any compressors worth looking into for mastering on the cheap

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Nathan1984

New member
Here lately I am doing a lot more work and don't wanna have to keep sending my mixes out, so I am looking into maybe buying a good outboard comp and maybe eq. I am treading water here, I don't wanna go overboard and drop 5000 on a Manley Vari-mu, I just wanna spend a few hundred and get a good master. I want it to bring my mixes to life, get me where I wanna be. I feel that without a good comp to put my mix through, my mixes seem to lack that fullness. I am thinking about getting a chameleon labs 7720. I've heard good things about it, and at 500 bucks, not bad on the wallet.
 
The CL is sort of based on the SSL4000E/G -- It's a great mix buss compressor -- It's not what I'd consider a "mastering" compressor... Keeping in mind that I *do* have a custom 4000-based unit here that gets used very, very rarely, although when it's what the mix is asking for, few other things fit that request.

All that aside -- The converters you're using are going to have an awfully big impact as well... What's currently in the rack in that regard?
 
Check out the Overstayer Stereo VCA ( the full rack unit, not their half-rack units).

Overstayer Recording Equipment - Stereo VCA Compressor

I bought mine a couple of years ago after running across huge positive reviews on Gearslutz and other sites....I mean, I don't think I read one bad comment.....and the price is great!
I was looking at other comps (API SSL) in the $2.5k range, and the Overstayer is under $1k, but will stand toe-to-toe with any of them.

Their other two half-rack comp units are also great (I have all three Overstayer models, though now they just sell the Stereo VCA and the FET half-rack)...the FET model being exceptional on drum tracks, but for the stereo bus, the Stereo VCA model just kills. It also includes an EQ section that can be taken in/out of the circuit. It's a basic low-end & high-end boost-only affair...but it can sound quite good, and in a pinch, take care of your post-comp EQ if you have no dedicated stereo-bus EQ unit.

The Stereo VCA is permanently hooked up to my console stereo bus....I have had ZERO disappointment with it.
I don't nuke with it, rather I just use it to tighten and punch up the mix, and then when I pull the mix back into my DAW, I only need to apply a touch of digital "limiting/maximizing" if I want more level.
 
Nathan1984 said:
I am thinking about getting a chameleon labs 7720. I've heard good things about it, and at 500 bucks, not bad on the wallet.
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Tbf i've had my eye on the Chameleon labs comp for a while now but to use as a mixbus comp so i'm gonna keep and eye on this thread to see the alternatives. I've heard very good things about the overstayer but i'm tempted by the FET version for drum buss stuff rather than the VCA one.

EDIT: the Smart Research C1 and C2 also come up a lot in mixbuss compressor discussions as well.
 
Justsomeguy said:
I've heard very good things about the overstayer but i'm tempted by the FET version for drum buss stuff rather than the VCA one.
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Get both. :)

I got 3 stereo comps from Overstayer....for less than $2k, which is which is still less than what you would pay for one API, SSL, Smart...etc.

I'm mixing a couple of tunes right now, and the FET version is getting used on the drum bus for both song. On one of them (a harder rock tune) I hit it a bit harder and the drum sound is really smokin'....the snare just blooms from hit to hit.
I wouldn't use the FET on the mix bus (though I'm sure you can dial it in even for that...but the full-rack Stereo VCA is equally as sweet on the mix bus as the FET is on the drum bus.

The Overstayers have been some of the best $$$ I've ever spent....not ONE regret.
 
miroslav said:
The Overstayers have been some of the best $$$ I've ever spent....not ONE regret.
Click to expand...

That seems to be the resounding response from around the internets, but trying to find them this side of the pond is hit and miss and relies on either the occasional evilbay listing (where the price rockets!) or importing them :(

I'm looking for something with some grit and umph for drum buss and dirty bass atm, hence the overstayer FET catching my eye, but i may just end up with an RNLA as in my brief play with one a while back, and my continued listenings around the nets, it sounds like what i'm missing from my outboard. the RNC is nice and can pump in a cool way, but it doesn't have any grit, and the comp in the focusrite ISA220 is really, really nice but it's only mono, hence the chameleon labs which, to me, sounds pretty similar.
 
I currently have in my rack a Saffire pro 40, and a Behringer ADA8000 for my in's and out's, I'm gonna send the ADA8000 to BLA to have modded out for better conversion though, that's pretty much the only reason anyone would buy one, that's why I have one lol.
 
I'd say probably the lack of treatments in my room, I'm getting ready to move so I don't use any at the moment. My mastering skills, that's a hard one to really answer. I always feel like my mixes lack and I need to figure out what is missing, but then I have a bunch of engineer friends that we all share mixes with that say that it's fine. I may just be to damn picky lol.
 
here are two very good mastering compressors which are not that expensive:
- HCL varis:
a vari mu on steroids. it sounds big, but can also make a metal or rock production jumping in your face.

- foote P3S ME:
VCA compressor which sound a tiny little bit like an opto, but a very fast one. the sidechain makes it even more flexible. the transformers are nice.

i wouldn't start with a SSL-type compressor, since they cover only a mall range for mastering. a be-friended ME had the overstayer & told me, that it is not very suitable for mastering, it is more a mix compressor.
 
Well yeah...I use the Overstayer on my console mix bus...and the point was that I then don't need to use another one after that during mastering. The Overstayer does the job. :)
 
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