The drums are recorded cleanly. Every hit sits where it should, and still the mix feels light. This is the moment for the Magnetismus 2. It combines a VCA compressor with a transient shaper that rounds the transients off instead of cutting them down. The signal gains density and loudness without losing its dynamics, and the result is smoother, similar to a tape machine. It was first conceived for transient-rich sources like drums, synthesizers, and acoustic guitars.

Rounder, not louder

The Magnetismus 2 does not raise or lower the level of transients and sustain the way transient designers usually do; it grinds the transients round. The Flux Mode switch sets the time window for this processing: Eisen covers the widest transients, Nickel the narrowest, Kobalt sits in between. With the Intensity knob you decide how much the shaping changes the original signal, from a subtle rounding to a clearly audible one. At 0 the processing is off.

A compressor built for this machine

The first stage is a VCA compressor with Threshold, Ratio up to Limit, and Makeup Gain. It is not borrowed from another Tegeler device; it was designed for the powerful processing the Magnetismus 2 is meant to do. Attack and release sit on a single Timing control with ten positions, each a fixed pair, from 7 ms attack and 11 ms release up to 1.3 and 4.5 seconds. Makeup Gain does double duty here: it compensates the level after compression and sets how hard the signal hits the transient stage.

Finding the working point

Two meters tell you where you are. The LED chain shows the gain reduction of the compressor. The VU meter shows the level inside the transient processing, and this is the one to watch first: set Makeup Gain so the loudest peaks reach the 0 dB mark, and the shaping works on the transients rather than on the whole signal. Push further and it grabs more than the transients. Sometimes that is exactly the sound you want. Sometimes rather not.

Density on the Output knob

Behind the transient stage sits the output transformer. The Output control restores the level the processing has taken, and it determines how hot the transformer is driven. Driven gently, it stays out of the way. Driven harder, it adds density and that final bit of punch a mix sometimes needs.

From subtle to smashed

With more extreme settings the Magnetismus 2 becomes a sound design tool. It can crush a drum loop or push a signal into audible saturation, through the same signal path, just driven harder. As a very direct drum smasher, for example.

On the bus

The VCA compressor also works on its own. That makes the Magnetismus 2 suitable for sum signals as well, as a bus compressor or even in mastering. Whatever sonic painting you want to create, the Magnetismus 2 is your canvas.

The heavy one in the family

Within the Tegeler family, the Magnetismus 2 is the device for heavy processing. If you are looking for gentle, inconspicuous glue on your mix bus, the Creme is the better choice. If you want to hear what the processing does, this is the machine.