Warm Audio WA-1B Optical Compressor

Tube-opto-fueled, Lydkraft-style Compression

The Warm Audio WA-1B delivers the smooth, tube-opto sound of one of the most coveted hardware compressors ever built. This meticulous re-creation boasts an identical control set to the original unit, enabling you to dial in effective dynamics control with ear-grabbing results. The original hardware’s velvety-smooth sound and forgiving behavior have made it an industry standard for hip-hop vocals, and the WA-1B follows suit — it’s tailor-made for highly dynamic sources, infusing them with a tube-driven analog warmth that’s impossible to ignore. It’s not just for vocals, either; the WA-1B works its sonic magic on guitars, bass, keyboards, and every other signal it touches. Are you craving world-class, Lydkraft-style compression? You’ll be fully satisfied with the Warm Audio WA-1B.

Smooth tube-optical compression

The WA-1B is a spot-on re-creation of the industry-renowned Lydkraft-style compressor. When running it through its paces here at City Music we found that the WA-1B not only replicates the forgiving nature of the original unit, but it also reproduces the smooth tube-optical warmth that’s made the original the go-to compressor for hip-hop vocals, albeit with more open-sounding upper frequencies. In short, if you’re having difficulty nailing that sound, the WA-1B is the right compressor to give it to you.

A familiar set of controls

The Warm Audio WA-1B should seem very familiar to anyone who’s spent any amount of time with the Danish-built hardware that inspired it. Its Threshold and Ratio controls dial in everything from soft, musical dynamic control to hard-smashing — yet eminently transparent — compression. Its Attack and Release controls are switchable between Fixed and Manual modes, enabling you to employ the natural timing of the compressor’s optical element in Fixed mode or a more specified behavior in Manual mode. You get a Fixed/Manual dueling time-constant mode for a hyper-musical release-time curve. You also get an analog meter with Input, Compression, and Output modes and a hard Bypass switch.

Premium components

Crack open the WA-1B, and you’ll find a handwired, true-to-spec, 270-volt, discrete analog signal path replete with through-hole components and custom-core Lundahl transformers for full-on Lydkraft-style tone. You also get select tubes from JJ and Tung-Sol and a high-precision optical element for sweet-sounding analog character and unbeatable accuracy. Moreover, the WA-1B was methodically hand-tested and inspected by Warm Audio’s world-class technicians in Austin, Texas.

Warm Audio WA-1B Optical Compressor Features:

• Delivers the smooth, tube-opto sound and forgiving behavior of the industry-renowned Lydkraft-style compressor
• Boasts an identical control set to the original hardware unit
• Threshold and Ratio controls dial in everything from soft, musical dynamic control to hard-smashing compression
• Attack and Release controls are switchable between Fixed and Manual modes
• Fixed/Manual dueling time-constant mode provides a hyper-musical release-time curve
• Analog meter with Input, Compression, and Output modes
• Bypass switch takes the compression circuitry completely out of your signal
• Handwired, true-to-spec, 270V, discrete analog signal path
• Through-hole components and custom-core Lundahl transformers yield full-on Lydkraft-style tone
• Employs select tubes from JJ and Tung-Sol and a high-precision optical element
• Hand-tested and inspected by Warm Audio’s world-class technicians in Austin, TX