Fredenstein V.A.S. Comp

I use this between a Camden EC1 pre-amp and Audient ID14, for voice over, with various mics including hyper-cardiod. After leaving my first review I learned more about this and so
am updating the review: I am using it as a peak limiter, sibilance suppressor, and an RMS booster. The sweepable sidechain bandwidth filter turned to the full right focusses the compressor trigger on the sibilant frequencies, but does add some colour so I am nervous about using it. It has taken me about two months to understand the way this unit works and I realised that working right to left, and setting the make up gain aggresively and first instead of last brings the separate functions to life. The compressor is driven by an input gain driver which goes from -10db to +distorting level - and to get the compressor to work I first set all the parameters while the input driver is set to zero, and then crank the input driver up - this increases the gain, but also at the same time increases the compression. If I do it the other way round from left to right starting with the input driver and then adjusting the make up gain last as you would in the DAW compressor it is only half as effective. The knobs are tricky to use having no logical grading increments and are sweep only (no notches), so repeating a setting is virtually impossible - there is a lot of change for only a tiny amount of rotation. There are increment lines marked, but in sets of three (thirds) so you cannot work out what the setting is between the five settings marked on each knob - essentially I do most of my ratio, attack and release adjusting by ear, the make up gain I do against the level
meter. The way to get more control I have found is to crank up the Make Up Gain first so my signal is at the peak. Then I have around 4:1 or 5:1 ratio, more than if using a DAW plug-in compressor. You have to have patience and be prepared to make subtle changes to the attack, and release, but not be afraid of cranking the make up gain and the input driver to kick the compressor into life: to all intents and purposes use your DAW to set the make up gain so that you can get Audio Input levels you need, then adjust the compression settings by ear and drive the gain into the front end as hard as you can. I was too afraid of the make up gain and input driver when I started using this and as a result struggled to get it to be fully effective, but now I have learned the importance of adding substantial make up gain first, it has brought the unit to life. It is a boutique bit of kit, but you can buy rack ears that fit if you have two of these or this and the mic pre.

Very capable and solid compressor. Fredenstein did a great job with the little guy. It may be a FET compressor, and it is good at doing 1176 style stuff. However, it is also capable of very mild and transparent compressor. I would not even be surprised if two these could handle a master buss in a pinch. I use mine on everything from vocals, synths, drums, guitars, and they are very solid. I have other higher compressors and VAS is just as good as any of them. Fredenstein really does a great job finding a way to make affordable products that punch well above their price point.

Ich benutze den Fredenstein zusammen mit einem Great River Pre für Gesangsaufnahmen und bin damit vollauf zufrieden. Er greift sehr musikalisch und gut dosierbar in das Signal ein und auch die optische Anzeige ist fein genug, um eine sinnvolle Rückmeldung zu geben. Ich kann nicht feststellen, dass er das Signal in irgendeiner Weise verschlechtert.

Besonders hervorheben möchte ich den DRY/WET Regler, mit dem sich eine parallele Kompression realisieren lässt. Im Moment jedenfalls finde ich als nächstgünstiges Gerät mit dieser Funktion lediglich einen Black Lion für knapp 700 €.

Damit steht der Fredenstein jedenfalls für mich in dieser Hinsicht konkurrenzlos da.

Den einen Stern Abzug in der Verarbeitung gibt es lediglich, weil keines der Potis gerade in der Frontplatte sitzt, so dass der Knopf bei Drehen sichtlich "eiert". Ich habe insgesamt drei dieser Geräte und es ist bei jedem so. Das hat aber keine Auswirkungen auf die Funktion, nur ist es eben nicht ganz so schön.

INSGESAMT: Sehr empfehlenswert!