U17

Manual
THE SECRET COMPRESSOR
In 1954, a truly unique compressor ap-
peared on the scene: the U17. Built by
Allgemeine Telefon-Fabrik in Hamburg for
the NWDR broadcasting network, only a
few dozen units of this exemplary analog
master piece were manufactured, making
this gem one of the rarest compressors
ever built.

CROSSING BRIDGES
The U17 combines a solid state diode
bridge using Germanium crystal semicon-
ductors with all-tube and massive trans-
former-coupled amplification. Best of both
worlds! The original hardware was intend-
ed to provide gentle and unobtrusive com-
pression, and the plugin offers just that in
the most beautiful way… but it also adds a
couple of serious setscrews, mutating the
gentleman into a veritable two-face.

DIGNIFIED POWER
A discrete soft clipping stage adds pleas-
ant coloration while taming heavy tran-
sients before entering the actual com-
pressor, which can blend from gentle and
transparent to straight and aggressive op-
eration with its powerful Torque control. In
fact, the U17 combines everything we love
about the golden era of analog design with
a very modern and experienced approach
to dynamics processing.

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DIODES
The U17 circuit employs six DS62 Germa-
nium crystal diodes. Four of them are wired
in a bridge configuration to implement the
floating gain reduction circuit which was
also used in later units like the U276 or the
iconic 33609. This design was introduced in
the early 1950s, when remote cut-off tubes
where the only other option for achieving
clean voltage controlled amplification.

TUBES
The audio amplifier as well as the side-
chain driver feature an ECC81 double tri-
ode, which is strapped in a clever negative
feedback configuration in both cases to al-
low for maximum linearity... the U17 was
a broadcast device designed to improve
the SNR in AM transmission paths after all.
While the plugin is based on this beauti-
ful topology, it also offers powerful ways
of spicing compression up with additional
grit and harmonic distortion.

TRANSFORMERS
The U17 includes plenty of custom iron:
Audio and sidechain are tapped from the
input transformer. The second ECC81 stage
of the sidechain amp is loaded by a ma-
jor choke and drives into another iron that
feeds the envelope and time constant gen-
erator. An interstage transformer drives the
audio amp, completed by an output trans-
former coupled with another choke.

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 QUICK START

Meter Here you can also set the time constants or en-
Its main function is to visualize the intensity able individual auto modes for attack and re-
and speed of the gain reduction process, but it lease, and continously blend the detectors from
can also show the input or output level instead. unlinked to linked operation.

Clipper Filter
This section allows to tame incoming tran- A tilt-style sidechain filter which allows to fo-
sients and achieve a louder signal before even cus compression on the energy of specific fre-
getting the compressor involved. You can also quency ranges, with controls for blending from
set where in the spectrum the effect should be low pass via completely flat to a high pass filter
focused, so the soft clipper can be used both as and for setting the tilt point. It is completed by
a dynamics tool and as a sound shaper. a switchable sidechain listen monitor.

Compressor Mixer
The fully compensated input gain essentially This section is for blending the processed and
controls the operating point (threshold) of the unprocessed signals, adapting the output vol-
compressor, while Torque modifies the knee and ume, and switching the plugin on or off.
ratio of the compression curve at the same time.

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 QUICK START

Shows either input level, gain reduction or out- Toggles between monitoring the program au-
put level (meter screw changes mode). dio and the sicechain signal path.

Controls the amount of soft clipping/saturation Modifies the knee and ratio of the compression
introduced by the tube amplifier. curve at the same time.

Defines where in the frequency spectrum Den- Crossfades the sidechain filter from low pass
sity processing is focused. via completely flat (=Off) to high pass.

Blends between unlinked dual-mono and linked Increases or decreases the tilt point frequency
stereo operation. of the sidechain filter.

Sets the amount of level-compensated gain en- Mixes the dry and processed signals for on-
tering the compressor (threshold). board parallel saturation/compression.

Adjusts the attack time of the compressor. Fully Amplifies or attenuates the output level, imple-
clockwise enables auto mode. mented as linear, clean gain.

Tunes the release time. Fully clockwise engag- Engages or bypasses the entire signal process-
es individual auto release mode. ing chain.
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 PARAMETERS

Meter end of the spectrum, whereas counterclockwise

The VU meter displays either input level, gain reduc- yields more processing in the lows. The Emphasis
tion or output level in dB. Its mode can be changed filter is neutral (linear) in the 12 o’clock position.
with the black screw at the bottom of the the hous-
ing. The reference point is 0 VU = -14 dBFS. Detector
The Detector knob seamlessly blends between un-
Density linked (U) dual-mono and linked (L) stereo opera-
The Density stage is located in front of the actual tion. It is only available on stereo tracks.
compressor. It controls the amount of additional
clipping/saturation introduced by the dual stage Input
ECC81 amplifier. Besides adding pleasant color- This control sets the amount of gain applied to the
ation it also allows taming heavy transients before signal after the clipper stage, before it enters the
entering the compressor stage. compressor. The input gain is fully compensated,
so it essentially controls the threshold of the com-
Emphasis pressor.
The Emphasis knob controls where in the spectrum
the Density processing is applied. Turning the knob
clockwise shifts saturation more towards the high
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 PARAMETERS

Attack & Release Torque

These two knobs set the time constants, which have Torque blends from gentle and transparent to
been carefully selected to allow for a wide range of straight and aggressive operation. This function es-
compression behaviors, i.e. anything from transpar- sentially controls how much the compressor “grabs”
ent and smooth to aggressive, gritty and pumping. your transients by modifying the knee and ratio of
The fully clockwise position (red dot) will put the the compression curve, diving deeply into negative
respective time constant into auto mode. ratios if desired. The default setting (20%) corre-
sponds to the characteristic of the original hard-
Monitor ware.
Clicking this lamp allows to monitor the filtered
sidechain signal instead of the default program Shape & Frequency
material. This makes it easy to dial in suitable set- These two controls build a tilt-style sidechain filter
tings for Shape and Frequency by ear. In addition, which allows to focus compression on the energy
the sidechain monitor can also be used to check of specific frequency ranges. The Frequency knob
external keying signals routed into the U17 via the sets the tilt point, while Shape allows to crossfade
DAW. from low pass via completely flat (=Off) to a high
pass filter.

7
 PARAMETERS

Mix side of the upper toolbar to control the compres-

This knob blends between the dry (D) and the wet sor with any signal you have routed into the U17
(W) signals and therefore provides instant on-board via your DAW (not available in some DAWs/plugin
parallel saturation/compression. formats).

Output
This control provides linear/clean gain applied to Basic Workflow
the output signal within a range from -24 to +24
Soft clip/saturate with Density and Emphasis.
dB, which allows accurate manual level compensa-
tion. Compress with Input, Torque, Attack, Release.

Power Tweak sidechain with Shape and Frequency.

Clicking on the power switch or lamp engages or
bypasses the entire plugin. Finish off by adjusting Output and Mix.

External Sidechain
The sidechain of the U17 can be fed with an exter- System Requirements & Supported Platforms
nal key signal. Click the keyhole icon on the right Installation, Activation, Authorization, FAQs
8
 TOOLBARS

This icon provides a master bypass function for Opens GUI preferences (set interface size and
the entire plugin. quality).

Undo/Redo offers up to 32 steps of your recent Clicking the Plugin Alliance logo will send you
settings. Just go back and forth. to the PA website via your web browser.

Four individual preset banks which can also be This icon will guide you to the Plugin Alliance
automated in your DAW. Store via your web browser.

Copy and paste current settings to/from clip- Brings up the activation dialog for authorizing
board or reset current settings to default. plugin licenses for your devices.

Click the keyhole icon to trigger compression Here you will find the manual (requires PDF
with any signal routed in via your DAW. reader installed) and other useful info.
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Version 1.0