Art Pro VLA II vs Klark Teknik KT-76 (Budget Compressors)

[dominic13]

Hey,

I’m looking for a budget outboard compressor. I got a good mic and pre.
Currently I’m considering either the Klark Teknik 76 or the Art Pro VLA II.
If out of the two, what should I choose vocals (all from slow ballads to fast rap)?
I’m open to other suggestions within the price range.

P.S I’m not a Warm Audio fan, so no Warm Audio alternative suggestions please
P.S.S Thinking of getting the Audioscape Opto next year when I could get it shipped, so no LA-2A clone suggestions either

[resistorman]

I'd use both, the VLA into KT

[Drew Stephenson]

People who know on this forum have given some positive noises about the KT76 sounding close enough to the real thing as to make no difference.

[Eddy Deegan]

I don't think the Klark Teknik KT-76 has been reviewed by Sound On Sound but in Paul White's review of the Art Pro VLA II he said of vocals:

I tried the Art Pro VLA II on a number of different sources and was pleasantly surprised. On vocals, it was possible to apply a surprisingly lavish amount of gain reduction before it became too obvious — the tonality and dynamics appeared natural, although the overall gain excursions were actually being contained very effectively.

[The Elf]

I have a KT-76 in my rack, and it rarely gets used, but it's perfectly fine for what it is. I'd certainly be happy to have another if the need arises. I have no experience of the other one.

[guitarface]

I have two KT76s that I hardly use. I picked up an ART Pro VLA II and it’s become a complete go to for vocal and guitar tracking. It’s super transparent and the comprehensive metering makes it easy to see what’s going on. I’d recommend this piece of gear. Mine has had a valve upgrade, so that might also be worth thinking about.

[Eddy Deegan]

I picked up an ART Pro VLA II and it’s become a complete go to for vocal and guitar tracking. It’s super transparent and the comprehensive metering makes it easy to see what’s going on. I’d recommend this piece of gear. Mine has had a valve upgrade, so that might also be worth thinking about.

Welome to the forum guitarface

It's good to hear some first-hand opinion on the ART. I've got one and I like what I've heard of it but I've not used it enough to be able to offer a qualified opinion at the time of writing

Out of interest what valve upgrade has yours got? Did it make much difference to the factory model?

[Bob Bickerton]

It appears, from another thread, that you have a UAD interface. Well I haven’t got a hardware compressor anywhere near my studio and I have produced many successful recordings using the UAD plug-in compressors. There’s really no need, and a good deal of skill required, to use compressors for tracking.

There’s much more amusing and useful ways to spend your hard earned cash.

Bob

[guitarface]

The valve upgrade on my ART Pro II was to Genaflex Gold Lion 12AT7s, with gold pins. The change had already been made before I got the unit, so I didn’t hear the stock valves. The previous owner seemed pretty pleased with the change however…

[VTypeV4]

I own both, too..

Different creatures but both are lovely - the VLA is probably my favourite hardware compressor although it's a close call with my WA Bus comp.

The ART is a great 'smoother' and 'gluer' offering a fat and warm compression style. It's capable of a much faster envelope than an LA-2A but to my ears, it's somewhere between a Teletronix and an SSL. A highly capable and useful compressor that doesn't really add any distortion the signal - I use mine over a stereo subgroup.

The KT76 does exactly what you'd expect from an 1176 style compressor. Super fast envelope, snappy gain reduction and some lovely distortion especially in all buttons mode. It can be a little noisy but on a slammed, aggressive vocal in a noisy mix, it's perfect.