Description
All-valve compressor, hand-made n the UK. Built with point-to-point wiring, the Phoenix is the product of years of experience building valve devices of impeccable quality. Founded by Vic Keary, Thermionic Culture is a British valve success story
Super-smooth stereo – or dual mono – compressor with the vital sidechain high-pass filter. On test the Phoenix calibrated perfectly with superb channel matching. The sidechain filter is extremely effective, with the most extreme setting working well on bass-heavy mixes
I’d like to spend more time with the Phoenix as I suspect it just gets better with familiarity
“As you might imagine, the compression characteristic is designed to be flattering and musical, with more than a hint of warmth. The result is a smooth, big and very immediate sound that works well with vocals and most pop instruments, including bass guitar. There’s definitely a tonal richness that you don’t get with most solid-state compressors, but at the same time the high end keeps its integrity, even when quite a lot of gain reduction is being used — providing the attack time isn’t set to too fast a value” – Sound on Sound
“As soon I passed audio through the Phoenix I immediately knew I was listening to something extra special. Mu-style compressors are well known for their ‘glue’ and smooth operation, and this unit is definitely no exception” – Audiotechnology.com
“The Phoenix really does sound as good as it looks. ‘Glue’, ‘cream’, ‘vibe’, ‘mojo’, ‘expensive’ were all words that quickly came to mind. This is one of those devices that just makes everything sound better” – Audiotechnology.com
“The Phoenix is all about the Sound: it is big, creamy and musical. I use it on everything I do. I mixdown and master with it but I also track or simply pass my stems thru it to bring my tracks back to life. I absolutely can’t do without this perfect tool for my studio.
The Phoenix loves almost every musical genre. I use it in Pop, Electronic and Rock productions with always stunning results” – Gearspace review
“The Phoenix has a very musical character, and certainly brought one of my mixes to life, controlling the bottom end beautifully, making the vocals more rich and juicy sounding and generally making the track sound more dynamic. I took an instant liking to it, and forgave its lack of calibrated legending straightaway. On vocals the Phoenix was truly a joy to use, suiting all vocalists I tried it with during my brief review period. Use with drums and bass were equally enjoyable. Noise levels were extremely low, and frequency response extremely wide. If I have any criticism, it is possibly that the sound of this unit is slightly too smooth and sweet, lacking a little raw ‘graininess’ of character found in certain older valve compressors” – George Shilling
