Cali 76 - In the Studio

colourofsound

Has anyone used a Cali 76 in their outboard studio chain? Seems to me a great way to get an 1176 on the cheap; but as it's designed primarily for guitars I was wondering how it performed in a line-level situation.

Cheers!

guitarfishbay

Well one solution could be to use a re-amp box.  That'd sort out impedance/noise

I don't have experience of that pedal, but I have a WA76 I can recommend if you can find a used one... more expensive than the pedal but it really does sound fantastic and of course cheaper than a real 1176.  However being honest, I only use it for lead vocals/other prominent parts, because otherwise I think you can get a good result from plugins.  

Have you tried Slate VMR FG116 - the blue 1176 comps?  Not the standard one that comes with VMR, which is still decent, but the additional Blue pack.  They're my favourite software compressors, lots of options, worth demoing.

colourofsound

@guitarfishbay I suppose the reason I ask is because I'd like something for compression on my board with a little bit more flexibility (currently have Fairfield Accountant) but would also like it to be able use it for maybe a bit of 2-bus processing at the end of a mix. Make it work for the money I spend on it, you know?

I've actually shied away from using models of compressors in software plugins; I really like using stuff that has been engineered from the ground up. I'm a big fan of the Vulf compressor by Goodhertz, the Klanghelm MJUC and anything Fabfilter makes. Those three really cover all bases I find.

I've not tried any Slate stuff; will take a look.

guitarfishbay

colourofsound said:

but would also like it to be able use it for maybe a bit of 2-bus processing at the end of a mix. Make it work for the money I spend on it, you know?

Since the pedals are mono (and to my knowledge not linkable) I'd be a bit cautious to do this, as dual mono will possibly change your stereo image - e.g. if you've got a loud panned tom that engages compression on the right side but not on the left, the impression of the centre will change.

I'm not saying it can't work, but I'd see about doing a test run with separate compressor plugins on left and right sides of a mix to get an idea of what might happen in dual mono before spending any money.

I've never heard of Goodhertz, but I like Fabfilter and Klanghelm stuff too.  There's a lot of hype around Slate stuff, but IMO the blue 1176s are nice.

colourofsound

@guitarfishbay Bollocks, that completely passed me by. I'd need two in a dual mono config. Hmm. Yeah could be a ballache. Well maybe it would be good for processing a vocal on the way in, but tbh with the quality of plugs these days its more hassle than it's worth.

You should really check out Goodhertz; great plugs, lightweight on the CPU, nice clean UI. The Compressor and Tremolo are especially good.