DAW Project Studio Compressors/Limiters

mark4man

mark4man

MoonMix Studios
Crowd,

Sorry if this post overlaps others which are similar, but I need some feedback from the mastering brains on the purchase of a hardware limiter (or compressor/limiter) for my studio.

For me, it's now down to a choice between a plug-in/dsp suite (probably UAD-1 Studio) or one of the following hardware pieces:

A.R.T. Pro VLA
Aphex 323
Aphex 720
dbx DDP
dbx 1066
Drawmer ADX100
Drawmer DL241 XLR
Drawmer MX30
PreSonus CL44
TC Works Finalizer Express

I know this topic kind of skirts the bounds of custom preferences, but I'm looking for a *transparent as possible* RMS boost for my mixes (not in your face loud, but comparable to "lively" name label contemporary releases.) It's pre-mastering time; & any feedback on the above gear (or additional gear recommendations) will be appreciated.

Thanks,

mark4man
 
Out of all of those I sincerely feel you will be best served by the FMR "RNC"... it has the clearest audio of any of the units mentioned.

Best of luck with the search.
 
Fletcher,

Thanks.

How transparent is it (the RNC)?

& they say (at their own site) it's noisy. Not to worry?

Thanks again,

mark4man
 
mark4man said:
Fletcher,

Thanks.

How transparent is it (the RNC)?

& they say (at their own site) it's noisy. Not to worry?

Thanks again,

mark4man
Click to expand...
You're confusing the RNC and the RNP. The RNC (their compressor) is not noisy and it's very transparent. The RNP (their preamp) is a little noisy at the highest gain levels, but it's really not a problem in most situations.
 
Also it depends on what mic(s) you plan on using... for example, the RNP wouldn't be my first choice for mics like the Shure SM57 or Sennheiser MD421 and etc... and if you are just looking for something to bump-up the whole level of your CD's you might want to checkout the TC Finalizer... I don't know about the cheaper Express tho. I recommend checking out the Alesis Masterlink.
 
DJL said:
Also it depends on what mic(s) you plan on using... for example, the RNP wouldn't be my first choice for mics like the Shure SM57 or Sennheiser MD421 and etc... and if you are just looking for something to bump-up the whole level of your CD's you might want to checkout the TC Finalizer... I don't know about the cheaper Express tho. Also checkout the Alesis Masterlink.
Click to expand...
He's talking about adding compression to the final mixes, not individual tracks. The RNC that Fletcher suggested would be a very good, low-priced choice.

I've used the Finalizer with good to terrible results, depending on the source.

The Waves computer Mastering bundle is pretty good, but the L1 mastering module is too destructive for my tastes; haven't heard the L2. The Isotope Ozone Mastering suite is far smoother in my opinion, and less destructive.
 
I have a bunch of RNC's because I love them... but I recommend he checks out the Alesis Masterlink. Ozone is good, so is Samplitude Master.
 
DJL,

Thanks, man.

Tell me about the Masterlink!

I have been considering going with that piece for a while now; & was actually hoping it could cure two mastering ills.

One is that when I bounce a 24/96 DAW project to .wav; & then downsample & perform bit rate conversion downward to 16/44.1 in WaveLab (even w/ Dither), it sounds like I'm loosing some room reflections and resonance from my reverb on the vocals. I thought maybe I could recapture the 24/96 mix at 16/44.1 in the Masterlink.

The second is the limiter function in the Masterlink. How does that work/sound? (It's not across the inputs, right?)

I think I may be getting somewhere, now.

Thanks,

mark4man

BTW - Thanks Harvey, also.
 
The Alesis Masterlink works great... we have 4 of them at our recording facility (4 studio complex)... check one out, I think you'll like it.
 
DJL,

Thanks, man.

If I just want to bounce a 24/96 mix out of the DAW & recapture it at 16/44.1 w/ the Masterlink...how are the A/D converters?

mark4man
 
Masterlink!!

If you're really doing just pre-mastering, and sending the material out to a mastering house, you don't want to compress anything... that just limits their ability to work with your material. Don't master before sending it out to be mastered... You just need the most accurate means of getting the source material to them... just what the masterlink was designed for...
 
i've used the waves bundle and its pretty nice. the L2 on it works really well for a buss limiter. however, i don't really like to compress the final project too much. I'm not keen on using too much of a buss limiter. i think it just makes the whole project too loud and gets rid of dynamics. i prefer to compress individual tracks just enough so that the whole mix is smooth.

with that said i think the RNC is a good option. i have one and i really like it. the waves bundle is also pretty expensive.
 
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