Al Smart C1 buss compressor
Alan Smart was a design engineer at SSL during the heady days of the 1980’s when the company developed a range of revolutionary mixing consoles.
After leaving the company, Alan acted as a design consultant for a variety of studios and industry projects and developed his own range of high end recording products, the best known of which are his two outstanding buss compressors, the C1 and C2. Often compared to the legendary SSL G384 ‘Quad Compressor’ (which Alan helped to design whilst at SSL), the C1 is in fact an original design. There are similarities, as is to be expected from units coming from a similar design background, and both compressors have a tight ‘in your face’ characteristic which gives a huge amount of apparent gain, allowing tracks to stand out on the radio or on the dancefloor with a solid bottom end. Partly for this reason, the SSL and Al Smart have become industry standard as mix buss compressors, and no self respecting R+B, Rap or Drum and Bass mix engineer would dare leave home without one.
Sadly the SSL G384 is no longer made, having been replaced by the very different X-Logic buss compressor. It is our intention to have the Al Smart C1 on permanent demo in our demo room alongside both he original SSL G384 and the X-Logic comp, offering customers a unique opportunity to compare and decide for themselves.
As opposed to the G384 (which is stereo only) the Al Smart C1 can be used as two independent monos for tracking or mixing as well as stereo when in link mode, making the Al Smart the perfect, versatile all round unit.
Al Smart C2 Compressor
Based upon the classic C1, the Al Smart C2 offers the same punchy, in-your-face sound with several refinements, including fully balanced operation, side chain input and the curious ‘crunch’ mode. To my ears, this bangs the unit into ‘nasty’ mode, but far better engineers than I love this function, allowing them to add severe, crunchy distortion to loops and mixes. Try and decide.
