moosers
Published on 12/18/09 at 20:38
The Drawmer TS-2 Tubestation is a dual channel compressor that is based on vacuum tubes. It is an analog piece of gear that has a slew of connections including XLR and 1/4 inch for both ins and outs on both channels. It also has a section for AES/EBU and 1/4 inch side chain connections for each channel. It is indeed rack mountable and will take up only a single space in a standard rack.
UTILIZATION
I didn't find that using the Drawmer TS-2 Tubestation was too difficult at all as everything is pretty self explanatory. Each channel has parameters for compress, attack, and release in the compression section, and also has parameters for tube drive, gain, and analog output. There is also a button to link both of the channels or to bypass them. Beyond this there isn't too much that you need to know in terms of the make up of the unit. I think that most users will find that they don't need a manual for this and that it is overall quite user friendly.
SOUND QUALITY
The overall sound quality of the Drawmer TS-2 Tubestation is quite good. While it isn't the best tube compression I've used (as I've used a ton of them), it does have a full sound and I find that it can be useful in a variety of settings. Having two identical channels is a huge plus as it allows me to use the unit for both stereo compression and for mono mixing. I find that it sounds best on drums, but can be used for just about any application where you would want to use tube compression. I've also tried using it for mastering a track and have found that it definitely works for this as well, although I wouldn't recommend picking it up for this type of use alone...
OVERALL OPINION
All in all, if you're looking for a reasonably priced set of compressors, the Drawmer TS-2 Tubestation is definitely something that you should look into. The price isn't the cheapest, but is definitely fairly priced as this is a high quality piece of gear. I would recommend it to both home studio owners and professionals as it has the price tag to be affordable to anyone while still delivering a very high sound quality. Overall, Drawmer is definitely a company that knows what they are doing with outboard gear and the TS-2 is absolutely worth a try...
UTILIZATION
I didn't find that using the Drawmer TS-2 Tubestation was too difficult at all as everything is pretty self explanatory. Each channel has parameters for compress, attack, and release in the compression section, and also has parameters for tube drive, gain, and analog output. There is also a button to link both of the channels or to bypass them. Beyond this there isn't too much that you need to know in terms of the make up of the unit. I think that most users will find that they don't need a manual for this and that it is overall quite user friendly.
SOUND QUALITY
The overall sound quality of the Drawmer TS-2 Tubestation is quite good. While it isn't the best tube compression I've used (as I've used a ton of them), it does have a full sound and I find that it can be useful in a variety of settings. Having two identical channels is a huge plus as it allows me to use the unit for both stereo compression and for mono mixing. I find that it sounds best on drums, but can be used for just about any application where you would want to use tube compression. I've also tried using it for mastering a track and have found that it definitely works for this as well, although I wouldn't recommend picking it up for this type of use alone...
OVERALL OPINION
All in all, if you're looking for a reasonably priced set of compressors, the Drawmer TS-2 Tubestation is definitely something that you should look into. The price isn't the cheapest, but is definitely fairly priced as this is a high quality piece of gear. I would recommend it to both home studio owners and professionals as it has the price tag to be affordable to anyone while still delivering a very high sound quality. Overall, Drawmer is definitely a company that knows what they are doing with outboard gear and the TS-2 is absolutely worth a try...