this review
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1. start the track with the alpha s control functions in zero position so that it does not produce any compression at all Then activate the compressor non active mode means a hard bypass by the way in order to find out if the unit produces any noise No no there is absolutely nothing And the phases of the audio material sent through it show no signs of being influenced at all Indeed did not find any phase shifts in stereo mode before start ing to turn the controllers The first song use consists of an acoustic guitar a mellow girl s voice and a chorus with a deep al most floating bass At the end there are some ad ditional samples that run criss cross through the complete frequency range This is everything but a simple task because the dynamics of the track show extreme variations But just start and set the attack to a very slow time 150 ms and the release to its fastest value Then set the ratio by ear ap prox 1 1 5 and the threshold to 3 dB Our alpha reacts at once and the big central LED meter starts to light up The meter takes half dB steps up to 3 dB full dB steps up to 6 dB 1 5 dB steps up to 11 dB and finally 2 dB steps up to 20 dB The main material of the track is compressed by 1 5 dB whereas the peaks are reduced by 3 dB com pensate this with the make up gain and chose the same level the original material has Now make the A B comparison Hard bypass it was wasn t it Anyway le2. AGinnereea aa reaatartall tra sara we can definiti Velly Say tNat tne aloha does not influence the material inz Transformer With the intention of making everything tighter now activate the trans former feature This has got nothing to do with the usual input or output transformers but and find this very interesting switches an addi tional transformer into the signal path to turn the sound of the alpha compressor a little bit more into the direction of a classical compressor push the button and notice that this is not just a small step into the right direction but just what needed to give the material in the mid channel its final polishing The lowest frequencies are nicely rounded and get a touch of tape compression they swing beautifully and have just the right bite in all the important transients throughout the complete fre quency range 80 100 Hz for the bass around 200 Hz for the drum rolls 1 kHz for the rest approximately 3 4 kHz for the vocals and 8 kHz for the attack And the higher frequencies far far in the upper regions and surely beyond 20 kHz where those things happen that are rather sensed than actually heard give the complete package somehow more air Now the mid channel seems to be finished for now Next switch off the mid channel by deactivating both its Direct and Compressed buttons Now only listen to the side channel and it is really a strange feeling to hear only what is going on in t
3. We made the bass and the drums denser without any negative side effects in the lower frequencies Then we gave a clearer definition the middle and the high frequencies without making it sound too sharp And we also applied a soft compres sion in the side channel that lets the attack of the guitars pass nicely and gives the reverb a beautiful clean flow which makes it fill the room sweetly Everything came out just as we had intended The melody and rhythm information in the mid channel gained in stability and could rise the mid a little bit while making the sides more concise at the same time Then applied a little bit more compression with just a minimal increase of level And did all that in only ten minutes Without ever having done something similar or having worked with the elysia alpha compressor before am truly impressed In my virtual purse a growing love for the alpha seems to start wrestling with fears of loss But slowly the awareness that could get over 7 990 Euro in consideration of the functionality we have experienced within just one hour including coffee and cake gets the upper hand TEST AUDIO HARDWARE 28 ET ET a After that get back to playing around with our Eric Ramsey material do not need much more than fifteen minutes per song for pro cessing four further tracks Every song is about four to five minutes long so have to listen to the whole thing just three times The work of the first night
4. TEST AUDIO HARDWARE P my IF 24 or one year the internet has been talking about the first product by ely sia a completely analog compressor that was consequently named alpha What we already know in the run up to the review is that we are talking about a complex and with a net retail price of 7 990 Euro Ger many pretty high priced piece of equipment For a couple of days have been sitting here together with producer Charlie Storm trying to understand the elysia alpha in all its poten tials And we are lost for words indeed The elysia alpha compressor is an incredible unit no let me put it another way it almost ap pears menacing Outward appearance With its sixteen kilos of weight its rugged and extremely solid housing and a total of forty five knobs and controllers on the front the alpha almost seems to exclaim that have overreached myself Now my facade is about to crumble now it will become obvious that am just a charlatan But then curiosity wins What can use the alpha compressor for Af ter immersing in the well written user manual for fifteen minutes have already understood enough that think am able to start Have a look at the picture On each side there is a compressor section a filter section and a mix section That is in fact pretty easy and clearly arranged The manual explains the concep tion of the unit and describes a lot of practical examples of use As a conclusion t
5. ain can be applied in well controlla ble steps As you can see in the picture there cote lve within on ly five gt MINUTES VVNal SO ell But n eitner the proq ucer b btorm WwWNi w alana ae e aa aAA TTA 5 Ha E ener air A eer Sore Sirs nd this is just what you would expect for 7 990 Euro isn t it S In Stadil ly VL rma ALE TCO e U t T CUTTIVICSS P l are 0 3 dB steps from 0 to 2 7 dB and Hi Lo The sidechain filter to the right works a little bit differently Here you can choose which frequencies should have a stronger or weaker influence on the compression process In the extreme settings LP and HP this filter works as a low pass or a high pass respectively both with 6 dB and a boost cut resolution of 0 3 dB per step Abstract Yes maybe a little bit but I just con tinue with the track and give the transients mentioned above a little bit more saturation and check the result with the bypass func tion instantly notice that within just a few minutes was able to give the audio material a better definition and more saturation while attention reading the manual at the same time Now raise the amount of compression and reduce the attack a little bit Now it really sounds like it is supposed to Deep below are the bass frequencies nicely separated from each other and the vocals appear clearly and well defined fter only five seconds have ry rates AAS PRR ala ean Haan aha alata SlAae ran
6. arrangement of the instruments is not very complex but it suffers from being totally two dimensional and also from very diffuse vocals Again we decide to work in the M S mode Here this function can really show what it is good for First of all we have to start with clearing things up and if possible bringing the melody and rhythm to the fore in order to make the songs work We play the first track and disable the side channel Now we can instantly hear what is missing The bass in the mid channel is deeper than in the side channel and the vocals have either been ma nipulated heavily or recorded in such a wrong way that they sound extremely diffuse Alright this calls for heavy equipment but am sure we can make it Our first move is to try giving the mid a better definition Therefore we use the audio filter in order to enhance the vocals Without encountering any problems we raise the complete material above 3 kHz by 2 5 dB Now the vocals sound much better and also the definition of the drums has improved We prepare to apply some compression by set ting the sidechain EQ to a low pass at 200 Hz in order to tighten up the bass frequencies Then we activate the Auto Fast function for both attack and release and apply a pretty strong amount of compression with a ratio of 1 8 and the threshold at 10 dB Now the track has a completely different character in terms of sound and information as well try the feed forward mod
7. e that switches the tap for the sidechain before the compression module but here the effect becomes too strong and affects the vocals So go back to feedback mode compensate some gain make a slight change in the balance between the direct and compressed signals and am done Clearing the space In our demo production the side areas are filled with bass frequencies that are literally just lying around without any use also they have too much pressure because of the Sonic Maximizer plugin which messes everything up more than ever It is almost strange that we still manage to find some space to work with in these files This credit can only go to elysia without the slightest doubt So we start tidy ing up the lower frequency region and apply a soft compression with a slow attack and the release supported by the Auto Fast function The result is that the frequencies above 1 kHz gain in stability and definition and the next thing we notice is that as if by magic we are already finished Now we combine the mid and the side channel Especially in this appli cation we notice that the possibility of setting the levels for both channels independently is an invaluable asset We manage to bring out the vocals add some nice saturation to the drums and free some exciting sounds from their straightjacket The difference between the original and the material processed with the alpha compressor is really big In effect it
8. fee will receive for this article will hopefully be enough to pay for a day s lease and then could PS At the end of the day actually also recorded drums with two micro phones and drove both channels directly via the aloha compressor into the DAW Then routed both channels on a buss and compressed them again Nothing vanished everything just got clearer more solid and de fined Well an expensive drum compressor but anyway 29
9. he sides And We can directly hear that the bass is somehow polluting the area something that we definitively do not want On top of this we hear a humming sound of a strange re peating interference that reaches far down into the lower frequencies Probably this comes from a synthesizer located in the same area like the drums We filter the complete side signal with 2 dB at around 500 Hz and the side material instantly starts to shine We do not apply a lot of com pression and activate the Auto Fast function for both attack and release Then we also activate the transformer resulting in additional stability and spice the result with the audio filter which is set to only 0 3 dB at 3 kHz Now the side material sounds just as we wanted it to Hard to describe but really good We have achieved a good and compact compression that preserves the higher guitar tones as well as the sparkle of the reverb as well as the deep synthesizers and samples Now adjust different lev els for the mid and the side channels this is also possible after all in order to achieve just the balance between the mid and the side material had in mind Everything is possible turn down the bass or turn it up the same with the drums or the vocals We mix the material mid and side and check it with the bypass function Did we ruin the track now Did we want too much so that the phases are not optimal anymore No of course not Only the following happened
10. is amazing We approach the remaining tracks of our project the same way We clean up add a little bass change the balance between mid and side compress the mid quite strongly and still the material coming out of the al pha compressor sounds less squashed than the original How can all this be Conclusion Oh yes this is the central question of this review How can it do this and that and that The answer lies in the fact that the elysia alpha compressor is an extremely well built unit made for one special pur pose to be the best and most sophisticated compressor in state of the art technology If you look at the alpha only halfheartedly you might be come of the opinion that the price is quite high after all But you should not make this mistake by all means Maybe the market for this unit is not very big but nevertheless am sure that in the introduction phase at least ten of these units should change hands Max Martin must have one Murlyn Music must have one Michael Ilbert has got to have one Benny Andersson also needs and Per Gessle must give one to Christoffer as a present and so on Uniting all these diverse functions in one unit is simply a stroke of ge nius and keeping everything clearly arranged and making it easy to use makes it a complete miracle Never before was able to work with such a complex unit like the alpha compressor and will not miss even the slightest chance to rent it for my work The
11. is finished and on my way home keep furrowing my brow How can make it to raise nearly eight thousand Maybe should offer my body for scientific experiments More practical experiences On the next evening we the author himself and the producer Storm concentrate on our next task with great enthusiasm the new al bum from maestro Gunnar Danielsson The State of the files we received was everything but good They had been recorded with Logic Express obviously with lots of love but everything else left a lot to be desired The songs sounded as if they had been re corded in a cardboard box throughout On top of that all tracks had been sent through a Sonic Maximizer plugin which scrunched the material forcibly obviously following the one for all approach We are not amused at all and try to create sound files without any master plugins but in the end we have to accept that we have to use what is there Ok now it is time for the alpha to show its colors And we are pressed for time All in all twelve tracks must be souped up in the evening af ter my regular working time and that as fast as possible because have to give the alpha back very soon This almost asks for military discipline otherwise cannot be done We di vide the tracks according to their dynamics chill out soft pop and compact material in order to create three presets we can work with We start our work with the smooth tracks The
12. o the plain and educationally well written text find the AC DC quotation Let there be sound And there was sound Striking What am sup posed to believe after all A stunning sight place the solid alpha on top of a rack and try to dissemble its serious weight and then connect it to the HD3 system and to the mains supply That is easy as there are only two inputs and two outputs plus the mains connector on the rear panel Well there is something else Two rotary discs for adjust ing the contrast of the controller illumination switch the alpha on and hear a short sound of relays clicking then see a couple of lights flickering bend down and see how the alpha lights up almost like an encounter of the third kind with an alien mother ship Unbe lievable start with regulating the contrast of the controllers the range of brightness goes from subtle to causing migraine But whatever do next don t hear a single sound No clicks no hum nothing And the controllers are ob viously of the highest quality Using them is uniquely comfortable as they lock in their positions as if they were slightly suspended You can t do anything wrong here like chang ing one of your settings by mistake As already mentioned each channel is divided into three sections The great lot of information assail ing you at first sight is overwhelming indeed Therefore it is time to take a deep breath and approach the elysia al
13. pha step by step We load a finished mix by Eric Ramsey the indie postrock electronica folk psychedelic artist in order to start checking what we can do with this compressor No influence on phase The first test consists of applying some simple stereo compression We use the compres sor section top the gain controller bot tom for the make up gain and the stereo to be the best and most sophisticated compressor in state of the art technology Elysia a place that was struck by lightning where strange powers rule ai and the forces of nature are suspended The ancient Greeks described ely sia as a place providing body and soul with creative strength and helping philosophers politicians rhetoricians athletes and especially musicians and artists to create something extraordinary Therefore it was a pretty clever decision of Dominik KlaBen and Ruben Tilgner to choose this name for their new company dedicated to the production of audio equipment without any compromise The Swedish distributor Golden Age Music in Alings s told us we were probably the first magazine to get hold of an al pha compressor and we at Monitor want to test it of course link mode Now the left channel functions as a master for both sides but have to set the gain for each channel and activate them separately by pressing both Compressed knobs That all seems very easy and logical maybe the alpha is not so dangerous after all
14. t s check the results What does it sound like The first thing that subjectively notice is that the guitar gains in body and depth The main reverb an EMT 240 gets an incredibly realistic color of sound and appears much better defined than before Now raise the ratio value a little bit 1 1 7 and set the threshold to 5 dB The controllers snap in at every half dB and the light of the controller is guid ed by a cut out in its jacket in a way that it projects a precise mark onto the scale This shows the exact value unmistakably With the alpha everything is clearly and precisely defined and this concerns its construction and its quality of audio processing in equal measure 25 TEST AUDIO HARDWARE 26 bki bhat ee EFF lysia See be The first thing that I subjectively notice is that the guitar gains in body and depth M S matrix The next track has a completely different character it is a kind of drawing and pump ing machine drum loop combined with a natural drum set with a shuffle pop beat plus synchronized vocals with a compact choir in the chorus All in all this material can only be described as an organized chaos which sounds so massive that really start wonder ing if there is any space left at all to actually do something with it decide to test M S pro cessing for this task By doing so can split the material into a mid band mono and a side band left plus right min
15. us the mono informa tion The left channel of the alpha now con trols the mid band while the right channel is responsible for the side information If one had never worked with the M S tech nique this all could easily leave the impres sion of Science Fiction And indeed at the beginning cannot get rid of the feeling to be led up the garden path But then remember to consult the excellent and educationally Same ASK SLOTI LO SW itcl Pune UHU OF aN OT W well written manual and instantly there is a feeling of hope The actions to use this feature for the wanted application are easy Deacti vate the channel link activate both Compres sion switches in the mix section engage the M S mode and that s it The track is compact but now get the feeling that the mid still has some space available in the middle frequen cies for letting the vocals appear more clearly as well as in the bass region in order to give these transients more power use the audio filter to achieve more clarity around 4 kHz and boost this frequency area which simultane ously results in a reduction of the lower fre quencies This leads to an audible shift in the tonal balance Both of us the producer and 1 are equally stunned about how significantly the overall sound character can be changed with such small alterations Even if you know what you are doing very well you have to take care to use this feature sensitively Therefore the filter g
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