Drawmer 1968 Mercenary Edition

60
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FutureMusic
REVIEWS DRAWMER 1968 MERCENARY EDITION
100Hz roll-off applied to the
sidechain, to prevent over-
compression caused by the low
frequencies of kick drums and bass
parts. ‘Big’ refers to the fact that the
sound stays much more consistent
and open, rather than being
pumped closed by heavy bass.
The two channels of compression
can be used individually or in linked
stereo operation, in which case the
left channel controls both sides of
the stereo set-up. The only other
notably unusual feature is the +10dB
VU meter switch, which adjusts the
meters to show 10dB below normal
level – this is to take into account the
high levels of stereo output signals
these days. Usefully, the VU up-light
glows red as the input signal
approaches clipping.
First compressions
Seeing as the 1968 is principally a
stereo bus compressor, I fi rst tried it
out across a whole mix with the Big
mode switched in. Without much in
the way of adjustments I was struck
by the combination of openness and
more affordable plug-in? Well, like
the 1969, the 1968 uses a J-FET
gain reduction circuit. That’s a
specialised solid-state design with
attack times as fast, if not faster, than
opto-isolator compressors such as
the classic 1176. It’s a soft-knee
compressor, so there’s no Ratio
control and a variable Threshold
governs the amount of compression
relative to a fi xed input level.
The output stage uses a single
12AX7 valve that gives up to 20dB
of gain make-up. Attack times range
from 2ms to 50ms over six fi xed
settings, and Release times have
three fi xed settings (100ms, 500ms
and 1sec) and three variable settings,
depending on the signal input.
Sidechain access is provided by
stereo jack sockets on the rear
allowing de-essing and other relative
compression operations such as
ducking. An internal frequency-
conscious compression device
called Big, which was fi rst seen on
the 1969, has been extended to
each individual channel. This
involves a High Pass Filter with a
D
RAWMER HAVE THE
most instantly
recognisable, generic
appearance of any
products in the industry, and the
1968 doesn’t stray from the trodden
path. It looks like a Drawmer, and
that’s almost enough said: at 1U it’s
a hybrid of the ‘vintage’ look of the
fi rm’s 60s range and the ‘classic’
look of their Pro series. Like all their
products it’s solid and sturdily built.
This new edition is designed
primarily as a stereo mix compressor
but at the same time is perfectly
suited to individual instruments.
Gone are the mic pre-amps and the
DI section, and its size has been
reduced to 1U to save rack space.
Drawmer are swimming against
the tide of internal software mixing
and a more obvious development
would be to add EQ to the 1969 to
capitalise on the front-end recording
channel users. Clearly they wouldn’t
take the opposite path without doing
their research, so what’s the magic
ingredient that’s going to make us
want one of these over a handy and
DETAILS
DRAWMER 1968
MERCENARY
EDITION
COMPRESSOR
PRICE £993
CONTACT
Tel: [phone]
Web: www.drawmer.com
TECH SPEC
Balanced +4dB XLR inputs
and outputs
Input impedance: 20kOhms
Output impedance:
50 Ohms
Bandwidth: <17Hz to
28kHz, -1dB, <10Hz to
47kHz, -3dB
Distortion (THD and noise)
@1kHz: <0.35 per cent
Dimensions: 482 x 44 x
225mm (1U)
Weight: 4kg
Drawmer continue to defy the computer recording revolution
with quality outboard. Tim Oliver steps back in time to 1968…
Drawmer 1968
Mercenary Edition
COMPRESSOR
FMDVD
DRAWMER ARE SWIMMING
AGAINST THE TIDE OF
INTERNAL SOFTWARE MIXING
It’s may have a Big mode,
but its own size is
a space-saving 1U.
FMU164.rev_drwmr 60FMU164.rev_drwmr 60 9/6/05 12:46:44 pm9/6/05 12:46:44 pm