more compression advice....

[k bucks]

hello all,
i'm looking around for a new compressor and have become overwhelmed by the variety. if anyone would throw a few suggestions my way, it would be greatly appreciated. i record pop rock, folky rock and traditional music and i'm mainly interested in getting more control over vocals and drums. for vocals, i use a marshal v69 through a sytek mxp-4a into a DAW or tape machine (if its working) by way of an alesis studio 24. i cant really go over $1000 and i've already spent too much on the other equipment to buy really cheap stuff, so i guess that leaves me around the $400-$600 range. any ideas?

[Quantagee]

Originally Posted by k bucks

hello all,
i'm looking around for a new compressor and have become overwhelmed by the variety. if anyone would throw a few suggestions my way, it would be greatly appreciated. i record pop rock, folky rock and traditional music and i'm mainly interested in getting more control over vocals and drums. for vocals, i use a marshal v69 through a sytek mxp-4a into a DAW or tape machine (if its working) by way of an alesis studio 24. i cant really go over $1000 and i've already spent too much on the other equipment to buy really cheap stuff, so i guess that leaves me around the $400-$600 range. any ideas?

I would think that an RNC would do you fine.I could be wrong, but it is a stereo 2 channel compressor that has a great design topology. It is priced well below it's worth.

I ,myself, have 5 Alesis 3630 compressors because I bought one, and four more people brought them over to my house to record. They forgot to take them back when they left. I just keep collecting them and someday when they become vintage I will sell them on eBay.

I would not suggest a 3630, I would like to see you get an RNC. That is what my friends say over at Harmony Central. I believe them.

[SonicAlbert]

Do you want to buy new or used?

If you want to buy new, then the main game in town at your price point is the RNC, as has already been suggested. An interesting pairing would be to get an RNC and an ART PRO VLA. That would cover a lot of bases and stay within your budget.

If buying used doesn't bother you, then there are more possibilities. I personally like Aphex Expressors very much. I have four of them and they are going quite cheap on eBay these days. A couple might run you in the $400-500 range. I'm also fond of the older DBX compressors, like the 160X. I also think that the TLA (and HHB when they were rebadging them) Ivory compressors are not bad for the money.

But in your budget I personally would probably go for an RNC and an ART PRO VLA. That gives you four channels of compression and some tonal variety.

[k bucks]

are the RNC's quiet? i've got a nanocompressor that i had to stop using because it was way too noisy. and i think i dropped it.

[k bucks]

......oh, and used stuff is almost prefered. i'll check out those names on ebay. some of the dbx stuffs looks nice, but i've read that their cheaper and newer models are a risk.

[formerlyfzfile]

I agree with sonicalbert.

I have 2 RNCs and a VLA along with some others and they are a good combo.

The RNC for clean and smooth and the VLA for more "colored" stuff.

The VLA is deffinitely better than the RNC for bassy stuff like kick and bass guitar. The RNC excels with vox in supernice and is good on snare and overheads.

I prefer the VLA on guitar only because IF I compress a guitar track I tend to want it to be obvious and generally do it for color.

Definitely do yourself a favor and lose the nonocompressor ...... gut it and use it as a stashbox of something.

You cant get any cleaner than the RNC for the money anf the VLA is pretty darn quiet too and the combo of the two would give you a nice versitile 4 channel pallet of compression within your price range, as sonicalbert suggested.

Actually you could get 2 RNC's in a Funk Logic rack from Mercenary for $385 and a VLA for $300 from Musicians Friend. A little more than your range but either way, with one of each ..... you cant go wrong.

-mike

[fraserhutch]

Originally Posted by k bucks

are the RNC's quiet? i've got a nanocompressor that i had to stop using because it was way too noisy. and i think i dropped it.

Very quiet. The nanocompressor is not even remotedly in the same league IMHO.

[k bucks]

thanks for the info. i'll probably pick some of those items up. by the way, is there a difference between the ART Pro VLA and the ART Pro VLA (model 212), the latter is cheaper at zzounds.com by about 30 bucks.

[SonicAlbert]

I think they are both the same thing. 212 is the model number for the PRO VLA, and zzounds listed it and the other place didn't. I think Musician's Friend also has good prices on the PRO VLA. Don't go by the web site, they send out a catalog and it's listed cheaper in the catalog. It's either $239 or $269, I forget which.

The RNC is a pro quality unit, in a totally different league than the Nanocompressor. Don't sweat that.

Regarding the DBX stuff, I like their older gear. For example, the 160X and 160XT are examples of the older pro units, along with the more pricey 160Vu and 162. The 266, 166, for example are the newer less good units. Some people say the newer 160A is nt as good as the older 160X/XT units.

[Dogman]

I use an RNC. Nice, quiet and easy to use. Probably others do the same, just my $1.82.

[bigtoe]

"i'm mainly interested in getting more control over vocals and drums."

dbx 161's can be had in your price range and are great for controlling dynamics. i think they sound 'better' in these applications than the VLA or the RNC or, like Sonic Albert said, the other dbx stuff...though the RNC on a snare sub is really good to my ears.

later-
Mike