| Joe Meek VC3 |
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"Built into an unassuming (aside from the colour), non-rackmounting metal box, the Pro Channel is a single-channel processor with three stages: a mic/line preamp, a compressor, and an enhancer. The unit may be used instead of a mixer channel for sending a signal directly to tape, or it can be fed into a regular mixer channel.
According to the designer, the Pro Channel's circuitry features a wider than normal frequency response to maintain phase linearity, and it also provides a lot of headroom. With the benefit of switchable phantom power, the transformerless input stage can accept either balanced mic ins, via the rear-panel XLR, or unbalanced line inputs, via a conventional instrument jack. An insert point is also fitted, enabling further processing to be placed in-line, directly after the input preamp. An additional jack provides a means of mixing an external line input with the unit's main input, prior to compression and enhancement.
As you'd expect, the compressor section is based on the Joe Meek design used in the previous boxes bearing his name: this circuit uses an LED and photocell as a gain control element, with certain feedback techniques used to speed up the normally slow response of the photocell. This rather outdated way of controlling gain is one of the secrets of the vintage compressor sound -- some compressors you buy because you can't hear them working; this one you buy because you can hear it working."
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