wonderful and effective !!

wonderful and effective compressor and limiter. API 527 compressor is great especially on vocals, guitar, percussion etc. etc. try it and see.

Wow! Great Compressor/Limiter

API is truly! the compressor / limiter API 527 is wonderful, natural produce incredible clarity and does not color the signal. Good use on vocals, guitar, percussion, bass etc. etc. Try it and see.

Sensational, The new standard!!

I was nervous about this because no one had reviewed it yet, well let me help you out. This is one of the most versatile compressors period! I'm working now with an A-list producer in nashville and he picked this for our lead vocal compressor! It's been great for anything we've tried it on! AMAZING!!!!

Awesome.

Everything I thought it would be!

Good Utilitarian Compressor

This is my first/only outboard compressor for my home studio and when comparing it to the sounds of my plugin comps, well... there is no comparison.

I have used this to track vocals (very good in the "new" setting on "soft"), bass and guitars, and it's absolutely fantastic as a limiter in that it's fairly clean (not dark, or bright, just transparent with warmth).

I have also run drums, keys, and everything else through this in the mixing process, and it has a lot of attitude and creates the "grab" effect without much coloration. The "Thrust" feature is invaluable for letting you get the top end to sustain and pump without sacrificing the lows. This is an invaluable tool.

This is a great all-around compressor. Being able to switch between Old and New modes is like having two types in one, and the ability to link 2 of these is a great way to get close to the 2500 sound on a budget (I want this setup as my buss compressor eventually).

Criticisms are that it took me about a month to get used to the settings on this thing: The multiple modes are actually overwhelming and the attack/release/ratio settings are really different from other types of comps I have used. To make matters worse, the old and new settings completely change the character of the unit, making it necessary to readjust between the two (you can't just A/B the switch usually). The sacrifice for versatility is that it's not a "set-it-and-forget-it" type comp. It takes a lot of tweaking to get things right.

That being said, this is an all-around great compressor and if you can only have one, this will do everything you need it to. No complaints, other than it's making me want more types of comps!