Universal Audio UAD Plug-Ins ver.7.5 - Manual (Page 471)

UAD Powered Plug-Ins Manual - 471 - Chapter 48: Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection
Operational Overview
Applications In the 60s and 70s, the LA-2A and 1176 became inextricably linked as the
must-have dynamic tools of the day. If the 1176 is to the Stratocaster in terms
of immediacy and flexibility, then the LA-2A is to the Gibson Les Paul in terms
of warmth and one-of-a-kind, magical sonic distinction. An important charac-
teristic of the T4 photocell response is that it is both program and frequency
dependent. The T4 cell has a multi-stage release, and can take a few minutes
to fully recover from the incoming signal.
The primary use is as individual inserts for sources that require nominal trans-
parent gain reduction, such as vocals, bass, strings or horns. These tools can
also be used to isolate the “color” of the output amplifier by turning off the
Peak Reduction control, even to extreme distortion settings. An interesting
sidechain distortion can be achieved at the most extreme Peak Reduction set-
tings, which primarily affects low frequencies.
Parameters No compressor is as easy to operate or instantly satisfying to use as the
Teletronix Levelers. Peak Reduction applies the compression threshold to the
incoming signal up to –40 dB, while Gain amplifies the signal for level match-
ing post Peak Reduction. Set the metering view on any of the units with either
+4 or +10 dB Output Gain, or Gain Reduction. Both LA-2A Gray and Silver
expose the hardware’s rear Limit/Compress switch, as well as the unit’s “R37
FM Broadcast Emphasis” filter as front panel parameters. Although not
present on the unit originally, the LA-2 was “hot-rodded” to include Emphasis,
which is exposed on the front panel. Lastly, Power bypasses all DSP process-
ing, providing a handy level matching tool not found on the original hard-
ware.
Artist Presets The Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection includes artist presets from prominent
LA-2A users. The artist presets are in the internal factory bank and are ac-
cessed via the host application’s preset menu. The artist presets are also cop-
ied to disk by the UAD installer so they can be used within Apollo’s Console
application. The presets can be loaded using the Settings menu in the UAD
Toolbar (see “Using UAD Powered Plug-Ins” in Chapter 7 of the UAD System
Manual).
Note: Presets created with the original LA-2A Legacy plug-in are incompati-
ble with the newer Leveler Collection plug-ins.