Orban 464A The Co-Operator - Used

The Orban 464A The Co-Operator is a combined gated Leveler, Compressor, High-Frequency Limiter and Peak Clipper. It works well as a bus leveler / compressor and can also limit absolute level via the clipper section. The high-frequency limiter is the least-understood part of the 464A. It has its roots in radio broadcasting where over-modulation can cause massive high-frequency distortion and lead to large fines from the regulators. To avoid over-modulation, Orban designed a peak clipper and variable high-frequency limiting using pre-emphasis

This unit is used.

Each channel has output level & gain reduction LED bargraph meter and an HF limiting LED indicator. The Gate Threshold also has an LED indicator. With the exception of the front-panel pots for Input Attenuation, Gate Threshold and Release Time, and HF pre-emphasis and meter calibration knobs, all the other controls are Schadow pushbutton switches Threshold is adjustable separately so it's possible to setup operating levels (gain stage) the unit with the input & output attenuators and use the threshold control to control the depth of compression. If you're pushing gain reduction quite hard you'll need to tweak up the output controls to match levels in bypass.

The metering has a separate calibration pot so it's possible to configure the unit for unity gain, set the metering to correspond with your DAW metering and vary the internal gain-staging to make best use of the dynamic range of the unit As usual, the 464A is beautifully constructed with premium-quality components in a zinc-passivated steel chassis. It has extensive RF filtering internally. The excellent manual gives complete instructions on balanced & unbalanced connections, grounding & electrical safety gain-staging and the theory of operation of the various elements in the signal path.

Gain reduction is via a Class-A proprietary VCA Inputs and outputs are balanced on barrier strip connectors and jack sockets. XLR connectors can be fitted by removing blanking panels and using the pre-drilled mounting holes Mains input is 220 Volt AC (switchable internally to 110 V) via a captive power lead with a standard UK power plug.

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Orban 464A "The Co-Operator" Stereo Compressor - Used