ART Pro VLA II

The ART Pro VLA II was my first piece of analog gear and I've been using it for pretty much everything: drums, vocals, bass, synths and even for catching some peaks on the master channel. It won't add any 'mojo' to your sound, but it's a great unit for those of you who are just getting into the world of hardware and want to learn about compression.
The building quality is very robust, the knobs comfortable to work with. It doesn't feel cheap at all.
It's not the most transparent compressor out there, but if you're looking for an affordable all-around unit that can add a little 'tube sound' and color, the ART Pro VLA II is the way to go.

Works for me pretty well on sustained material, such as vocals, guitar, synth pads. I have upgraded the tubes (they are not in the signal path, but influence the way the compressor reacts) which led to more headroom before audible distortion happens. 2-bus or busy material are not its strength, but for single instrument compression it is very versatile and tweakable due to all the controls and meters. My unit came with a small error (panorama off centre). Sending it in for repair didn't help. All they did was glue all the components inside with some rubber/foam stuff and basically rendering this unit irreparable from any future faults. The pan is the same as before. Very bad support thus from ART. Anyway, I do like the compressor itself for its price tag and slightly coloured sound. I think it is a tad noisy occasionally but nothing to be worried about. Just do your gain staging right. As it's an opto compressor it is not very 'fast', but you can still hear it work on the transients if need be. I use it on recordings and sometimes mixing some stems through it. There are better and more affordable designs out there (FMR RNC comes to mind), but they have either less controls/meters or simply are just a single channel, or a stereo channel only. The PRO VLA2 has more tricks up its sleeve. If you're looking to get your first real compressor, this one is a good choice.

It's one big fault is that it doesn't hold the stereo image correctly in linked mode because the Vactrols are poorly matched. This results on my unit in a few degrees of skew from right to left and back to right again across the throw of the threshold. An irritation rather than a deal breaker but does require subtle adjustment of the Balance control when used in stereo linked mode.

That said, it has a beautiful volatile tube presence that when used as a hardware plug breathes life into the most cardboard digital synth soun or samples and has a real character. My main use is to front load and level hardware synths upwind of digital conversion.

I love mine so much I rolled the tubes for NOS Mullards and it's even lovelier. Requires a bit of work to get the best of out it but its best is astonishingly good for the cheap price.

I'm keeping mine.

The ART Pro VLA II lives up well to its name. It has a robust construction and durable knobs and controls.

Overall, this is a good all round compressor, very versatile and easy to use and can even be used in project studios which can be included in their mastering chain.

The quality and output is also up to par with what you expect to hear from a tube compressor.

Also, it is good to note that the needle needs adjustment frequently as it looses its calibration almost every other day, but apart from this I would recommend this product to anyone looking to get a better result from their usual plugin compressors on a DAW.