The 1176 – by UREI or Universal Audio, take your pick – is one of the most revered pieces of studio gear. The peak limiter/compressor was released in 1968 by Bill Putnam who had been replacing the older tube technology in his range of compressors and preamps with the then all-new solid-state transistor technology. In fact, the name came after Putnam introduced the FET transistor technology into his 175B/176 tube compressor, the resulting ‘1176’ being a cut-down version of the original.
The 1176 featured all-new Attack and Release controls (though these provide their fastest times with the knobs turned right – contrary to most modern compressors), with the Attack time going right down to 20 microseconds. It also famously provided four compression ratio buttons: 4;1, 8:1, 12:1 and 20:1. We say ‘famously’ because you could press them all simultaneously for the ‘All Buttons In’ effect which added an aggressive and steep compression quality, providing what became known as ‘The British Sound’.
