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.

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

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


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