Empirical Labs DISTRESSORS???

We kind of touch on these with the A/D Converter Post , But I just had a few questions:

1- What's the Difference between a "Distressor" and a "Compressor"???



2-What's the difference between the "El 8 Distressor" and "El-7FATSO"??



Any Help Would be Appreicated!!

http://www.empiricallabs.com

Distressor is a product name for a Empirical Labs compressor.
Name is kinda based on the DISTortion compRESSOR.
It has built in forms of distortion harmonics to give it a big analog sound.
It can sound like many different designs of compressors and has a version that emulates the 1176 pretty well.
Tht Fatso jr is a analog tape saturation emulating device with some minor compression capabilites.
The compression features it has are to help it function but won't take the place of a full feature compressor.
The Distressor is mono and requires 2 units with the stereo link mod to run true stereo.
The Fatso jr is stereo.
When properly used either unit can make a dramatic difference in the sound, just like using a LA-2a, 1176, Pultec, Fairchild etc.
That's a pretty simplistic explanation but should give you some idea of what the units are about.

ntalec wrote:Distressor is a product name for a Empirical Labs compressor.
Name is kinda based on the DISTortion compRESSOR.
It has built in forms of distortion harmonics to give it a big analog sound.
It can sound like many different designs of compressors and has a version that emulates the 1176 pretty well.
Tht Fatso jr is a analog tape saturation emulating device with some minor compression capabilites.
The compression features it has are to help it function but won't take the place of a full feature compressor.
The Distressor is mono and requires 2 units with the stereo link mod to run true stereo.
The Fatso jr is stereo.
When properly used either unit can make a dramatic difference in the sound, just like using a LA-2a, 1176, Pultec, Fairchild etc.

That's a pretty simplistic explanation but should give you some idea of what the units are about.

Which one is Better for say, Hard Drums or Bass ,Verses an entire Mix???

I'm not so sure there are dozens of folks here with that type of gear here.
But if you check at:


http://gearslutz.com/board/index.php3

http://www.tapeop.com/

http://recpit.prosoundweb.com/


...you'll get a range of responses from quite a few users.


Peace.

Philly, they are more different than alike.
The Distressor is a lot more functional than the Fatso.
It kills on bass, vocals, drums, keyboards or the entire mix if you use it right.
Plus it gives an analog of tape saturation type sound if you like.

The Fatso is more for just trying to get the analog/tape saturation sound.

Understand that we are talking about that cheap tube distortion that all these tube pres' add we are talking harmonics.
That fat full sound like hip hop loves.