Recording October 2023 - 68

REVIEW
AudioScape 260VU
Compressor/Limiter
A stone-cold classic clamp box lives again
REVIEW BY PAUL VNUK JR.
B
ased in Daytona, Florida, AudioScape Engineering handcrafts a
line of analog audio processors that leans heavily on classic designs
of the past and, in a few cases, resurrects classic units that have yet
to be tackled. Such is the case with our inaugural AudioScape review as
we look at the AudioScape 260VU Compressor/Limiter.
A Comp with a VU
The target inspiration for the 260VU is
the dbx 160 VU released in 1976-one
of the very first VCA compressor designs.
The original 160 VU featured a
straightforward signal path (op-ampbased
balanced input, David Blackmer
designed VCA gain circuit, current-tovoltage
converter and an unbalanced
op-amp output).
The three-dial control set was minimal,
featuring Threshold, Compression (ratio)
and Output Gain (makeup). Like many
other early compressor designs, the attack
and release are program dependent
with a hard-knee compression curve.
160 Lineage
The dbx 160 VU was a 2U tall halfrack
box with a large backlit VU meter.
The dbx 162 (a fixed stereo version),
and the 165 and 165A followed in 1978.
These 2U 19 " designs offered " improvements "
to the internal circuitry, added attack
and release controls on the 165, and
a Peak Stop hard limiter on the 165A.
The 1980s gave birth to the essentially
similar dbx 160X, 60XT and 160A,
68 RECORDING October 2023
single 19 " rack versions that swapped
the VU meter for dual LED-based
metering. These returned to the fixed
attack and release times but added the
dbx-famous Over Easy (soft knee) option.
Around this time, dbx also added the
option of an output transformer.
In the early 2000s came the 160SL
and 162SL, returning to a 2U 19 " format
with VU meters. The 160SL featured
better components and was the closest
the company had come to the original
160 VU gain cell in twenty years. Each
unit
offered every feature across the
160 timelines-attack, release, Over
Easy, Gain Stop and more.
Today dbx offers the 560A, essentially
a 500 series version of the 160A.
Return to the 160
Why am I highlighting the history of
the dbx 160 VU? Mainly to point out
two things. First, despite the improvements
and innovations across its almost
40-year history, none of the successive
160 offerings sounded or, more importantly,
reacted precisely like an original
dbx 160 VU.
Second, while quite a few companies
today offer inspirations and variations on
almost every other classic compressor, no
one has tackled the 160 VU-until now.
Meet the 260VU
The AudioScape 260VU is a twochannel,
2U 19 " rack mount device with two
independent matching compressors side-byside.
You can sum the threshold detection of
each channel together for stereo use.
Visually the 260VU is designed so close
to the original 160VU that it could easily be
mistaken for a vintage original-beyond
the fact that dbx never made a dual mono
unit. The build quality is exceptional,
and the unit's feel and function foster the
illusion that you have stumbled upon a
30-year-old new old stock device.
Features and Controls
Each matching channel offers three
simple
knobs:
Threshold, Ratio (1:1
to Infinity:1) and Output Gain (-20 to
+20dB). Metering is handled by the
super-snappy backlit VU meter, and just
like the original, a pair of yellow and
red " dancing " LED lights let you see
when the signal is hitting above or below
the selected threshold setting.
Below each VU meter, push buttons
select between input, output and gain
reduction. A remaining push button on
the right is for power, while a matching
left button engages the RMS timing link
switch mentioned earlier.
All I/O on the rear is balanced XLR,
and there is an IEC mains input for the
internal AnTek International Series Toroidal
Power Transformer.
On the Inside
AudioScape has gone to great
lengths to bring this classic back to
life. This includes sourcing vintage
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