What Compressor should i get?

B

bradthefattest

New member
I have an Aardvark direct Pro Q10 and love it. But I am starting to record other bands quite a bit, and one thing i have been holding off on but now really need is a compressor. I will mainly be using it for drums, snare and kick. Maybe on vocals some also. So i will need a 2 channel compressor, or 2 single channel ones. The question is which should I get? i dont have a big price range, but it is variable. also, are the just limiters? because that I think would get the job i need done, and i assume cost less than a compressor. All i really am wanting to do is stop things from clipping when recording. I can compress with a plug-in after it is recorded as long as it doesnt clip I am happy.
 
Interestingly enough, the prevailing state of comps and limiters actually goes against your current logic.


You can get very decent . . . even good compressors pretty inexpensively these days.

Good, usable peak limiters, on the other hand, tend to be quite pricey. There are some out there, but most sound pretty bad when hit hard. The only decent, affordable rack / hardware limiter I can think of is the Aphex Dominator -- and even that might be more than you're willing to spend. Good, reasonably-priced software plugin limiters are in abundance, but unfortunately, they won't do anything to prevent clipping whilst you track. :D
 
Yo Fat of the Fattest:

Get an RNC == not much to buy and a really remarkable product.

Since I got mine, I mostly turn it on and hit the "nice compressor" button and let it do its thing.

Runs around 175 pezzutos and is well worth it.

Green Hornet

PS I don't work for RNC.:p :p :p :D :cool:
 
Personally, I don't often 'compress for the effect' going in -that's just a working style preference, but on the other hand almost never feel the need to use a limiter for clip protection -in 24 bit.
Maybe in a case where a vocal or something is going through extreme changes, stuff like that?
Maybe another way to look at it from a sort of minimalist attitude; if you're going to hang another piece of gear in the path, why not nail it all the way? But clip protection?:p
:)
Wayne
 
thanks,

hey, thanks for the suggestions, one question, the RNC isnt going to degrade quality is it, because in my opinion the mic pres on the aardvark are quite nice. also, should i plug it in before going into the mic pre, or after, because the direct pro q10 has inserts on 4 of the channels, and they are inserts in between the mic pre and the A/D conversion.
 
Re: thanks,

bradthefattest said:
hey, thanks for the suggestions, one question, the RNC isnt going to degrade quality is it, because in my opinion the mic pres on the aardvark are quite nice. also, should i plug it in before going into the mic pre, or after, because the direct pro q10 has inserts on 4 of the channels, and they are inserts in between the mic pre and the A/D conversion.
Click to expand...

The RNC efficiently provides clean and transparent signal dynamics processing and if used correctly, will not cause signal degradation nor will it contribute unwanted audio artifacts.
Basically, since the mic-pre will line-level the signal & add +db pad,
connecting the comp after the pre would appear to be wise.
 
it wont clip the mic pres if the mic sends to loud a signal into it before the compressor will it? sorry if this is a dumb question, i consider myself pretty good at recording considering my age and years of experience, and also i know a lot about computers, but the path and how audio hardware works is something i dont know about
 
I don't remember if it's ever been mentioned here...

You guys know that there's a Mercenary RNC coming out, yes?

I hear it will be called the RMFNC (seriously). It'll be BALANCED for starters...

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com
 
bradthefattest said:
it wont clip the mic pres if the mic sends to loud a signal into it before the compressor will it? sorry if this is a dumb question, i consider myself pretty good at recording considering my age and years of experience, and also i know a lot about computers, but the path and how audio hardware works is something i dont know about
Click to expand...

Since the pre's main purpose is to perform, but not limited to only impedance matching, clipping will only be caused if you send too much gain (riding faders too hi, vol ctl on instrument, etc) beyond the unit's generous "headroom" in AFL mode. The comp will then be used to maintain peak-level/limiting control signal.

In other words, you would want to maintain the tonal characteristics that the Aardvark as given the signal and control that signal's dynamics via use of the compressor.
 
Massive Master said:
I don't remember if it's ever been mentioned here...

You guys know that there's a Mercenary RNC coming out, yes?

I hear it will be called the RMFNC (seriously). It'll be BALANCED for starters...

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the dual mono Fletcherized Mercenary edition?


I can't wait!


SoMm
 
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