Relab 176 Black Friday Deal 2026: $129, 35% off

Relab 176 Black Friday pricing from Relab Development comes to $129, 35% off, with the deal running until Nov 30, 2026. It is a compressor/limiter plugin built around a 1960s 176-style design.

The maker says the whole audio circuit is modeled. Every tube, transformer, timing network and power supply interaction runs through a real-time circuit solver, which is how it keeps the tone, timing and dynamic behavior of the hardware.

What does the Relab 176 plugin do?

The Relab 176 is a fixed-threshold, variable-gain compressor. Ratio, drive and the material you feed it all interact, and together they shape the timing, the curve and the harmonics.

The maker describes this as compression that adapts to the music rather than sitting at one fixed character.

Main features

• Four hardware ratios: 2:1, 4:1, 8:1 and 12:1, with knee position and slope changing at each one
• Attack and release from resistor-capacitor networks coupled to the tube gain stage
• A Fixed/Auto toggle that changes how release adapts to the program
• A Sidechain Polarity control for the detector
• A Calibration control that moves several internal parameters at once
• A switchable interstage transformer, asymmetry detection and calibration trims

Timing is program-dependent. It follows signal level, transient size, tube nonlinearity and transformer interaction, so you will not find fixed millisecond values.

Polarity, calibration and the back panel

Sidechain Polarity sets whether the detector responds to the positive half of the waveform, the negative half, or both. The Resistor option uses a resistor path for slower attack, a flatter tone and more vintage-style low-frequency thump.

Calibration shifts the internal tube bias and balance, much like turning several trim pots on the original hardware. It changes threshold, harmonic profile and dynamic feel in one move.

• Bias & Balance: adjusts how the 6BC8 and 12AX7 tubes are biased, shifting the blend of even and odd harmonics and how steady the low end stays
• Threshold Shift: relocates the level at which compression kicks in, leaving your input gain untouched
• Dynamic Response: alters how smooth transients feel and how micro-dynamics behave
• Tone Shaping: can warm, brighten or tighten the sound, depending on the bias setting

Click the Relab logo to open the advanced controls. That panel offers a trio of virtual trimmers modeled on real hardware, covering 12AX7 bias along with both bias and anode balance for the 6BC8, and a Reference Level control sits alongside them.

The maker says these are the same adjustments found inside the original hardware, with extra room for gain staging and tone shaping. A set of Relab 176 preset demos is also published by Relab Development.