Warm Audio // WA76 Discrete Compressor "Getting Started"

[@blackswanaudiostudios3947]

I love this compressor, but like other commenters I completely disagree with the description in the video calling it a super clean compressor. It is NOT. It just is not. It adds a lot of saturation, which is in fact the best thing about it! Compared to the original it sounds very similar but the WA76 is less clean and adds a little more perceived loudness and harmonics over the original, making the WA76 perfect for vocals. My biggest gripe with this video is that it oversells it on drums, and undersells it on vocals. Lead vocal (and bass guitar) is where this truly shines. When I tried to match the sound of the WA76 on a vocal in the box, I had to use a LOT of saturation on top of a good nebula 1176 to even get in the same ballpark. This was a direct comparrison using the same vocal takes. It really reveals just how much useful saturation the WA76 adds. The Wa76 is only 'clean' in the sense that it's not obviously distorted, but it does add a lot of harmonic content which makes a vocal sit in a busy mix in a way that takes several VERY carefully set top notch plugins to compete with. And it does 'low end integrity through compression' better than plugins as you'd expect. So that's an honest description of this unit. Not clean but really great sounding and perfect for up front vocals that need to sit in a mix and need to 'feel' great. Only downside is that it's a little bit noisier than some other compressors, so you do need to be aware of not raising that low level hiss via the 'input' dial too much, better to feed it quite a strong signal.

[@andrewforbes5923]

I haven't yet fallen in love with the Warm Audio mics, but I LOVE their outboard gear SO MUCH. I hope they continue to refine their mics, but I hope they're killing on their outboard stuff because it's SO GOOD.

[@prodbydramatic]

wow, the explanation overall is the best and clear. No distractions and I love my WA-87r2 very slept on thank you!

[@sicembuster]

Love it on vocals! It sounds more audibly pleasing than when bypassed, especially when you start double/triple tracking and adding layers of harmonies!

[@kasimsanjaya9294]

ៀ។ ផលផ្លែនៃព្រះវិញ្ញាណ ផឹក មល

[@kasimsanjaya9294]

ផឹក.់់់់...់។។ុំៀមី

[@lastcall9998]

Awesome it's back! This will go great with my WA73-EQ (yeah, I bit the bullet finally, and yes, sounds beyond amazing).

[@ARCASIAUK]

Thinking about getting both these units... Keen to know how you rate them?

[@eastcliffmusic]

@lastcall9998 how are they working for you? Still good?

[@stefanherbst9980]

I am using the WA76 dir compressing my Bass. I Insert it into the Poweramp over the serial ins. I am a little bit concerned about the Low UV Meter Swing. It is minimal compared to the Swing from the Video. The Input gain is relativ high and in the Edge to Saturation...

[@anthonyvaticalos6277]

I have the same exact issue.

[@humorustrout.]

I also have the same issue with mine - any chance you've been able to determine a fix?

[@anthonyvaticalos6277]

@@humorustrout. Yep. Turn your input and output all the way down (infinity). set your attack and release to noon, Ratio 4:1, Gain Reduction. Send it a healthy signal and turn your input knob up until you start seeing the reduction. Worked for me.

[@auralplex]

Dude this thing is a POS. I have such low signal coming out of mine just running line level vocals through it. I have to turn up the output al the way and it's noisy as hell. Pad is not even turned on. If I turn on pad I get no signal at all. I already had to send this in for repair twice already. Every time I come to use it I realize why I don't use it.

[@azlanah]

would be great if we can have a stereo version...

[@TweezerBleezer123]

This is an 1176 clone. There’s no stereo 1176 units. This isn’t a waves plug in buddy.

[@azlanah]

@@TweezerBleezer123 yes I know

[@producermind9030]

Yep. The 1178 is stereo. Would be nice. Hint hint

[@learnerforever6933]

Hello, please we need a detailed tutorial on calibration of the VU meter. I’m getting a lot of issues and afraid to do it wrong.

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Reach out to Scott. He can offer help personally. [e-mail]

[@the_mr_brandon]

Agree. My unit sits at +1 when powered on with no audio being routed to it.

[@billesposito2112]

She explained it in the tutorial.

[@simondavid2519]

Can someone help me : what kind of drum machine are we listening to here on the soundtrack ? It’s amazing !

[@danny-v-music]

Hi there A Few years ago i bought a Wa76, after aprox 4 years 2 days ago i noticed that the needle stars to moves back an forth like crazy and stats to sound diferente. the sound come and go, he volume goes loud and low. So i want to know how it could be fixed or solved. i have tried reach by email but havent answer my question.

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Hey Danny! Which email did you use? You can contact our QA team in Austin, TX and they will get back to you ASAP. We'd be happy to get this resolved quickly. The email is listed below. Hope this helps! Let us know if you have any other questions. 👇 [e-mail]

[@musiclover-r9m]

I dont understand what the +4 or +8 do or why I should use either of them... I use a UAD Apollo X8p Set to default +20dbu headroom. Can anyone help?

[@dspoet1]

Please make a version of this........Tube-Tech CL 1B Tube Optical CompressorMkii

[@Mark_Anthony.]

Hey loving your gear thank you. Can you tell me how to get unity gain with the WA76 please? Ive looked at other videos about other 1176 models but would like to know why this isn’t in manual please 😊🙏

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Hi thanks for your support and interest in our gear! - Unity Gain is tough to be exact with because the amount of input signal and compression occurring will affect this, but overall the input and output knobs at 12'oclock will get you close to unity gain usually.

[@auralplex]

Mine is basically brand new, turned it on 5 times. I get no signal in it or out of it. The meter doesn't move at all. I am sending line level signal. I plug the mic into my audio interface, send the output of the audio to the WA76, get no signal on the meter. Everything turned up. I plug an audio source directly into the WA76, the meter still doesn't move... I remember it doing weird shit in the past, but I never used it much cause I never record vocals, I'm mostly ITB. Now I'm stuck with a dud.

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Hey - it sounds like something isn't right. Please reach out to [e-mail] and he will help troubleshoot and get you taken care of!

[@corystevenponzo7007]

are you routing your output properly in the daw?

[@えんげつチャンネル]

Dの再現なんですね〜

[@mostyles328]

how do you bypass the compressor and pass audio through it?

[@LuiCardenasphotography]

Ive been trying to do that, since on the plugin version you can use it just to saturate the signal

[@mostyles328]

@@LuiCardenasphotographySounds like there isn't a bypass on the hardware. That is a shame!

[@diarrhe-a-thon]

To bypass, disengage all ratio buttons by lightly pushing a previously unengaged ratio button. (i.e., if the 4:1 ratio button is engaged, half-press the 8:1 ratio button).

[@LuiCardenasphotography]

@@diarrhe-a-thon Thank you! I actually tried that the other day and this comment thread came to mind but had forgotten where it was. SO THANKS AGAIN! 🤘🏽🙏🏽🤘🏽

[@corystevenponzo7007]

@@diarrhe-a-thon it says in the video it won't pass audio if this is done

[@mC_DiDiDiDiDi]

I'm getting noise from the input control, how to remedy this? Contact cleaner? Could it be caused by something other than the potentiometer?

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Hey there - when you say "noise from the input control" do you mean that it makes noise when you move the pot, like scratching? Or is it a gain-staging issue? Reach out to [e-mail] and he'll get you squared away. Hope that helps!

[@LuisMorales-xm6wc]

Could be a bad cable

[@NoCoverCharge]

Yes yes yes yes

[@teamspaceman]

If I’m using this with my wa 273 do I use unbalanced or balanced cables, I’m confused lol sorry??

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Balanced my friend!

[@noir4659]

This thing got no power button/swtich?

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

You bet - if you look closely you'll see the button labeled "off" on the far bottom right. Hope that helps.

[@nunoharris]

Hi. Is this compressor similar to the old dbx 160 ? Thanks a lot..

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Hi Nuno - no, the DBX 160 is a soft-knee VCA compressor, where the WA-76 is based upon the most classic (D-revision) version of the most-used FET limiter in history (the "76" in the model name is a clue). Hope that helps!

[@pikeysrock]

I wish they would tell you that you need a preamp in order to use this and trying to run in as an insert is frustrating as fuck

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Hi - you don't have to use a preamp, you will just need to turn your insert send up as high as possible. Some interfaces don't have strong insert send outputs. The WA76 and the vintage 1176 are designed to take a line level output of 0 dBu, if you're sending a signal out that averages at -20dBu it may not have enough level to drive an 1176 style compressor. One thing to not be afraid of is to turn the input knob of the WA76 up much of the way if needed for the lower level insert send to drive the compressor.

[@pikeysrock]

@@WarmAudioOfficial thank you so much for responding! I really hope you can help me because I don't want to return this thing. I'm using Logic Pro and an Apollo twin X with 2 TRS cables. I get signal to the Apollo when I turn up the input and output it affects that signal from going to 0 to completely blaring red however nothing I hear is being affected at all. I've used the IO plug on the track that I'm trying to affect sending it out from 3/4 and input to 1/2. I have a video that I made that illustrates what's going on if you have a way that I can send it to you or if you already know what's happening please let me know.

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

@@pikeysrock I'm sure we can get the unit working with your Apollo. Please contact [e-mail] and Michael will assist you.

[@haidar6280]

I've never liked the orange branding on these remakes. Any chance you'll ever make that branding black/smaller/cleaner?

[@edwardflores7192]

300bpm 🤣

[@tonight.2133]

That's why I keep electric tape and things around...asthetics lol

[@RooftopKoreansMusic]

I have one of these and it's junk, works sporadically... I came here because it's not working right now... at least the VU meter isn't showing any compression. The thing buzzes, makes all kinds of hisses and noise, distorts the incoming audio almost instantly... the 20:1 compresses less than the 4:1; piece of garage.

[@WarmAudioOfficial]

Hey there! Sorry to hear you're having trouble...This is definitely not typical. Have you hit up our QA team in Austin to help troubleshoot or coordinate repairs? Touch base and they'll get back to you ASAP.! Email is below. 👇 [e-mail]