The Drawmer 1978 is a bus compressor like no other - delivering compression with character, tonal shaping, controlled distortion, and wet/dry mixing, all within a deceptively simple 1U frame. It's never been easier to achieve that elusive, signature sound that sets your productions apart. Glue your mix, enhance the bass, smooth the highs, add warmth, introduce subtle distortion, or widen the stereo image - all while making your recordings sound less digital and more analogue.
In addition to the familiar Ratio, Threshold, Attack, and Release controls, the 1978 features four character switches that provide a wide palette of compression flavours, plus a variable saturation control to add harmonic distortion. Sidechain functionality includes insert points on both channels and a comprehensive EQ section with LF and HF controls, selectable shapes, and variable frequencies - enabling precise frequency-conscious compression such as de-essing. A wet/dry mix control allows blending of the processed and dry signals for effortless parallel compression.
The Drawmer 1978 is a flexible, well thought out new product to hit the audio world including features that designs 2 or 3 times the price would love. The combination of the types of compression, harmonic distortion and EQ sculpting is going to make the Drawmer 1978 very useful.
The 1978 employs a fast-reacting dual-colour backlit VU meter to monitor saturation and levels. Time-delay relays on the outputs ensure clean power-up and power-down without pops or bangs, while a low-hum toroidal linear power supply enhances reliability. Built in the UK with premium components, the Drawmer 1978 is a truly versatile compressor engineered for professional results.
As well as a number of other prestigious nominations, the 1978 is the proud winner of the Resolution Award 2016 in the Dynamics category, recognised for its innovation, flexibility, and sound quality.
Incorporated into the 1978 is the 'Mix' Control. This acts like a 'parallel compression' effect that mixes the Wet (compressed) and Dry (original) signals to provide a simple and exact way of controlling the amount of compression used - all with the turn of a single knob.
With the extensive controls of the 1978, such as saturation and tonal shaping, it could be possible to take the effects too far and ruin a mix - this is easily prevented by the use of the Mix control just by mixing in less of the wet signal and more dry. By the same token, the mix control can add more compression and character simply by adding more of the wet signal. It's that simple!