Shop Keyboard Deals, Financing, and More

Summit Audio TLA-50 Tube Leveling Amplifier

1-channel Tube Leveling Amplifier with XLR and 1/4" I/O
7 Write review Item ID: TLA50
$1,229.99

Or pay $204.99 for 6 months with Easy Pay

See all payment options

Free
Shipping
Tech Support

Free Sweetwater
Support

Free 2-year
Warranty
We Can Get It Fast!

While this isn't an item we normally stock, we can still get it to you as fast as possible due to our great relationship with Summit Audio. Go ahead and place your order and we'll follow up shortly to let you know when to expect it.

Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

(800) 222-4700
What is a Sales Engineer?
Sweetwater Gear Exchange

Have one to sell?
Check out Sweetwater's Gear Exchange!
Learn More

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

Summit Audio TLA-50 Tube Leveling Amplifier
We Can Get It Fast!
$1,229.99
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

Classic Summit Audio sound - for less

The TLA-50 Tube Leveling Amplifier offers the sound of Summit Audio's famous TLA-100 in a half-rack package designed for smaller digital studios and live rigs. The price is nice, too.

Related Videos: TLA-50 Tube Leveling Amplifier

The TLA-50 adds warmth to your digital signal, while providing an extremely musical compression. Overall, the TLA-50 delivers the classic smooth Summit Audio sound.

This full-featured leveling amplifier offers three position attack and release switches, continuously variable gain and gain reduction control, and provides VU metering of output and gain reduction for precise visual tailoring of the audio signal. The TLA-50 also features a side chain insert for flexible use.

The output stage is a discrete component transistor circuit optimized for smooth and quiet response utilizing plus and minus 24-volt rails from the internal high-voltage power supply. The unit also offers the ability to link with another TLA-50 for outstanding stereo compression capabilities.

Additional Media

Signal Processing Buying Guide

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
2 Year Total Confidence Coverage
$122.00
FREE!

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • Number of Channels: 1
  • Controls: Attack (Fast/Medium/Slow), Release (Fast/Slow), Gain, Gain Reduction
  • Inputs: 1 x XLR/TRS Combo
  • Outputs: 1 x XLR, 1 x 1/4"
  • Sidechain I/O: 1 x 1/4"
  • Rack Spaces: Half
  • Height: 1.75"
  • Depth: 8.5"
  • Width: 8.5"
  • Weight: 5 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: TLA-50

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

(800) 222-4700
Contact Your Sales Engineer
Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Customer Added Media

Write your review

Worth it!

As soon as I recorded bass with the tla-50 , I heard a huge upgrade on my tone . It's more than just a warm compression , it has a great presence along with it . I paired it with my Avalon U5 pre or with the BAE DMP and it works amazing with either !
by Jairon Garcia from Whittier, CA on
Music background: L.A. Bassist

Makes Everything Sound a Little More Real

I picked up a used pair for a steal, and I've been extremely pleased. My only other outboard compressor at the moment is an Elysia Xpressor 500 (also a gem, but very different in its usefulness). Besides that, I'm comparing the sound of these guys to years of using UAD plugins (Fairchild, LA-2A, 1176). As much as I love UAD, none of their emulations can touch the smoothness of the volume leveling I get from my Summits. I'm playing a very dynamic vocal track through them right now with medium and attack and slow release, catching about 3dB on average with peaks almost pegging the meter. The vocal is sitting perfectly now with no other processing and still sounds natural and dynamic enough for the sparse mix its in. With my UAD compressors I can always hear the gain reduction; usually I can make it work, but with the Summits I don't have to make that compromise.

As for the tone of the compressor, I find it adds a nice weight and roundness (to use the accepted jargon) to low-end content like kick drums and bass guitar. I use it all the time as a tracking compressor for finger-style acoustic guitar and find that it gives me the size and warmth that my mics never seem to get on their own from my favorite acoustic. On vocals the warmth is a little more subtle, at least on the female vocal I'm using it on right now. The track was recorded with a nice tube condenser mic, but the combination doesn't sound too "tubey." Past 5 on the gain meter there's a little more grit, but the lower half of dial is usually where you'll be for matching, and it's plenty clean.

Getting back to the title of my review, what I love most about these is that they seem to handle audio the same way my ears do. My microphones always seem to "hear" more dynamic range than I do, and these Summit TLA-50s are the best I've used for restoring that natural balance of transients and ambience that I hear in the live rooms of my studio. I definitely recommend it.
by Nathan Agenbroad from Boise, ID on
Music background: Audio Engineer, Producer, Multi-Instrumentalist

Awesome!

Super simple to use. Adds some nice warmth without it being over the top. It sounds great on vocals but I have especially loved it on male vocals. I was surprised at how well it leveled the dynamics with out sucking the life out of them. It has been a very popular item on my vocal chains. The first session I used it on was a really cool indie rock single for an artist I had never worked with before. After I gave him the first draft he commented that he has never had his vocals sound so good. This unit played an important role in getting "that" sound.

It has also worked well on bass and drums although I haven't used it on these items enough to give it a fair review.
by Joshua Ray from Minot, ME USA on
Music background: Mix/Recording Engineer

CREATE A SONIC MASTER PIECE !!!!!!

I PURCHASED THIS UNIT AFTER TELLING ~JEFF LAW~ MY SALES REP. AT SWEETWATER. THAT I NEEDED SOMETHING TO FIT IN WITH MY MOJAVE AUDIO MA-200 AND THE FOCUSRITE ISA-1 ALSO PURCHASED LAST MONTH. I WILL BE KEEPING THIS UNIT EVEN WHEN I UPGRADE TO A STEREO COMPRESSOR, AND IT WILL BE ANOTHER SUMMIT AUDIO PRODUCT. SO THERE YOU GO, WON'T SAY HOW THIS UNIT SOUNDS, REMEMBER I BROUGHT IT WITHOUT HEARING IT FIRST. JEFF I ALWAYS BELIEVE IN YOU NOW. WILL BE BUYING THE FEQ-50 TO FINISH THE FRONT END IN MY SIGNAL CHAIN FROM SWEETWATER. P.S. I LIFE LONG CUSTOMER
by Sweetwater Customer on
Music background: PRODUCER, ENGINEER, ARTIST

Mighty Midgets

I bought these units and waited a month faithfully for them to ship. When i got them i took them home and fired them up. One of the capacitors had blown out so that left me with one unit when put in bypass mode to still control the gain knob. However after talking to summit audios Product Chief he was a big help and took the untils back and fixed them both and turned them right around within a week. Summit Audio has great customer service

Now on use these things to me are noisey a lot more than i would expect from a unit at this cost i have some other stuff that produce far less noise. But after a few test i was able to get the floor noise down substantially something i can bare with. BUT THE WARM out of these THings and Compression is Nice, NO pumping effect even when driven fairly hard on a full mix i heardly heard the compression. They added a nice effect the vocals and other instruments seemed to sit nicely together. Whoever said that big things can't come in small packages, Yes these are no TLA 100 or Vari-mu but its a nice start for someone trying to add a nice tube sound on a budget. Outside of the them being a little noisey I am satisfied with the investment and these have a home in my Studio for a while to come. Of course They will take backseat to my Manley Vari-mu.
by Sweetwater Customer on
Music background: Artist, Producer, Mix and Mastering Engineer.

Hear from a Sales Engineer

What Do Our In-house Gear Experts Think?

Nick Schenkel

I've used this compressor on guitars, basses, vocals, drums and synths, and have always been pleased with the results. The TLA-50 adds an immediacy and warmth that cuts through the mix and allows your signal to sit up front and center.
See also: Compressors, Summit Audio, Summit Audio Compressors / Limiters
Close Close $2,000 Pick Your PRS Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Enter Now

Success!

Your email, has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!