Amazona.de Reviews the Vari Tube Recording Channel

• 07.05.2012
• Michael Krusch
• Testbericht
• VTRC

Amazona.de on the VTRC Channel Strip (May 2012)

...a versatile, characterful-sounding channel strip for modern recording techniques...

...always brings just the right touch of warmth to the recording...

...I find the clearly perceptible compression of both stages very successful, even though, with the right settings, gentle, barely audible compression is of course also possible...

Click here for the full review on Amazona.de...

More Excerpts from the Review

"I find the two-part design very practical, since you can set a relatively clean sound on the one hand and a sound strongly enriched with harmonics on the other." – Hagen Finn, Amazona.de, May 2012 (translated)

"With just one control for ratio and threshold, the compressor is very easy to operate and really sounds very good!" – Hagen Finn, Amazona.de, May 2012 (translated)

"‘Vintage’ is the absolutely correct description of the sound character here, without invoking any negative attributes." – Hagen Finn, Amazona.de, May 2012 (translated)

The "two-part design" refers to the input stage with its Input and Gain controls: Input sets the level, Gain sets the character of the tube preamp – from clean to rich in harmonics.

What the Vari Tube Recording Channel Is

The Vari Tube Recording Channel (VTRC) is our tube channel strip: microphone preamp, passive equalizer and compressor in one unit. The preamp – with input transformer, true 48 V phantom power and a high-impedance instrument input – can be shifted in character from clean and direct to fat and vintage via the gain control. The passive Pultec-style EQ offers a low-cut, a low-mid boost, a mid cut and a high boost up to 24 kHz. The "two compressions" Amazona.de praises are the opto compressor – an LED controls a light-sensitive resistor, resulting in an open, soft compression – and the vari-tube compressor built on the vari-mu principle, which directly controls the gain of a control tube and gives the signal presence; both can be used at the same time. The order of EQ and compressor is switchable, the EQ can also be placed in the compressor's side chain, and a line input with its own transformer lets you process already recorded tracks after the fact. The 2012 review covered the first version; Amazona.de reviewed the revised version again in 2015: Amazona.de – Review of the Vari Tube Recording Channel.

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Related: Amazona.de – Review of the Vari Tube Recording Channel · Jake Roeder: VTRC, "Best Strip I've Ever Used" · Lauren Passarelli Interview: Berklee and the VTRC