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laserchick « Warm Audio gives me the warm fuzzies »
Published on 02/17/16 at 09:03
Best value:
Excellent
Audience:
Anyone
I have been using less expensive equipment in my project studio for years now and my recordings have sounded... thin to say the least. I recently found out about Warm Audio WA-76 from my music store sales rep and I was interested to say the least. We setup the WA-76 up next to a real 1176 compressor and I honestly couldn't hear a difference. The Cinemag transformers really warmed up the sound and the compression was nice without the pumping I have seen so often with cheaper compressors. I loved it so much I shortly thereafter bought a second so I could run in stereo.
As great as these are, I do have a couple of minor issues with them. For one, they use an external power supply. Come on guys, it is a 2u rack box with tons of empty space inside. It would have been nice to not have to deal with the external power supply. At least it is the lump in the line style rather than a wall wart but still. And secondly, there is no provision for stereo linking. Luckily, Hairball Audio makes a stereo link kit that can be adapted (not easily) to the WA-76. I was able to get that and now I have link capability. Another thing that would have been nice would to have had the meter adjust pot available from the front instead of the back. The UA-1176 has a small hole in the front panel to access this pot. It is on the back of the WA-76.
Other than these minor annoyances, the WA-76 has really livened up my sound without having to remortgage my house. I am getting a third to dedicate to my bass rig.
As great as these are, I do have a couple of minor issues with them. For one, they use an external power supply. Come on guys, it is a 2u rack box with tons of empty space inside. It would have been nice to not have to deal with the external power supply. At least it is the lump in the line style rather than a wall wart but still. And secondly, there is no provision for stereo linking. Luckily, Hairball Audio makes a stereo link kit that can be adapted (not easily) to the WA-76. I was able to get that and now I have link capability. Another thing that would have been nice would to have had the meter adjust pot available from the front instead of the back. The UA-1176 has a small hole in the front panel to access this pot. It is on the back of the WA-76.
Other than these minor annoyances, the WA-76 has really livened up my sound without having to remortgage my house. I am getting a third to dedicate to my bass rig.