FET’s speedy attack vs digital

The Urei 1176 compressor was a legend for many reasons – not least its “all buttons in” mode which led the unit to respond in extreme ways. One other particularly interesting factor was its fast attack, which allowed it to kick in within 20 microseconds (0.02 milliseconds) when set to its quickest. Until sample-accurate digital technology came around with its lookahead capabilities, this was a great way to clamp down on transients, should you have wanted to.

So how does 1176-style compression compare to today’s hyper-quick compressors? Below we’ll take Pulsar’s 1178 for a spin – an emulation of the stereo brother of the 1176 – and pit it against the attack speeds of a digital compressor.

But transient-squashing attack times aren’t