Slate Pro Audio Dragon Reviews

4.9/5.0 based on 7 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Josh Estock

If I was stranded on a desert island and could only choose one compressor to sustain my dynamic needs for the rest of my days, the Slate Pro Audio Dragon would be my choice! This compressor will do nearly anything, plus you can chain two together for stereo compression. The "Mix" control is a godsend. No need to setup aux sends. It has parallell compression built-in! Buy this. You won't regret it!

Stuart Niven

I just got a Dragon bolted into my outboard rack, and a second unit is already a planned purchase. This is no ordinary compressor!

Reminiscent of the UA 1176LN, and as flexible as the Distressor, the Dragon is an AMAZING tool for both tracking and mixing. By redesigning and building on the basic elements of the 1176 and adding some great features such as the "Vintage" setting (my favorite ) and a "Saturation" Mode ( addictive ) Steven Slate has created a truly revolutionary compressor that will help you shape, create, and sound like never before. The output stage is a very "vintage Neve" sounding, transformer-based signal path that just sounds amazingly warm and rich, adding a vibrant analog vibe to anything that you touch with it.

From gentle compression to absolutely pegging the needle down, it sounds delicious. This is a must-have compressor to have in your arsenal of gear, especially in this digital world. Nothing makes an sound sit in a mix better than a real analog box with real transformers and "vibe!

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Customer Reviews

John D.
from CT
January 28, 2013

Fire-Breather.

One of those pieces that seems to find its way into every signal chain I set up these days.

Versatile. Deifnitely has the beating heart of an 1176, but hugely flexible. At first I was averse to the EQ options onboard, thinking "That's the last thing I need is more switches and EQ options where they don't belong in the chain" but boy did I change my tune quick. Extremely musical tweaks just sound natural - get your squeeze on a bass through this and you'll feel it in your gut, back it off and use it for subtle vocals is beautiful, and it can slam when you want it to. Had to calibrate the meter when I got mine, but no problems. Love to squeeze my tracks a little harder then back off the blend to 25% or so - incredible flexibility and speed of workflow. The Distressor has been lonely since this unit showed up, and I don't think I'm just drunk on it - this is going to be a staple in my rack for years and years to come. I'll venture as far to say that this will eventually become a modern classic.

Alex
from Mexico City
October 2, 2012Music Background:
Recording Engineer

AMAZING Compressor.

This is the best compressor of the century. I can describe its particular sound as a cross between an 1176 and a Distressor.

JJ
from USA
June 8, 2011Music Background:
Musician/Engineer

ONE stop compressor

This thing really does the job. Its quality is amazing but the configurability of it makes it brilliant. The settings can be overwhelming but it literally can come up with any compressor sound I have ever wanted. The only music I can give is the manual is bit confusing. But in this case you would want to hear the effects rather than read about so its not a big deal.

will Snyder
from
March 29, 2011Music Background:
Sony recording artist/ Producer, Engineer

perfect for many reasons

I really am pleased completely with this buy... I have yet to regret paying the price. Number one- for vocals, it's easy to dial in and sounds just right... number two- for guitar, it's easy to dial in and sounds just right... Number three... well forget it, everything I have ran through it has sounded just right after tweaking it for each instrument... Drums/ Bass.. Piano... everything. Since I cut my own music in my studio, it's important to have gear that shines, and makes whatever I record, sound correct to what I'm trying to create... this does exactly that, I'm now a huge Slate audio fan! The guy is a genius

Robert Horner
from US
February 5, 2011Music Background:
Soulful Hip-Hop Producer

Finally the commercial sound Ive been looking for!

Ive been chasing that commercial sound with software plug-ins. Its not possible. I have Waves Mercury Bundle, a $5K software effects package. I don't care what plug-in you slap on your vocals, it wont compete with the Dragon's compressor! The rich tone melts you. This Dragon makes my below average voice sound radio ready. I once believed digital would take over, but you need the Dragon to compete.

Also, I record R&B and Hip-Hop. This compressor works great for it. I was hesitant that the Dragon might type-cast the sound. This compressor will work for any style of music.

This will be one of your game changers!

Rob
from Pgh, Pa.
September 2, 2010Music Background:
Pro Musician,Recording Engineer, Producer

I'm Floored!

Got it into the rack today and went through the paces with my guitar rig and all I can say is WOW!!! This is the most musical compressor I have heard. I own an LA-3A, I have recorded with a Distressor in the past and they are definetly kickin comps but the Dragon is on another level. There is so much character to this unit. I couldnt get a bad sound with it. My guitar sound went from really really good to spanking great

All of the switches are musical and add different flavors to your sound. They dont change your sound in any "bad coloring" way but they just make your sound more there and whatever sonic character is added only improves what your putting into it.

I also ran a bass into it. Just a simple bass into a Sans Amp DI and then into the dragon. The results where just as awesome! All the compression ratios work great. The manual has presets to try but to be honest these are just getting you in the ball park ... you can go nuts with the settings and push the envelope and never go wrong.

I will run everything through this unit! Its totally worth every penny!

from
April 9, 2010Music Background:
Producer

A versatile weapon for your mixes

The Dragon would have gotten a 5 if it weren't for the discrepancy you can experience when linking two Dragons together. One may be pushing for 5 db of gain reduction but the other at around 4. You have to do some workarounds to get things fairly even. It's just a weird thing that disrupts workflow a little. Other than that, these things are beasts. They sound great. The color that they add is very flexible. This is not what I would call a transparent compressor. It can add grit, warmth, vibe, or "sheen" if you want. Run your main vocals through this thing and they will pop a lot more. The sheen, bite, and boom settings help you by allowing you to shape and add character to sounds without having to resort to EQ. The Lynx Aurora, Dangerous 2-bus, SSL X-patch and Slate Dragons are the foundation of my new studio setup. I run everything through these bad boys....EVERYTHING.

inSync Review

Mitch Gallagher
10-28-2011

Looking for powerful and versatile hardware for your studio? Want it to sound incredible? You need to check out the new and from ! Famed as the man behind the incredible Steven Slate Drums, Virtual Console, Trigger, and other software, Steven Slate is also a recording engineer and producer with many years of high-profile experience, and now he's put all that experience to work designing the hardware he needs for his use in the studio -- and you can have the same gear.

First up is the Dragon, a single-channel FET compressor/limiter. The Dragon takes the classic compressor circuit from the '60s and '70s and enhances it to mastering-grade specs. Then a variety of settings are provided for optimizing your tone, including Vintage, Sheen, and Bite. The Saturate control lets you add just the right amount of grit, distortion, and harmonic content to the sound. To balance it all, there's the Mix control, which can give you everything from full-on compression to subtle parallel compression effects. Additional features such as the highpass filter on the sidechain allow you to tailor the response even more. The Dragon just may be the most versatile compressor ever created!

If your hardware needs fall a little earlier in the signal path, say, right at the beginning, then the Fox 2-channel microphone preamp is just what you want. As does the Dragon, the Fox provides incredible versatility. We're talking four distinct mic preamps in one box! From legendary vintage 1073 tones to fast, clean modern tones -- plus two "combo" modes that combine those two extremes -- the Fox can cover everything from vocals to pristine acoustic instruments to banging drums. Of course, you have all the standard controls for phase invert, phantom power, and more, including instrument-level inputs.

With the Fox and the Dragon, Slate Pro Audio has introduced two amazing hardware studio gems that will find tons of use in your studio. Call your Sales Engineer for complete information!