pan60
03-24-2009, 07:32 PM
the STANDARD AUDIO LEVEL-OR
Interview/Review ? The Standard Audio Level-Or
With Thom Flowers, and Ian MacGregor
pan60:
Let?s start with some information about the man (or men or woman), and the company.
Ian, tell us about yourself, what are your hobbies, likes, dislikes?
Ian:
Most of my time is spent designing products (circuit, enclosure, and PCB design), for pro audio companies. I also do a lot of electrical engineering consulting for the military and general industry, stuff that isn?t audio related.
I met Thom while working as an intern (then engineer) at Orange Whip Recording in Santa Barbara. I have since relocated to Echo Park, Los Angeles and currently work as an engineer at a great studio in East LA called Infrasonic Sound. I don't really collect studio gear, since I have access to Infrasonic (which has a great gear collection), when I need to book sessions. I am starting to build up a collection of electronic test equipment. You can?t have too much of that stuff!
pan60:
Are you (like so many of us), a collector of stuff?
I can't help myself, I have stuff that should have gone to the landfill years ago.
Thom:
I can't really say that I collect a lot of gear. I guess I do have some nice guitars and amps and a few crates full of pedals. I also have some old analog synths that I can't seem to part with. As far as recording gear goes, I have a few key pieces that I like to use, so I have those and that's about it.
That's all about to change now that I'm putting together a studio with my brother in Austin, TX.
pan60:
What is your favorite drink, be it beer or what have you?
Ian:
I'm a big Perrier and San Pellegrino fan.
Thom:
Like Ian, I'm a big fan of Perrier and Pellegrino. I also like
Vietnamese food and watery Mexican beer.
pan60:
Okay, tell us a bit about what made you want to get into manufacturing gear?
Ian:
I got into making gear when I was 12 and started building guitar pedals that I wanted to hear. I started with building Fuzz Face clones. Throughout high school, I was learning about electronics and started recording my band (and my friends' bands), and started to build stuff that was out of my reach financially. I built some Neve clones
(1272-like) and SSL buss compressor clones. I got my BSEE at UC Santa Barbara and while I was at school I was interning/engineering at a Santa Barbara studio, Orange Whip. During my time there, I tech'ed and built some gear for them (buss compressors, summing boxes, mic pres, mic mods).
Thom:
I met Ian when he started interning at Orange Whip, the studio that I work out of a lot in Santa Barbara. It became clear to me that he had the temperament and personality, as well as the talent, to be a good engineer. I began using him for all of my projects. I still bring him in as an engineer on bigger projects.
During his time at Orange Whip, Ian kept bringing in these cool pieces of gear that he was making. I was trying to think of something out of the ordinary for him to build. I had used a Level-Loc a few times during a session at a friend's studio. I've been a fan of Tchad Blake's work for a long time and was excited to hear that sound that he used on so many of those records. The unit never seemed to work right and was a pain to integrate into the studio. I saw units selling on eBay for $400 - $600. I asked Ian how hard it would be for him to make a 500 series version of the Level-Loc. He thought it was a good idea and said it would probably be pretty easy for him to make.
We spent a lot of time testing and listening to the unit in the design stage. We tried out different transformers, capacitors?, anything that could change the sound. We also felt the need to add a faster release time to the limiter. I really loved the distortion we were getting when we pushed the unit really hard. Ian came up with the idea of adding a switch to have a separate mode for distortion. In my opinion, this is the coolest, most unique thing about the box. In the end, we felt like we had something that was pretty unique and something that we would actually use on a regular basis.
We thought that there would probably be quite a few engineers out there that would like it as well, so, we decided to make a small run and try to sell them. The response we've gotten so far has been amazing. It has already been used on countless recordings including some pretty major releases. We couldn't be happier.
pan60:
Are either of you a musician, a producer, engineer, a studio owner?
Thom:
I'm a producer/engineer from Santa Barbara soon to be based in Austin, TX.
pan60:
Okay, why the LEVEL-OR? Tell us about the design, where did you got the idea?
Ian:
I remember Thom telling me his idea to make new version of the Level-Loc and I thought it was a great idea. The Level-Loc is one of those rare pieces that became famous due to an online buzz about it.
We thought that we could make something just as cool (if not cooler), for less than the rare originals.
pan60:
As I already know what this is based on, I will ask in advance. Why base it on that compressor?
Ian:
We started off by getting an original unit and building a prototype. We spent a lot of time testing different input transformers and caps. I think we originally intended more of a clone of the Level-Loc until we realized that a real Level-Loc is kind of a pain to use in a studio environment.. It was too noisy, it required a mic level input.. The output was kind of low and it couldn?t take a tough load.
We decided to take the concept of the Level-Loc and do our own thing with the Level-Or. We made it compatible with line-level sources, used a high quality input transformer, added a balanced output stage and added
"crunch" mode.
"Crunch" mode came about as an accident while testing the prototype unit. By changing the configuration of the input transformer, we were able to get the unit to saturate in a really cool way that was just too cool to not include in the unit.
pan60: What do you find the LEVEL-OR works best for, and what is your favorite usage? Based on feedback from your customers, where does the LEVEL-OR get the most love?
Ian:
I really like using a pair of Level-Ors as parallel drum buss compressors - mixed in with the dry drum tracks. Sometimes on "level" mode but "crunch" mode is really cool as well. "Crunch" mode can work really well to distort a vocal, either by itself, or mixed underneath a clean vocal. I also really like using the Level-Or to dirty up bass a little bit (or a lot).
Thom:
I use the Level-Or on just about every session. I almost always have at least one mic getting crushed in level mode when tracking drums. Where it really sees a lot of action is mixing. I usually have one running in parallel with kick and snare and one blended in with the lead vocal.
I'll use level or crunch mode depending on the track and what I'm trying to accomplish. It also gets used for crunching up loops, distorting bass or smacking around a percussion track. I'm really getting into using more subtle settings in crunch mode. It can add just the right amount of grit and sparkle to an otherwise unremarkable track.
Interview/Review ? The Standard Audio Level-Or
With Thom Flowers, and Ian MacGregor
pan60:
Let?s start with some information about the man (or men or woman), and the company.
Ian, tell us about yourself, what are your hobbies, likes, dislikes?
Ian:
Most of my time is spent designing products (circuit, enclosure, and PCB design), for pro audio companies. I also do a lot of electrical engineering consulting for the military and general industry, stuff that isn?t audio related.
I met Thom while working as an intern (then engineer) at Orange Whip Recording in Santa Barbara. I have since relocated to Echo Park, Los Angeles and currently work as an engineer at a great studio in East LA called Infrasonic Sound. I don't really collect studio gear, since I have access to Infrasonic (which has a great gear collection), when I need to book sessions. I am starting to build up a collection of electronic test equipment. You can?t have too much of that stuff!
pan60:
Are you (like so many of us), a collector of stuff?
I can't help myself, I have stuff that should have gone to the landfill years ago.
Thom:
I can't really say that I collect a lot of gear. I guess I do have some nice guitars and amps and a few crates full of pedals. I also have some old analog synths that I can't seem to part with. As far as recording gear goes, I have a few key pieces that I like to use, so I have those and that's about it.
That's all about to change now that I'm putting together a studio with my brother in Austin, TX.
pan60:
What is your favorite drink, be it beer or what have you?
Ian:
I'm a big Perrier and San Pellegrino fan.
Thom:
Like Ian, I'm a big fan of Perrier and Pellegrino. I also like
Vietnamese food and watery Mexican beer.
pan60:
Okay, tell us a bit about what made you want to get into manufacturing gear?
Ian:
I got into making gear when I was 12 and started building guitar pedals that I wanted to hear. I started with building Fuzz Face clones. Throughout high school, I was learning about electronics and started recording my band (and my friends' bands), and started to build stuff that was out of my reach financially. I built some Neve clones
(1272-like) and SSL buss compressor clones. I got my BSEE at UC Santa Barbara and while I was at school I was interning/engineering at a Santa Barbara studio, Orange Whip. During my time there, I tech'ed and built some gear for them (buss compressors, summing boxes, mic pres, mic mods).
Thom:
I met Ian when he started interning at Orange Whip, the studio that I work out of a lot in Santa Barbara. It became clear to me that he had the temperament and personality, as well as the talent, to be a good engineer. I began using him for all of my projects. I still bring him in as an engineer on bigger projects.
During his time at Orange Whip, Ian kept bringing in these cool pieces of gear that he was making. I was trying to think of something out of the ordinary for him to build. I had used a Level-Loc a few times during a session at a friend's studio. I've been a fan of Tchad Blake's work for a long time and was excited to hear that sound that he used on so many of those records. The unit never seemed to work right and was a pain to integrate into the studio. I saw units selling on eBay for $400 - $600. I asked Ian how hard it would be for him to make a 500 series version of the Level-Loc. He thought it was a good idea and said it would probably be pretty easy for him to make.
We spent a lot of time testing and listening to the unit in the design stage. We tried out different transformers, capacitors?, anything that could change the sound. We also felt the need to add a faster release time to the limiter. I really loved the distortion we were getting when we pushed the unit really hard. Ian came up with the idea of adding a switch to have a separate mode for distortion. In my opinion, this is the coolest, most unique thing about the box. In the end, we felt like we had something that was pretty unique and something that we would actually use on a regular basis.
We thought that there would probably be quite a few engineers out there that would like it as well, so, we decided to make a small run and try to sell them. The response we've gotten so far has been amazing. It has already been used on countless recordings including some pretty major releases. We couldn't be happier.
pan60:
Are either of you a musician, a producer, engineer, a studio owner?
Thom:
I'm a producer/engineer from Santa Barbara soon to be based in Austin, TX.
pan60:
Okay, why the LEVEL-OR? Tell us about the design, where did you got the idea?
Ian:
I remember Thom telling me his idea to make new version of the Level-Loc and I thought it was a great idea. The Level-Loc is one of those rare pieces that became famous due to an online buzz about it.
We thought that we could make something just as cool (if not cooler), for less than the rare originals.
pan60:
As I already know what this is based on, I will ask in advance. Why base it on that compressor?
Ian:
We started off by getting an original unit and building a prototype. We spent a lot of time testing different input transformers and caps. I think we originally intended more of a clone of the Level-Loc until we realized that a real Level-Loc is kind of a pain to use in a studio environment.. It was too noisy, it required a mic level input.. The output was kind of low and it couldn?t take a tough load.
We decided to take the concept of the Level-Loc and do our own thing with the Level-Or. We made it compatible with line-level sources, used a high quality input transformer, added a balanced output stage and added
"crunch" mode.
"Crunch" mode came about as an accident while testing the prototype unit. By changing the configuration of the input transformer, we were able to get the unit to saturate in a really cool way that was just too cool to not include in the unit.
pan60: What do you find the LEVEL-OR works best for, and what is your favorite usage? Based on feedback from your customers, where does the LEVEL-OR get the most love?
Ian:
I really like using a pair of Level-Ors as parallel drum buss compressors - mixed in with the dry drum tracks. Sometimes on "level" mode but "crunch" mode is really cool as well. "Crunch" mode can work really well to distort a vocal, either by itself, or mixed underneath a clean vocal. I also really like using the Level-Or to dirty up bass a little bit (or a lot).
Thom:
I use the Level-Or on just about every session. I almost always have at least one mic getting crushed in level mode when tracking drums. Where it really sees a lot of action is mixing. I usually have one running in parallel with kick and snare and one blended in with the lead vocal.
I'll use level or crunch mode depending on the track and what I'm trying to accomplish. It also gets used for crunching up loops, distorting bass or smacking around a percussion track. I'm really getting into using more subtle settings in crunch mode. It can add just the right amount of grit and sparkle to an otherwise unremarkable track.