Tube Tech CL1B-Style All-Tube Transformer-Balanced Optical Compressor

The WA-1B compressor delivers a signature Scandinavian style of compression renowned for its exceptional analog performance with modern features. Delivering the sonic versatility of the original, the WA-1B spans pristine, transparent compression that maintains the clarity of audio sources to delivering rich and harmonically saturated tones when the tubes are driven to saturation. Ready to take recordings to the next level, the WA-1B has all of the key controls normally absent from more vintage optical compressors. Using the threshold, ratio, attack, release, and makeup gain controls allows for precise dynamic control and tone shaping without sacrificing vintage tube-optical tone. The controllable attack time with faster available speeds and program-dependent release controls contribute to the very forgiving character of the compressor. The dedicated sidechain bus selector offers three positions (Off, Bus 1, Bus 2), allowing you to interconnect and link up to 10 WA-1B compressors in your signal chain. Rounding out the set of critical pro recording features on the WA-1B is the front-mounted meter-adjust control. By having this knob on the front panel, there’s no pause in creativity and no need to unrack gear in the middle of a session when you need to zero out the VU meter. The original style of Scandinavian tube-opto compression has earned its place among the most coveted studio compressors, and the WA-1B makes all of these tones and features readily available to producers and engineers - no waitlist required.

Delivering that revered “forgiving” musical compression with the added speed and control functionality, the WA-1B excels on highly dynamic sources that demand analog warmth.

Supports a variable threshold giving maximum control to the user regarding how much compression is applied to any signal at various input levels
Ratio is variable and has infinite controls between 2:1 and 10:1. From soft musical dynamic control all the way to hard-smashing compression
Attack/Release controls on the WA-1B are unique in that the attack/release operations can be switched from a fixed setting, manual (variable) setting, or a combined setting
Meter switch has three settings: input, compression, and output levels. Set to “input”, the VU meter is reading the level at the input connector
Bypass switch on the WA-1B activates or bypasses the compressor. This is a hard bypass, meaning no signal passes through the circuitry in bypass mode

Accurately recreating world-class Scandinavian compression combining smooth tube-optical warmth with precision controls

True-to-spec 270 volt, 100% discrete analog signal path - handwired with through-hole components

Premium vacuum tubes

Transformer-balanced fully floating input and output - Custom-core large transformers from Scandinavian Manufacturer, Lundahl in Swede

MPN: WA-1B + M60x
UPC: 850031640238

• 12AX7 Tung-Sol & JJ 12AU7 tubes Frequency response @ -3 dB: 5 Hz to 25 kHz
  
• Self-Noise: < -75 dBU @ 30 dB gain
  
• CMRR: > 60 dB @ 10 kHz
  
• Ratio: from 2:1 to 10:1
  
• Variable Threshold: Off to -40 dBU
  
• Continuously variable, fixed, or fixed/manual attack and release times
  
• Fixed - Attack: 1 millisecond | Release: 50 milliseconds
  
• Manual - Attack: .5 - 300 milliseconds | Release: .05 seconds - 10 seconds
  
• Fixed/Man mode blends the release times of fixed and manual mode
  
• Output Gain: Off to +30 dBU
  
• Input Impedance: 600 Ω