Tube-opto-fueled, Lydkraft-style Compression

The Warm Audio WA-1B delivers the smooth, tube-opto sound of one of the most coveted hardware compressors ever built. This meticulous re-creation boasts an identical control set to the original unit, enabling you to dial in effective dynamics control with ear-grabbing results. The original hardware's velvety-smooth sound and forgiving behavior have made it an industry standard for hip-hop vocals, and the WA-1B follows suit — it's tailor-made for highly dynamic sources, infusing them with a tube-driven analog warmth that's impossible to ignore. It's not just for vocals, either; the WA-1B works its sonic magic on guitars, bass, keyboards, and every other signal it touches. Are you craving world-class, Lydkraft-style compression? You'll be fully satisfied with the Warm Audio WA-1B.

Smooth tube-optical compression

The WA-1B is a spot-on re-creation of the industry-renowned Lydkraft-style compressor. When running it through its paces here at Music Experience, we found that the WA-1B not only replicates the forgiving nature of the original unit, but it also reproduces the smooth tube-optical warmth that's made the original the go-to compressor for hip-hop vocals, albeit with more open-sounding upper frequencies. In short, if you're having difficulty nailing that sound, the WA-1B is the right compressor to give it to you.

A familiar set of controls

The Warm Audio WA-1B should seem very familiar to anyone who's spent any amount of time with the Danish-built hardware that inspired it. Its Threshold and Ratio controls dial in everything from soft, musical dynamic control to hard-smashing — yet eminently transparent — compression. Its Attack and Release controls are switchable between Fixed and Manual modes, enabling you to employ the natural timing of the compressor's optical element in Fixed mode or a more specified behavior in Manual mode. You get a Fixed/Manual dueling time-constant mode for a hyper-musical release-time curve. You also get an analog meter with Input, Compression, and Output modes and a hard Bypass switch.

Premium components

Crack open the WA-1B, and you'll find a handwired, true-to-spec, 270-volt, discrete analog signal path replete with through-hole components and custom-core Lundahl transformers for full-on Lydkraft-style tone. You also get select tubes from JJ and Tung-Sol and a high-precision optical element for sweet-sounding analog character and unbeatable accuracy. Moreover, the WA-1B was methodically hand-tested and inspected by Warm Audio's world-class technicians in Austin, Texas.

What Warm Audio Says...

A Modern Legend At Your Fingertips

The WA-1B accurately recreates world-class Scandinavian compression, combining smooth tube-optical warmth with precision controls. Like its original inspiration favored by artists such as Adele, Dr. Dre, Lenny Kravitz, and Norah Jones, the WA-1B delivers the revered “forgiving” musical compression heard on iconic vocal recordings and far beyond.

Tube-Optical Tone, Modern Dynamic Control

The original 1B-style of compression blends vintage rich tone with modern control for increased speed and access to compressor functionality not found in earlier optical units. Threshold, ratio, attack, release, and makeup gain controls enable precise dynamic shaping without sacrificing vintage tube-opto warmth. This creates a compressor that truly shines on vocals, bass, drums, guitar, and any highly dynamic source.

What You Need to Know

Like the original, the WA-1B includes all of the key controls typically missing from vintage optical compressors. The threshold, ratio, attack, release, and makeup gain settings allow for detailed dynamic control and tone shaping without losing that signature vintage tube-optical tone.

In “Fixed” mode, the WA-1B delivers the natural attack and release behavior of the optical element. In “Manual” mode, you can dial in custom attack/release times directly from the front panel. The “Fixed/Man” mode blends both approaches, combining fixed release characteristics with a fixed 1 ms attack for uniquely musical performance.

A dedicated sidechain bus selector provides three positions (Off, Bus 1, Bus 2), allowing you to interconnect and link as many as 10 WA-1B compressors in a signal chain.

The WA-1B also includes a front-mounted meter-adjust control, making it effortless to zero out the VU meter without interrupting your workflow or unracking gear during a session.