The other trick you can do with the Pro VLA is set channel 1 up fast to catch peaks (1176 like), then unlink and daisychain to channel 2 set up with medium attack, slow release (LA2A like) this gives you the classic 1176>LA2A sound in one box - works great with bass too.

You're Amazing! ❤

Yes I have a Pro VLA II and love it, I use pretty much just as you have done here on this excellent demonstration video..... great job Robby!

Just bought one of these over the weekend and this makes me more excited for receiving it this week. Great video!

Excellent Video. I just purchased the ART PRO VLA II and I love using it for tracking and as a plugin insert for mixing.

Great video. I love ART stuff. I have a TPS II and just getting to know it. Switched out the tube to a Sylanvia long-plate. Lovely. Your work here is excellent, in every way, and I think gives the ITB producers some more grounded ways of thinking about tone, pre-production planning, and how to A/B things to develop an instinct for the underlying electronics.

Mine will get here tomorrow and I hope I like it so watching your video made me more confident that it will do what I need it for

I bought one 8 years ago , but never used it... The other day , I got it out of the box , and stuck it on my mix bus ... After experimenting a bit , I was really surprised about what it did to the sound .. I set it up unlnked , and linked , and played around with settings .. The weird thing is that when it was in dual mode (unlinked) and I set all the knobs the same for both sides , the sound stage just gets more 3D and clearer ! I read that the compressor is actually an opto compressor ,and the tube stage is just for make-up gain , so I guess the effect of making it clearer and more 3D is this, and the slight non-linearities of the differences in the analog paths when each goes through different circuits .. To get more of the tube sound ,you can attenuate the signal going in , so you can add more gsin in the output stage ... Mine is stock , so I could imagine it improving even more with better tubes !

Robby! Congratulations on getting the ART Pro VLA II. It's a competent piece of kit that punches way above it's weight class. Something to experiment with on stereo tracks or busses is using the unit in unlinked (dual mono) mode. It can really add side-to-side energy and movement on stereo keyboards, guitars, drum overheads, etc. It's subtle, but quite effective at times! Cheers from South Wales, NY, USA! -chaz

This sounds great, but a little heavy handed on the mix bus. The ART VLA II does a great job in that department, but 4:1 is way too heavy for mix bus duties. Same with the threshold. 2:1 and about 2-3 db of GR is about right, then crank the output to taste. It's all about cranking the output on the bus because you've leveled the peaks, now enjoy some headroom. The mix sounded great without it on the bus, gentler compression and more output would really do this justice. I've found the VLA II hangs in there with my Summit DCL-200 with those settings and can even do a fine job mastering too. Just gotta go easy on the ratio and GR.

Dope compressor.

Best demo of the provla ever!! |m|

I wish the gain reduction lights would go off when in bypass mode. I often think the unit is still compressing , because the lights are still dancing. That’s my only complaint about the ART unit

Subscribed!! Love the video!

All I know is some top folks use this. The balance control is very unique and helpful.

This was a great video. Maybe you ca show us how you integrted the hardware with your DAW. That will surely give me ideas as to my setup. Thx for the details on the settings you used. Excellent stuff.

This guy is GOOD!

The VLA can be used on a master bus or drum bus with good results. Easy does it. It can darken the track with an excessive ratio.

I’m in the market to grab a compressor this video helps a lot thanks

I actually like this tune. It's fun. Kind of want to hear it with EQ, reverbs and delays, etc now..... You hit a lot of things a lot harder than one normally would work this compressor. Usually there going to be a couple compressors on most things.... Or their buses. Etc. I'm going to be getting one of these. A bit for tracking... Some parallel compression on drums etc.... Definitely for the mix bus. But with subtler settings!

Tasteful mate!

great video! I like using my Eq pkt with the pro vla 2 to get a nice bass tone.

Thanks for making this video. I was wondering how you set up your vla 2 for stereo mixing. I am having trouble setting mine up for stereo mixing. It’s prolly something I’m doing wrong.

I’ve got a few myself,I love them great job really good job we’ll done

Waves L1 Maximizer

I find the compression too grabby for the mixbuss. I set the threshold so no gain reduction (not bypass) but then send really hot into it to get the tube fattening. Even clipping the master out on the daw. But turn down the master out on the unit so there is no distortion. It's crazy transparent tube limiting. I did this years ago, but I am going to try it on individual stereo tracks again. I've been using a Retro 176 for mono tracks of course!

Is this good on vocals just for home karaoke?

Can I also use it in live concerts?

Maybe buying a better interface instead of one with much more IO would've been a wiser choice

What preamp did you use to track this song? :)

I got one of these units and could not get it to stop buzzing. I tried everything, so I sent it back believing it was defective and ordered another one. Guess what...same problem! This cannot be an isolated case. Either way I popped for a Warm Audio unit instead...and guess what...NO NOISE! Thanks for wasting my time ART!