Budget Stereo Compressor recommendation ?

[TascamJimi]

Hey folks, hope all is well....I hope this doesn't arouse a 'oh no, not another compressor thread' I'm on the market for a budget friendly compressor and am overwhelmed with the amount of units, and hype, on the market right now. My son and I are total hacks that still record with a Boss-DR-770 and Tascam DP-02 so that gives you an idea of what we're into. Total garage rock !!
Anyway.... Music Ground has some great prices on the following :

Nady CL-5000
DBX 166
DBX 266XL
Alesis 3630

They actually have several DBX units on there under $100 As well as way too may Behringer units to list.

Can anyone recommend any of the above units, or even some that aren't on the list ? Open to all opinions and pointers.
THANK YOU so much...I'm new here but have learned an incredible amount just reading through all the posts.

Jim

 

[rob aylestone]

I have to say from the time when I had racks of compressors, the DBX ones always were easier to get the right sound on. I had Symetrix too, but they could sound horrible with accidental 'overcooking' - but I never had any horrible ones.

 

[Papanate]

The Compressors you mentioned are all average basic units - The DBX's and 3630 do somewhat of a good job - the Behringer: MDX4600 MULTICOM PRO-XL punches above it’s weight class - and exceptional one is the FMR RNC 1773 Really Nice Compressor - for the price point of $135 it outperforms your compressors by the far.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I've owned and/or used dbx 166, Project1 266 (original version), 3630 and MDX4600. I would recommend the dbx. I would not recommend the 3630 or MDX4600. The 3630 I had was just meh. The particular MDX I used noticeably degraded the sound when put in the signal path, even when bypassed. Maybe it was just that unit, but it put me off them for good.

There are several different 166 compressors. There's the original 166, the 166A and the 166XL. I've used the first two, and they're quite good. What they lack are attack and release controls and XLR I/O. From what I've read, the 166A is the best sounding. The 166A has a contour button that keeps it from overreacting to low frequencies. I found that very handy.

I liked my Project1 266 despite it being a low cost version of the 166. It had a wall wart power supply, which was less convenient. The newer 266 units have internal power supplies. I do like that it has attack and release controls, which the 166 and 166A lack. It also has a downward expander, which I find to be less obtrusive than a conventional noise gate, at least for live use.

 

[RFR]

I have an American made DBX 166. It’s pretty good.
Also have an ART Pro VLA ll. Like that as well.

Used to have an Alesis 3630. Eh, kind of junk, but it does have a certain ‘color’ it adds.