Gates Sta level

mg73 · Nov 5, 2008

I want to try to modify my Stalevel with different recovery times.
Tried to search for threads in that matter but couldn´t find any
I thought this had been dealt with before or maybe I just couldnt find it.

Anyway anyone have some info for modifying the release times?
10s and 2.5s is a bit on the looong side for me.

schmidlin · Nov 6, 2008

You are not alone. My studio guy complains of the same thing. I have not implemented it yet, but my next project will be a Stalevel clone with this attack and release:
http://www.waltzingbear.com/Schematics/Misc/Collins_26U1.htm
Should be a no-brainer. Do away with the single/double switch, and keep us posted.

Rob Flinn · Nov 6, 2008

[quote author="schmidlin"] Do away with the single/double switch, and keep us posted.[/quote]

I find that switch quite useful. It changes the releease from being just a single time constant, to having two phases. A quick initial release followed by a longer tail. This is like the auto setting on the SSL style compressors. That is the beauty of the sta level in that it sounds very natural (with a valve sound) on program material, which is what it was designed to do.

schmidlin · Nov 6, 2008

Yeah, sure, maybe I spoke too soon. I assumed it may gum up the variable feature install, so why chance it. But hey, it may work well with it.

The double mode (according to the maunual) acts as a "build-up" for when it is successively struck, sort of a release "memory" which is slowly spent, as you described.

tomelectro · Nov 6, 2008

I believe the manual has a chart of cap and resistor values for various release times, as well as instructions so the engineer at your radio station could modify it to suit the type of program material you'd be running through it. I don't have a link offhand, but the manual used to be pretty easy to find on the internet.