how crucial are the voltages in solid state compressor circuits?

[loss1234]

Ok.

i am new to this so bear with me

many of the compressor circuits I see have much higher rails than i am used to.

+/-24
+/-16
or 18

and some then also have +/- 10 volts


i am used to synth diy where everything is +/-15 or +/-12 often with a 5v supply for logic.

SO my question is

can i get away with +/-15 or +/- 12 (with some difference in sound) on opamp based circuits AND/OR in transistor
based circuits?

or am i going to need to build myself a new bench supply?

thanks so much

 

[jdbakker]

can i get away with +/-15 or +/- 12 (with some difference in sound) on opamp based circuits AND/OR in transistor based circuits?

For most of the (solid state) compressors around here there is no fundamental technical reason why they can't run on +/-15V.

Some already do, like the GSSL.

For others the operation remains the same but headroom/dynamic range will be reduced.

Others like the 1176 will need seriously nontrivial re-biasing of the make-up amp and the sidechain, and will indeed sound different than the original.

or am i going to need to build myself a new bench supply?

That sounds a lot like the path of least resistance.

JDB.
[I remember when I was little and our heater had to be modded from propane to natural gas, if my memory serves me well. Physically quite possible, but it was a bit of an operation, that was]

 

[JohnRoberts]

+1    +/- 15V should be fine

Only thing to check for is there may be some circuits using the supply voltage to set thresholds or operating current. In those cases it should be straightforward to scale the values for different rail voltage.

JR

 

[loss1234]

thanks guys!!!

i must say this is exciting as all hell!!

i feel like a kid in a candy store wondering which schematic to try out next on the breadboard. serious fun.