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Crane Song Trakker Mono Compressor From Crane Song

Possibly the MOST versatile tracking compressor on the market today. You can choose everything from the style of compression (FET, VariMu, VCA and opto) to the Color (vintage, modern, bright, etc), this compressor can be your one compressor to do it all

What We Think

At first glance, the Trakker looks like a compressor not too different from any other - it features many familiar controls, but to really grasp its flexibility and huge range of tonal options you’ll have hours of experimenting ahead of you.

The big new variable with the Trakker is the Character Switch - a 16 position switch that changes the style and tone of compression. In fact, everything changes about the compressor as you cycle through the various different character types.

I naively tried printing audio clips of each different character position, keeping all the other controls the same. Initially I thought this would give me a good impression of the different characters. It may be worth doing as a very initial experiment, but SO MUCH changes when the character switch is moved it’s just not the equal comparison that it seems to be initially.

Put simply, the trakker can give you a really transparent, almost undetectable sounding compression when that’s what you need, but it can also do gooey and smooth as well as fast, grabby and pumpy. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that in stereo linked operation, all settings other than output gain are matched from the master unit to the slave unit(s) - a feature that far too few stereo/dual mono compressors offer.

If you’re looking for a single compressor that can handle vocals, bass guitar and drums as well as bus work and mastering, there’s really no other compressor that covers so many different applications so well.

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Manufacturer's Description from Crane Song

TRAKKER is a high quality Single Channel Discrete Class A Compressor-Limiter. It functions either as a musically transparent compressor or as a vintage compressor-limiter with selectable hard or soft knee. It can create distinct new sounds or maximize existing ones. The TRAKKER has adjustable threshold, attack, release, knee shape, and makeup gain controls. In addition to these controls, a function switch allows the selection of transparent operation or vintage operations such as optical, air optical, soft knee, and hard knee - each with four different amplifier/gain control sounds.

The amplifier/gain control sounds are:

    * Transparent
    * Vintage (tube or old style class A)
    * Transparent with VCA artifacts and
    * Vintage with VCA artifacts.

The front panel contains a 22 element VU meter with over load indicator to show gain reduction and allow accurate monitoring of output levels. In the link mode the master unit controls all functions of the slave units except for make-up gain. An additional feature of the TRAKKER is the ability to link up to 8 units for surround mixing.

TRAKKER is a maximum-versatility toolkit for solving real-world recording, broadcast, and sound reinforcement problems with the utmost attention to signal quality. From single channel operation to bus compression, TRAKKER can provide an artistic choice of sounds at the flip of a switch.

About Manufacturer

Designer Dave Hill has always had an interest in electronics, and started designing and building devices at an early age. He was building synthesizers from scratch and started doing professional level sound recording and equipment maintenance at a local music store while still in school. After high school Dave decided to pursue a career in electronics and enrolled in a course at a local community college. After his first semester he was asked by the college to take over teaching the course. He taught for 8 years and continued his involvement in pro audio. To date Dave has been doing studio and film sound recording since 1972. He has also been involved in film post production. Early in the 1980's Dave was asked by a used equipment dealer if he could design a tube compressor that would have the sound of the older tube type devices and still be clean enough to compete with modern devices. The result of this request was the Summit Audio TLA-100. Due to the success of that design Dave Hill went on to design and set up the manufacture of all Summit Audio products until September of 1994 at which time Summit Audio was relocated the manufacturing to California. From 1984 to 1994 Summit Audio grew from a single product and one employee working out of the basement of Dave's home to a full product line and over a dozen fulltime employees. Beginning in August of 1995, several of those key members of the Summit production crew began working for Dave again in his new company called Crane Song. After the move of Summit Audio, Dave wanted to keep the production crew together and start a new company. First he designed a tube playback pre-amp for the ATR-102 tape machine called the HDV-2. This is now being manufactured for the ATR Service Company by Crane Song. Next Dave designed a two channel discrete class A compressor-limiter, called the STC-8. The Today the Crane Song family of products has grown to five; *HEDD (Harmonically Enhanced Digital Device), FLAMINGO stereo mic preamp, TRAKKER, single channel compressor, and the new SPIDER 8 channel mic preamp, mixer, A/D convertor which has recently joined the family. Crane Song Ltd. is able to provide the highest level of quality due to the many years of experience of both Dave and the people who have stayed with him. Some of these employees have worked with Dave since 1988 and continue to have an intense interest in developing the best audio devices possible. Crane Song's combination of innovative design and uncompromising attention have helped the company make its mark in the professional audio world.

Specifications

Input: Floating, balanced. Maximum input is +25 dBm. The connectors are XLR.

Output: Floating, balanced. Maximum output is +25 dBm. The connectors are XLR.

For Input and Output: Pin 2 is Sig + , Pin 3 is Sig – , Pin 1 is GND

Side Chain Connections: Floating, balanced. Connections are made by using a DB-9 Male Connector. This is a loop insert and must be normaled back to the TRAKKER.

Unbalanced Connections: Are made by tieing the SIG – Pin to the GND Pin. If the connection is an input, it is best to tie at the signal source. If the connection is an output, it is best to tie at the TRAKKER XLR connector.

Power: 100, 120, 230,240 volt; 50/60 Hz; 45 watts
MDL 0.4A Fuse for 100V and 120V
MDL 0.25A Fuse for 230V and 240V

Pilot Lamp: # 7335

Shipping Weight: 14 lbs. (6.34 kg)

Depth Behind Panel: 10 inches plus cabling

Panel Height: 1 rack space

Crane Song Faders - AES '09

The brilliant Dave Hill of Crane Song describes his simple new high-end Faders which will work with any device or situation requiring 8-channels of fader-based volume control. Boasting extreme quality, this simple device simply has 8 channels of analog ins and outs, wonderful headroom, and virtually non-existent crosstalk and noise. A simple solution for a variety of purposes, with Crane Song quality. Call Sound Pure toll free at 888-528-9703 to discuss ordering one, or any questions you might have, or try sales@soundpure.com. Members of the Sound Pure Sales team are also experienced professional recording engineers that are glad to lend their sales experience with any of their prospective customers. Please give us a call, we are here to help!