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Next comes a stereo-link facility, which it’s great to see is accessible on the front.
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The (output) Gain and Peak Reduction (threshold) controls are joined first by a side-chain filter, which makes the gain-reduction circuit less responsive to low frequencies (and more to mid and high ones) the further clockwise you turn it. The front panel is, compared with the original LA-3A (and the UA reissue), laden with controls, yet it still manages to remain uncluttered and intuitive. The Comp-3A accepts an external power supply delivering 24V AC - there’s an included line-lump PSU, but Golden Age Project also offer higher-quality standalone power supplies. The Comp-3A’s power inlet is on the rear, and so too are the audio inputs and outputs, which are helpfully paralleled on XLR and jack (note that you shouldn’t use both at once), and there’s a TRS jack Link socket there too. The device runs on 24V AC power, either from the included line-lump PSU or from one of Golden Age’s separately available stand-alone half-rack power supplies, which can power several of their units at once. The only nod to the livery of all their other preamps and processors I’ve seen to date is revealed when you lift the lid: the red and gold of old is proudly displayed on the GAP-branded T4B optical cell. (More on those below.) We’re treated to a classy-looking black, brushed-aluminium front panel, with screen-printed gold logo and product name, and white control legends. Most obviously, they’ve chosen to locate all the LA-3A’s rear-panel controls on the front, which makes a lot of sense, and they also seem to have incorporated the most popular modifications made to the original units, which were included in Universal Audio’s own reissue. The Comp-3A is intended as a faithful recreation of the LA-3A, but GAP have nonetheless incorporated some useful operational tweaks. What it isn’t is an LA-2A sound! Golden Boy It’s nothing too dramatic unless you really overdo it - I can best describe it as obvious but also natural. To my ears, the LA-3A instead pushes the low mids forward somewhat. That has its uses, of course, but it doesn’t suit every source. Gain-reduction aside, the overall sonic character, particularly when driven into distortion, is rather different there’s a sort of bright-sounding distortion to the LA-2A when pushed, probably courtesy of its tube stages. Specifically, the LA-3A responds rather faster to loud transients - there’s very little difference between the two when it comes to lower-level transients, or in the compression action after that which is triggered by the initial loud peak. As you’d expect, given the optical cell, the compression action is similar to that of the LA-2A, but there are differences due to the surrounding circuitry. In the LA-3A, audio input and output transformers are used, and a 1:10 line transformer steps the signal up before the optical cell. The LA-3A can be thought of, in very broad terms, as a hybrid device which marries the LA-2A’s optical compressor stage and user controls with balanced solid-state input, output and gain stages akin to those of the same manufacturer’s 1176 FET compressor. Vive LA Differenceīefore we get on to the Comp-3A, it’s worth spending a few words discussing the processor which inspired it. This compressor has already seen one reissue made by Universal Audio come and go, and although it’s not currently in their product range, they still offer an analogue modelling plug-in version for their UAD DSP platform. The latest addition to their stable is the Comp-3A which, as the name implies, is GAP’s take on Universal Audio/UREI’s popular Teletronix LA-3A. Golden Age Project (GAP) set out along this path several years ago, with the launch of their Pre-73 ( ), and later the Pre-73 DLX, EQ-73 ( ) and the Comp-54 ( ), all of which were based on classic designs by Rupert Neve, and they’ve since offered 500-series variations on those themes. The war of the clones appears to be picking up pace: every month, it seems, we’re greeted by a new homage to some classic piece of gear, and increasingly these are made available for a fraction of the price of the model they imitate. The Swedish manufacturers resurrect a long-gone studio classic.