In an era where vacuum tube designs reigned supreme, Bill Putnam of Universal Audio was just starting to use new solid-state technology - the year was 1966.
Replacing the tube tech of old in his preamplifiers, his famed 108 tube preamp became the new 1108 preamp, which housed the newly invented Field Effect Transistor or FET. But it wasn’t his new preamp design that gained such esteem, but rather the changes he made to his already popular 175B/176 tube compressors. Modifying these designs to incorporate these new FETs into the topology, in 1967 Universal Audio’s most iconic outboard piece was born – the 1176 peak limiter.
Universal Audio
At the time this sleek new 19” 2U rack unit was marketed as a “true peak limiter with all transistor circuitry and superior performance on all types of program material,”. No word of a lie, the 1176 has, since its inception, found itself being used on pretty much every type of sound source you can imagine. Things just magically sound better when they go through it. It just had this seemingly untenable thing going on, but there were several standout features that really excited engineers of the time and still do today.
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Its simple layout with large knobs for input and output gave the 1176 that familiar tactility that engineers of the 1960 were accustomed to, with the majority of outboard gear at the time being bulky tube driven designs, which were both built like and felt like driving a tank.
The 1176’s continually variable attack and release controls were novel for the time, which interestingly react counterintuitively. Turned fully clockwise dials in the fastest attack/release times – with a near instantaneous 20 microsecond (µS) attack and 50 milliseconds release and turned fully counterclockwise dialled in the slowest times – a slumber (by comparison) 800µS attack and 1.1 second release. The selectable ratio buttons were also quite unique for a compressor built in this era, with 4:1 and 8:1 ratios for compression and 12:1 and 20:1 for limiting. These ratios varied quite dramatically from very subtle almost transparent compression at 4:1 through to the never heard before bombastic settings with all buttons depressed simultaneously – affectionally known as “All Buttons In” or “British” mode. This unleashed more harmonic distortion and artefacts which could be used in incredibly musical and creative ways. Just take a listen to the drum sound on Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks” and pay close attention to the sound of the room – “British” mode in full force.
Similar to its older tube sibling the 176, the 1176 doesn’t feature a dedicated threshold control, but instead its input knob essentially acts as a fixed threshold control where in which the hotter the input signal detected, the more gain reduction occurs. But depending on the ratio selected the threshold will be higher or lower, with higher ratios making for a higher threshold. This paired with the output knob to dial in just the right amount of gain compensation required makes dialling in settings incredibly quick and easy – something engineers have become very accustomed to in fast paced studio environments over the years and one of the reasons the 1176 is a go to for so many.
Revisions and the Digital Age
I briefly mentioned harmonic distortion when referring to the “All Buttons In” mode, but harmonics and character are certainly an inherent part of the 1176 as a whole, even with no compression occurring (achieved when the attack knob is turned to the off position) as just being used as a line amp.
Depending on which revision of the 1176 you’re working will have a certain determination of how much harmonic distortion one might expect, with the age of parts, servicing and calibration changes over its lifecycle also being a major determining factor on this.
The OG (Original Gain reduction) revision A and AB models (silver faceplate with a blue stripe over the VU meter) typically omitted the most characterful and aggressive sound of all the 1176s. Using FETs for a voltage variable resistor to control gain as well as the signal preamp in a voltage divider configuration for gain reduction is likely where these distinctive harmonics came from in these early models before circuit modifications were introduced by Brad Plunkett in Rev C models in 1970.
These new 1176LN (low noise) models (Rev C, D and E) were mounted to Rev B circuit boards (which has already replaced FETs in the signal preamp with bipolar transistors) and incorporated low noise circuitry which would reduce the DS voltage on the gain reduction FET helping keep it within its linear range. A Q-bias pot was also added to fine tune for the most minimal distortion possible. Easy to forget that engineers in this era of record making weren’t obsessed with harmonics like we are today but instead were desperately trying to reduce inherent distortion and artefacts of their equipment to achieve the cleanest possible recording they could with the tools they had.
Other changes over the years included the removal of the input transformer in the Rev G model, with a silver faceplate making a reappearance in the Rev H with a blue UREI logo.
Although widely debated amongst pro audio veterans and alike, the Golden era of 1176’s are generally considered the black front faceplate units of Rev C,D and E, with many hailing the UREI units as supreme. Although many engineers love the intrinsic vibe and grit of the early Blue stripe models, favouring this vintage-y characters over the later more lower noise revisions. Each very much to their own.
Aside from trying to hunt down a genuine vintage model for an incredibly heft price I might add, Universal Audio did indeed reissue the1176LN back in 2000, which are still hand built in Santa Cruz, California today – although these too carry a pretty serious price tag. If the real deal isn’t quite within reach, fear not! As there are a fair amount of pretty great recreations from numerous manufactures, a quick online search will point you in the right direction here. But if a bit of soldering and electronics knowhow is your wheelhouse, there’s a handful of really great DIY kits available too which have become increasingly popular over the years.
Other than hardware, the plugin world is a haven for 1176 recreations, ranging the Bomb Factory BF76 included in Pro Tools, the CLA-76s from Waves or the most authentic 1176 plugin models, the UA 1176 Classic Limiter Collection, which includes the 1176 Rev A, 1176LN and 1176AE, which conveniently can be run natively or via UAD Apollo or Satellite hardware units.
Whether you’re a studio veteran or modern day producer, the 1176 is most certainly the compressor you’ve either heard about, used on countless sessions or pulled up on countless mix sessions in your chosen DAW. Iconic doesn’t really seem to do this unit justice, but suffice to say, if you haven’t used one (hardware or plugin), you’ve most certainly heard one, whether you know it or not. Nuff said.
Keep reading about the analogue hardware at Universal Audio here. Check out the software versions of multiple revisions here.
