Empirical Labs Distressor EL8-S Stereo Pair is a matched pair of the legendary Distressor.compressor\/limiter known as one of the best studio tools.<\/p>\n
Empirical Labs Distressor, with its warm, vintage sound and countless customisation options, has found its way into studios around the world as an integral part<\/p>\n
The Distressor\u00ae is the product that started it all for Empirical Labs. Born of founder Dave Derr's love of classic compressors like the 1176, LA-2A and Gain Brain (among others), the Distressor incorporates his favourite sonic characteristics of these, along with other unique and interesting features that have made it a staple for audio engineers all over the world. With over 28,000 units in the field, it's safe to say that the Distressor is one of the best selling high end compressors of all time...
\nif not THE best selling. A prominent recording engineer recently wagered that there probably wasn't a top 40 record made in the last five years that didn't have at least one Distressor on it.<\/p>\n
Besides providing a wide range of control and a unique feature set, the Distressor offers a warm, vintage sound by using a custom designed gain control circuit. This \u201cwarmth\u201d or \u201cvintage sound\u201d has become a major issue in the last few decades, as the super clear and linear digital technology does next to nothing to soften \u201charsh\u201d sounds, nor emphasise the bass frequencies in music sources. Conversely, older analogue tape, vinyl records and tube equipment could not be prevented from colouring the sound, often to the frustration of recording engineers. However, many people now realise that this colouring can be extremely pleasant and musical. Digital technology is often referred to as \u201ccold\u201d and \u201cbrittle\u201d among other terms (although we prefer \u201cunforgiving\u201d).<\/p>\n
A TRUE MODERN DAY CLASSIC
\nClick to Enlarge
\nAll eight of the Distressor's curves are unique and distinctive, from the 1:1 mode that simply warms up signal with low order harmonics without intentional compression, to the \u201cNuke\u201d setting - a brick wall limiting curve that shines on live drum room mics. Each curve has its own personality and several actually use different circuitry, and are effectively different compressors. Most exceptional is the 10:1 \u201cOpto\u201d ratio which uses separate detector circuitry to emulate the oldest (and valued) \u201clight controlled\u201d devices, such as the LA-2A.<\/p>\n
Another large part of the Distressor's personality and power derive from three modes that colour the signal, even without compression. These extended audio modes were designed to allow emulation of some very old and expensive vintage compressors & limiters, and let the Distressor deliver a classic \u201cknee\u201d sound all its own by providing user programmable, warm harmonic distortion. In addition to the basic distortion mode, Distort 2 emphasises tube-like 2nd order harmonics, while in Distort 3 setting the distortion becomes dominated by 3rd harmonics more closely resembling tape. Two HP filters - one in the audio path, one in the detector path - are also available to help with low frequencies that can cause pumping and breathing.<\/p>\n
The Distressor is available in either its original form (EL8), or in a modified version (EL8-X) with two additional functions - British Mode, and Image Link.<\/p>\n
GO STEREO
\nEmpirical Labs Distressor Stereo Link
\nFor many Distressor owners, one is never enough - in fact, one extremely successful engineer has twelve of them! For those who want (at least) a stereo pair, ELI offers the EL8-S, a pair of Distressors that are matched at the factory, and come with the cables you need to lock them together. If you want the Brit Mod and Image Link options, an EL8X-S package is also available.<\/p>\n
SPECIFICATIONS
\n- Freq. response is 2 Hz to 160 kHz in clean audio mode (+0, -3 dB). Response is shaped in distortion modes (Dist 2, Dist 3).<\/p>\n
- Dynamic range 110 dB from max. output to min. output in 1:1 mode. Greater than 100 dB signal to noise in distort 3 mode.<\/p>\n
- Distortion ranges between .02% and 20% depending on distortion mode and release times set on front panel.<\/p>\n
- DC coupled output - High quality input caps.<\/p>\n
- Input impedance is 20K Ohms, Output impedance is < 75 ohms<\/p>\n
- Time constants - Attack range 50uS - 50mS. Release range .05 sec to 3.5 seconds, normal modes and up to 20 seconds in 10:1 opto mode. Time constants are dependant on ratio.<\/p>\n
- Metal Chassis - single height 1.75\u2033 high, 10\u2033 deep, 19\u2033 wide.<\/p>\n
- Shipping info - 12.1 lbs mono, 24.2 lbs Stereo pair. Mono box dimensions 22.5\u2033 x 18.5\u2033 x 3 1\/4\u2033.<\/p>\n
- Stereo Pair box dimensions 22.5\u2033 x 18.5\u2033 x 6 1\/4<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Empirical Labs Distressor EL8-S Stereo Pair er et matchet par af den legendariske Distressor.kompressor\/limiter der er kendt som et af de bedste studiev\u00e6rkt\u00f8jer. Empirical Labs Distressor har med en s\u00e6rlig varm, “vintage”-lyd, og utallige indstillingsmuligheder fundet vej til studier verden over, som en fast integreret del The Distressor\u00ae is the product that started it all […]\n","protected":false},"featured_media":78514,"template":"","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Empirical Labs Distressor EL8-S Stereo Pair er et matchet par af den legendariske Distressor.kompressor\/limiter. K\u00f8b den direkte hos Cyber Farm","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[]},"product_brand":[4136],"product_cat":[1831,1803],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-78513","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_brand-empirical-labs","product_cat-kompressorer","product_cat-outboard","first","onbackorder","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 16:06:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"product_tag","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/78513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=78513"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=78513"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyberfarm.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=78513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}