Legacy Products

The Levelar – Tube Compressor

Overview

From the designers of the award winning Tube MP comes The Levelar. The Levelar is a single channel leveling amplifier. Similar in design philosophy to the classic tube limiters, the Levelar utilizes a VCA-less design for premium performance. The Tube Compressor’s design features electro-optical (Vactrol®) and vacuum tube electronics, which delivers classic sound without the “old” noise. Ask any audio engineer what makes a great compressor/limiter and they will tell you: “sound”. The classic pieces each had a sonic “flavor” that made them popular. One of the main complaints about many contemporary compressor and limiter designs is that they are “life-less” or “dull” sounding. This is primarily due to the action of the VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier). Classic compressors and limiters had a “sound” that isn’t available elsewhere. Tubes alone were not responsible for this sound, but rather the complete circuit design. The Tube Compressor from ART has characteristics reminiscent of these classic pieces, yet offers a “sound” you simply cannot get elsewhere.

The Levelar Tube Compressor is as simple to use as a contemporary compressor. The primary difference is that it is used (as the classics are) to level out the signal as opposed to altering the complete dynamic range. The Levelar offers both compression and limiting. Due to its very fast attack and release response times, the Levelar provides the “classic” punchy and transparent characteristics of the “LA-” type levelers and offers a finely tuned auto setting which behaves like the classic stereo modules, providing a smooth, loud, and fat sound.

For the latest in state-of-the-art tube compression and limiting, we invite you to pick up the next link in your signal processing chain with the ART Levelar Tube Compressor. Check one out at your nearest authorized ART dealer today.

Vactrol® is a registered trademark of EG&G Vactec Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA

Key Features

Specifications

Controls Threshold; Active/Bypass Switch; Compress/Limit Switch Auto/Fast Release Switch; Output Level Control
Equivalent Input Noise -97dBm (1/4″ to 1/4″); -99dBm (XLR to XLR)
Input/Output Connections 1/4″ Balanced Input; XLR Balanced Input; 1/4″ Balanced Output; XLR Balanced Output; 9VAC Power Input
Maximum Attenuation 28dB
Input Impedance 20k Ω (XLR), 1M Ω (1/4″)
Output Impedance 600 Ω (XLR), 300 Ω (1/4″)
Maximum Input Level +15dBm
Maximum Output Level +26dBm (XLR), +20dBm (1/4″)
Frequency Response 10Hz to 20KHz (+/- 0.5dB)
Slope 2.3:1 (Compress), 6:1 (Limit)
Total Harmonic Distortion <0.1% (typ)
Power Requirements 9VAC @ 700mA
Dimensions 5.25″ D x 5.375″ W x 2.0″ H
Weight 1.5 lbs