TF Pro P-38v7

The new P38V7 combines the natural excitement and punch of the very best optical compressors, but with the remarkable M/S technology developed by Ted, so that the centre image stays rock steady even under the most extreme compression.

‘A compressor must be easy to use’……. So for the ‘V7’ Ted has simplified the operation, retaining the essentials and adding that necessary facility for sub-group compression, the ‘hard-wire by-pass’.

Increasing talk and use of ‘partial compression’ and ‘parallel compression’ was a factor in the design.  This prompted another look at why the old optical compressors became an absolute necessity in the best studios and mix-down rooms in the 70s….. The early VCA and FET compressors suffered from the same major defect as they do today; they not only reduce the dynamic range, they also seem to reduce the size of the musical sound…. They may make it sound more intense, but they also make it sound smaller. This same effect is noticeable today in plug-ins, where the problem is even worse!
To use successfully so called ‘modern’ compressors, engineers found that they needed to use tricks like parallel compression ….. essential to get anything decent out of devices designed by engineers without ears (!)

It’s a well kept secret that optical compressors overcome this problem, allowing transients through; the parts of the music that give it ‘space’ and life.
The secret is in the way the optical elements work; they have a timing and a life of their own, they are relatively slow to act and have limitations….. but those limitations are remarkably like those of the human ear!

In the ‘V7’ there is no provision for ‘parallel compression’, the special optical elements used give you that for nothing, sparkling transients and outstanding punch!
Some exotic and high priced compressors make a feature of 'full balanced operation'..... this is yet another place where what seems to be a great idea actually is not...... Full balanced operation means that any distortions during compression are 3rd order; that sounds very nasty to the human ear:  Momentary distortions in an optical compressor are second order, a natural harmonic sound that's pleasing to the ear.  Even the tiniest distortions are noticeable as 'character' to the sound and this is one of the reasons these P38 types sound so good.

•    Absolute ease of operation fewer controls, impossible to make it sound bad!
•    Hard-wire by-pass, a relay based by-pass that allows real comparison between original and compressed, plus the normal compression ‘on-off’ control.
•    Ultimate electronic design; transformer inputs and high power electronic outputs. Response flat from 8Hz up to 40KHz, with distortion and noise virtually unmeasurable.
•    Transparent performance that sounds superb as soon as it’s plugged in; a truly polished sound.
•    Renowned compression.