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.

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While the name Urie has long since vanished from the pro audio world, this limiter can still be purchased brand new from Universal Audio.

Used on these Classic Tracks

Derek & The Dominos – Layla

The Knack – My Sharona

Pretenders – Back On The Chain Gang

Prince – Purple Rain

My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade

Details

The Urie 1176 was designed by Bill Putnam in 1966, For those who do not know, Bill Putnam is the father of the Universal Audio brand which he started in 1958. It eventually went out of business, but was resurrected by his son Bill Putnam Jr. in 1999.

Bill Putnam had three audio companies, Urie, Universal Audio and Studio Electronics. This goes some way towards explaining, why the first 1176 units released were labelled Universal Audio on the front panel, and Urie on the rear. Some later models wore the Urie badge on the face plate…could it get any more confusing?

So what is the big deal with the 1176? Why is it so loved by audio engineers and mix engineers alike? Why does Chris Lord Alge use 1176 limiters on vocals to this day? Why did Bruce Swedien use the Urie 11276 on every Michael Jackson vocal? The 1176 does something to the sound passing through it, this is NOT a bit of kit with a pure audio path, it colours the sound a lot. It is that colour along with it’s ability to compress just about anything and sound good doing it.

More modern compressors and limiters have far better specifications, and far better purity of signal path, but that seems to not matter, the love affair continues to this day. Signals passing through the 1176 come out sounding brighter and with more bite, which may well be because the compressor circuitry is knocking down the bass end of the signal, who knows, but it sounds good, it sounds ‘right’.

The Urie 1176 became an instant hit with engineers because of its lightning-fast attack and release times, its Class A output stage, and its wide range of sounds, ranging from a very subtle, near-transparent compression at 4:1, to its most notable setting, the “All Buttons In” mode, where all the ratio buttons are depressed simultaneously. (This was not intended in the original concept of this compressor)

This allowed the Urie 1176 to make a sound unlike any other compressor that came before. Distortion was increased, along with a plateaued slope and a lag time in response to the initial transient, creating an explosive sound on drum room mics, making an incredible grungy bass or electric guitar sound, or squeezing a vocal so it sat right in your face.

There are many variations of the 1176 including the 1176LN which is a ‘low noise’ version designed by Brad Plunkett, and it is that low noise version which is still in production today.

Revisions
The Urie 1176 underwent a number of revisions including the addition of Brad Plunkett’s low-noise (LN) circuitry to produce the 1176LN. This reduced the noise by 6 dB and redistributed the noise spectrum, producing even more noise reduction in the sensitive mid-range. Revisions D and E are reputed to sound the best.

Revision A was the original (1967/6/20) design by Bill Putnam, it had a brushed aluminium face, blue paint and red power light. Serial numbers 011-125
Revision AB improved stability and noise. (1967/11/20) Serial numbers 126-216
Revision B incorporated changes to transistors. Serial numbers 217-1078
Revision C, the 1176 LN, added low-noise circuits on additional circuit boards and reduced distortion and changed the faceplate to black. (1970/1/9) Serial numbers 1079-1238
Revision D has no circuit changes, but the additional low-noise circuitry was incorporated into a new main circuit board. Serial numbers 1239-2331
Revision E has a new power transformer that is now switchable between 110 V and 220 V. Serial numbers 2332-2611
Revision F changed the output amplifier from a class A to a push-pull design. Metering circuit now uses an op-amp (1973/3/15) Serial numbers 2612-7052
Revision G replaced the input transformer with a differential amplifier. Serial numbers 7053-7651
Revision H changed the faceplate to silver and includes a red “Off’ button. This version is branded with blue UREI logo. Serial numbers 7652-
Universal Audio Re-Issue (2000/4/1) is based on “D” and “E” models.

Specifications

Released: 1967

Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
Dynamic Range: 70dB
THD: <0.5%
Gain: 50dB
Attack Time: 20 to 800 microseconds
Release Time: 50 milliseconds to 1.1 seconds

These specifications are from the current Universal Audio 1176LN.

Plug-In Options

Universal Audio 1176

This plug-in single-handedly launched the UAD platform, and inspired a decade of analog emulation software.

Slate Digital FG-116

The FG-116 Blue Series authentically recreates the tone of two vintage “rev A” FET limiting amplifiers, and then offers two uniquely modernized versions of the classic FET circuit.