Compression on the master bus was a necessity in the early days of broadcast to make sure the live-transmitted signal did not blow up the listeners’ speakers at home. Controlling the final dynamics is still paramount today, but back in the day, music producers quickly noticed the sweet "glue-like" effect a quality compressor on the master bus would add to a stereo mix - the way it would gently gather the individual tracks and unite them in a way that made them sound uniform and powerful at the same time. Well, one of the most famous stereo compressors from that era - the legendary Neve 33609 - inspired the creation of the Behringer 369.
And 369 is actually not that far from home. It is more than just a remake, as the legacy and DNA of the original Neve 33609 flows through the veins of the 369. Behringer's engineering team has members, who have personally worked with Rupert Neve himself, imparting valuable knowledge and experience during development and ensuring the 369 is as faithful to the original as humanly possible. Rupert Neve was a legend and pioneer in the audio engineering industry, having fathered some of the most iconic audio gear ever created - 33609 included!
The 369 is both a compressor and limiter that offers two distinct modes to control the dynamics of any audio signal passing through. The compressor section gives you a more subtle and musical compression while the limiter section clamps down on peaks in your audio signal more aggressively. Each section is equipped with rotary switches, allowing for precise and repeatable settings, which means consistent compression for every recording or mastering session. You can even set both channels at exactly the same settings if that is what your mix demands.
The 369 compressor gives you plenty of controls, offering a smooth and musical approach to sculpting the dynamic range without compromising your signal’s natural characteristics or the vibe you spent time on recording and mixing. Adjustable Threshold, Recovery, Gain and Ratio controls allow you to set when the compression kicks in, how fast it grabs your sound and when it lets go of it again. With compression ratios from 1.5:1 up to 6:1, 369 can be as gentle or aggressive as your track needs it to be to sound its best. Pre-sets on the Recovery set a defined baseline decay time that automatically adapts to the signal introduced into the 369 - smooth operation and musical dynamics are finally united.
