Seawell Studios doing a live in studio demo/review
“I finally got a chance to review the Retro Instruments Revolver! These have been difficult to find and now I understand why, once someone gets one they aren’t letting it go :)”
Josh Seawell. https://seawellstudios.com/
Barry Rudolph Review: Retro Instruments Revolver
Dual-Channel Tube Compressor Recalls the Vintage Audio Gear of Yesteryear
Retro Instruments’ Revolver is the company’s latest all-tube processor, having started out as an experiment back in 2011. It seems that Retro’s Phil Moore was not satisfied with it as a viable product until the 2018 Winter NAMM Show, when he showed the first units. Revolver fits perfectly into the Retro Instruments product line and upholds the company’s unwritten mission of building—to the highest-quality standards—the “new classics” that recall the most coveted and vintage audio gear of yesteryear.
![](https://retroinstruments.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Small-retrorevolver-1.png)
Revolver’s ratios range from a 1.5:1 (full CCW) to 5:1 (full CW). A good starting point is to set the Dual Threshold knob fully CCW so that the compressor’s threshold is least-sensitive. By using the input level control and driving more level into the detector, not only will you control the saturation of the fully differential tube path, but be able to compress to any amount using a low 1.5:1 ratio. As you turn the Dual Threshold clockwise, you get more compression at higher and higher ratios, although it may require readjusting the input gain control and the unit’s output level.
The entire detailed review you can find here.
https://www.mixonline.com/technology/review-retro-instruments-revolver-dual-channel-tube-compressor
NAAM 2018 Retro Instruments REVOLVER
Phil Moore talks with Reverb at NAMM 2018 about his latest releases of new gear.
The Retro REVOLVER.
A stereo compressor based off of EMI’s legendary modified Altec 436 compressor, seven years in the making.
See more at Reverb.com
Vintage King: Review Retro Instruments REVOLVER
VINTAGE KING REVIEW
With the release of their latest creation, the Revolver, Retro Instruments has done it once again by reviving a beloved studio staple and updating it for the modern workflow. Just like other Retro Instrument releases in the past, the vintage vibe extends far beyond the Revolver’s classic looking exterior.
Based on the legendary modded Altec 436, the Revolver is a dual-channel, all tube compressor that has been hand-built in the USA with that classic British tone. It’s also loaded with expanded features, making it a compressor that works in any stage from tracking to mastering.
More at Vintage Kings website
Larry Crane Tape_Op Review Retro Instruments Revolver Dual-Channel Compressor
Reviewed by Larry Crane at Tape Op magazine
![](http://retroinstruments.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/revolver-angle-trans-300x137.png)
I’ll begin this review with a confession; in over two decades of mixing albums I’ve rarely mixed through a bus compressor. Why? The more I kept hearing that I “had to” in order to get good results, the more I balked at using one. I’d tried out the stereo compressors that I owned and was never quite enthused enough – plus I was getting decent mixes without a mix bus compressor, so why did I have to change my style of working? But when Phil Moore at Retro Instruments sent me his new Revolver two-channel tube compressor to try out, I realized…
Read more at Tape Op magazine
Sound on Sound – NAMM 2018: Retro Instruments Retro Revolver
Sound on Sound Review
Dual-channel tube compressor based on EMI-modified Altec model
The EMI-modified Altec 436 compressor (known as the RS124) has earned its place in recording history, in no small part due to its connection with The Beatles’ recordings at Abbey Road. Read more