Features
- All Analog Signal Path - No digitals in here!
- Selectable Output Transformer - Use the active balanced output for a pristine signal path or engage the output transformer for some added warmth. Load down the output transformer for even more old school analog character and some pleasant saturation.
- 3 Ratios - 3:1 gives great transparent compression for evening out dynamics. 6:1 gives great control and can be pretty aggressive when doing lots of gain reduction. 12:1 is approaching limiting and can be very useful when you need to sit something in the mix or hit it hard for tons of character.
- Super Fast Attack Speeds - Dial in attack speeds down to 50 microseconds! Great for controlling transients, and the beauty of FET based compressors.
- Mix Knob for Parallel Compression - Blend in dry signal for New York style compression.
- 10 Segment LED Gain Reduction Meter - The very responsive meter lets you know what the compressor is doing.
- Sidechain HPF - High pass the sidechain at 120 Hz or 220 Hz so the compressor doesn't react to the really low frequencies.
- Auto Modes - These two modes employ completely separate sidechains. They both have two detectors that work together; one with really fast time constants at a higher threshold that reacts primarily to peaks, and a slower detector, with a lower threshold to smooth the overall signal. This allows the auto modes to provide extremely transparent compression that isn't possible with traditional attack and release controls.
- Stereo Link - Connect two units and link them as a stereo pair using either the link pin on your rack or the supplied link cable.
- Analog Warmth - Engage the transformer and set the mix for 100% dry to use the ECM-519 for adding warmth without using the gain reduction circuit.
- True Bypass - The Empress ECM-519 employs true bypass, so you can be sure that it's not affecting the signal when disengaged.