New users can be thrown by the fact that the attack and release controls on an 1176 work 'in reverse', with the fastest setting being with the knobs fully clockwise. There's no threshold control on an 1176, of course: gain reduction is achieved by adjusting the input level, and tweaking the output knob to compensate for the level changes. If you're familiar with any 1176, there'll be no surprises here in terms of layout and operation, except for the welcome addition of a wet/dry knob for instant parallel compression. Over 30‑40 years, the cumulative effect of these tweaks has (probably accidentally) resulted in a 'modded' version of the original design, which Black Lion say exhibits a more mid-forward sound than a typical 1176, which is particularly well suited to CLA's style of mixing - and to how he likes to treat vocals, in particular. What Black Lion Audio's head designer Jesus noticed when he began to investigate this unit was that the various technicians who'd repaired or serviced it over the years hadn't always used exactly the 'correct' component values when a part needed replacing. The result of those investigations is Black Lion's Bluey. These 'Blue Stripe' compressors were the earliest 'revisions' of the famous Universal Audio 1176 - head to UA's website for more detail on the different revisions: CLA favours one particular unit, which he feels exhibits a little more 'mojo' than the others and which he estimates has been used on over 14,000 vocal recordings! Black And BlueyĬLA invited Black Lion Audio to investigate what, if anything, made this particular unit special from a technical point of view - and, more importantly, whether it could be recreated. Among these, he has several of the 'Blue Stripe' versions of the UA 1176 FET limiting amplifier. Something very important to CLA's 'sound' is his use of compression, and if you look at images of his Mix LA studio, you can't fail to notice his enviable selection of outboard compressors. His confident, concise mixing style has graced countless hit records, seen him win multiple Grammys and earned the respect of his peers. Black Lion's Bluey recreates an 1176 that has made more hits than most!Ĭhris Lord-Alge, aka CLA, must be one of the most recognisable figures in the world of music production.