Review of the PC-2APhoto-optical Tube
Compressor by Ovnilabs
EffectrodePC-2A: Thisisan
opticalcomppedalwith atube gain
stage.It usesa6021 military
subminiaturetubeinsteadof the
usual12A*7usedbymostsimilar
pedals.Thistubeoffersgreater
resistancetovibrationandimpact,
andaslightlydifferenttoneand
feel.
The opticalelement hasafast
attack,and itsrelease
characteristicsdepend on the
intensityof the signal--soitwill
releasemorequicklywith smaller
spikes,and moreslowlyafter
compressing tallerspikes.Italsoreleasesintwostages,ashortsteep
risefollowed byalong slowrise. Thisismeantto emulate theaction of
theopticaldeviceinthefamed UreiLA-2A. The pedalhasatoggle
switchonthebackforselectingbetween lowand highratios.The low
ratiosettingisgood formore"natural",unobtrusiveaction and general
smoothing.It can be set foranythingfromaninvisibletouchto amore
noticeablesquashing. The high-ratio"limit"settingisaveryheavy
squashwith adip-and-swellaction,suitableforchicken-pickin'orfunk.
It'snotgreat asaclean/invisiblepeaklimiter,becausethe effectisso
prominent.Butifyou likethe funky dip-and-swelleffect, thenitdoes
limitbigpeaksjustfine. Becausethereleasetimeissovariableand
dependent onthe signalpassing through, the amount eachnewnote's
first peakwillbe compressed can change dramatically.So you'llget the
smoothest, mostconsistent action byplaying smoothlyand consistently,
with fewlong rests.
Aside fromthe ratioswitch,ithasonlytwocontrols:threshold(labeled
"peakreduction")and outputgain.Thereisnolight to indicate when
you'vecrossedthethreshold. Whilethe controlsareverylimited, the
good newsisthatthe range ofthe peakreduction controlisquitewide,
andcapableof awiderange of flavorsand effects.It justtakessome
timeand experimentation to find the flavorthat willworkbestforyou. It
doesseemtogetinto aheavier-squashing range fairlyquickly:playing
abasswith "average"output levels,itseemed tocrossthe threshold
quiteoften, with the peakreduction knob at around9:00. Soifyou want
morerangeof light/subtleaction,youmayneed to reducethe levelof
the signalyou feedinto thispedal.
Thereisno loss ofhighsorlows,although both high and lowendcan
soundabitcongested orattenuatedduringmomentsof heavy
squeezing. Mostof thetimeit'snot an issue, plentyofhighsand lows.
