Thermionic Culture Phoenix stereo valve compressor

The first ever owner of The Phoenix was reportedly Liam Howlett!

A twin channel 'delta-mu' device. Compression ratio starts low and increases gradually so that compression can be subtle and natural, but compression effects can occur when driven hard. Very low noise. Continuously variable controls for Gain, Attack, Release, Threshold and Output Level. Stereo link for compressing a group (eg. drums) or a complete mix.

The Phoenix enhances vocals & individual instruments by being unobtrusive, gently 'warming' sounds and making solos sound more powerful. It's impressive on overall mixes & can give a digital mix 'reality'. It's also excellent for compression effects. Try drums with a 'thump' attack (i. e slowest) & fast release.

Key Features

• All valve design for greater presence and naturality.
• Completely free from solid state additives.
• Transparent compression.
• Punchy when pushed.
• Drive it hard for compression effects and distortion.
• Absolutely flat frequency response over entire audio range and beyond.
• Minimal phase shift giving a crisp and warm sound.

Phoenix Specifications

• +19dB into 600 ohms
• + 24dB into 10K ohms

Max Gain: 30dB
Total Harmonic Distortion: Better than 0.09% @ 1kHz (at no compression) 0.11% @100Hz
Noise, IEC weighted: 95dB below MOL
Input Impedance: 15k ohms
Frequency response: 0/-1dB 12Hz to 60kHz
Attack Time: 0.004 sec to 0.12 sec
Release Time: 0.06 sec to 2.2 sec
Output Impedance: 600 ohms

Distortion will increase with compression, typically 0.2% & 0.25% at 1kHz & 100Hz with 8dB compression.