TL Audio Ivory 5021

TL Audio's C5021 is the latest in the Ivory series of hybrid valve/solid‑state signal processors and combines a dual‑channel compressor with a pair of gates. The valve circuitry is in the preamp and gain control stage of the compressor, while the output and side‑chain circuitry is solid‑state. In theory, then, the user gets the best of both technologies for far less than the cost of an all‑valve design. The preamp valve stage has variable drive allowing the amount of valve 'flavouring' to be adjusted. Packaged in a nicely‑engineered 2U rack case and finished in 'intensive care' off‑white, the C5021 offers a choice of a high Z jack, instrument level input, an unbalanced ‑10dBu line level jack input or a balanced, +4dBu XLR input. The outputs are also available on both jack (‑10dBu unbalanced) and XLR (+4dBu balanced) with further TRS jacks providing side‑chain insert points for the two channels. A nice touch is the provision of separate input and output gain switches on the rear panel to increase the jack operating level to +4dBu and the XLR to +18dBu. This could be useful for interfacing with digital gear that expects to see a level of around +14dBu to produce a digital full scale reading. As with other units in the Ivory range, the feature set is simplified compared with TL Audio's Indigo range which it supercedes. For example, the compressor doesn't have variable attack and release controls, just a pair of Fast/Slow buttons, though there is some programme‑dependent element that makes this arrangement rather more flexible than it first appears.