collapse expand iconDescription

The Black Lion Audio Bluey 500 is the 500-series version of the lauded Black Lion Audio Bluey. The original “Bluey” is Chris Lord-Alge’s not-so-secret weapon — the heavily modified 2U compressor 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 put their spin on it.

After working with Lord-Alge to reverse-engineer untold years’ worth of mods, component replacements, and upgrades, Black Lion Audio was able to make the legendary Bluey sound available to the world with the introduction of the original 2U Bluey compressor. They added a few features along the way without sacrificing what makes Bluey what it is.

The Bluey 500 is 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.

To get the exacting detail that Chris Lord-Alge has enjoyed from the original Bluey, Black Lion not only used custom Cinemag transformers, but they also recreated his console’s insert path and built it right into Bluey — giving everyone the same console feel.

And hey didn’t stop there: Black Lion 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, and polyester capacitors — meaning that Bluey 500 is built to last. And like all Black Lion products, Bluey 500 is hand-tested, calibrated and quality checked in the United States.
Black Lion Audio Bluey 500 FET Limiting Amplifier
Black Lion Audio Bluey 500 FET Limiting Amplifier
Black Lion Audio Bluey 500 FET Limiting Amplifier

collapse expand iconFeatures

  • 2 Cinemag transformers; a recreation of the original UTC input transformer and a recreation of the original Reichenbach output transformer
  • Wet/Dry mix knob allows for parallel compression not available on the original
  • Stereo-linkable
  • Input and Output buffering taken directly from Chris Lorde-Alge’s console inserts

collapse expand iconSpecs

  • Type: FET Limiter
  • Number of Channels: Single channel
  • Controls: Attack, Release, Mix, Input, Output
  • Ratio: 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1
  • Inputs: 1 x XLR
  • Outputs: 1 x XLR
  • Other I/O: 1 x RCA (stereo link)
  • Rack Spaces: 2U
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Attack: Continuously variable 20uS to 800uS
  • Release: Continuously variable 1200mS to 50mS

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