Source Audio Atlas Compressor pedal (stereo + so much under the hood)

Interesting module! Seems out of stock everywhere but definitely something to look out for. Not wanting to derail further but had also looked into the Endorphin.es Golden Master when considering modular compression/‘finalised’ units.

I basically gave up on this journey. I’m trying to assemble a collection of fx pedals that are stereo, suitable for both guitar and synths and have midi controllable presets. Gave up on finding a compressor…. ( Well gave up on stereo anyway and went with Strymon compadre, which obviously doesn’t have the level of control you’re looking for. )

Silly idea, but the mention of the eurorack option above made me wonder if anyone has made a pedalboard friendly stompbox euro case of some sort… like a stompbox equivalent of waldorfs kb37.

Also, I think the poly effects beebo has stereo compressor options, and with all the ins and outs can surely be setup for sidechains.

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A Nord Micromodular has some capabilities in this area. Overpriced these days though unless a deal comes along.

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The nabc is really good. I had it between rytm and a4, an it works flawlessly. Sidechain options were kick out from ar, or midi note from ar kick channel or even cv signal from a4. And it sounds great.

I have one nabc for sale, btw. Because i sold my a4 and ar…

https://www.elektronauts.com/t/fs-ger-suonobuono-nabc-hardware-compressor/169757/3

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I’ve wondered if there are any true stereo euro options available with lookahead and SC HPF. A small Pod 34X usually runs around $150, give or take.

Haven’t had any success in finding any, but it’s been a while since I have looked and there are always new modules coming along.

Disting MK4 was a contender, but no SC filter, just SC key input.

Disting MK4’s E5 algorithm “Sidechain Compressor” would do the trick w/o the SC HPF. Its sidechain isn’t a key type input. You can input audio here. You could quite easily HPF the input before going into the module.

"This algorithm is much the same as E-4 Stereo Compressor above, except that the gain reduction is
driven not by the audio signal itself, but by a side-chain input. Refer to the description of E-4 for
explanation of the common parameters not detailed below.
The Z knob/CV is the side-chain input. If you’re using an audio signal here, you’ll want to set the
knob to its central (un-illuminated) position first. However, you can also use Z with any CV to
control the gain reduction directly.
Parameter 5 sets the compression ratio, with a range from 1 (no compression) to infinity (effectively
limiting rather than compression).
"

A Disting EX would fit the bill perfectly as you could run it in dual mode with the left half using a filter algorithm and the right half running the sidechain compressor algorithm.

At a module depth of 50MM, a Pod34X would be more than accommodating.

Edit: Unless you’re looking for a compressor that is driven by both the audio input and sidechain source. In which case you could run algo E4 into E5 w/ an HPF on the sidechain source. I’m sure there’s a workable solution somewhere within the EX.

Edit 2: Another consideration would be asking Andrew (Expert Sleepers founder/owner) about adding an HPF filter to the E5 algorithm. The Disting MK4 might not have the processing power but the EX would most certainly be up to the task. He seems to be very receptive to implementing (reasonable) features upon request. I believe he’s most active on modwigglers under his username ‘Os’.

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Interesting!

Ya, a few days ago i asked him in the comments of that algorithm’s YouTube demonstration video about adding HPF SC.

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I imagine it would be just as easy to add a parameter for slope to the HPF as well. Should he look into implementing it that is. 6 12 or 24dB.

I was also just thinking that perhaps the Disting EX could have a single algorithm setup to do end of chain processing. A marriage of the compressor with with a few EQing options. He certainly has all of the algorithms available to put together a bespoke solution that takes advantage of the EX’s extra resources.

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Just thinking of any possible hangups…

Any issues running line level i/o with Disting MK4?
Would the lower level (vs modular level) be problematic with the compressor’s threshold needs? Possibly requiring a preamp?


Also, I never considered duplicating a signal (buffered mult?), and running it through a high pass filter, into a SC key input. I suppose this would allow compressors (euro and otherwise) with a SC key-only input to work in a very similar way. :thinking:

Separately, I’ve come across this module:

Has both side chain key input and SC filter (LPF or HPF).

Would require 10db-20db pre-amping to function with line level signals (according to some instagram comments I found)

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:slight_smile:

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This looks really intriguing. Under $300 here in Canada. Just not in stock.

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Doesn’t appear to be in stock anywhere

Once you start pricing out modules, how soon before you’ve spent more than, like, a Warm Audio Bus Comp or something? It’s at least flat enough to stack things on top of. And you get some nice transformers, too, if you believe in those.

I don’t know much about compressors (like, nothing at all) but I know a bit about modular, and I don’t think it excels at end-of-chain stuff. It’s more about things earlier on that can be patched and modulated in flexible ways. People get enthusiastic and want to put this and that into their rack, and there are others who will build those things for them, but it may not always be a good idea.

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If anyone knows of any decent sounding open source compressor code, vst or whatever, i’d be happy to put some work into getting it running on a daisy or an owl pedal or something similar.

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Although I guess we’d need more than 2 inputs for side chaining. Hmmmm…

Not if the sc hpf processing is internal.

If it’s a stereo compressor, and we have two inputs only, how does the sidechain audio get in the device?

There’s a bunch of lv2 stuff out there. Look at the Mod Devices ecosystem.

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