Bluey 500
500-Series Legendary FET Limiting Amplifier
US PRICE: $699
True Blue — Without 2U.
The original “Bluey” is Chris Lord-Alge’s not-so-secret weapon; the heavily-modified compressor to the stars that’s been heard on countless hits. Having undergone years of odd-fixes, modifications, and upgrades, the original Bluey was a singular and unique piece of studio unobtainium - until Black Lion Audio got their mitts and voltmeters on it.
After working with Chris to reverse-engineer untold years’ worth of mods, component replacements, and upgrades, we were able to make the legendary Bluey sound accessible to the world at large with the introduction of our original 2U Bluey compressor. Of course, we added a few features along the way without sacrificing what makes Bluey what it is.
We firmly believe that everybody deserves a li’l Bluey in their life, so we’re proud to introduce another li’l Bluey - the Bluey 500 - ready to add that unmistakable blue-striped mojo to your 500-series rack. You get all the squeeze, heft, and grit of the original Bluey in just two 500-series slots — a fraction of the original’s footprint.
Blue is the new gold.
Legendary mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge’s record credits are endless — as endless as his love for his 1176 Blue Stripe units. Out of all of them (and he owns quite a few), one unit stuck out with a certain mojo that the others just didn’t quite have. He named this prized 1176 “Bluey”.
Chris desired more channels of this golden unit, and reached out to the guys who know modifications best – the team at Black Lion Audio! Intrigued by Chris’s praise of the unit, head design engineer, Jesus Ortiz, boarded a plane from Chicago to LA to discover what gave this Blue Stripe its edge. He found a series of mods done to the unit over the years to keep it working that miraculously cumulated in a uniquely beast-like 1176! BLA analyzed the unit with pain-staking detail, and worked closely with Chris Lord-Alge to recreate Bluey.
New features, new sounds.
To get the exacting detail that Chris Lord-Alge has enjoyed from the original Bluey, we not only used custom Cinemag transformers, we actually recreated his console’s insert path and built it right into Bluey — giving everyone the same console feel!
But we didn’t stop there: We also added an active wet/dry mix for easy parallel compression, as well as a stereo link!
Bluey 500 was designed with a vintage-inspired PCB layout, 1% resistors, polyester capacitors, and a linear power supply — meaning that Bluey 500 is built to last! And like all Black Lion products, Bluey 500 is hand-tested, calibrated and QC’d in the USA.
Technical
Documentation
Reviews
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“Whether you already have an 1176 or not, the little Bluey 500 fills the bill for vibey control on drums or most midrange elements.”
Bluey 500 Review | Mix, June 2023
TypeFET Limiter
Number of ChannelsSingle channel
ControlsAttack*, Release, Mix, Input, Output
Ratio4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1
AttackContinuously variable 20uS to 800uS
ReleaseContinuously variable 1200mS to 50mS
Other I/O1 x RCA (stereo link)
Rack CompatibilityStandard 500-series 2U
Mounting Screws Use two #4-40 3/8-inch screws
*A note on the Attack control:
The Attack control on the Bluey works a little differently than you may have encountered on other ‘76-style compressors. Turning the Attack knob to the left (counter-clockwise) will yield faster attack times; slower times result when turning to the right (clockwise). We’ve found this control scheme to be more intuitive; akin to a volume knob decreasing level to the left and increasing to the right.
Product Images
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