ART ProVLAII Tube Driven Vactrol Based Compressor / Leveling Amplifier
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Great quality

By: Hitsondemand318      Submitted: 11/30/2023

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Product Rating Product Review For sure the best bang for your buck at 349.99, can't go wrong
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American Musical Supply is the best

By: Presley Isaac      Submitted: 12/5/2022

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review The Art ProVLA11 Compressor is a great tool to have for your home studio. Great warm analog sound in the comfort of your home.
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Excellent compressor

By: Brian      Submitted: 2/28/2022

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review I really enjoy this unit. It looks sharp and sounds great. I also have a TK AUdio BC501a stereo buss compressor in which to compare this to. I actually like this unit better for most applications. The tubes add a great sound to it. I do wish the VU Meter was the actual gain reduction though. I also replaced the tubes in this but the stock tubes are great.
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I love this preamp!

By: INFYMS      Submitted: 12/9/2021

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review This preamp is absolutely phenomenal sounds great super easy to use, and is really great quality! I highly recommend this preamp for those who are looking into it!
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Serious bang for the buck

By: Bryan Golden      Submitted: 9/6/2021

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5 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review You cannot go wrong buying this inexpensive but expensive sounding piece. Get it now!
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clean and transparent compressor

By: Vicente De Luca      Submitted: 9/6/2021

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review works as expect. no much coloring on the sound, would be great if had a higher ratio tho.
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A great buy for such quality

By: D Shaw      Submitted: 8/2/2021

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review A very good compressor unbelievably sturdy with a great sound. You can’t go wrong for the price of this unit!
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Awesome unit! The true-tube warmth is amazing. Digital can't get close to this thing!

By: Joshua Addams      Submitted: 7/7/2021

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3 people found this review helpful.

Product Review Had 1yr we use if for our radio station mics when recording and every incoming call for live or remote callers. We needed a way to make the cellphone callers audio sound warm, more natural, and as close to as if they were sitting there with the DJ as possible. The PRO VLA II meets, and way exceeds our expectations! In fact, once the second studio is complete and almost ready for going live on Rooster-Radio.com we will be purchasing TWO MORE of the amazing boxes. The Analog VU along with the digital makes it easy for anyone that knows audio to monitor what's going on. If you want your vocals or anything else you can imagine having that true-to-life warm brilliant sound, the ART PRO VLA II is an absolute must have in the rack!
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wonderful classic style piece

By: Aaron      Submitted: 3/26/2021

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review I love the classic style vu meter type . wonderfull and useful gear added to my studio
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I Love This !!

By: Bradley      Submitted: 3/19/2021

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Product Review I Love this compressor for the price, worth a lot more!
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as mentioned in the other reviews, this is a great piece of equipment.

By: jean michel danton      Submitted: 1/28/2021

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3 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Mind blowing indeed, for that price this is a gift for any serious producers and musicians, don't hesitate to buy it, it will change your life.
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Audio Engineer's Dream!

By: Nathan      Submitted: 5/12/2020

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3 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review I had pretty high hopes going into using this compressor based on previous reviews and YouTube demonstrations. But wow! Using it myself made all the difference in the world. I am a top rated audio engineer on a freelance website, and this outboard compressor just took my game to the next level. It flawlessly synced with my PC/DAW through my Behringer audio interface. Within minutes, I had access to this analog compressor in my sessions. You can REALLY push it on vocals, and I even tried 1-2DB Gain Reduction on the mixbuss with amazing results. Very happy with this unit!
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Very nice on vocals, acoustic guitar and bass!

By: Henry      Submitted: 2/26/2020

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review That's all I've put through it so far. Very smooth on vocals and acoustic if set right. I haven't pushed it hard so I can't speak for color, I was just shaving the peaks off on the way in. Hope this helps!
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Great value

By: Afterworkinhours      Submitted: 2/26/2020

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Good sounding compressor, switched out the tubes and sounds even better. Solid build, feels like a Pro piece of gear. Just about every pro studio I’ve been in has one of these.
review title:

Voice clarification

By: Locksley Petgrave      Submitted: 12/12/2019

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review The ART PRO is magnificent tube enhancer. The enhancement and various configurations of different Tuning in it’s vocal tuning, makes it second to none Compared to other mike phones preamps in today’s technology. I have a huge sound system which I frequently use the mike stage often and this product For sure set the momentum at a different level , Crystal clear sound clarity that’s what delivers from this preamp, I will surely recommend this product To any one.
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Great clean and warm sound on vocals

By: Chris      Submitted: 11/26/2019

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6 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Clean, warm and veey easy to use..............
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Best bang for buck

By: Michael Liriano      Submitted: 10/6/2019

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4 people found this review helpful.

Product Review Amazing tube compressor for the price. Highly recommend
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Great Buy

By: B-OneMusiq      Submitted: 6/24/2019

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4 people found this review helpful.

Product Review Great product, works good with my microphone and line instruments
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well worth it!!

By: terence wyche      Submitted: 4/16/2019

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Product Review for the price this thing rocks !!!
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Awesome!!!

By: Tony      Submitted: 3/6/2019

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Great on drums and vocals when tracking...can be subtle or hard and everything in between. Big Big Big bang for the buck!!!
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This compressor is top notch

By: Daniel      Submitted: 1/25/2019

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3 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Most top studios have this piece
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Excellent Value! Warm sounding!!

By: Billy K.      Submitted: 1/5/2019

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Nice and warm sounding.....manages the sounds quite well. Not harsh at all, unlike certain other compressors. Feels like it is solidly built, too!
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So cheap yet so powerful

By: Rikki      Submitted: 1/5/2019

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Amazing compressor. 2 channels. Stereo link (which I wouldn’t do) but the option is nice
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Great In the studio

By: Ronald Mitchener      Submitted: 11/27/2018

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Very dependable and very musical I use it on vocals it keeps my levels consistent and never squashes the signal
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Worth the money

By: Donyia Lovell      Submitted: 11/7/2018

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3 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review Worth the money. Wasn’t at first until I switched the tubes.
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Still trying to figure out where I’m going to use it.

By: Ken G.      Submitted: 10/23/2018

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review I originally purchased a few items with this like the faderport 16 & the Focusrite 18i12 not realizing that they couldn’t be ran together. Oh well I’ll try to utilize it maybe with a different preamp with the correct ins & outs.
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For project studios it's a MUST HAVE

By: Chicho      Submitted: 10/4/2018

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review bad news:one VU meter seems to be lagging just a bit good news: it doesn't affect the sound, which is amazing, especially for the money! original vacuum tubes provide subtle and warm sound, no added coloration, I use it to track bass, sax, horns and drum sub mix, perfect! (Not for vocal, because my mics are running through an ART Voice Channel, right? Another unbelievable gear from the company.)Just the sound you want. Since I mix in the box, I didn't try mastering with it, but it could be in the chain if you do analog hardware mastering or summing, there's is absolutely no way telling it's a $300 ("cheap", right?)unit when you listen to it. Buy it while you can! Did I say it's a hardware piece? No fumbling around on a touch screen with sausage fingers?! Knobs are large enough to anyone, feels like an instrument, not like a Roland Boutique toy! I wanted to give it 4.5 starts, just don't know how, sorry!
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Very nice! Sound reproduction is fantastic! Heavy, and well constructed!

By: db      Submitted: 9/5/2018

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review I'm very satisfied with the unit. Every expectation met!
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Excellent product in it's price range

By: Chris      Submitted: 4/2/2018

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review I bought this along with ART's dual 15band EQ to add some better control over my recordings. I have them in my recording chain in addition to ART's PRO MPAII. It does what it says and it does sound very nice so far in the time I have used it. Simple to use and understand and works like a charm. I was a little disappointed when I first plugged it in as one of the VU meter's back light was not working. It was already going through my mind of how I was to return it but I tapped on the glass and it came back on...assuming it came loose in shipment. As not gone back off since. I would recommend for anyone's home studio.
review title:

Well worth the money. Use for my home studio and my video sound processing.

By: Elephant Design      Submitted: 3/3/2018

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Product Review Good product.
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Amazed how good it sounds

By: Tito Munoz      Submitted: 1/7/2018

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2 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review I was truly amazed of how good this thing sounds , considering the price tag on it , I got a very good result on my recordings , voice is sound crystal clear , I used a universal audio preamp through the ART PRO VLAII to my interface , amazing result , am loving it .
review title:

Great sounding for the price.

By: Jim      Submitted: 12/9/2015

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Product Review Worth every cent.
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Major bang for buck

By: SlyFox      Submitted: 3/29/2015

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6 people found this review helpful.
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Product Review My five-star rating takes into account the very low cost of this analog compressor. I'd been using Logic's built-in software compressors for years, and while they're great, I was wondering what a difference an outboard analog compressor would make. The difference is very noticeable. I use this compressor on vocals, acoustic guitar, and electric bass direct. It's cheesy to say, but yes, it does WARM UP the tone. There's a very pleasant roundness to sounds running through this compressor. It's so much easier to use than software compressors, and while it can't really do extremes, chances are you're not creating music which requires analog gear if you're looking for extremes.
review title:

Does what I was hoping it would

By: Bryan Thompson      Submitted: 11/15/2013

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1 person found this review helpful.
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Your general opinion of this product. Product is well made. My advice turn on the unit and walk away for a while 20 - 25 minutes to let the tubes warm up and stabilize. See Above Its a compressor. if you aren't familiar with good compressor setting, check your DAW as a cheat sheet with some of the presets. helps to get things in range, you still have to use your ears and better judgement. More range on the input Threshold would be nice, but short of that it's good. Once the tubes are warmed up it is smooth. I have run acoustic guitar and clean electric guitar though the unit mic'd, no D.I. yet. Sounds very transparent and smooth. Just received it, but assuming the internal boards don't take a dump I am expecting many years of enjoyable use.
review title:

Beautiful Compressor

By: Robert Leembruggen      Submitted: 10/28/2013

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Your general opinion of this product. Very musical. Yes. Only time will tell its dependability. Very easy. Smart layout with good metering. Like the link button. Would like VU meters to show attenuation. I was raised on the LA2. This PRO VLA II has the same gentle attack and release allowing the drums to comfortably pulse the mix. Too new to tell.
review title:

Fine compressor for a low budget home studio!

By: RustyAxe from Connecticut      Submitted: 4/3/2013

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3 people found this review helpful.

It's new ... can't comment on dependability, but I have other ART outboard gear that are great. Flexible metering. Large, easy to read VU meters, functional LED meters as well. All compression parameters are easily modifiable. I particularly appreciate the finely detented controls. Nice touch. No more difficult than any other compressor. Using the unit is no problem, but knowing how, when, where, and why to use compression takes some experience and experimentation. The manual tells about the unit. A three part YouTube video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehq9esUQm54 ... would be useful to those who don't know much about compression. Does what a compressor is supposed to do, and does it well. N/A It's brand new. Your general opinion of this product. I'm happy with it. It works very well with my ART MPAii preamp (and looks pretty good in the rack with it, too).
review title:

Just what the doctor ordered

By: Carlos Pickens, Engineer, Phase II Mastering Studio from Memphis,TN USA      Submitted: 3/19/2010

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The engineering is super sleek. The stereo link makes for a nice smooth stereo mix. It exactly what is a must on a compressor. Smooth. I've only had it 2 days so I don't know. Your general opinion of this product. I'm extremely suprised at its' quality. I once heard a Ddx 160S at a NAMM show and didn't think anything under $1500.00 would come close. It does. I can honestly say that it doesn't matter. this unit is the bomb. I put it on a 808 drum mix and it was crystal clear and warm.
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This does some "stuff" other boxes don't do!

By: Jeff Sanders from Merced, CA, USA      Submitted: 12/3/2009

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1 person found this review helpful.

For the price, this unit seems very well made. "Dependable" is hard to measure. The best feature for mastering is the tube circuit. The tubes round and flatten peaks, making your mixes hotter on digital systems without audible distortion on most programs. This works with the optical compressor or without the compressor showing any level reduction. The VLA II is fairly straightforward, but compressors in general baffle a lot of people. ANY bicycle is "hard to use" if you don't know how to ride a bicycle. I have read some reviews that say this unit is "dark" or loses something in the mids. I don't hear that. If you overdrive the input and really push the optocomp or the tube circuit, it will probably give you some "interesting" results, but with conservative input levels the VLA sounds pretty neutral to me. It definitely does not give you that "Chinese condenser through a B.. preamp" harsh brightness, but that's a good thing, isn't it? Your general opinion of this product. Good. I own other ART gear. The PRO series MPA and VLA are noticeably heftier and a little more finished looking than ART's single-rack-space gear, stand-alone pres and DIs. I am pleased with the look, sound and function of this unit.
review title:

Best compressor deal I know of...

By: MG from Sf, Ca USA      Submitted: 9/15/2009

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Feels suuuper solid unlike many pieces of gear in this price range. The best feature of this box is the sound you get out of it for the price you pay! Very easy to figure out and use Very good tone, quiet, vibey. Gets fatter and smoother with a tube upgrade (very easy to drop 2 new ones in. Don't forget to adjust/match the left/right outputs with the little trim pots inside the box near the tubes after replacing the tubes). I mix for a living and won't keep any gear that doesn't enhance the sound of my mixes. Simple as that. Only had it while so far. Your general opinion of this product. This has to be the best deal out there for compressors (the FMR Audio RNC is another, but a very different sound). Straight out of the box this is a really god unit for drums, vocals, 2 bus, and especially virtual instruments. It really brings things to life. I threw in a couple of Telefunken tubes I had (12AT7) and it really gave it even more life, smoothed it out some more, and brought it up a notch for little money. Killer box I'd use alongside boutique boxes all day long. I give it five stars all around based on the value and sound possibilities for little investment.