Tone Empire OptoRED

OptoRED is a transparent Optical Attenuator (compressor) based on the classic American unit used on countless hit records. This is part of our new “Enhanced Classics” series.

Anatomy

Compression is one of the most important tools in the arsenal of an Engineer, Music Producer & Artist alike. This is now a device that far surpasses its original intent which was to control the level of the sound automatically.

Today we use different types of compressors for inducing a “Vibe” & “Feel” to our instruments, percussion, drums, and voice. Digital and Analog Compressors have come a long way, but some classics are still preferred even today because they are now as much a part of a genre or musical style that they are now deemed as musical instruments in their own right.

At Tone Empire, we are inspired by these classic devices yet yearn to bring extended functionality to today’s modern musicians, engineers & Producers working on advanced systems with a need for more flexibility and extended tones. Hence we have now started a new series of processors called.

The First of this series is the OptoRED compressor. As the name suggests, this is an optical compressor based on the famous American Classic Tube Optical Compressor, found on literally every hit record ever made. The idea was to start with a 1:1 emulation and then take things way beyond the original functionality.

This optical compressor has a built-in side chain circuit, A Low pass filter, automatic gain, wet/dry mix, and other features. This allows it to go beyond the original intent of just being suitable for vocals and bass. OptoRED kills on Drums, Synths, Percussion, and both Electronic & Acoustic instruments.

The Lo-Cut Filter is designed to let the artist use this as a tracking compressor as well, getting rid of unwanted low frequencies at the time of tracking, yet get a low latency compressed signal perfect for tracking.