Whatever music you are into, chances are a 4K has been heavily involved in your favorite records. Still, in use in major studios today, superseded by modern technology but never bested by it, the British 4K series large-format mixing consoles are iconic studio pieces that rightfully earned their respected place in recording history. The 4K is THE mixing board of 80s rock and synthpop, and perhaps one of the most revered desks ever.

Enthusiastic as we are about great analog sound, bringing the COMP-4K STRIP to the Synergy Core effects processing platform is a proud moment for us at Antelope. An actual channel strip from a well-preserved desk was dismounted, painstakingly analyzed and its digital recreation rigorously tested for it to rank among the most faithful 4K reproductions out there.

Enjoy the classic punch, glue, drive, and saturation of the iconic desk with no latency and zero CPU load, thanks to the Synergy Core processing platform built into your Antelope Audio interface. Strap the COMP-4K-STRIP across the entirety of your session and record, monitor, mix, and master through the time-tested circuits. Bring back the analog magic, stay in the box.

Now You Can

• Record in real-time using the COMP-4K-STRIP (only with Antelope Audio interfaces)
• Mix with the COMP-4K-STRIP using our AFX2DAW plugin
• Enhance your music with the subtle, but recognizable character of the legendary 4K console
• Explore the sheer power of this icon dynamics processor to discover how versatile it really is

Uses

The dynamic processors found in those early Oxford consoles may look rugged and simplistic, but they were in fact designed to be fully-functional dynamic multi-tools. Engineers and producers have been abusing them for decades and have found many exciting and unique uses.

Limiting & Compression

Turning the Threshold on maximum and dialing the amount of compression with the Ratio knob allows the engineer to use this as a standard compressor. The higher the Ratio – the more compression applied. That untraditional process of using those parameters simplifies the compressor and essentially turns it into a one-know tool.

Vice-versa turning the Ratio knob on maximum and dialing the amount of processing with the Threshold knob essentially turns this processor into a brick-wall limiter.

That trick does not rely on any external buttons or modes. It is simple and elegant yet incredibly powerful as it drastically expands the capabilities of this module and radically changes the behavior of the compressor. The results are musical and outstanding.

De-esser

One hidden and beloved function of the 4K console was to turn the compressors into a deessers with the “dyn sc” button found on the channel strips. That takes the filter section from the equalizer of a channel strip and turns it into a side-chain for the dynamics processor. Turning both filter knobs on maximum allows for more precise isolation on the frequency part of the signal that triggers the compressor and turns it into a de-esser. This is now possible with the COMP-4K-STRIP.

Filtering

The Filter section can also work as two fully functional High Pass and Low Pass filters. With the added button “Pre Dyn” you can now change the placement of the Filters before and after the Dynamic processing.

Explore more effects in our Software Store