Warm Audio WA76-A Vintage-voiced Discrete FET Compressor

The single-channel WA76-A from Warm Audio faithfully recreates the 76 Blue Stripe vintage compressor revered by engineers and producers for its gritty preamp stage and warm analog character. Used by artists including Jack White, The Beatles, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, and countless others, the original compressor is known for its fast attack, powerful dynamic control, and analog saturation.

With this 2 RU rackmount unit, the amount of compression applied to the signal is determined by the amount of input dialed in—the more input you add, the more compression you get. There are 4 buttons allowing you to set the compression ratio at 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, or 20:1. Pressing all the buttons at once gives you an overdriven, hard-limited sound. The meters can be switched from gain reduction to +4 and +8 output levels, making it easier to adjust the input and output knobs for an appropriate level. Attack and release controls allow you to tailor how quickly the compression kicks in and dies off. Warm Audio added a few modern touches for today's workflows, including an input impedance attenuator, a bypass switch, a wet/dry mix control for parallel compression, an external side-chain input with high-pass filtering, and a link function.

Classic Studio Compression with True Analog Grit and Modern Additions

 

Not only does the WA76-A painstakingly reproduce the vintage sound of the 76 Blue Stripe–style FET studio compressor, it offers added features to meet modern recording workflows. Recreating the lauded original vintage Blue Stripe version of the 76 compressor known for its extra grabby fast attack and vintage analog grit, the WA76-A offers the ideal blend of vintage circuitry and modern controls to deliver ultimate flexibility without sacrificing vintage analog character.

 

With its vintage circuit design, the WA76-A has all of the traditional 76-style compression controls: attack, release, ratio, input, output, and meter display. In addition to the classic controls expected on a 76-style compressor, the WA76-A is a stereo unit and has dry/wet mix for parallel compression, selectable input impedance, active and true bypass, and variable sidechain high-pass filtering, to tackle unruly bass that dominates the compressor's attention.

 

Premium Components and Accurate Blue Stripe-Style Circuitry'

 

 

The WA76-A uses premium poly film capacitors, carbon resistors, and a vintage-voiced preamp stage. These key components complete a circuit that cuts no corners in delivering an authentic vintage 76-style Blue Stripe–style compression experience.

Just like in the vintage 76-style compressors from revisions A to D, the WA76-A uses custom, large-core, CineMag input and output transformers. The transformers inside the WA76-A use the exact same spec data and materials (nickel and steel) used by Reichenbach Engineering in the original vintage designs, known for delivering vintage analog grit to any signal chain.

Like all Warm Audio gear, the WA76-A is meticulously hand-tested and inspected in Austin, Texas, USA, by trained technicians with a passion for making music.

 

At a Glance

 

• 100% analog discrete FET compressor
• Faithful recreation of the vintage Blue Stripe 76 FET compressor with added recording features
• VU meter options: Gain Reduction | +8 dB Output | +4 dB Output | Off 
• 100 to 230V IEC inlet universal power supply
• Class-A line-level output amplifier
• 100% discrete audio signal path using 600-ohm input impedance attenuator

• Selectable 10-kilohm input impedance to better match modern audio interface specifications
• 100% dry/wet mix control; variable side-chain high-pass filter: 30 to 300 Hz, 12 dB per octave
• Active bypass for running unit as line amplifier and true bypass option for A/B comparisons
• 2 RU 19" rackmount chassis
• Utilizes premium 0-12 input and 5002 output transformers from CineMag USA
• Vintage-spec attack and release: Attack = 20 µs to 800 | Release: 50 ms to 1.1 sec
• All-buttons-in setting for experimental and hard-limiter tones
• Balanced XLR and TRS inputs and outputs