what is the best compressor/limiter???

Joel Hamilton said:
Let the limiter section get hit really, really hard, with the compressor section set really slow... just slow enough to keep the cymbals from turning into a lashing ball of pumping barbed wire....

I LOVE the way the diode limiter on the output clips. The 501 can just be CRANKED all the way up, then put something else (another compressor) after it to trim it back to level. Totally the poor man's distressor. I actually have used the symetrix for years to distort and compress... even before anyone said the word "distressor."
Click to expand...

Yes, the distortion is very musical with those compressors! Thanks for sharing the technique! Im gonna try that...
 
Glad to see another DBX 903 user here, I love mine. I have a couple of the silver sided versions, which I like a bit better than the newer ones. I also have a few 904 gates and 905 eq's, all of which I like the sound of.
 
I just went downstairs to check stock in the warehouse here where I work.

My boss has a Symetrix 501 sitting in an old rack in the warehouse here. Just collecting dust.

I'm gonna see if he'll trade it for my 3630.

He'll get two channels for one!!!

:D :D :D :D :D


;)
 
The 903 is(from what I can tell) a 160xt in the lunchbox single channel size.Yeah, I use it almost exclusively on kick drum.It adds a nice low end thump. I also have the 905 EQ's and love em...Also in my 900 rack are two Aphex Compellors and two Aphex Expressors. Colorless and odorless compression . THESE are the real deal towards that BIGness.The 900 racks are still the best value in outboard gear left out there in the market. So lets not tell anyone.
 
I have two 900 racks, not quite full yet. Once you've sprung for the 900 lunchbox it really is very cost effective to add the modules as you need them. I've got:

903 x2 (silver sided)
904 x4
905 x2
929 x2
Aphex Expressor x4
Aphex Aural Exciter 9001 x2
BBE 702 Maximizer

The modules that are *really* hard to find are those BBE 702's.
 
now to add a question to this thread;

i only worked with low budget and some midrange equipment,
i can really hear big differences in 'compression sound',
but i wonder, when you work with extreme high quality equipment,
en you use machines of thouuuuuuuuuuuusands of euro's, where do you here the sonical difference, i mean, how much "better" can a $10 000 be than a $2000 compressor?
if i would have to compare a Samson Scom with a DBX 160x then i'd describe the samson as a low-cut-filter that eats away all the 'bottom' of your music, and the dbx adds some punch and doesn't thin the sound out that much..

but i would also dare to describe the Samson comp as 'junk'...
you can't say that about $2000 machines, but why is there equipment that even costs ten times more than that? it must be magical then, no?
 
I am recommending a Condensor mic to a lady. Is there a good but very inexpensive preamp with reverb and compresor included ? Thanks
 
earworm said:
now to add a question to this thread;

i only worked with low budget and some midrange equipment,
i can really hear big differences in 'compression sound',
but i wonder, when you work with extreme high quality equipment,
en you use machines of thouuuuuuuuuuuusands of euro's, where do you here the sonical difference, i mean, how much "better" can a $10 000 be than a $2000 compressor?
if i would have to compare a Samson Scom with a DBX 160x then i'd describe the samson as a low-cut-filter that eats away all the 'bottom' of your music, and the dbx adds some punch and doesn't thin the sound out that much..

but i would also dare to describe the Samson comp as 'junk'...
you can't say that about $2000 machines, but why is there equipment that even costs ten times more than that? it must be magical then, no?
Click to expand...

The thing about great gear is that it doesnt take as many tricks to make it do something pleasing. You have to even know what to listen for, or of course you would just think the 2500 dollar comp is a "ripoff" compared to the Dbx 160A. Knowing why, and when, and how to use a really amazing compressor is WAY more important than anything else to do with compression. Knowing WHY, and with what compressor, because of the sonic "fingerprint" it imparts on any given source, is a huge part of this craft. The same reason there are a million mic choices: every one of them, cheap or expensive, will be the perfect choice for SOMETHING, and YOU have to decide when, and why, and how....

The "best compressor" really is the one you can afford, and the one you learn to use for everything, and make it work.
The really expensive compressors I use every day dont do anything without me (usually), and even with a half a million dollars worth of compression patched up, I still almost always have a symetrix 501 and a dbx 160XT on something.....
 
maestro_dmc said:
I just went downstairs to check stock in the warehouse here where I work.

My boss has a Symetrix 501 sitting in an old rack in the warehouse here. Just collecting dust.

I'm gonna see if he'll trade it for my 3630.

He'll get two channels for one!!!

:D :D :D :D :D


;)
Click to expand...

He took the trade people. I'm stoked.

Joel, have you tried both the "toggle switch" model 501, and the "push button" version?

Mine is push button. It sounds dang spanky on bass to me. I was wondering why someone here said it's not even the same compressor.
 
maestro_dmc said:
He took the trade people. I'm stoked.

Joel, have you tried both the "toggle switch" model 501, and the "push button" version?

Mine is push button. It sounds dang spanky on bass to me. I was wondering why someone here said it's not even the same compressor.
Click to expand...

People talk about the "push button Vs the toggle switch" one all the time. The fact seems to be this: After owning about 9 of these oer the years...

There are better and worse ones, and it seems to be due to the VCA that is in the thing, not anything else. The toggle switch ones had a couple of revisions (using both types of VCA) and so did the push button ones, again, both types of VCA were found in a couple of them I have WITH the button.

It is just like the Ashly SC50 compressor: people will claim revision differences that are "better" or "worse" or "fatter" or whatever.

Whatever.

Glad you got one. They work really well for certain things.
 
Speaking of compression...

Can anyone point out a thread here or know of a website that has some basic/advanced information on how to use a compressor properly. Thanks in advance.
 
Adobian said:
Is there a good but very inexpensive preamp with reverb and compresor included ? Thanks
Click to expand...
There's no such thing........... reverbs are reverbs and preamps are preamps - two different animals..........
 
SonicAlbert said:
I have two 900 racks, not quite full yet. Once you've sprung for the 900 lunchbox it really is very cost effective to add the modules as you need them. I've got:

903 x2 (silver sided)
904 x4
905 x2
929 x2
Aphex Expressor x4
Aphex Aural Exciter 9001 x2
BBE 702 Maximizer

The modules that are *really* hard to find are those BBE 702's.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me some more about these? I've seen them on eBay every now and again. Are they still available new or do you have to hunt them down on the used market? Feel free to reply in here or in PM, whichever you'd like. Thanks.
 
The Symetrix (I know, I know) SX206 (multi dynamics processor) and SX208 (stereo compressor/limiter) are also both very decent and usable. Discontinued, but available quite reasonably on E-Bay. Cheaper than a 501. Check them out here:

http://www.symetrixaudio.com/index.php?Show=11

Provides manuals and specs for all Symetrix gear, including discontinued models. Basically, anything in the SX line was built well and is pretty usable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top