MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
Yet another demo-less build report. I DO plan to get caught up soon and post some sound demos.
It's been a while since I built a compressor as the General Tso is a hard act to follow. It's been my goto, always on, compressor since the day I built it.
But I've been sitting on this board and decided it was time to do some compressor taste testing. I also have an a couple other compressor boards on the way, the Engineers Thumb, MBP BearHug and the new MBP Trash Compactor that sounds pretty cool.
The Aion Proxima is based on the John Hollis Flatline DIY circuit with some added controls to the original design. From the build doc:
"This version includes several additions: a JFET input buffer to split the signal, a sensitivity or threshold knob, a clean blend by way of separate Effect Volume and Clean Volume controls, and an output buffer to correct the phase from the mixing stage. If you like the Flatline but wish it had more flexibility, the Proxima is what you’re after."
So some cool sounding features.
It is a vactrol based optical compressor that supports a number of different vactrols. The one I used was the VTL5C3, but you can use a 5C2 or even an NSL-32 with some slight component modifications.
Like most optical compressors, the effect is subtle, which is typically the sound I'm after. The Proxima capable of more "squish" than the Tso's and add's a very slight bit more coloration. To me the Tso is probably the most transparent of all the compressors I've built which I why I like it so much.
Having said that, the Flatline is a strong contender. It's a great sounding compressor and I like have the separate controls for both clean volume and comp volume.
It's also easy to dial in a good sound. (6 knob compressors are just too fiddly for me.) It's also got a very low noise floor. Super quiet, like the Tso's.
What was REALLY cool was running dual compressors. Running the Tso unto the Proxima had some neat sounds that I need to explore some more.
Also, first time using the the PedalPCB DC input jack breakout board. Those little things are da bomb for multi ground or multi DC voltage tap situations!
Demo forthcoming.....at some point
It's been a while since I built a compressor as the General Tso is a hard act to follow. It's been my goto, always on, compressor since the day I built it.
But I've been sitting on this board and decided it was time to do some compressor taste testing. I also have an a couple other compressor boards on the way, the Engineers Thumb, MBP BearHug and the new MBP Trash Compactor that sounds pretty cool.
The Aion Proxima is based on the John Hollis Flatline DIY circuit with some added controls to the original design. From the build doc:
"This version includes several additions: a JFET input buffer to split the signal, a sensitivity or threshold knob, a clean blend by way of separate Effect Volume and Clean Volume controls, and an output buffer to correct the phase from the mixing stage. If you like the Flatline but wish it had more flexibility, the Proxima is what you’re after."
So some cool sounding features.
It is a vactrol based optical compressor that supports a number of different vactrols. The one I used was the VTL5C3, but you can use a 5C2 or even an NSL-32 with some slight component modifications.
Like most optical compressors, the effect is subtle, which is typically the sound I'm after. The Proxima capable of more "squish" than the Tso's and add's a very slight bit more coloration. To me the Tso is probably the most transparent of all the compressors I've built which I why I like it so much.
Having said that, the Flatline is a strong contender. It's a great sounding compressor and I like have the separate controls for both clean volume and comp volume.
It's also easy to dial in a good sound. (6 knob compressors are just too fiddly for me.) It's also got a very low noise floor. Super quiet, like the Tso's.
What was REALLY cool was running dual compressors. Running the Tso unto the Proxima had some neat sounds that I need to explore some more.
Also, first time using the the PedalPCB DC input jack breakout board. Those little things are da bomb for multi ground or multi DC voltage tap situations!
Demo forthcoming.....at some point
