Op-2HD vacuum tube compressor research and development initiative
SKU:
$20.00
$20.00 - $1,400.00
per item
Description
This compressor is going to take me about a year and $10,000 to fully develop into a product. Already 2 prototypes have been created and the 2nd one has sold in order to help fun this initiative. I also listed a bunch of my personal music gear for sale in the "Used Gear" section of this web store in order to also help fund the compressor R&D costs. Despite my efforts, I won't be able to raise the full $10k without help from awesome people like you. If you please make a contribution I will put your name on a first to know list when the compressor is ready for release. You'll also get cool stuff!
I started designing the Op-2HD in September knowing that this will take at least 1 year and $10,000 to create a final product. I can't come up with that kind of money on my own. I have a bunch of my personal gear for sale at this web store, but even that isn't enough to fund this initiative. I can offer you some cool stuff if you're able to help me get to the finish line with this product.
Basically, the Op-2HD is based on my Op-2 compressor pedal from the past. This design definitely takes it lightyears forward in terms of both features and sound quality. The Op-2 had a pair of 12AU7 tubes running at 24V DC (starved plate) with knobs for compression and makeup gain, and switches for knee, ratio, and true bypass. The Op-2HD design currently has a 12AT7 and a 12AX7 vacuum tube running at 200V DC with 3 audio transformer, knobs for compression, makeup gain, and attack time, and switches for release time, low-cut side-chain, and true bypass. The Op-2 had a single red LED that would provide limited visual feedback on how much compression was occurring. The Op-2HD has a backlit VU meter to display gain reduction in dB. The Op-2 had 1/4" unbalanced input and output. The Op-2HD has XLR balanced I/O currently, but the plan is to develop it to have both balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4" I/O, which may potentially require an additional transformer. Another planned feature for the Op-2HD is stereo linkage. The Op-2HD runs on an external 12V DC power adapter. In order to comply with my Storm Series format, the power requirement is 48V DC input... which will result in some serious R&D to get that down to 12V inside the compressor in an efficient manner. I have been considering (and even started designing) an external power supply with multiple outputs for 12 and 48V and housed in the same 1/2 rack enclosure used by the Storm Series. I'm fairly confident the external power supply should be developed because I know some people will want to power their Storm Series gear off the best possible power supply. More to come as things develop. Please subscribe to my email newsletter if you haven't already to stay up on what's going on and be sure to frequent my blog on this website. Thanks for your interest and support!
-Mike Congilosi II
Basically, the Op-2HD is based on my Op-2 compressor pedal from the past. This design definitely takes it lightyears forward in terms of both features and sound quality. The Op-2 had a pair of 12AU7 tubes running at 24V DC (starved plate) with knobs for compression and makeup gain, and switches for knee, ratio, and true bypass. The Op-2HD design currently has a 12AT7 and a 12AX7 vacuum tube running at 200V DC with 3 audio transformer, knobs for compression, makeup gain, and attack time, and switches for release time, low-cut side-chain, and true bypass. The Op-2 had a single red LED that would provide limited visual feedback on how much compression was occurring. The Op-2HD has a backlit VU meter to display gain reduction in dB. The Op-2 had 1/4" unbalanced input and output. The Op-2HD has XLR balanced I/O currently, but the plan is to develop it to have both balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4" I/O, which may potentially require an additional transformer. Another planned feature for the Op-2HD is stereo linkage. The Op-2HD runs on an external 12V DC power adapter. In order to comply with my Storm Series format, the power requirement is 48V DC input... which will result in some serious R&D to get that down to 12V inside the compressor in an efficient manner. I have been considering (and even started designing) an external power supply with multiple outputs for 12 and 48V and housed in the same 1/2 rack enclosure used by the Storm Series. I'm fairly confident the external power supply should be developed because I know some people will want to power their Storm Series gear off the best possible power supply. More to come as things develop. Please subscribe to my email newsletter if you haven't already to stay up on what's going on and be sure to frequent my blog on this website. Thanks for your interest and support!
-Mike Congilosi II