The Crane Song Falcon is a ‘classic sounding’ tube compressor in a 500-Series package – the first 500-Series unit from the US company.

Falcon features three attack and three release time settings, hard and soft knee compression or limiting, two different audio paths, wet/dry mixing for parallel compression and units may be linked in pairs for multiple channel processing. When linked, the master Falcon unit controls all functions are taken on by the slave except for wet/dry mix and make up gain. The link system is capable of connecting units for 5.1 surround.

The audio path colour is changed by modifying the 12AX7 tube circuit, offering either negative feedback or none. This offer a choice of a coloured or ‘wooly, wild’ sound, as described by designer Dave Hill, or a cleaner sound with optical characteristics.

‘There's so much 500 stuff that needs to be better than it is,’ Hill says. ‘I wanted to see if I could fit a tube in a single slot and generate 200V, so its a standard tube not something that you cant get in a few years.’ He also has a 500-series preamp and EQ, and a ‘bulletproof’ frame in development.

The Falcon Compressor is scheduled to ship in February 2013 and is available in the UK through KMR Audio.

More: www.cranesong.com
More: www.kmraudio.com