SLAM! stands for Stereo Limiter and Micpre and SLAM! is a pretty accurate description of what this beast will do (if you want it to) to most VU meters. Manley's design team put a switch in to drop its internal VU meters 3 & 6dB to keep the needles from bending. It will get your tracks LOUD and it will get them LOUD fast (hence that exclamation mark). As well as featuring an amazing pair of (actually four) Limiters and Class A tube mic preamps, the SLAM! also has a masters degree in DI, plus doctorates in VU & PPM technology. Design being their forte, Manley's design team wisely decided to leave the complexities of advanced audio-related acronym research to experts in that field. The SLAM! was born.
SLAM! is the aggregation of classic limiters like LA2s, 1176s, 2264s and others in one unit. Manley combined their favorite Electro-Optical circuit with a very fast FET based brick-wall limiter reminiscent of some of the old classics. They added a sidechain filter which can remove low frequencies, making it more useful for a variety of tasks, while retaining an easy, it just works quality that has made it a favorite for recording vocals in many studios. The FET-based limiter has different desirable characteristics that both optimise the signal for digital recording, due to the brick-wall capability, and let you dial in just how clean crunchy punchy loud and proud you want it.
Dual-channel tube microphone preamplifier
On both channels of the Manley SLAM! you have tube microphone preamplifiers with switchable phantom power and phase reverse. Plus, the new tube circuit features up to 60dB of gain - and there's 20dB more gain available in the limiter, so you've got plenty of juice to handle low output ribbon microphones and soft singers. Apart from XLR microphones, you can give your line-level instruments a warm-up using the front-panel DI inputs.
Electro-optical and FET-based brick-wall limiter
The Manley SLAM! boasts two different and distinct limiters - available simultaneously or separately on each channel. Manley's famous electro-optical circuit, found on their ELOP, is onboard - plus it features a convenient sidechain highpass filter. Offering two knobs, the ELOP is easy to use. There's also a fast FET-based brick wall limiter onboard as well that delivers everything from ultra-clean to gravelly - just as you'd expected from an FET limiter. The Release control lets you dial in a host of colors, and a Clip setting allows for an extremely round shape. Use both limiters at the same time to get as much of each effect as you like.
Excellent VU metering
With Manley's SLAM! you can meter raw input levels, the final output levels, and ELOP Limiter gain reduction, so you can keep an eye on what's going on. Plus, there's a switchable pad on the VUs at 0, -3dB and -6dB so you can keep the needles from going in the red when you're mastering. In addition, there are fast and accurate multicolor LED ladder peak meters that let you know the input and output levels as well as the FET gain reduction. The LED meters do Peak, Peak Hold timed, and Peak Hold until reset. You can also manually set where the bars change colors, to match up the SLAM! with your other gear.
Flexible I/O
On the back panel of the Manley SLAM! you have plenty of I/O to work with. Transformer-balanced I/O and 1/4 phone jacks are onboard. In addition, four TRS jacks allow you to insert external equalizers into the sidechains. Another input allows linking multiple units for surround purposes.
