Black Lion Audio Seventeen 500 Compressor

About: Black Lion Audio Seventeen 500 Compressor

Black Lion didn’t sacrifice one ounce of tone when they shrunk down their classic Seventeen compressor to fit into the portable 500-series format. Seventeen, for those who don’t already know, is Black Lion’s unique take on what the classic ‘76 limiting amplifier could have been with the benefit of today’s tech. The Seventeen 500 delivers profound detail and nuance never before heard with a ‘76-style compressor. And you even get some features not even available on the originals, including wet/dry mix control, a stereo-link option, and a frequency-adjustable sidechain high-pass filter.

Features

• 500-series version of Black Lion Audio’s take on the classic ’76 FET compressor/limiter
• Improved and redesigned IC-based front end delivers:
• Clean, punchy, modern sound under light compression
• Colorful vintage character when pushed
• Proprietary power decoupling for an impressively low noise floor
• Employs high-grade Nichicon signal capacitors
• Frequency-adjustable sidechain high-pass filter
• Wet/Dry mix knob allows for parallel compression not available on vintage rackmount units
• Stereo-linkable

It’s not your grandpa’s ‘76.

Seventeen 500 is Black Lion’s 500-series spin on what the classic ’76 compressor could have been. Featuring a redesigned and improved IC-based front end, Seventeen 500 renders incredible detail and nuance normally not possible with a ‘76-style comp—while adding some features unavailable on original ‘76s.

What makes Seventeen 500 better than a classic ‘76?

• Updated components for an open top-end and thick bass. A new IC-based front-end circuit and custom-designed Black Lion output transformer make your sound huge and open.
• Power decoupling for an incredibly low noise floor.
• Frequency-adjustable sidechain: prevent unwanted overcompression triggered by big low-frequency signals (like kickdrum).
• Wet/dry mix knob for blending the dry signal with the compressed signal; New York compression in one knob!
• All-buttons-in made easy thanks to modern buttons that are actually intended to be depressed simultaneously, unlike the radio buttons found on your uncle’s ‘46 Dodge pickup.

What makes Seventeen 500 different?

First, Seventeen 500 features a new IC-based front-end circuit not found in classic ‘76 compressors. It provides a clean, punchy, modern sound under light compression and a more colorful vintage character when pushed. That front-end, when coupled with our custom-designed, made-in-Chicago output transformer, is why Seventeen delivers a huge bottom end that balances out its open top end very nicely. All told, Seventeen 500 is capable of delivering a broader tonal palette than original ‘76s.

Seventeen 500 features BLA’s proprietary Black Lion-style power decoupling for an incredibly low noise floor. It also uses high-grade Nichicon signal capacitors, widely considered some of the highest quality caps available, reducing the noise floor even further.

Black Lion could have stopped there… but why? Other features and upgrades include separate selectable high- and low-pass filters and a wet/dry mix knob parallel compression straight out of the box. Beyond offering a palette of tones not available to anything else on the market, Seventeen 500 also includes the all-important stereo link function.

Last but not least—yes, it does “all-buttons-in” mode, and we’ve made it much easier to engage multiple ratio controls simultaneously than on classic models.

Specifications

• Type: 500-series FET Compressor
• Attack: Continuously variable 20uS to 800uS
• Release: Continuously variable 1200mS to 50mS
• Sidechain HPF: OFF, 100Hz, 200Hz
• Ratio: Pushbutton selected 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1 or any other combination
• Voltage: ± 16v
• Dimensions: Width:76 mm (3”) Height: 178 mm (5.25”) Depth: 229 mm (9”)
• Weight: 1.47 kg (3.25 lbs)
• Manufacturer Part Number: Seventeen 500
• A note on the Attack control:
  • The Attack control on the Seventeen works a little differently than you may have encountered on other ‘76-style compressors. Turning the Attack knob to the left (counter-clockwise) will yield faster attack times; slower times result when turning to the right (clockwise). We’ve found this control scheme to be more intuitive; akin to a volume knob decreasing level to the left and increasing to the right. 
    • Attack: Continuously variable 20uS to 800uS
    • Release: Continuously variable 1200mS to 50mS