Urei 1176 Peak Limiter

I used the Urei 1176 Peak Limiter on The Fugees "Nappy Heads (Mona Lisa)" remix produced by Salaam Remi.

The 1176 is one of Urei's most well known units (now manufactured by Universal Audio as both hardware and software). The controls are pretty simple. There is an input and output, attack and release and 4 ratio buttons. There are also meter display select buttons and an off switch. The input knob adjusts the input signal level and also acts as a threshold for the limiter circuit. The output knob adjusts the output level of the unit so you can apply make-up gain to the signal after limiting. The 4 ratio buttons are 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1 which might seem like a limitation but when used in conjunction with the input knob is actually quite versatile (to really squash the signal try pressing down all 4 buttons at once.). The attack ranges from 20 to 800 microseconds which is very fast (great for drums) and the release varies from 50 milliseconds to 1.1 secs. which gives you extensive control over the signal. The attack knob also serves as the limiter switch (notice the word off under the knob. When the attack knob is turned completely counterclockwise limiting is disabled. For both the attack and release knobs fastest settings are when the knob is turned completely clockwise. The meter select switches allow you to view the amount of gain reduction (GR) or the output level at +4 or +8 reference level which is important to maintain proper gain structure. The OFF switch turns off the unit. The little box sitting on top of the pair of 1176's in the pic is called an 1176 SA and is basically a Stereo Adapter (SA) which allows you to link 2 1176's together as a stereo unit. The connectors are the barrier strip type and are found on the rear of the 1176 along with the rca connector for the 1176 SA. There are many revisions of the 1176 (A thru H) with the original being a silverface with blue paint around the meter section. 

Here's a link to a page with descriptions of the different revisions:

http://www.dancetech.com/i​tem.cfm?threadid=4219

Here's an Ebay page with a list of current auctions: Ebay_1176 

For more info on the UA reissue of the 1176 go to: 

http://www.uaudio.com/hard​ware/compressors/1176LN.ht​ml 

and for the UAD software 1176 ($149) which requires a UAD card or firewire accelerator: http://www.uaudio.com/stor​e/compressors-limiters/117​6ln.html 

The UA 1176 reissue ($1999) can be purchased at B&H Photo, Video and Pro Audio:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/342384REG/Universal_Audio_1176LN_1176LN​_Dynamics_Processor.html 

Here's the iTunes link to the "Nappy Heads(Mona Lisa)" remix:

http://itunes.apple.com/us​/album/nappy-heads-remix/i​d169704381?i=169705241