If you are lucky enough to find these, you'll notice the build quality right off the bat. It's is STRONG! Built like a truck, and I'm sure you could build a tank out of it. The price tag on these puppies are around the $5000 mark, though I have seem them go for much more.
One of the things I noticed after opening it up is that is has two mother boards, though this one has IDC connections. If I remember correctly, I have spotted the original 33609 without these connections. Another obvious thing was the power supply, no doubt it's different than the 33609(non C version). Perhaps an LM317 voltage regulator. There also seems to be a toroidal transformer in this one. Now, I'm a huge fan of gear which is implimented right, and having a toroidal tranny just makes sense in a unit to make is more quiet. Even the sound quality compared to the non C version, in particular has can only be decribed as more 'fun'(yes I said fun) than any other Neve compressors.
I've used this on drums, guitars, and even on the 2 bus. Not my favorite for the 2 bus, but my oh my, does it ever excell on guitars and drums.
If I could have 8 channels of this compressor, I would never have to buy another compressor again.
