George
Shilling reviews
Aphex 661
Tube Compressor/Limiter (Expressor)
A friend of mine has a
theory that any audio equipment is guaranteed to be good if it is American
and has an 'X' in its name. Well, Lexicon, dbx and MXR all satisfy the
criteria, but perhaps less common in recording studios are units by Aphex.
Buy Aphex and other recording equipment in the music studio shop
Many major studios have
an old Aural Exciter somewhere in the rack, but that technology is no
longer the buzzword it once was. Today, Aphex is more popular with
Broadcast folk. In the recording studio, valve or tube gear is what most
aspire to. It is no surprise then that Aphex, always an innovator, have
pitched in with a valve design with a difference.
This unit is essentially
a mono compressor, although there are some special features not found on
other units. Build quality is high: a 1U case bears a smart metallic
finish and pleasantly damped black knobs. Legending is small yet neat,
switches are of the very tiny plastic variety, and there are plenty of
LEDs to tell you what is happening.
The front panel includes
a Bypass switch and a rocker Power Switch. Connections are on TRS jacks
and XLRs with a switch for +4/-10dB operation. Additionally there are
unbalanced jacks for Send and Return and a Link socket for connecting two
661s, configurable from the front panel.
The manual is very
slickly put together with plenty of smart graphics and a lot of what could
be unkindly described as good ol' American bull! Firstly, there is a
Message From The President (of Aphex, that is). Then, before I'd read
that, a leaflet fell out promoting merchandise - you really can buy the
T-shirt, sweatshirt, leather jacket, etc.!
The manual, whilst very
helpful, is full of boastful explanations of why all the Registered
Trademark features are so good.
The most proudly
proclaimed feature is of course the valve circuit, its registered name
being Tubessence. This is genuinely different from other tube designs,
utilising a 12AT7 dual triode using an unusually low plate supply voltage
with a Reflected Plate Amplifier circuit. This overcomes several
'problems' associated with tube circuits, such as 'Miller Effect' (high
frequency attenuation), high power dissipation, microphonics, etc. It is
certainly the coolest running valve equipment I have ever
encountered.
Next, Easyrider mode
apparently "eliminates the nasty artifacts that are the by-product of
nearly all other compressors". Well, excuse me, but I rather like
some other compressors and their 'artifacts'! I can only presume that the
Aphex designers and manual writers are just overly proud of their
products, and this is no bad thing, even if perhaps they have sometimes
missed the point slightly.
Buy Aphex and other recording equipment in the music studio shop
In reality, Easyrider is
very smooth auto attack/release compression. In this mode you simply set
Input and Output levels and Threshold for transparent compression using
Aphex's patented "No-Knee" circuitry. The Fast setting is more
suited to percussive sounds, whereas the Slow mode is intended for use on
vocals. This is much like older Aphex designs that aimed to compress
without the compression being audible ("Express, don't
Compress"!). It works well, but often, I like to hear my compression.
So when Easyrider mode is defeated, Manual mode gives you control
additionally over Ratio, Attack and Release and enables a Soft/Hard Knee
switch.
These controls give a
wide range of compression characteristics, including Peak and Program
Limiting, which will be popular with broadcasters. Additionally there is a
switchable Sidechain Low Cut filter, for use perhaps with two linked 661s
when wanting to compress bass or bass-drum heavy mixes without pronounced
pumping.
Two rows of large LEDs
provide an In/Out Level meter and a very good visual indication of
compression. Interactive with the compression circuitry is the patented
HFX circuitry which is high-frequency expansion that only works when the
compression threshold is passed. This is a smooth, pleasant effect
designed to eliminate compression 'dulling', and is controlled by Ratio
and Frequency knobs giving up to 6dB of treble lift or
'decompression'.
Yet another patented
feature is the Spectral Phase Refractor (SPR) switch. This effectively
delays mid and high frequencies to bring forward low frequencies in the
signal, with a huge list of promised benefits according to the manual.
This is a subtle psycho-acoustic effect such as those of the Aural Exciter
or BBE Sonic Maximiser, and can be used on individual instruments or the
whole mix (with two 661s). As a confirmed sceptic and one who is
underwhelmed by the BBE effect, this took me by surprise. It immediately
pulled together the bass and bass drum of a mix and allowed them to punch
through with a coherent warmth that was previously absent. On individual
sources however, the effect was often unnoticeable.
Overall this is a very
useable compressor, the Tubessence circuit works so well, and the limiter
is so fast, that you could almost believe this is a completely solid state
design. However, there is a definite hint of valve to its character. This
is something different from the norm, and certainly much thought has gone
into the design. The only downside is that if you want one of these, then
you undoubtedly want two to make a stereo pair.
Buy Aphex and other recording equipment in the music studio shop
Reproduced
with kind permission from www.George.Shilling.Com. Copyright ©1997
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George's website to find more great reviews.
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