GEAR REVIEW
WARM AUDIO PEDAL76 | Michael Hodge
KEY FEATURES
• 1176 Style Class A FET Compressor
• CineMag USA Output Transformer
• All-Analog Transformer-Balanced
• Vintage-Style Amber VU Meter
• Instrument and Balanced Out
Austin , Texas-based Warm Audio aims to make costly high-end gear available at consumer-grade prices . They make Professional Rackmount Compressors , Equalizers , Preamps , Microphones , and more . They have been building the rackmount WA76 compressor for about ten years . The Pedal76 is their attempt to take their WA76 rackmount compressor and squeeze it into a mid-sized guitar pedal . Using quality parts as the original rackmount WA76 , including the CineMag transformer , Pedal76 is an ambitious project . The original 1176 compressor model was a world changer in the 70 ’ s . This pedal may do something similar for us in the pedalboard world .
OUT OF THE BOX : Pedal76 weighs in at 1.65 lbs and comes packed with a protective foam lining and some cool stickers . On top , you will see five familiar 1176 knobs inspired by the rackmount unit . There ’ s Ratio , Attack , Release , Output , Input / Comp . They even added the vintage-style amber-lighted VU meter to give the unit an authentic rack-in-a-pedal vibe . On back , you ’ ll find Input , Balanced Out TRS , and Amplifier Out 1 / 4-inch Jacks . Also , a mini bypass / buffered option slider , an Input Sensitivity pot , and a Meter adjust pot . There are three mini-switches for Ground lift , Mic / Line Level , and Drive High / Low . A 9vDC battery is also included , but you ’ ll need external power to take advantage of the CineMag transformer .
The pedal looks impressive , especially with that vintage VU Meter .
ON THE BOARD : Warm Audio ’ s engineering was brilliant for imagining how this pedal could be used equally on a pedalboard or as a desktop studio compressor . Since they have a balanced option , you could easily use this on vocals , bass , and of course guitar . One of the first things I did was open the pedal up . It comes with a 9v battery installed . You need to be careful with the little case screws and carefully remove the battery . I used a flathead screwdriver to pry it out gently . It ’ s nice to have the battery to check the unit out , but you ’ ll need a 125mA power supply to engage the CineMag transformer via the internal voltage converter and get that authentic sound .
The original 1176 FET circuit is known for being super-fast and able to squash the signal at the
72 January 2025 Subscribe for Free ...