JoeMeek VC6Q Question

[ShaneSelby]

I just picked up a Joemeek at Mars music today. The reduced the price of the VC6Q to $299. I was a bit dissapointed in the manual. It is very thin and not very informative. Does anyone have any experience on this unit. I am a beginer when it comes to compression and would like some settings to start out with on the Joemeek. I am mainly using it for vocals and acoustic guitar. Also what are some good settings to get a nice warm vocal and guitar sounds with the EQ? Thanks

[VotaIdiota]

The most important thing I think I can tell you regarding this unit is to be CAREFUL with the compressor.... You can easily put in 10-20 db of gain reduction before you even notice... and by then it's too late..... this happened to me before, and we had recorded several tracks already that way, and then we had to go and redo them all over again..
I would suggest keeping the compressor around 2:1 or below, and if you absolutely HAVE to (big rock guitar outro or something), 3:1. I tried 10:1 once and it was just one straight line. Keep the compressor knob below 6, and put the attack as high as it can go (11 ms). 250 ms is slow enough for release, so you can keep it around there. That should hopefully give you some nice compression, but nothing too drastic. Eq-wise, I keep the Low flat, add about 1 or 2 db on the highs, and about 2 db at around 3k on the mid (be careful though, if you have a sibilant singer this will get REAL harsh).
For acoustic guitar, I would turn the compressor knob to like 3, the ratio at 1.2:1, and the attack as slow as possible and around 500 ms on the release. Of course, you may not want to add any of the compressor at all.
Hope this helped you out some. Remember, I'm still learning it as well, so don't take EVERYTHING I say as concrete truth.

[ShaneSelby]

Thanks for the advise. I got it hooked up last night and started playing with it. I had to really slam the gains in order to see the compressor working. As for hearing it, not yet, I had to monitor it through headphones due to it being 2am and I live in an apartment. When I adjusted my levels to a optimal level (a bit in the orange) the compressor lights never budged. Do you have the same thing happen with yours? Is this how it was designed?

[Paul881]

Check out the excellent article on compression written by the editor of ProRec:

http://prorec.com/prorec/articles.ns...25661000745390

[VotaIdiota]

How loud are you playing the guitar and singing? In case you haven't noticed yet, there is one glaring error in the meek's manual.... the "output" meter lights do not measure the output of the compressor.... rather, they measure how loud the input going into the compressor is.....
I always kept the output knob at about -10, as I was using the meek to mic rather loud amps... I would turn the input gain up just enough to that the first orange light on the compressor (-3) would come on every now and then, and the second orange light would come on once in a great while (mainly on peaks). This got me enough of a color, and if I needed any more compressing on the track, I would just use a software plug-in on it in mixdown.
So yeah, you do have to turn the input gain up a bit for the compressor to really kick in. But be careful not to peak the preamp, and unless you REALLY want that kind of squished sound, make sure you don't light anymore than two of the orange lights on the gain reduction meter. If you want a relatively clear compressed signal, raise the ratio but keep the compression knob low, or if you want a nice kind of mid-rangey flavor, crank the compressor to 11 and keep the ratio around 2:1.

[dobro]

VotaIdiota - when you advise keeping the Compressor Knob down to 2 or 3, you're talking about the Slope knob, right? The small one just to the left of the Attack and Release knobs? I never put it above 3:1. But the big compressor knob called 'Compressor' - I've got that one up around 6 a lot of the times, and the waveforms aren't squashed too much at all.

Oh,and...

"I was a bit dissapointed in the manual. It is very thin and not very informative."

You're a master of understatement. It's the lousiest manual I've ever seen. It's incomplete, inaccurate, and on one page, a sentence ends mid-sentence, and is never completed. I emailed them with questions and they never replied. I think the word we're looking for here is 'sucks'.

[ShaneSelby]

Yes, I agree, I underexpressed my true feelings about the manual. IT SUCKED BIG TIME!! You would figure that such a great piece of gear would have a manual that atleast completed sentences and didnt have gramatic errors. Regardless the VC6Q is great so I could care less about the it.

[charger]

Hey Alan, I'm a tech writer, I'll update all your manuals for a free C1!

[VotaIdiota]

Dobro.... I just gave those settings cause it seemed like on an acoustic, you wouldn't want this thing to be kicking in too often. I like turning the input gain up higher, just below the peak light showing up, so there's a stronger signal overall hitting the compressor, which is then just barely touching the peaks. Although for my stuff (more rock guitar and what not), I have no problem turning the compressor knob over 5 and going into 3:1 ratio and above. Just depends on the application. And I'm from the compressor as a safety net school anyways.... I do most of my compressing within the computer, unless I really want that "green" sound from the get go.

[Henrik]

I have the VC6Q as well, and I really like it. I generally like to compress stuff more than Votaidiota advises, but I think his settings will give you a good base for further exploration. When I track bass through it, I compress it ridicilously and add 4-6 dB on the bass filter.

The compressor has a mind of its own, and it can sometimes be a bit unpredictable. So in one way, if you're just learning about compression, this unit may not be the best one to learn on. What you see isn't necessarily what you get. For instance, it sometimes lets through peaks that will make your converters beg for mercy, when no other compressor set the same way would. You just live with it.

But hey - like Joemeek themselves like to put it - if it sounds good, it IS good. And boy, it sounds good.

Good luck
/Henrik

[TexRoadkill]

I wouldnt recomend tracking with anything lower than a 3.1 ratio. Why would you want to squash everything more than that when going to tape? 1.2 - 1? There is no dynamics there at all! Save that type of heavy compression for during the mix.

[Paul881]

I use Home Sudio 2002 (Sonar "Lite") and their compressor has a 0 to 100 scale for compression instead of ratio.

What would a 3:1 ratio equate to in that scale?

[VotaIdiota]

Originally posted by TexRoadkill
I wouldnt recomend tracking with anything lower than a 3.1 ratio. Why would you want to squash everything more than that when going to tape? 1.2 - 1? There is no dynamics there at all! Save that type of heavy compression for during the mix.

Ummm, you mean the other way around, right? Cause tracking at 1.2:1 ratio is hardly any compressor at all......

[Gidge]

2:1 isnt much compression at all ..... 1.2 wouldnt even be worth doing.....

[VotaIdiota]

Originally posted by Gidge
2:1 isnt much compression at all ..... 1.2 wouldnt even be worth doing.....

I know.... what can I say, I just like to barely use the compressor when tracking....
Granted, this may all just be an extreme reaction from when we recorded in a MAJOR hurry over christmas break.... when we recorded the drums, weren't really paying attention to how much we had cranked the preamps, and ended up making the RNC do 8-12 db gain reduction WHILE TRACKING!!!

[Gidge]

all you are doing with 1.2:1 is added unwanted distortion and not helping the sound any...skip the compressor completely - 1 less link in the chain.....less links = less noise......

[VotaIdiota]

If you don't knock it off gidge, I'm going to knock that silly grin right off your face!


FINE, 2:1! THERE!

[dobro]

He's still grinning, but only half as much...

[TexRoadkill]

Are we talking about the same thing here? All compressors I've used the ratio is the highest sound to the lowest. Of course the threshold plays a big part but generally a low ratio is a lot of compression while a high ratio is very little compression.

Does the Meek do something different here?

[TexRoadkill]

Oops,Nevermind. Realized my mistake. I need to get more sleep these days.

[chessparov]

FWIW, I like to use between 3 and 5 ms for "attack" and a 1/2 second for "release"
on vocals. Usually dialing the "compression" knob to between 6 and 7.
Also using between 2:1 (ballads) and 3:1 (uptempo songs) for ratio. (<6db reduction)

P.S. I seem to get better results by cutting EQ before it hits the compressor,
and then doing any EQ additions after compression as that makes the
compressor work less.

[VotaIdiota]

yeah, lately I've been more keen on cutting the meequalizer out of the track altogether..... now I only use it for an effect, like for when I want a really bad vocal distortion sound.... get our singer to cup a beta 58, yell, and boost 1.6k by about 8 db and cut everything else by that much.

[alanhyatt]

Originally posted by charger
Hey Alan, I'm a tech writer, I'll update all your manuals for a free C1!

I don't make the Meek stuff, so you have to work that deal with England. The manuals are a bit weak, but everytime I mention that, I get the same reply...It's British! So I stopped asking

Alan Hyatt

[Paul881]

Hey, Alan, as a Brit I'll cut you a deal. You yanks can come and write our manuals.......and we'll show you how to implement proper vote counting for your next Presidential elections