What's the best compressor?

[melodiousmonk]

I've been using the software compressors inside GarageBand (don't say it! i'm upgrading VERY soon) on my tracks and it seems to help a little but it doesn't sound very good and I loose the really good sound in the recording when I turn it up even a little. So I researched online and found an article that said software compressors suck and you have to use a hardware one to do it right. I saw the Behringer MDX2600 Composer Pro-XL Compressor on musician's friend and it sounded good but I still need advice. What compressor do you use and what is a really good one for a somewhat modest budget. And does anyone have this Behringer and want to comment about it? Thanks everybody!

[Simman]

Use the search tool... This topic has been covered about 1 million times.

[Warhead]

The Safe Sound Audio P1 (mono channel strip) is my go to compressor / limiter for tracking vocals as it is extremely transparent and has a good preamp onboard as well. The Behringer (stereo) would get the job done, but you're asking what's the best without giving us a budget (you say modest). The Behringer is certainly not without "artifacts" or signs of processing being apparent in your signal.

Those little RNC compressors aren't bad if you're on the cheap, and are miles away from the Behringer stuff and I'm assuming in your price range.

War

[melodiousmonk]

Warhead, what kind of price are we talking about with the safe sound audio p1? I looked on musiciansfriend and couldn't find it. My modest budget is no more than 500 bucks and preferably around $200.

[Track Rat]

I wouldn't mind a Distressor.
http://www.mercenary.com/emlabdismode.html

[SonicAlbert]

Quick reply on the hardware compressor: RNC made by FMR.

Longer reply:

Part of your issues in Garage Band may be how you are using the compressors. What a lot of people do in software is put a compressor on every track. What you might want to do is set up your software compressors more like how they would be used in hardware.

In other words, buss your tracks to a track that has a compressor on it. So for example, you might buss any bass and drum tracks to the same compressor track. Likewise, rhythm guitars all might get bussed to one stereo track that has a compressor on it. I'm not even sure if Garage Band allows for this kind of routing, but it would be worth your looking into it and experimenting.

There are good software compressors, but I doubt Garage Band ships with them as standard. I like the Sonalksis SV-315 compressor a lot. You may also be able to find various free AU compressors to try out as well. Check around on osxaudio.com.

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by Warhead

The Safe Sound Audio P1 (mono channel strip) is my go to compressor / limiter for tracking vocals as it is extremely transparent and has a good preamp onboard as well. The Behringer (stereo) would get the job done, but you're asking what's the best without giving us a budget (you say modest). The Behringer is certainly not without "artifacts" or signs of processing being apparent in your signal.

Those little RNC compressors aren't bad if you're on the cheap, and are miles away from the Behringer stuff and I'm assuming in your price range.

War

Can you use the compressor/limiter w/o the preamp?

WHens the dual compressor limiter coming out I'd be FIRST in line to try it.

Is it at least in the works

[night'schild]

I tried that compressor a year or two ago. I did not like it at all. Behringer is crappy Chinese parts with bad engineering, IMHO. Compressors are probably the hardest piece of outboard gear to find. I have found that when buying a cheap compressor you are usually going to get a bad sounding unit. This is not as true for mic pre's and eq's.

In your price range dbx 1066 ($400.00) or the dbx 166XL ($250.00) would be a good choice.

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by night'schild

This is not as true for mic pre's and eq's.

In your price range dbx 1066 ($400.00) or the dbx 166XL ($250.00) would be a good choice.

what good eq's (that are still made) that are cheap? I had a speck EQ and after the novelty wore off I was left very unimpressed. It was as good as a real good plug-in eq IMO think cambridge, sonalksis, PSP master Q etc... doesn't add that wow factor when you boost the gain and is very surgical...like a plug-in

[SonicAlbert]

Originally Posted by night'schild

Compressors are probably the hardest piece of outboard gear to find. I have found that when buying a cheap compressor you are usually going to get a bad sounding unit. This is not as true for mic pre's and eq's.

I couldn't disagree more that cheap mic pre's and eq's are better than cheap compressors. If anything, it's the opposite in my experience. I'm also interested in what you consider a good cheap hardware eq, that's still in production.

[Big Kenny]

You Can Get The Safe Sound At Front End Audio Fro $499. It Is A GReat Unit With Good Pre Amp, Great Limiter, Expander And Compressor. Definitely "big Bang For Buck"

[chessrock]

If you're okay with buying older, used stuff, there are a lot of gems to be had.

Anything that Aphex has made in the last 20 years is probably going to be very useful and excellent-sounding. The Symetrix 501 earlier toggle-switch models are ridiculously nice for the money. There's the dbx 117, 118, 119, etc. which are somewhat similar to the 160VU's and can be had for less than a hundred bucks. The Ashly's also seem to be well-regarded for certain things.

The JBL/UREI 7110 is a sleeper among sleepers ... if you happen to be lucky enough to find one for less than a couple hundred bucks.

Amongst the newer stuff, there's the RNC, of course ... Safesound P1, or the ART PRO VLA that a lot of people in the industry swear by, although I'm probably the last living human being to differ on that one. There's a few plugins that work pretty well ... namely the Waves RCL, PSP Mixpressor (a personal fave - very underrated), and the UAD-1 stuff that everyone goes crazy over.