Intro

The 176 Vari-mu Tube Compressor has been a studio staple since the 1960s. Versatile and powerful, based on technology long out of production, this legend is a must-have for any engineer or producer with an ear for vintage depth and detail.

Description

The Antelope Audio Tube 176 carries everything we love about this powerful, fast, and super versatile compressor. The 176 allows you to tread lightly but when pushed to its limits can also brickwall your sound. Thanks to its tube design, which guarantees warm harmonic saturation no matter the amount of compression applied, the 176 will always sound rich and musical, which makes it suitable for a vast array of signals. While it works especially well as a mastering or bus compressor, it does its magic to drum transients, it gives bass lines a desired punch. With four ratio modes and deep enough attack and release options, you’ve got yourself quite a flexible tool to sculpt sound from a plethora of source signals and instruments.

History

Tube compression on its own is a guarantee for a nuanced and recognizable vintage sound but using variable-mu dual triode tube for gain reduction is what made the legendary 176 the classic that we know today. It’s needless to say the hardware originals are highly treasured and few can afford not only to buy but to find one. If you happen to live in Europe, securing one of these bad boys even for your high-budget facility is borderline mission impossible. That’s exactly why we made sure our tribute to this legend has got you covered.

Included versions

Native Plugin: Runs on your Mac or PC without any additional hardware needed.

Synergy Core Real-Time: Runs in real time with no perceptible latency on compatible Synergy Core devices.

Features

• True recreation of a quintessential and long out-of-production studio unit
• Versatile unit suitable for smooth compression or hard-limiting
• Enhances both sonic depth and detail
• Adjusts tone in a way equalization cannot
• Well-suited for boosting vocals through a busy mix
• Punchy drum compression classic

Tech Specs