Manual
©Thermionic Culture Ltd, August 2011  7 
3.4 Release Control 
The release control varies the rate at which the 
compressor ‘lets go’ of the input signal. Release 
changes from 40ms (position 1) to 2.2s (position 7), 
typically. Faster release times can give rise to low 
frequency distortion. A typical setting for normal 
operation of the release control is 3. 
N.B. Attack and release controls are somewhat 
interdependent, therefore no precise times are printed 
on the front panel to avoid possible confusion. 
3.5 Threshold Control
The threshold control is used to adjust the amount of 
compression in conjunction with the input level. With 
the control in the fully clockwise position, there will be 
no compression. Turning the control anti-clockwise 
increases the amount of compression. 
3.6 Bypass
This control totally bypasses the compressors, by 
linking the inputs to the outputs. 
3.7 Link
Links the two compressors for compressing a stereo 
track. The link switch preserves the centre image on a 
stereo track. All controls are still in operation when ‘in’, 
so ensure that levels of incoming track are equal or 
trimmed by the gain control so that ‘centre’ is ‘centre’. 
All other controls in the Master Phoenix should be set 
so that channel 1 equals channel 2. 










