Median Compressor (Wampler Ego76)

[MichaelW]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

I've been steadily adding builds to the arsenal albeit it at a much slower rate,
I just have not been super inspired to post or record any demos. Yet many of these builds deserve demos. So I wind up in a constant state of procrastination hahaha.

Here's one that I won't be demoing because it's so hard to make a meaningful demo of a compressor. I learned about this project from @andrewsrea 's build report and knew I had to build one. As some of you know, I went on a compressor kick a few years ago and built everything I could get my hands on.

This is the first time coming across an 1176 type compressor in pedal form that's DIY. I love the 1176, you've heard it on countless recordings (whether you know it or not) and I like using either it or an LA2A in plugin form in my final mix downs. So I wasn't sure if this was going to be a legit new circuit or a re-hashed Ross like Wamplers regular Ego series. (Those are really nice compressors too).

Well it's definitely not a Ross and I haven't seen another circuit for a FET compressor that looks quite like this. It sounds FANTASTIC! very low noise floor
and works great as a pedal board compressor. Super transparent, very wide range of subtle to squashed sounds, very quiet compressor.
Since I don't have a real 1176 the only thing I had to compare it to was the UAD software version in my DAW. Toggling back and forth between the two I'd say Brian Wampler nailed it in capturing the spirit of the 1176.

I had a tough time biasing Q2, I did not check the spec's of the JFETs I used since they were in SMD form but it might be slightly off spec from what @Robert recorded from the original. I have the 10k trimmer maxed and I'm just barely getting to 4.5v. It works, and sounds good, so I'm not planning to mess with it at this point.

I'm still playing around with where in the chain it sounds best to me. I was originally thinking of placing it last in the EFX Loop chain with a "tone sweetener" setting but it's pretty noisy there, primarily because of my dual analog delays. I may try it before the delays next.

Right now it's the last pedal of my "front of amp" pedal chain, which includes my always on General Tso, overdrives and boosts. There's a lot of really good sounds to be had from this pedal and I highly recommend building it if you're a compressor user. Super job Wampler and @Robert!

As I mentioned in the Workbench thread I messed up and ordered the wrong form factor SMT IC's. It was a super pain in the arse trying to hand solder those itty bitty VSSOP-8 IC's onto the through hole adapter plates. I originally thought I had gotten them done correctly but when I installed them one of the IC's wasn't working. When I went to check the continuity of the legs to holes I had nothing for pin 8 for some reason. Even though the solder joint looked good to me.
As usual my attempts are re-work resulted in disaster and I somehow burnt a whole leg off the IC.

I wound up replacing that IC with an OPA2134 and the pedal sounds fabulous with it. I think I'm just going to leave it this way instead of ordering a replacement OPA1678.

 

[MichaelW]

After reading through @andrewsrea and @Robert ' post, it looks like I biased the FET's incorrectly. Going back in today......

 

[MichaelW]

After finding this post, I decided to follow the original and bias Q1 Drain to 1.875 VDC.
It definitely changed all my settings. Sounds a little cleaner at extreme settings.

 

[cdwillis]

Dude, very nice work! That sucks about the burnt up leg, but shit happens.

I have an MXR Studio Compressor which is supposed to be 1176 style. I wonder how they compare? I greatly prefer it to the Dyna comps I've had because it really just sounds more natural (or at least not as obvious as the dyna) and the meter makes it easy to visually figure out where to set your knobs. I had an Xotic SP which was better than a regular Dyna because of the blend, but I never did get around to using one of the Wampler or Keeleys with the blend.

Have you ever tried an Orange Squeezer type compressor?

 

[MichaelW]

I'd love to compare the Ego76 to the Cali76. I've heard nothing but good things about the Cali76 but it's pricey.
the 1176 is a FET based compressor as opposed to the Dyna/Ross which are OpAmp styles. The Dyna Comp and its derivatives are generally pretty noisy. I've built the AionFX Aurora to Dyna Comp specs and I like it a lot for certain sounds. But it's pretty noisy. Same goes for the JangleBox which is a Ross with a treble control. The one Dyna/Ross style compressor I like the best is @bean 's "Kompromat". It's another fantastic compressor in that it's got that Ross-ish sound but it's very quiet (relatively speaking). The Xotic SP is basically a Ross with a blend knob. Very similar to the Wampler Ego (non-76). The Keeley Compressors are part of that family too. the PPCB "401k" is the older Keeley 4 knob compressor and is another really nice one. I've built the MBP "CupCake" which is an Armstrong Orange Squeezer in pedal format. It's a very simple circuit with a ton of compression and great for certain types of sounds. (For instance Jay Graydon's guitar solo on the Steely Dan tune "Peg" uses an old "plug into the guitar" Orange Squeezer).

For me, the General Tso is still my "always on, first in the chain" compressor. Being an optical compressor with a tone control and a blend control I can set it pretty subtle and I use it mostly for the "feel", since I'm mostly playing with headphones.
I'm still experimenting with the Median but I'm leaning towards putting it in my FX loop as also an "always on" effect. I can get an almost "mastered" tone sweetener effect for my outgoing signal without having to use a software plugin. And if I need a little more "squeeze" I can just increase the blend. Right now it's before my delays and reverb in the loop but I'm still messing with it. I'm loving the pedal though!