Chandler Limited RS124 Compressor - Mastering

We, at Vintage King, are really excited about this one! For the first time ever, the sound and personalities of the legendary EMI/Abbey Road RS124 compressor can now be at your fingertips with the release of the Chandler Limited RS124 Compressor. In addition to all of the features of the original, the RS124 Compressor also includes modern facilities such as adjustable attack, selectable output impedance, and a special twist, dubbed the ‘SuperFuse’.

First designed in 1960 by Abbey Road Head of Techncial Bill Livey, Deputy Head Len Page and seasoned EMI Audio Designer Mike Batchelor, the Abbey Road RS124 compressor is one of the most coveted pieces of recording gear ever developed. Born out of the inadequate Altec 436Bs acquired by EMI in the late 1950s for Abbey Road Studios, the RS124 compressor is most closely associated with recordings made by The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios. Present on virtually every Beatles session, the RS124 left its remarkable signature across most of the catalog.

The RS124's undeniably smooth character and ability to tame transients without muffling the sound at steep compression levels, quickly became popular with Abbey Road Studios engineers and widely used throughout the now historic studio, for tracking, buss compression, mixing, and mastering. They were so integral to the recording and mixing process that a pair can be seen in almost every control room photo in Abbey Road Studios during the 60s period.

The RS124 compressor circuit, was built for use at Abbey Road Studios, and was never commercially available. Through the years, from incomplete information and supposition, some have tried to recreate the holy grail of tube compressors, though never fully capturing theelusive Abbey Road RS124 in all its glory.

Schematics themselves only told part of the story, and access to Abbey Road Studios’ historic units and various hand written modification notes would prove paramount towards understanding the true nature of the Abbey Road RS124 compressor and variances between units.

Many revisions were carried out since its inception, and as a result, the Abbey Road RS124 valve compressor has remained a mystery for decades, until now.

Available now, for the first time ever, the Chandler Ltd. RS124 Compressor harnesses the sound and personalities of Abbey Road Studios’ favorite historic RS124 Compressors (Ser. No’s 60070B, 60050A, and 61010B) still in use at the famed studio to this day, all in a single unit.

Features

• Stepped input control
• Stepped output attenuation
• ‘Recovery’ (release) control
• The unique ‘HOLD’ setting
• Adjustable attack
• Selectable output impedance
• The ‘SuperFuse’

Bring home the sound of a legend, re imagined for the modern era, today.

Chandler Limited is the only company in the world authorized to develop, manufacture and market the “Official Equipment” of EMI/Abbey Road Studios.