From my 2008 Solo Record Compass and a Pen

02 Compass And A Pen

I've had a pair of Joe Malone's JLM Audio LA500a modules for a few years now.  They are my go-to compressors on everything from acoustic guitar to bass and even vocals. They're musical and sound great on everything. 

I was fortunate to be able to be one of the first people to get the new OLA5 500 series optical compressor from Peterson Goodwyn's company, DIY Recording Equipment. 

I'd never touched a soldering iron before I met Peterson a few years ago. His builds are straight-forward, well-documented and sound great. In addition to the OLA5, I also have two of his great CP5 preamps and pair of desert-island EQs, the outstanding EQP5.

Peterson sent me a note a little while ago, saying he was curious to know how the OLA5 and the LA500a stack up against each other. So here it is, my very unscientific shootout.

A few things to note first, although both optical compressors, there are a few differences. First, the OLA5 has the same ratio as the classic LA-4 of 2:1 with a limit switch either an 8:1 or 12:1 limit ratios. Those limit ratios are set via jumper internally.  Joe's LA500 on the other hand, has 3:1, 5:1 and 10:1 ratios, all available via switch on the front.  Both have of course threshold and makeup gain knobs. And both have HPF switches, although, where the OLA5 gives a single button, the LA500a has 200 and 100 HZ settings via front switch. I have the optional Vintage output on the OLA5 with a Red-25 2520 Opamp. The LA500a comes standard with an enormous Neve style output transformer.

Finally the two features on each of these optos that are unique are the Mix knob on the OLA5 and the Slow attack pull-knob feature on the LA500A.  Both are incredibly useful features.

I'm going to send my personal notes to Peterson. You'll have to make up your mind what you think. Let me know in the comments.

Elisa Nicolas Official

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