AEA 1029 VCA Compressor — A Mix Product of the Week

New York, NY (May 8, 2025)—The newest product introduction from AEA is a bit of a surprise: It’s a VCA compressor, the first from AEA.

The AEA 1029 is a compact (1RU, half-rack width), two-channel VCA compressor employing a combination of VCAs configured in a feed-forward topology, Fred Forssell discrete op-amps featuring a complementary pair of new old stock Toshiba JFETs, and ultra-low-noise, low-distortion op-amps. The circuitry was specifically designed for stereo microphone pairs, providing clean and transparent compression when tracking or when used as an outboard compressor for stereo signals recorded with any stereo technique.

Front-panel features include three-position (Peak Fast/RMS/Peak Slow) response times; threshold variable from -20 dBu to +20 dBu; ratio setting variable from 1:1 to limit; 20dB makeup gain; and true bypass relay switching. A dry/wet mix control facilitates parallel compression without need for complex patching or routing. Multi-color LED meters are provided for gain reduction, input level and output level.

Rear-panel connections include balanced audio I/O on XLR connectors, and a multi-pin power connector for the included switching power supply.

Audio specifications for the 1029 include frequency response 10 Hz to 200 kHz; signal-to-noise ratio -97 dBu (dry) and -9 1dBu (wet); maximum input level +26 dBu; maximum output level +26 dBu into a balanced load; and minimum load impedance 600Ω.

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As you would expect, the 1029 VCA compressor was designed to pair well with AEA’s TRP and RPQ Series preamps and is hand-crafted in Pasadena, Calif. Rubber bumpers are included for desktop applications, or the unit may be mounted in a universal rack tray.