Oh man.......
Tongi, since this was originally your question, I will give you my hobbiest's 2 cents as I own both the Composer Pro and the RNC.
The Berri deffinitely has a sound, not always a bad sound, but a sound. I cant say that I have experienced it adding any artificial high end but it is not very quiet. I tend to use it for some distorted electric guitars and bass (though now I have
a Symetrix 501 which handels bass much better IMO) and sometimes on drum loops to give some effect.
The very best thing on the Composser is the gate. Works quite well. You can't be too slick with it but it does the job and considering you can get used Composers for like $40 (which speaks volumes in itself), it might be worth getting one just for gating.
Also, the Composser is a true two channel unit and can be used dual-mono or linked-stereo.
The RNC is a stereo unit with one set of controls so its always linked and cannot be used independently on two seperate sources.
The RNC is SUPER CLEAN and unless you really slam it hard it is very transparent. The very best feature is the Super Nice Mode ..... excellent for vocal compression and for acoustic guitar. Its very hard to get it to pump in Super Nice Mode.
You can set the Composer up similarly by doing light compression in one channel and then sending that channel to the other and compressing harder, but I've found it's not nearly as smooth or clear sounding.
That said ..... one thing the RNC falls short on is low end signals like bass and kick. A lot of low end seems to cause it to misshandle the signal.... I dont know technically why that is but thats what my ears hear, which is why many PROs (that I've read about) feel it is not the compressor you want to put across the master buss for mix down.
I have tried it on the 2buss and gotten descent results but that was when it was barely compressing. The RNC was not really designed to be a brick wall limiter.
Now I've actully achieved better results with the Berry on the 2buss as far as compression sound (IMO .... dont slap me) but the noise from the unit is usually too noticeable for me to want to use it and now since all my mixes go into Sound Forge I just use Wave Hammer.
One other thing .... the wall wart on the RNC does kinda suck ......but thats a trade off I can live with.
Cheap, clear, and transparent = RNC
Cheap, colored, and more noticeable = Composer Pro
Cheap, brown, and pure effect = DBX 286 (or any of the cheap DBX I've heard)
And I dont want to jump in the middle of an entertaining mauling ...... but ....
Mosfet, I dont know what kind of studio experience you have, and I'm not questioning it per se, but dude, every studio set up I've ever seen or even read about has a patch bay (or two) SPECIFICALLY for insert sends and returns. Putting a compressor in an insert IS putting it directly between a device and the rest of the board, essentially. Unless the patch bays are 300 feet from the console then the unbalanced issue should not be a problem if every thing is wired up good.
I mean if insert points to patch bays sonically degraded the signal to ANY noticable extent then do you think ANY pro studio would set things up this way. Why would you limit your routing options.
All of the many studios you've worked at must have well to do clients if they dont mind paying for all the extra time it takes for you to go behind your racks and repatch the back of the units for every different signal chain you need.
I dont know ...... maybe you're using Berhinger patch bays ..... I have one BTW and 4 of the channels stopped passing signals within 6-8 months but hey ..... I got it for $12 on clearence.
I dont recall any piece of equipment that was recomended as best bang for buck by pros like Fletcher, Harvey Gerst, Blue Bear, a ton of people at Tape OP, etc .... that "sort of makes whatever goes through it muddy sounding."
Honestly ..... maybe you have a faulty RNC unit ...... thats possible ...... although I'm sure you have the technical know how to test that out and have done so extensively.
That said .... I agree that for the money the Composser is useful, and I still use mine a lot, but the RNC I feel is a much more versitle unit because of its smoothness and tranparency.
-mike