BAE Audio's 10DCF has its roots in the vintage Neve console 2254 compressor/limiter module. The 10DCF model adds an inductor-based filter that BAE Audio calls a Bypass Filter that allows for deeper overall compression—especially important while recording low frequency instruments, music mastering or stereo mix bus compression.
I tried the 10DCF on the stereo mix bus for a rock track I was mixing. Because the Bypass Filter causes the compressor section to not compress in the low frequencies as much, it helped the limiter section get the track louder without distorting—even using a fast recovery (release) time setting. After matching gain, the track was denser, more glued together and a little less transparent.
Hand-assembled in California, a single 10DCF comes with separate 24-volt power supply and sells for $2,100. The 10DCF is an awesome sounding compressor/limiter useful for any task; I especially thought it excelled at compressing individual guitar, drum and bass tracks.
Use it on vocals and the stereo bus and you’ll have all the vintage color of yesteryear. Highly recommended!
BARRY RUDOLPH is a recording engineer/mixer who has worked on over 30 gold and platinum records. He has recorded and/or mixed Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs and more. Barry has his own futuristic music mixing facility and loves teaching audio engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. He is a lifetime Grammy-voting member of NARAS and a contribut- ing editor for Mix Magazine. barryrudolph.com
