Manley ELOP+ Dual-channel Tube Compressor/Limiter Reviews

I've had this for a few years now and one thing led to another and I noticed too few reviews for this beautiful machine. Thus, here am I. If transparency is what you need, you can push absolutely anything through this and it remains transparent. It's marvelous. I also use it mono in-line, as a compressor and then a limiter. Works great that way, too.

I picked up the ELOP+ a couple of years ago from Sweetwater. I was looking for something that would be different from the Manley Vari Mu. My first really expensive compressor was the Manley Vari Mu, which was quite disappointing to me. It is great as a coloring tool, but it fails to reduce gain as effectively as many other compressors. In my opinion, the Vari Mu is an expensive tool that only works well in a couple of situations.

Based on that experience, I was nervous to give ELOP+ a try, but I do love Manley's preamps and line amps. With the return policy at Sweetwater, I was gave it a try. As soon as it arrived, I fell in love. The ELOP+ is not as dark as an LA2A, but it has a lot in common with it. I found, and still find, the ELOP+ to be much more versatile than an LA2A. Additionally, it does the thing I wanted it to do more than anything else: effective gain reduction. It is a medium speed compressor/limiter, so it doesn't kill transient attacks. It lets them through, and then it reduces audio signals in such a sweet, colored, and gentle manner. It creates leveled audio tails of tube goodness. It makes vocals slightly darker, warmer, and more interesting. It sweetens bass guitar. It cuts harshness out of acoustic guitar parts that were recorded with modern condenser mics. It is an all-around winner at beautiful and forgiving gain reduction (what a compressor is supposed to do).

Lastly, the ELOP+ is hard to mess up. You can be heavy-handed with it in limit mode and still get very natural and sweet sounding results. I was disappointed with the Vari Mu, but I couldn't be happier with the ELOP+. I often use it on everything. It works for almost all source material, and it does its job gently, deftly, and adds a magical sparkle to things.

I bought it, connected it, and started running audio through it. It's no distrssor or remotely close to it. In fact, I was looking to get a nicely compressed tone from the drum bus, and I found it to be too tame for that. I do own other compressors that address what I was looking for nicely. I found myself recording rock guitars direct going through a Rack 11 and feeding my Neves 33122a's and into the interface. It was still missing the glue that you would get by mic'ing a guitar cab. I decided to run the guitars from the Neves to the Elop+ first before hitting the interface. The change was just marginal. Yes, it did sound closer to what I was looking for, but then I decided to bypass the unit by pushing the In/bypass switches in the front of the unit. That's when the glue came to life!! I thought it was a pseudo effect going on in my brain, so I disconnected them from the chain and the sound deteriorated back to what it was before I inserted them in the chain! Case in point.... They rock in the bypass mode. I guess the the bypass is not a hard bypass and the signal is treated to the tube circuit regardless if they're in bypass or not. Buy this thing, even if you just put signals through it for added glue! I'm now passing almost everything through it just for the added sonic improvement!

This is my first foray into outboard compression in a studio setting, and I am eleven kinds of delighted. I have used it extensively on vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, synths, VIs, and as a master buss compressor and it excels at everything. EVERYTHING. I was considering an LA-2A, but my Sweetwater pusher Robby Resnick told me about this little slice of heaven, so I started researching. I'm fortunate in that I live in Southern California, so I was able to make the drive over to the factory on a Tuesday afternoon to see, touch, smell, experience the device first hand. Everyone there was wonderful, and beyond helpful. I wanted to hear some audio run through it, but they didn't have one immediately ready. Have no fearI The engineer who was showing me around finished putting one together (I watched him put the tubes in!!) and played some tracks through it. I was struck by its transparency and the simple fact that everything just sounded better when run through it. It seems to add an x-factor even when it's not really doing any noticeable compressing. It's a testament to high-quality components and perfect construction.

I'm going to go on for a bit longer, but the takeaway is that there is really no reason to ever not use this compressor. For anything. It glues, widens, butters.

I was pretty much convinced after my visit that this was the direction I was going to go in, since it has a bit of the flavor of the LA-2A, but with more transparency and another channel (and hence the ability to use it on a stereo mix -- for me it's about quality, versatility, and of course bang for the buck). Just to be certain though I stopped by another retailer and listened again to audio through an LA-2A, and yes, it was freakin' gorgeous, but much more colorful. Too colorful, in fact, for what I was looking for. I fully intend to one day own one of those puppies as well, but for versatility and overall "wow" it became clear that this was indeed a no-brainer. With each year I become a more selective buyer, and the ELOP+ is one of the best purchases I've ever made.

Love it for vocals. I used it next to an Avalon 2044, and granted, Avalon sound great, but this Elop+ is amazing! Vocals, acoustic guitars, overheads, strings, just superb!

This is my first analog compressor, and all I can say is wow. I mostly make acoustic music, and the depth and sheen that this unit brings out of the source is just gorgeous. I don't even use software compressors for dynamic control now, just for color and effects! Running a U87 through an Aurora GTQ2 pre into this compressor...I may still be working out of a bedroom studio, but my clients' ears would never know the difference!! P.S. I even use it (gently) for mastering!

I was planning on getting a few more sessions under my belt before doing a review, but I've been so impressed I couldn't wait. While surprisingly light, this unit is built like a tank, looks gorgeous in the rack, and sounds incredible. I was shocked with how much gain reduction this unit could impart while still being virtually transparent. Compression is smooth and natural, even when pushing it. Having the option to choose between 3:1 compression and 10:1 limiting helps make this unit flexible enough to be used in just about any setting. While I would describe this as a pretty uncolored/transparent unit, it still manages to somehow add a hint of sonic sexiness to everything running through it.

Great price, great sound, easy to use, and looks gorgeous in the rack. what's not to love?

This is a well built, versatile, and great sounding piece of equipment. Use it for tracking in mono, dual mono or stereo and it performs flawlessly. It is also very useful for parallel compression and, of course on a stereo buss. It is smooth without being sloppy. Sounds great on vocals, bass and acoustic guitar. The addition of the ELOP + to my rack necessitated adding a patchbay. Huge thanks go to my Sweetwater engineer, Ben Robinson. He has always provided great advice, great knowledge and patience with me as I grow my studio and my capabilities.

In this new era of increasingly awesome interfaces with super low latency, powerfully featured DAWs, and analogue emulating plugins - I wondered if a hardware compressor was necessary to have these days. Depending on the music you record and produce, the level of quality you want, and other factors - this is still a debatable question for some. Not for me anymore. The Manley ELOP + is a real gem. After a year of keeping this compressor unit on my wishlist, researching the limited amount of internet content specific to the ELOP +, I decided it was worth the risk to invest in a company like Manley backed by the good folks at Sweetwater Music. As for plugins versus hardware...many compressor plugins work well to varying degrees, but many add too much noise to the track in my opinion. Also, many compressor plugins often sound like they are on top of the original audio rather than an integral aspect of a refined audio signal. The Elop + is pure sonic awesomeness!


For those who want to read more...

The Elop + is a game changer for vocals as well as many other sources I tried. I have a UA610 Mk ii channel strip that has the T4 optical photo cell famously associated with the LA2A. It is great in its own right - so I have a reasonable hardware compressor comparison. The UA610Mkii is an awesome unit and is capable of smooth as well as tastefully distorted tube saturation. Bass, synths, and certain vocal styles sound amazing with the UA610, but there is sonic territory that it just doesn't handle like the new Manley addition to the studio. The ELOP + manages to be HiFi, warm, open, and quiet. Maybe it's Manley's new power supply engineering in conjunction with the type of tubes and wiring they use? Manlye mojo is a real thing! Regardless of the preamp tried, when tracking vocals with the ELOP + , it made an instantly recognizable positive difference. The ELOP + is an elegant machine that brings out the nuance, depth, and details of your tracks without adding unwanted noise to the signal.

The Stereo link function works great when I tracked stereo mics for acoustic guitars and acoustic piano. Both the limit and compress modes performed well in both tracking and mixing. Manley's literature states that optical compressors are not the best option for 2 Bus mixing applications. I think this again depends on your style of music you're working with. That is certainly why they released the Nu Mu at the same time as the ELOP +. Besides directly connecting the line out of a preamp to the ELOP +, I have had good success using the ELOP + as an external audio effect in Ableton Live. This allows you to use your outboard gear as easily as a plugin instance. You can do the same thing with your analog instruments as well - a game changer for Ableton Live 9 full version users! You can easily use the compressor on multiple tracks. Instead of constantly plugging and unplugging the ELOP + ins/outs for different sources, use the external audio effect preset you can save the precise settings to your user files for easy recall later. Rather than use an analog patch bay system, keep your seat and take advantage of the low latency in your audio interface as it talks with your outboard gear for both ins and outs. There are plenty of good You Tube videos on these techniques for those interested in speeding up their work flow as well as those who want some creative mixing options.

In summary, the ELOP + is a great compressor that provides a lot of value and function as a stereo unit. It is an investment for sure, but it will help take your recordings up a few notches and put a smile on your face in the process :)

Of course, all the "classic" compressors have earned their right to be called classics. And here is a compressor that will undoubtedly earn its rightful place as a classic as well. I haven't smashed any drums with this guy yet, but here's what I CAN tell you after a few months of heavy use. I have NEVER heard a compressor that is this unbelievably transparent and beautiful. I don't care what guitars (electric, acoustic, bass) or vocals (male, female) you run through this beast at any volume, every single speck of detail remains flawlessly intact. Nothing is lost...anywhere. There is zero, and I do mean zero, coloration.

If there is any coloration at all, it's simply the word "beautiful" that I used above. The only way I can describe this compressor is that every single frequency seems to be meticulously sculpted to sound the very best that it can possibly sound.

ONE GRIPE: The 2 knobs on the left side are GAIN then REDUCTION. The 2 knobs on the right side are REDUCTION then GAIN. Having worked in design for 25 years, this makes no sense to me whatsoever. When working with both channels independently, I find myself continually reaching for what (should be) the same knob in each location. The buttons, in my opinion, also suffer the same pain point...the left row of buttons includes one additional button for what you want the meter to read (reduction or output). The right row of buttons includes one additional button for stereo linking. These two buttons should have been located elsewhere instead of obsessing over everything being "uniform." Lastly, all the other buttons (HP SC/FLAT, IN/BYPASS, COMP/LIMIT) are in THAT order on the left side, but the order is flipped on the right side. Seriously?

THE PRICE? Well, you can buy some cheap or mid-grade gear that you'll most likely replace...which will cost you even more in the long run. Or, you can spend a little more now and have a lifetime piece of the best dual-channel outboard compression on planet Earth. You decide.