Source Audio Atlas Compressor

[Quatschmacher]

Sweet new pedal that I’ve had the privilege to beta test for the past few months has just launched today:

 

https://www.sourceaudio.net/atlas-compressor.html

 

If you download the latest Neuro Desktop, you can play around with Atlas’ offline editor. 

[fretmeister]

Bass vid

 

 

 

I am looking forward to this!

[lee650]

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Bass vid

 

 

 

I am looking forward to this!

Wow! This actually looks fantastic, id very much like to try one 😍

Edited May 5, 2022 by lee650

[Daz39]

Ooh shiny. I already have unnecessary hankerings for the Zio Front End & Boost!

[Quatschmacher]

8 hours ago, lee650 said:

Wow! This actually looks fantastic, id very much like to try one 😍

Feel free to come round once I no longer have Covid. 

[SumOne]

I wasn't over-excited about a digital compressor being put into a generic SA one control housing for £275 (that's the Bax price anyway. Edit: Juno are doing them for £200), .... But then read that you can use it as both start and end of chain compression: bass> input 1 > compress> output 1 > rest of pedal chain >  input 2 > compress (or limit) > output 2 > amp. 

 

.....That is impressive! I'm not sure if it's impressive enough to sell my Cali 76 to then buy an Atlas but I'll consider it. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by SumOne

[clauster]

I have been hoping and waiting for a SA compressor.  This is awesome!!

[SumOne]

The more I read about this the more interested I get. I like nerding out with compression and there's a lot of nerding potential here! And £200 from Juno seems a decent price.

 

My reservations are that good compression is a subtle thing and just because SA say it digitally replicates various types of analogue compression doesn't means it actually recreates all the subtleties. I mean, SA say the Aftershock can do tube OD and silicon transistor Big Muff Fuzz (and lots of other things) but my experience is that it doesn't do it quite as well as the analogue originals.  The SA website goes into detail of how optical compressors use light and a photo resistor and why this sounds good..... all very well, but the Atlas isn't actually using those components, it's using digital processing to emulate an optical compressor so it all comes down to how good the digital emulation is (can you accurately emulate light and light-sensitive resistors , or can you digitally emulate Field Effect Transistors?). I'm keen but am looking forward to some expert head-to-head comparison reviews.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by SumOne

[LukeFRC]

I don't even really "do" pedals (apart from my HX stomp) but ended up reading the whole talk bass thread on this

 

[51m0n]

Not interested if it doesn't have metering on it....

[Quatschmacher]

53 minutes ago, 51m0n said:

Not interested if it doesn't have metering on it....

It does. The LED does metering via colour and light intensity. Hooking up to the app gives you a full live graphic readout. 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Quatschmacher

[51m0n]

34 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

It does. The LED does metering via colour and light intensity. Hooking up to the app gives you a full live graphic readout. 

Sorry, I'll be more specific,  sufficient metering.

 

One light, even changing colour, I find hard to use fir compression. 

 

Is it showing input level, output level or compression, how many dB of compression is signified by which colour?

 

I could go on, and have before at length 😆

 

The new Empress compressor looks good, but I haven't tried it....

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, 51m0n said:

Sorry, I'll be more specific,  sufficient metering.

 

One light, even changing colour, I find hard to use fir compression. 

 

Is it showing input level, output level or compression, how many dB of compression is signified by which colour?

 

I could go on, and have before at length 😆

 

The new Empress compressor looks good, but I haven't tried it....

Fair point about the LED. 
 

The metering is comprehensive in the editor with full input, output and overall level in dB. Means you can program your patches exactly as you want them.

 

There’s a used Empress here:

 

[jimfist]

Just wanted to chime in here. Got an Atlas a couple weeks ago and finally gigged with it last night.

In short, it's a totally legit, high quality compressor/limiter. My 'very good' sound is now even better.

Not surprising given Source Audio's track record of producing some very cool pedals.

 

Yes, for tweaking and crafting settings, the software editor is a must-have. I've got my pedal tweaked so that it is essentially set-and-forget.

[SumOne]

 

It isn't clear that it is actually possible to do the suggestion of: input 1 > compress (or EQ)> output 1 > rest of pedal chain >  input 2 > compress (or limit, or EQ) > output 2 > DI/amp. Perhaps it is possible, it isn't mentioned in the user guide though. The 2x inputs and 2x outputs seem to mainly be there for stereo inputs and outputs, or instrument input and data connection input.

 

....but it looks like the pedal can be used for its 8 band graphic EQ and 3 band paramertric, they can be set pre/post compression and the knobs (and alt controls) can be assigned on a preset (rather than global) basis. I'm not sure how well this would work in practice but in theory you could have your default compression but in a preset where the knobs also turn it into an EQ pedal - perhaps with the knobs being for Bass (and alt for freq), Mid (alt for freq), Treble (alt for freq), and Gain.  

 

I haven't bought an Atlas yet as have been raising £ selling pedals rather than buying them, but clearly I have GAS if I'm spending time looking through the user guide and giving it this much thought!

 

I'd like to hear more from people that have tried the Atlas side-by-side against compressors it is emulating though, as that is kind of the whole point of it. I mean, Zoom and Helix digitally emulate compressors, but they aren't as good as the ones they emulate so I wouldn't buy them as a stand-alone compressor if that is all they did and cost a similar price to what they emulate. https://www.compressorpedalreviews.com/post/source-audio-atlas-compressor-review says "In a side-by-side comparison to the actual devices the Atlas is intending to mimic I suppose there is nothing like using the real deal. Thats OK. You an get close to the originals though. Close enough for you? Only you can decide." ....which isn't the most helpul expert review of a compressor pedal that emulates other compressors!  Is the “Cubic Zirconia” setting as good as a Diamond? Is “Optical Rack” as good as an Effectrode? Is “Studio 76” as good as a Cali 76? If not, then what is the difference - how much worse does it sound?  

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by SumOne

[LukeFRC]

@SumOne check out the talkbass thread, the guys from Source Audio take part - from what I can remember the two sides can be set up to act independently as two compressors, but eq etc are global on both paths 

 

[Osiris]

5 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

@SumOne check out the talkbass thread, the guys from Source Audio take part - from what I can remember the two sides can be set up to act independently as two compressors, but eq etc are global on both paths 

 

 

Yes, I'm sure I have read somewhere too (although I can't remember where) that it can be used as 2 independent compressors so you could have one at the start of the signal chain, then another at the end. I think that's pretty standard with these SA pedals in that you can configure 2 effects independently that can either be run in series or parallel.    

[SumOne]

^^

Ah yeah, it seems people have done the start and end of chain thing. And some comments from people that positively compare it to pedals it emulates. I think I'll get one once I have the spare cash. 

[Osiris]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

^^

Ah yeah, it seems people have done the start and end of chain thing. And some comments from people that positively compare it to pedals it emulates. I think I'll get one once I have the spare cash. 

 

I keep eyeing one up too, don't need one but I'm still tempted 😃

[jimfist]

8 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

@SumOne check out the talkbass thread, the guys from Source Audio take part - from what I can remember the two sides can be set up to act independently as two compressors, but eq etc are global on both paths 

 

This is correct from my recollection of doing just this when I first got the Atlas. The EQ section is not independent, like the rest of the dynamics processing. Dual mono works fine if you leave the EQ flat.

I'm very happy with the Atlas, and use it to emulate an 1176 type of compression, which it does well IMO. With the editor, you can see how well thought out and full featured it is, and very flexible.

The compression I prefer is 'always on' at the front of the chain, but with a slow attack time which lets transients through while fattening the meat of the sound that follows it. 

 

[SumOne]

I just got an Atlas and it seems great if you want to nerd out with compression.

 

Good stuff:

• It sounds good. I've owned quite a few compressors (FEA Opti-Fet, Empress, Markbass, Cali 76 compact, The Warden, MXR, Pigtronix) it is unfortunate I don't still have any to directly compare but it seems in the same league as the best of them, and better than the Helix and Zoom digital compressors.
• Hook it up to phone/laptop and you can control just about every compression parameter you'll ever want to.
• It can do things that most compressors can't: It can be pushed to distortion all the way up to sounding like a fuzz pedal, slow swelling noises, fast pumping sort of effects, noise gate, it has look ahead compression, dual compressors that can be parallel or series (with 2x inputs and 2x outputs potentially meaning using it as 2x compressors at different parts of signal chain - I haven't done that yet though), side chain compression.......basically, you name it and it probably can do it. 
• 6x presets and the dials can be assigned and ranges customised per preset. (128 presets accessible via Laptop/phone or if linked via midi)
• An expression pedal can be added and mapped. 
• Can be used as a parametric and graphic EQ. I've made a preset that uses one of the dials as a mid volume and the 'alt' version of it as the mid frequency point - so it is like adding an EWS BMC pedal.

 

Downsides are mostly hardware:

• There is no inherent tone or feel to it (perhaps a good thing?).
• The visual metering isn't as good as the MXR or Empress (but the light changes colour, which is plenty for me). Connected to the Laptop the metering is very good though - live graphs to show input signal and where compression is being applied.
• It would be great if it had a couple more dials (like the Empress with 6 dials and two switches), 4 isn't quite enough for hands-on control of a full-featured compressor where lots of things can be edited (there are the additional 'alt controls' but using that isn't ideal).....but then again, if it had hands-on control for all of the things available it would be massive and really expensive. 
• The 'alt' controls are fiddly, a small hidden button activates them for a short amount of time while the dials are turned. The problem is, try turning the 'release' alt dial and listening to the change made but turn the dial slightly after timed out and it reverts to 'output' potentially giving a massive volume increase/decrease because of the dials new position. Not good if trying to make 'release' adjustments while listening to how your compression sounds through a cab already at high volume. 

 

It's probably best not to think of it like I was as 'how good is it at emulating other compressors'. If you only want a compressor to sound like a Diamond or a Cali 76 etc.  then it is probably better to get one and keep things simple,  you can emulate them with the Atlas but its real strength is that you can then flick a switch for 5x other presets that could suit other instruments (for me, my 5 string active needs different compression settings to my 4 string passive), or  suit slap, or reggae, or pick, or do over the top compression effects, or EQ changes, or sidechain compression etc.

 

If you like gettting into all the details of editing compression and you want 6x different presets of potentially completely different compression then the Atlas is great.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by SumOne

[Jackopie1]

Hi Atlas users. 

 

Am I mad for thinking this could do a job as a bit of an 'all in one' preamp style box if it was run into a di? 

 

The compression obviously looks great, but between the parametric and graphic eq, it looks like a pretty special tone-shaping tool, with the 8khz maybe providing a little cab-like tone roll-off if all the way down? 

 

Thinking it might do the trick for having a load more control for my straight to FoH and IEM gigs? 

 

Or will I be disappointed if I expect the EQ and compression fron this to be able to sweeten an IEM/FoH sound? It's just for cheaper than many preamps with relatively simple EQs, it seems stacked with features. 

 

[SumOne]

22 minutes ago, Jackopie1 said:

Hi Atlas users. 

 

Am I mad for thinking this could do a job as a bit of an 'all in one' preamp style box if it was run into a di? 

 

The compression obviously looks great, but between the parametric and graphic eq, it looks like a pretty special tone-shaping tool, with the 8khz maybe providing a little cab-like tone roll-off if all the way down? 

 

Thinking it might do the trick for having a load more control for my straight to FoH and IEM gigs? 

 

Or will I be disappointed if I expect the EQ and compression fron this to be able to sweeten an IEM/FoH sound? It's just for cheaper than many preamps with relatively simple EQs, it seems stacked with features. 

 

The EQ is good. The main issue being quick access to editing it live. 

[Jackopie1]

3 hours ago, SumOne said:

The EQ is good. The main issue being quick access to editing it live. 

Cool- thanks. Am I right in thinking you could assign eq functions to the knobs?

 

So in theory something like Bass, Treble, Mid and Mid Freq on 4 knobs. 

 

Then maybe Threshold, Ratio, Sidechain HP and blend on the alternative controls. 

 

Combined with the graphic eq used sparingly to kind of get your tone in the ballpark of what you'd like for front of house, it seems like it would do the job better than most pedals actually marketed as preamps/eqs?! 

 

Or am I just being hopelessly optimistic? 

 

Cheers 

Edited June 24, 2023 by Jackopie1

[SumOne]

20 hours ago, Jackopie1 said:

Cool- thanks. Am I right in thinking you could assign eq functions to the knobs?

 

So in theory something like Bass, Treble, Mid and Mid Freq on 4 knobs. 

 

Then maybe Threshold, Ratio, Sidechain HP and blend on the alternative controls. 

 

Combined with the graphic eq used sparingly to kind of get your tone in the ballpark of what you'd like for front of house, it seems like it would do the job better than most pedals actually marketed as preamps/eqs?! 

 

Or am I just being hopelessly optimistic? 

 

Cheers 

 I seem to remember doing pretty much that. The 'alt' control are a bit tricky though - it flashes to allow alt editing for a few seconds before reverting, so you can easily end up altering the wrong thing.

 

It is a great pedal, just a bit tricky to get all that editing changed on the go. There are the presets though. 

Edited June 25, 2023 by SumOne