Looptrotter Audio Engineering Emperor 500

EMPEROR 500 is an analog dynamics processor, which depending on the settings can work as a compressor, limiter or harmonics distortion generator. It was designed for creating the original, vivid, analog sound for instruments.

EMPEROR 500 is fitted with an intuitive, easy to operate control panel, deliberately rid of in/out meters or sound reduction indicators – so you could focus solely on the sound not the sight.

EMPEROR 500 is a creative device giving the sound a powerful, analog character. It’s not transparent. EMPEROR 500 uniquely enhances the perceived loudness, warms up and brightens the audio signal, depending on the DRIVE settings.

The very core of the EMPEROR 500 is a FET transistor responsible for sound reduction and introduction of a small amount of low order harmonics, and it’s design is inspired by the limiters and transistor compressors from the 60-ties. Apart from that EMPEROR 500 includes many original solutions stemmed from a long-term experience of Looptrotter in construction of dynamics processors, which guarantees unique sound.

EMPEROR 500 is equipped with two, independently working filters embedded in the control circuit. This gives the possibility to create the timbre without unwelcome phase shifting: in case of cutting the low frequencies in the control signal, the EMPEROR 500 acts more transparent and natural with the signals rich in low frequencies like kick drum, or bass guitar. This can decrease the distortion of low frequencies and the pumping effect; while boosting the high frequencies in the control signal the EMPEROR 500 acts like an analog de-esser, or very fast compressor for bright and dynamic instruments.

EMPEROR 500 offers three factory presets of attack/release:

• FAST – the fastest setting of processor’s attack and release makes the EMPEROR 500 work as a limiter. This preset gives rich, dense input signal saturation;
• MED – this preset makes the EMPEROR 500 work like a fast compressor;
• SLOW – this preset makes the EMPEROR 500 work more like an analog compressor than limiter.

EMPEROR 500 has also an independent control over DRY and WET signal. This allows to decide whether the audio tracks need only slight colorization, preserving the original dynamics, or if running the signal through EMPEROR 500 in 100% is required.