IGS Audio S-Type 500 VU

Prior to getting this I was using a Shadow Hills Dual Vandergraph. Don't get me wrong, the SHDV is a great piece of compressor, if you were to describe the SHDV in one word, it's PHAT. But I do alot of pop, R&B and electronic-based music and I felt that the SHDV didn't suit my needs, it narrowed the stereo image slightly and had too much low-mid saturation which didn't help the mixes at all. Was trawling through the internet and came across the S-Type which was touted as an SSL clone.

I've used an actual SSL G-Comp on many projects at a studio I frequently mix out of and I knew how a G-Comp sounded. Plugged it in, ran a mix through it and wow. Just wow. The stereo imaging is wider, the highs are clearer and overall it just sounds close. Well done IGS Audio.

Knobs are solid and the meters read accurately. I mean, for the price that you pay on this product there's really nothing much to complain about. To be fair the knobs does feel plastic-y but you won't feel it's going to break anytime. I sort of understand why IGS chose to use a meter like this as well due to real estate space. I mean, they could have chosen to use an LED but it was the right choice for a VU meter aesthetically.

Overall if you're thinking about this, get it. I'm looking at their other products as I type this review.

The IGS S-Type is very similar to the famous SSL G-Series stereo bus compressor but at a fraction of the cost of the equivalent SSL unit.
Build quality is good and many of the rotary controls are switched, so easy to reset to a previous session.
Sound quality is superb.
Only downsides are minor:
VU meter was reading about 1dB of Gain Reduction when no gain reduction happening. So I had to take the VU meter out and adjust the 'zero' point preset. Easy to do but should have been more carefully set by the factory.
Unit had minor front panel damage due to poor packing. IGS packaging was not good enough. Thomann packaging was poor (I have complained to Thomann before about their packaging but I don't think they hear me yet! I will keep trying!)

My initial review of this stated that the channels are not balanced whether engaged or in bypass. Switching between "in" and "bypass" also changed the balance levels. I concluded this after an hour of testing. After submitting the review, I thought about excluding my patchbay in the chain and test directly instead. It worked. My patchbay now needs to be fixed.

On to the compressor itself: the sound, build quality, knobs, switches, meter ballistics are all good. Very solid covers and fits well in my rack.