Do I need a great compressor to get a pro sound?

Y

yetipur

New member
Is it necessary to have a pro compressor/leveling amplifier/limiter to acheive a "Pro" sound?
When I look at the equipment lists in professional studios, they always have really high end compressors in their racks.........

even the Beatles at Abby Road for the life of their recorded output relied on the EMI RS124 Altec compressor. It was used on every guitar track, Pauls bass, and all the tape machine reduction mixes and vocals.

WHY? I don't understand what is so important about a compressor. :confused:
 
You certainly don't need a great compressor to get a 'pro' sound - But on the other hand, it certainly doesn't hurt to have several around.

But most "great" compressors aren't responsible for 'pro' sound - They allow a 'pro' sound to actually remain that way.
 
I like to buy 'cheap' gear a lot of the time. There, I said it out loud. I don't mean Behringer, but something not SMT where I have a faint hope of repairing it. And, whether you paid $100 or $1,000 for that compressor, it has the same chance of going for a crap at the most inopportune time. Well, there is no ideal time, but that's not the point. What was the point? Oh, yeah. Often I'll Google the item I am thinking about. Now hit that 'Images' link at the top of the Google page. You would be surprised how many times a cheap piece of gear comes up in studio photos, and I read it is on the equipment list.
Want proof? I know it's crap, but bear with me. I saw in a pawnshop for next to nothing an Audio Logic MT66 compressor. I Google it. It is in the rack of literally dozens of studios. So I thought for a couple of bucks, give it a shot. It actually works. Is it a Drawmer? Of course not. But it's a flavor, and on kick or snare no one complains.
Vocals are a horse of a different color. I want the best I can afford, since you'd think vocals are the main focus of the song. So go wild. But for generic compressing, I have a wall of compressors that at most cost me $75 from a pawnshop or Kijiji. Or my local music store often blows out PA rental gear when it's time to rotate the equipment. Have some fun, and get one good compressor for vocals. For anything else, no one will know unless you tell them. They all have a flavor to them, although most VCA types sound similar, and have the dbx chips in them. So have a few of those, and try some cheap tube/Vactrol types like ART, Carvin, heck, try a Maxon RCP660. You may discover your own sound.
 
I have an Alesis 3630 ($100), two Boss RCL-10 ($150 ea) and two Summit TLA-100's ($1,300 ea).

The Alesis is ok but not great, I had 3 and sold 1 and gave 1 away. The Boss' look like garbage but actually aren't bad, and the Summits are great tube units I keep patched right after my mic pre.

I'd say they are all worth the prices they cost.

The cheapos are good for a snare or guitar but don't sound right, to my ears, used after the mic pre when recorded. I only use the cheapos on a recorded track. They are really totally different animals than the Summit.

I read that Phil Collins' vocal sound was a Beyer M88 through a cheap compressor (guessing DBX160 ?) so it really comes down to you.

Compressors take away, so they have always been cheaper to make full bandwidth than things that add sound like reverbs and delays. For that reason cheap compressors can be good. That's what I've found anyways.

I used to take scuba lessons from a guy who was the university phys ed instructor. He had all the latest tanks, gauges, wet suits... but he used a cheap $10 yellow mask that everyone made fun of because it was the only one that fit him.

It's like that. You don't need a good anything, you just need what you need to get your music out.
 
if you have not already you should focus on getting your room sounding great first. then monitoring environment. once thats done there is no reason why you can't get a pro sound and all of the other improvements that you want to make will be worth doing.

all the compressors in the world would not have mattered if it sounded like crap inside of Abbey Road
 
dintymoore said:
I have an Alesis 3630 ($100), two Boss RCL-10 ($150 ea) and two Summit TLA-100's ($1,300 ea).
Click to expand...

Somewhere, someone claimed the 3630 was an unabashed dbx copy. And the weird part is somewhere else (I think it was a Sound on Sound magazine), Rob Urry gave an interview and stated the project 1 dbx 266 was an answer to the cheap 3630 stealing sales away from dbx. Even more inbreeding pops up when you look inside my cheap Audio Logic MT66. It looks like a dbx, the panel layout copies dbx, and sounds like other dbx units I have. Inside it also has quality controls stickers signed by whomever did certain stages of the build, and a DOD sticker. Now AKG bought dbx, and then Harmon bought AKG around the same time (early 1990's). Harmon is also DOD. Simple, right? So in my twisted mind, I have a budget dbx compressor. I have other dbx units, but this budget one works as well as any other, anlthough it just gets used on bass and drums.
I would also think of the 3630 as a cheap dbx knockoff, and I have been meaning to grab one off of eBay just to find out. They go for so little $$$ it would seem crazy not to have one, but then my question would be how many VCA compressors do I need? And the answer; one more ;)!
The Boss RCL-10 seems kinda cheezy to me. I hate Boss noise gates to begin with, and the RCL-10 tends to hum and buzz with poorly filtered power supplies. I just don't like 1/3rd rack units that use a wall-wart. It just seems like a guitar pedal that wants to be a rack effect. All apollogies to the RNC.
Now the Distressor seems cool. At first just two knobs bugged me, but it looks so cool I wish I could own one. So you just have a few switches and no variables. Big deal. That would be my 'good' compressor for vocals, for certain. My sour graping for not getting one? They're single channel (yeah, yeah, for vocal you only need one channel), and they're $2K at Sweetwater. Don't even suggest the DCL-200. It's solid state, and way over $3K.
Oh, read what second skin wrote ten times over and over. Only spend on a compressor (or mic, or pre, or.....) what you spend sound-proofing your room.
 
yetipur said:
Is it necessary to have a pro compressor/leveling amplifier/limiter to acheive a "Pro" sound?
Click to expand...

In a word... Yes!

But pro can mean many things. That is, we use many things some people might not consider pro, but in the right hands it will do things it can't in the wrong hands. ;)
 
ranjam I agree with you that the Boss RCL-10's are cheeseballs for sure! ... with the different colored knobs and all, but honestly I prefer them over the Alesis 3630's... they sound better to me and I never had any noise from them unless I did something stupid. It's one of those things I'm embarrassed to still have in my rack. Amazing they've worked perfect with no repairs since about 1986.

I read somewhere that the Alesis used VCA's that were licensed from DBX.

But in the end, I'm sure you could make a great record without a compressor, and the compressors on Cubase, even Cubase LE, which is as close to free as you can get, are amazingly good.
 
I believe it was Craig Anderton who said the best compressor in the world for vocals was absolutely free, but came with no manual and had a steep learning curve. It was good microphone techinique. To expect your singer to have it, and your bass player to have awesome techinique, and your drummer to have awesome techinique is asking a lot. But to use a compressor isn't an excuse for lazy technique. I borrow or rent a lot of rack gear just to try it out. Sometimes I don't give it a fair assessment because I am busy with other things and have to take that piece back before I really run it through its paces. And styles and tastes change, so I may borrow or rent it again later and like it. No one I know has a 3630 to let me borrow and try out, but a friend does have a Yamaha GC2020 that has my name on it. I just can't bring myself to going to pick it up and try it, though.
I know I am going off on a tangent, so stop me now. Do you need a great compressor to get a pro sound? No, but you need a good compressor, unless everyone has flawless technique, or you have eight arms and can ride levels all through the mastering process.
 
Philosophy aside, limiting and compression are absolutely neccessary for a modern sound. Luckily you can do it on the computer for a fraction of the cost of a hardware unit. It's not quite as good as great hardware but it willl get you 90% of the way there.
 
TexRoadkill said:
Philosophy aside, limiting and compression are absolutely neccessary for a modern sound. Luckily you can do it on the computer for a fraction of the cost of a hardware unit. It's not quite as good as great hardware but it willl get you 90% of the way there.
Click to expand...
That and Autotune... for those looking for a genuine modern sound... Blaechkhhhhh!!!

Seriously... the compressor can be the most important component in shaping the overall feel of the recording... as subjective as that can be... Or can have absolutely nothing to do with it, just keeping levels in check...
 
ranjam said:
Somewhere, someone claimed the 3630 was an unabashed dbx copy.
Click to expand...

More along the lines of a Fostex 3070...the 3070 is something that seems to effect just the dynamics and not a bunch of the artifacts you get from a cheapo compressor...
Just like anything else...you get what you pay for.

I have a Fostex 3070...2 DBX160s the 160s are used between the preamps and the recorder for the drum mics...the Fostex 3070 is in the mastering rack.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
More along the lines of a Fostex 3070...the 3070 is something that seems to effect just the dynamics and not a bunch of the artifacts you get from a cheapo compressor...
Just like anything else...you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

I have never owned, borrowed, or even seen a 3070, but a Google search shows me they look more like that Yamaha I still cannot see myself taking the time to go pick up. Now I'm curious. Still, it's one more name to look out for. Thanks for the tip! How many VCA compressors do I need? Just one more! :p
 
a rack compressor

i grab a compressor and im tring to connect it to my m-audio preamp interface but i don't know where to star my preamp has 2 channels and the mic in the left channel and Im trying to accomplish the compressor to be ran through the direct monitor so i can monitor as i recored and when i hook it up through the output it compresses things like the whole entire track so what should i do ?
 
treofspades said:
i grab a compressor and im tring to connect it to my m-audio preamp interface but i don't know where to star my preamp has 2 channels and the mic in the left channel and Im trying to accomplish the compressor to be ran through the direct monitor so i can monitor as i recored and when i hook it up through the output it compresses things like the whole entire track so what should i do ?
Click to expand...
Explain your problem more betterer
 
while i have a computer with a preamp ran through usb in the back and all my
music comes out of the back of the preamps output channel (which come out the studio speakers) so when i recored it effects the whole channel instead of just my voice how can i single out my voice usein the preamp hook directly up to the compresser
can somone please help im tryin to optimize my sound
 
I think I get it.
  1. You run a mic into an interface.
  2. The interface goes through to your USB connection on your soundcard.
  3. You are monitoring 'everything else' as you add vocal overdubs.
  4. You want to add compression to the vocals only.
  5. Now everything is getting compressed, and not just the vocals.
I think you have two problems. You are monitoring through the computer speakers or some other 'live' monitors, and your vocal mic picks up everything, and everything is run through the compressor! Sollution? Hardware monitoring (turn off the speakers) via headphones. Secondly, you should have a preamp to run your compressor. Not many compressors I know run better (or at all) from instrument levels. They work better, and have less noise, with line level signals. Get any preamp and try it. Even a cheap ART Tube MP. Don't spend serious $$$ until you know you need it.
If I'm right, I want a gold star. If I'm completely off base as to your 'problem', remember what you paid for this wonderful advice. ;)
 
Regardless of the unit that you buy to fill the compression space, make sure you read the manual. Have a clear idea of the sound that you want to achieve and experiment with the unit to taste.

So many times I've heard people with very expensive compression hardware complain about how it doesn't sound "good". "Good" is in the eye of the beholder - know your equipment!

Pro gear doesn't make good recordings. Pros themselves make good recordings.
 
tuttlem said:
Regardless of the unit that you buy to fill the compression space, make sure you read the manual. Have a clear idea of the sound that you want to achieve and experiment with the unit to taste.

So many times I've heard people with very expensive compression hardware complain about how it doesn't sound "good". "Good" is in the eye of the beholder - know your equipment!

Pro gear doesn't make good recordings. Pros themselves make good recordings.
Click to expand...

said that 3 weeks ago, great gear helps though
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top