Try the Drawmer 1973 three-band stereo compressor on your next mixing or mastering project, and you'll miss it as soon as you hit the bypass switch. Three variable frequency bands can be compressed individually, giving you more precise and natural-sounding results than you can achieve with a full-band compressor. Reduce boominess in an acoustic guitar without squashing your highs, or use it to make a stereo drum mix explode. A wet/dry blend control makes parallel compression easy. For decades, studio engineers at Sweetwater have known we can trust Drawmer gear to sound amazing and be incredibly reliable. That's exactly what you can expect from the Drawmer 1973.
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Three bands give you better dynamics control
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Where's the ratio control?
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Drawmer sounds good in any studio
Three bands give you better dynamics control
While there are plenty of full-band compressors we know and love at Sweetwater, the three-band design of the Drawmer 1973 stereo compressor gives you outstanding flexibility when mixing. Run your drum overheads through it and set your crossover frequencies accordingly, and you'll have individual dynamics control over the bass drum, snare and toms, and cymbals. Turn on the Big switch on the low band to give the kick some extra weight, and hit the Air switch on the high band to enhance the top-end sparkle of your cymbals. You'll get a drum sound that's so full, punchy, and alive, you may barely even blend in the individual drum mics for the final mix.
Where's the ratio control?
Don't worry about it - the 1973 sounds fantastic as-is. It's based on Drawmer's venerable 1960 and 1968 compressors, which have proven to be solid studio workhorses even without ratio controls. You'll use the gain and threshold knobs to find just the right amount of gain reduction for the individual bands. You can set the mix control full-on to only hear the compressed signal, or you can blend it with the original uncompressed signal to maintain more dynamics. Whether you want subtle compression that just brings everything together, or you want to smash drums for parallel compression, the Drawmer 1973 is an all-around performer with simple, intuitive controls.
Drawmer sounds good in any studio
If you're serious about recording, mixing, or mastering, you owe it to yourself to get your hands on the Drawmer 1973. Ask around and you'll quickly see they're widely respected in all audio circles. The 1973 is a compressor you can use like an EQ when you want to, with results that sound larger than life. With outstanding sound quality, plus top build quality and reliability, any engineer would be proud to have the Drawmer 1973 in their rack.
Features:
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3-band stereo compressor for mixing and mastering
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FET compression reacts fast with a soft knee
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Top-notch signal path all the way through, with impeccable left/right tracking across the full compression range
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Variable crossover frequencies, with mute and bypass switches for easy monitoring of each band
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Big and Air modes adds low-end body and high-end sparkle
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Analog VU meters have a switchable Peak mode which shows fast transients that normal VU meters won't show
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Simple, intuitive layout makes multiband compression easier to dial in
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Robust build quality, with a rugged steel chassis and aluminum front panel
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Parallel compression is easy thanks to the wet/dry mix control
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Gain reduction meters on each band help you find the right threshold and gain controls fast
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Perfect for reducing booming bass in recordings, without squashing higher frequencies too