Timbre

Vari-mu Tube Compressor

Timbre – an all tube vari-mu compressor based on the 6386 tube, inspired by the old, famous and much desired Gates STA-Level compressor.

Explore more

Timbre

Vari-mu Tube Compressor

As always It’s all about compression so we’ve created “Timbre” – an all tube vari-mu compressor based on the 6386 tube, inspired by the old, famous and much desired Gates STA-Level compressor. The Timbre is easy to use, full of color and sweetness. It is a vintage-style compressor made from the highest quality of components.

Augmenting the design, we have added new features like the third mode of operation with shorter attack time, a high-pass sidechain filter, a link for stereo operation and a bypass function. Timbre utilizes a novel programme controlled release circuit which creates density and consistency while minimizing typical compressor side-effects at up to 40dB of gain reduction!

 

Main Features

Timbre stereo vari-mu tube compressor

  • Famous Gates Sta-level vari-mu compression
  • All tube balanced circuit with 6386 tube
  • High quality, carnhill transformers
  • Single/double/triple mode of operation
  • 6-step release time switch
  • Switchable sidechain high pass filter
  • Bypass function
  • Link function

Specification

Timbre specification

Frequency response20Hz-30kHz (0.5dB)
THD+Nup to 1%
Input impedancetransformer balanced: 600ohm
Output impedancetransformer balanced: 600ohm
Max gain45dB
Max gain reduction40dB
Mode single, double, triple
Balanced output and input(XLR Amphenol)
Case Rack2U
Unit dimensions88x483x235 mm
Box dimensions274x550x382 mm
Unit weight5,6 kgs
Box weight7,5 kgs
Warranty2 years

User Manual

Download Timbre User Manual

TIMBRE SAMPLES

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

ng500 Module (e.g. _DIONE) is frozen and doesn’t react to encoder moves – Factory reset is needed

If the module doesn’t react to any changes to the knobs on the front panel, the first necessary step is to rewrite firmware into the flash memory (Factory reset procedure re-writes firmware into internal flash memory – it doesn’t affect anyhow unit configuration). To proceed with factory reset, please follow below steps:

  1. Connect unit either:
    1. Through front panel USB socket,
    2. Or keep the unit in ng500 chassis – _TITAN, but please note that chassis has to be connected to the PC/MAC either via USB or Ethernet cable.
  2. POWER OFF your 500 series chassis.
  3. Depends on the product please press following front panel control:
    1. _MIMAS – RATIO button,
    2. _DIONE – RATIO button,
    3. _RHEA – THD button,
    4. _PROMETHEUS – HIGH CUT encoder (top-right encoder),
    5. _HYPERIONLMF GAIN encoder,
    6. _CALYPSO – MENU encoder.
  4. While keeping this control (button/encoder) pressed, POWER ON your 500 series chassis.
  5. LEDs should present a strange pattern.
  6. Now open GConManager:
    1. WIN: C:/Program Files (x86)/WesAudio/GConManager.exe
    2. MAC: /Applications/WesAudio/GConManager.app
    3. Or click on the WesAudio “Tray” icon, and select “Open GConManager”
  7. Go to _UPGRADE application.
  8. Hit start!
The NGRack unit (e.g. ngBusComp) is frozen and doesn’t react to encoder moves – Factory reset is needed

If the module doesn’t react to any changes to the knobs on the front panel, the first necessary step is to rewrite firmware into the flash memory (Factory reset procedure re-writes firmware into internal flash memory – it doesn’t affect anyhow unit configuration). To proceed with factory reset, please follow below steps:

  1. Connect the unit to either USB or Ethernet.
  2. POWER OFF your unit.
  3. Depends on the product please press following front panel control:
    1. ngBusComp – far left Ratio on Channel 1 (Ratio “-”),
    2. ngLEVELER – use a small screwdriver and press button available on the rear panel via a small hole in the chassis.
  4. While keeping this control (button/encoder) pressed, POWER ON your unit.
  5. LEDs should present a strange pattern.
  6. Now open GConManager:
    1. WIN: C:/Program Files (x86)/WesAudio/GConManager.exe
    2. MAC: /Applications/WesAudio/GConManager.app
    3. Or click on the WesAudio “Tray” icon, and select “Open GConManager”
  7. Go to _UPGRADE application.
  8. Hit start!
Unit passes signal only when bypassed

This is a very common issue and in most cases the root cause lies in the connection of the unit and audio interface. If that happens it should be checked if audio interface input isn’t connected to the chassis input and if audio interface output isn’t connected to chassis output. As this initially would seem to be entirely wrong and shouldn’t work at all, as all our units implement “True Bypass” via relays, the unit will pass a signal when the bypass is engaged. The reason for that is that the relay is in fact hard wiring input to the output, and thus the unit will pass the signal, as it doesn’t go through any active circuit of the unit.

Plug-in doesn’t connect to hardware when a plug-in instance is created

This is actually how it is supposed to work, so after the plug-in instance is created, please use a small triangle button which usually is on the bottom side of the plug-in and select proper HW ID from the drop down menu. If the drop down menu doesn’t list any hardware units, please check Your connectivity and other possible root causes in this FAQ.

Unit can’t connect to a plug-in

This is a wide topic, and there may be at least several root causes, but there are few things that should be checked. However, the first and most important thing is to double check that GConManager doesn’t list this device in the _CONFIG app. If this is the case, it means that WesAudio unit can’t connect on the OS level, and some of the below steps may help:

  1. First of all double check if module connection is properly executed, this procedure is described here.
  2. USB specification indicates that USB 2.0 works up to 5 meters. This is however not entirely true, as it strongly depends on the peripherals that unit is connected to. Even if our modules are USB 2.0 compatible, your USB port could support USB 3.0 – USB is a backward compatible protocol, so it may be that USB 3.0 cable length limit should be considered which is 2 meters. We would recommend having a USB cable up to 2 meters to remove those limitations from the equation.
  3. USB HUB is very common root cause to those problems, if module can’t connect via HUB – just for the sake of the test, it is mandatory to connect unit directly to PC/MAC to verify if the problem isn’t caused by it.
  4. Please note any system warnings attached to “WesAudio Tray Icon”.
Unit disconnects by itself

As USB controllers have limited capacity it could be a reason for random unit disconnection. Usually, it happens when a lot of USB devices are plugged into the PC/MAC. The usual behavior would be that the unit works normally, and after reboot it doesn’t, but it strongly depends on the OS implementation so exact reaction could be a little bit different. If this is suspected, just for the test, it would be good to disconnect most of the devices from the USB ports, reboot PC/MAC and double check the connectivity from stability point of view. If it leads to the conclusion that this is the root cause of the problem, we would recommend using a decent USB hub, and ideally a TB/USB dock station which tends to offload a lot of responsibilities from our PC/MAC.

Unit can’t connect anymore

If the unit was working fine, and suddenly it couldn’t connect (it is not visible in the GConManager _CONFIG app) that could lead to the conclusion that some devices were added to our USB line, and we could have problems with the USB controller inside PC/MAC. In that case please check the description in the above “Unit disconnects by itself”.

How to open GConManager in Admin mode

GConManager in Admin mode enables special functionalities which are used during WesAudio units calibration.

OSX: 

  1. Please open terminal.
  2. Copy-Paste following command:

open /Applications/WesAudio/GConManager.app --args --admin

WINDOWS:

  1. Go to “START” and open “Command Line”.
  2. copy paste this command:

"c:\Program Files (x86)\WesAudio\GConManager.exe" --admin

Stay in touch

Sign Up for News and Software release updates