Chandler Limited TG1 Limiter

Chandler Limited TG1 Limiter

The Chandler Limited TG1 is a recreation of the classic EMI TG12413 Limiter used in custom EMI and Abbey Road recording and mastering consoles from the late ’60s. These rare pieces were never commercially available, and only EMI owned studios had access to them. The TG1 Limiter was originally designed to be like the Fairchild 660/670 which was loved by many EMI engineers including Geoff Emerick, but it ended up with its own very special sound.

TG equipment was used on many classic records. The Limiter was featured on every channel of TG consoles used to record The Beatles “Abbey Road” and Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon,” in addition to albums by Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones.

The Limiter/Compressor features an all discrete circuit with transformer balanced input and output. The limiting element is a rarely seen diode network that produces smooth, pleasing distortion. The warm open sound, often compared to a Fairchild 670 set to stun, is very audible and squishy sounding while maintaining its clarity and high frequency response.

TG1 Updates & Modifications:

Harmonic Distortion Function

Now standard on all Abbey Road Special Edition TG-1’s, this option allows bypassing of the compressor/limiter threshold but leaves all circuits in the signal path, turning the unit into a powerful Harmonic Distortion generator capable of kicking out up to 2% Total Harmonic Distortion. That’s more than 2 times the amount of analog tape! And all with 100% discrete transformer balanced circuits. Adjust the input for amount of THD and the output to match level. Try running Distortion on one channel and hard limiting on the other. The ultimate in retro! This option is placed on the front panel of the unit with a toggle switch for each channel.

All TG units require and function on the PSU-1, Chandler Limited power supply. The PSU-1 has an internal switch for setting voltage to 120V or 220V (115V/230V). For more information please call us at (319) 885-4200.

Abbey Road Studios, EMI and TG and their associated logos are trade marks of EMI (IP) Limited.

THD

Allows bypassing the compressor / limiter threshold but leaves all the circuits in the signal path, turning the unit into a powerful Harmonic Distortion generator capable of kicking out more than 2% Total Harmonic Distortion.

Input

This control functions as input gain and threshold, like an 1176. Cranks this up and adjust the outut to really hear it work.

Output

A 21-position switch set to 1dB steps giving +/-10dB of output adjustment for level matching,between functions of recallability, and accurate gain make up.

Recovery

Attack in limit mode 8ms charging time; attack in compress mode 47ms charging time. Recovery in limit mode 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, & 2 seconds. Recovery in compress mode 0.25, 0.5, 1.2, 2.5, 5, & 10 seconds.

Comp / Limit

This switch selects between functions of the unit. The limiter has a classic pumping and breathing sound, while the compressor has a squishy sound that is less drastic and all its own.

Chandler again draws on the heritage of Abbey Road. Ever notice how plump the compression is on Beatles and Pink Floyd records? The transformer-based all-discrete circuit of the TG-1 stereo limiter is based on the EMI TG12413, which rendered its signature sound to albums like Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon. As world-class engineer Michael Wagener put it, The TG-1 doesn’t just paint a picture, it paints the whole town!