I’m a big fan of using audio equipment originally designed for radio and other broadcast purposes to work on recording music in the studio. This gear is typically of extremely high build quality and is easy to use since in a broadcast context any interruption can be a major problem that could cause loss of airtime (and income). I’m especially fond of old broadcast limiters and compressors that can sound super smooth and transparent or be pushed to extremes for crunchy and punchy goodness.
Jason Kingsland and Vic Fischer launched their new company, Garbage Ideas, here in my home base of Athens, GA, and are building equipment with these same robust design and fidelity philosophies. Their first product, the FK Comp, is an absolute delight to use. As the name would imply, this peak limiter and saturator uses the standard (and at this point, fairly ubiquitous) 500 Series format, making it an attractive option for the professional studio owner, home recordist, or engineer who is often traveling between different studios. The controls consist of just three knobs for In, Out, and Mix, and one 3-way mode switch, making it easy to dial in a sound.
With the switch flipped to Comp, the FK Comp acts as a limiter normally would, compressing the incoming signal based on a set threshold. This unit has a fixed threshold, so the amount of compression is determined by the input level. Users can then dial in the amount of makeup gain required with the Out knob (similar to the way a Gates Sta-Level or Empirical Labs EL-8X Distressor [Tape Op #32] functions, for example). The limiter function has a wide range of sound options depending on how hard the input is hitting the threshold. At lower gain the limiter is fairly transparent, with the detection circuit doing a nice job of controlling the signal uniformly across the full spectrum of the input signal. I never noticed any pumping or major changes to the timbre of the input signal. I particularly liked using it at less extreme settings on sources such as bass guitar and lead vocals during mixing. It did a nice job of keeping vocals feeling more forward and “in their place” in a mix. I was having to do fewer small volume automation changes that are sometimes required to get the vocal to sit right.
Harmonic distortion begins to get introduced as the limiter circuit is hit harder, but never in an overly harsh or spitty way, like many other units. Of course, the limiter will become much grabbier as more signal hits the threshold, and I could definitely hear the limiter circuit working in these instances. However, the limiter reduced gain fairly evenly across the frequency spectrum of whatever I sent to it. For example, using the FK Comp to limit a track with a wide frequency timbre, such as an acoustic guitar, didn’t cause it to suddenly become overly boomy from the energy of the bass frequencies.
I still mix on a large format console most of the time and had tons of fun setting up the FK Comp as a parallel compressor, hitting the limiter hard with sources such as kick and snare drum or bass and acoustic guitar while mixing a recent rock tune. Drums sounded especially fantastic with the FK Comp. It reminded me a lot of what I like about some of my old broadcast compressors, resulting in an awesome punchy, slightly (or sometimes not so slightly) distorted tone that I can blend in with the dry drums – perfect for adding heft while bringing them forward in a mix.
Flipping the mode switch to Drive disengages the limiter circuit but leaves the input and output amplifier circuits active, which allows for all kinds of fun driving or mangling the signal. As with the Comp mode engaged, I never found Drive’s harmonic distortion overly harsh, even when pushed hard. It was extremely usable on a various sources once I figured out the appropriate amount of distortion needed. For one song, it was helpful to use the drive circuit to distort background vocals in order to place them in the back of the mix while still poking through. In this context, the distortion didn’t even register as distortion but as an increase in high midrange energy that helped give the background vocals some extra life.
Because the FK Comp has a built-in Mix knob, a console isn’t required for parallel compression workflow, which makes for an excellent tool for tracking. I can push the limiter or drive the circuit as hard as I want, then dial in the Mix knob to taste. It is such a simple thing, but I can’t explain enough how much I love the inclusion of this feature! One of my philosophies as a producer is to try to get a sound as close to the finished idea as possible while capturing it. The ability to instantly dial in the amount of distortion or limiting that I want on the fly just makes my life so much easier. The FK Comp also has a link feature for stereo control, but I didn’t explore this during use. I’ll definitely be buying a pair. Despite all of the other equipment I own that does something similar, I found the FK Comp to have its own unique flavor, and it was super easy to dial in for a variety of fun and useful sounds.
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