solid state optical compressor with limiter
- State of the art Burl Audio NextGen analogue design
- All discrete transistor, Class A, direct coupled circuitry
- Fully balanced circuit path from input to output
- Switchable BX1 input transformer
- Switchable BX5 output transformer
- Switchable fast FET limiter circuit
- Switchable side chain low cut filter
- Switchable de-esser circuit
- Switchable high frequency boost at 10 kHz
- Stereo link operation
- Input circuit derived from BAD4M mastering analogue card
- Output circuit derived from BDA4M mastering analogue card
- Audiophile stepped attenuators for input and output
- Stepped threshold, attack, release, and ratio controls
- Hard bypass switching