This is the third of the new small pedal format digital compression devices from UAFX I have reviewed. I was not wowed by the UAFX Max and I found the UAFX 1176 quirky and difficult to dial in. Here we have the Teletronix Model LA-2A. Maybe third time is the charm?
The original Teletronix LA-2A is a legendary optical tube compressor, originally designed in the 1960s by James F. Lawrence II of the Teletronix Engineering Company. Known for its smooth, natural, and musical compression, it remains a staple in professional audio production for its ability to enhance vocals, bass, drums, and other instruments with warmth and clarity. It's key features included optical compression, all-tube circuitry contributing warmth and rich sound, simple controls and a fair amount of versatility. This is what UAFX seeks to emulate in this digital pedal format. People often describe the LA-2A as "musical" and "transparent". I definintley agree about the musicality of circuits designed around the LA-2A and I suppose transparency is inherent to the mix too. However, I would describe the transparency more as "record ready" type sound. The LA-2A adds a polish to vocals and bass in particular that can be addicting. So maybe transparent but not at all sterile or clinical. How well does the UAFX Teletronix Model LA-2A emulate all of this? I will say I was pleasantly pleased. Based on my experience with the Max and 1176 I was prepared to be let down with the LA-2A pedal as well.
You know what? It is easy to dial in and you'll find excellent tone with very little tweaking.
I noticed no weird artifacts and everything feels and sounds thicker when playing through the UAFX LA-2A compressor.
There are three dials on the face of the pedal, one two-way toggle switch, the footswitch and LED. The Peak dial sets the amount of signal compression. Rotating more to the right increaeses the squish. It's a pretty gentle range of motion. The Gain dial allows you to adjust the compressed signal output with more gain as you rotate clockwise. The Mix dial allows you to blend in more of your dry uncompressed signal as you rotate the dial clockwise. I really like compressors with this form of parallel compression. You could dial in heavy compression and then blend in some of your dry signal to restore some dynamics. Rotate the Mix dial fully counter-clockwise to hear only the compressed signal. The two-way toggle is there to switch between two styles of compression: Compression and Limiting. Set the switch to compression for light to medium style compression at 4:1 ratio. Think of it as smoothing out your signal and adding some weight to the tone. Flip the switch to Limit to engage hard limiting at 12:1 ratio to heavily squash your signal and reduce and even eliminate signal peaks. The LED illuminates green when the pedal is active. It also serves as a meter to indicate some degree of gain reduction. It will switch to a yellow color under moderate compression and red under heavy compression. This is better than nothing, but isn't the best implementation. Use your ear and use the LED to confirm what you are hearing. On the front of the pedal are two more toggle switches. The switch labeled Bypass allows you to set the pedal out put to true bypass or buffered bypass. Use buffered bypass to minimize high frequency loss from long cable runs, and to preserve your tone when you have multiple pedals in series.
The switch labeled Release allows you to change the release timing of the compression circuit from fast to slow. The stock [slow] setting offers up the characteristic squish of a classic optical compression circuit. The fast setting allows the compressed signal to recover more quickly helping it sound more transparent or less effected.
I tend to prefer having independed full range control of attack and release with compressors but in the spirit of keeping it simple, UAFX has opted for the two-way implementation of release. It works and is easy to hear the difference. Set to your taste.
Power requirements are 9volt center negative with at least 250ma. There is also a USB port on the left side of the pedal used for firmware updates.
The footswitch is the softswitch type.
The pedal itself is fairly lightweight but seems to be built to a high standard of quality.
Of the three compressor pedal offerings from Universal Audio the Teletronix LA-2A is easily my pick of the three.
I quite like it becuase it definintely adds weight and texture to your tone in an almost tubelike fashion. It is easy to use and very quiet. Compared to the 1176 the LA-2A is more musical and less sharp sounding. the LA-2A is definintely the more organic or analogue sounding of the two. The Max just didn't sound great at all with bass, though decent with guitar. The LA-2A is great with guitar and bass.
Unlike the Max, I could hit the input hard without distortion.
The LA-2A can handle a hot signal. The UAFX LA-2A can be dialed in to be quite transparent or really squishy. It functions well in either extreme. If you are looking for a good limiter that feels natural, this one might do the trick for you. The UAFX manual uses the word "transparent" to describe the pedal. It is, but it isn't. Better said, it can be fairly transparent in terms of the level of effect you can put on your signal but it is always adding weight and a level of richness to the tone. In that sense, it isn't truly transparent.
I recognize that some of my readers will write off this pedal due to it being a digital design. Some only accept analogue circuits. I get it. There was a point when I would have even sided with that logic. The Source Audio Atlas sets the bar for digital compression pedals in my opinion, but the LA-2A pleasantly surprised me. At $169 the price isn't bad either. Yes, it is a digital emulator and I suppose there will be those who think $169 is overpriced because of that. But it's a nice pedal format and works well. It surprised me in a good way. Pros: • Sounds good • Easy to use • Price • Quality • Limiter and compression function • Tone thickening Cons: • Not the most versatile • Some won't like the fact it is a digital pedal • Maybe not enough color for some • LED meter is not the greatest Retail price: $169 UAudio.com See all compressor pedal reviews.