A compressor for £800?

S

sach160

New member
Hi all, I've got upto £800 to buy a compressor+limiter, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions... I only want 1 channel for vocals (i use a u87 into a john hardy preamp) and i'd put it in at the front of the chain, right after the mic. Basically my vocals change a lot dynamically, in particular, loud peaks that suddenly appear and disappear - i blame my lungs. Anyway, I dont think the compressor in my roland 8 tracker is very good. I'd like something that will basically even out volume and get rid of mad peaks, without colouring the sound (option colouring option is welcome). If anyone had any suggestions I'd really appreciate it, thanks!

sach
 
I think you'd want to put the compressor after the Pre-amp. The compressor is designed for a line level signal, not for a mic level signal, and for £800 you should be able to get one that won't colour too much (although that far exceeds my budget for compressors so I can't recommend any).
 
sach160 said:
Hi all, I've got upto £800 to buy a compressor+limiter, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions... I only want 1 channel for vocals (i use a u87 into a john hardy preamp) and i'd put it in at the front of the chain, right after the mic. Basically my vocals change a lot dynamically, in particular, loud peaks that suddenly appear and disappear - i blame my lungs. Anyway, I dont think the compressor in my roland 8 tracker is very good. I'd like something that will basically even out volume and get rid of mad peaks, without colouring the sound (option colouring option is welcome). If anyone had any suggestions I'd really appreciate it, thanks!

sach
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In the UK, contact www.safesoundaudio.com about the P1 unit. Hell of a nice guy (Robert Campbell, former Neve designer who started the company) and they deal direct over there! Great vocal compressor / limiter and a decent mic preamp to boot.

War
 
Thanks for the reply warhead.

The p1 looks good by the sounds of reviews. Do you know how it compares to other units i've heard more about, like the distressor, la-3, Tubetech CL1B, RNC, something by dbx...

the music I play is mainly rock n roll, but my style varies; ( influences are springsteen, libertines, neil young, dylan). My voice sounds a bit like dylan's. In singing I tend to have quite rapidly appearing (and disappearing) peaks, which is what I want to get rid off, with minimal colouring of the sound.... are any of these compressor/limiters are best suited to my application... Are there any obvious main differences between any of these compressors that would help me choose?
 
It'll smoke an RNC but costs 4x as much, and dbx stuff I've used (I've "used" a Distressor at a friend's studio and it is great and very versatile but I don't have extensive experience with one). The P1 is capable of much cleaner compression at much deeper levels than the RNC. Having said that, the RNC is great for the money but doesn't handle bass well.

The P1 is mainly a vocal compressor / limiter, with a good preamp / D.I. to boot. The compression is very unique in how it handles material, and when Robert says "stealth" he really means it. Used within reason, the P1 is a very natural and musical comp without nasty side effects.

The limiter is crazy good and works in a "look ahead" manner without latency (it senses how loud and how fast a signal is approaching threshold and reduces the signal before nasty clipping, and it does it very fast).

The P1 is also my go to on bass guitar, again that comp / limiter just keeps everything at the surface without adding nastiness. Same goes for kick drum.

dbx stuff to me always tended to sound very obvious, the overeasy compression being somewhat of a soft comp but still getting squishy.

Give Robert a call / email, he's in W. Yorkshire building those things.

Can't advise on Tubetech, maybe someone else here can.

War
 
I hadn't realised at all but that Safesound office/workshop is about 20 minutes' drive from where I live! :)
 
noisedude said:
I hadn't realised at all but that Safesound office/workshop is about 20 minutes' drive from where I live! :)
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That's a beautiful area, the hills.

War
 
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