ART VLA 500 Series Compressor and Limiter

Delivering well-regarded Pro-VLA sonics in a 500-series "Lunchbox" form factor, the ART VLA-500 is an opto-style dynamics processor suitable for compression and limiting applications in pro audio situations. It provides all the controls you'd typically associate with a hardware compressor—Attack, Release, Threshold, and Output—plus additional circuits for adding pleasing saturation effects. For example, the Punch circuit adds even-order harmonic distortion for a punchier tone, while the Grit circuit introduces both sustain distortion in a more frequency-dependent manner, allowing the processed signal to differentiate itself from the rest of the audio material.

Both the attack and release times are adjustable, and with ratios going up to 20:1, it's possible to achieve limiting to the order of 30 dB in gain reduction. This unit provides balanced input and output connection points, and it can be linked with other VLA-500s, rendering compression suitable for stereo instruments and stereo-bus applications. Indeed, with its comparatively low noise level and subtle harmonic enhancements, the ART VLA-500 can be used to provide both gain-reduction and vibe in mastering scenarios.