cheap distressor?

  • Thread starter Thread starter deibid
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deibid

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hello folks,
i'm very keen on buying a empirical labs distressor but as you'll know the price is more than a few pennies. i was wondering if anybody could recommend anything remotely similar but for half the price?

main use would be for vocals & acoustic guitar *

thanks in advance
 
Basically, the reason the Distressor kicks so much A$$ is a matter of 2nd and 3rd order harmonics and how it treats them. Unfortunately, that's also the reason they cost so damn much. I'm not aware of any units in the price range you're looking for that do this at all, regardless of how well they do it. There are some others around the price of the Distressor or even higher, but not $700ish... to my knowledge. Please somebody else on here correct me. If such a unit exists I may want one as well. Good luck on your search.;)
 
If you're into 500 series gear, the Alta Moda AM-10 is this closest thing. I own one, and it's incredibly versatile. Has separate limiter, comp settings and a wet/dry setting which makes it extremely flexible. That said, I don't own a distressor, so I have not compared the two, but I have read reviews that compare them favorably. They are around $700.
 
yea, no such thing. a distressor is a great, versatile digital compressor that emulates several classic pro audio compressors fairly decently while still being it's own sound. on top of that you can dial in very musical distortion however you like which makes it quite the multi-use tool.

However since it's really a sort of copy of other gear, it's kind of ironic to try to copy the copy more cheaply. I guess behringer sort of tries to do that... but it doesn't work too well ("Hey Mr. Engineer, Dial in more of that tube sound... oh wait, it sounds like ASS now, turn it down again!!")

so your best bet is to get a great sounding compressor that isn't too expensive. the advantage of a distressor is versatility - it sort of copies several types of compressors. for cheap? buy several different types of compressors one at a time until you have what you like. it's not the same, but it'll do you ok.

I'd start with a good opto comp or opto-sounding comp like the rnla (or even a cheap meek if you're willing to have a pretty obvious compression going on.)

I buy cheap good sounding neutral vca comps (rnc is great, berry composers are actually great believe me or not as long as you follow certain unwritten rules of thumb), and then I'm building other comps on my own. an 1176 (fet), some opto comps, and some preamps.

much cheaper than buying new or even used gear otherwise.

cheers,
Don
 
deibid said:
hello folks,
i'm very keen on buying a empirical labs distressor but as you'll know the price is more than a few pennies. i was wondering if anybody could recommend anything remotely similar but for half the price?

main use would be for vocals & acoustic guitar *

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Distressor is worth the price.
 
Supercreep said:
Distressor is worth the price.
Click to expand...

Ya know, after several years of owning a pair, I am FINALLY starting to agree. I love the 1176 mojo so much, and the distressor does a decent job of replicating it (but not 100%), so I always just went for the MC77. I have now become a huge fan of the distressor on rock guitars, and don't understand how I didn't "get it" for so long.

Anyway, crazy good compressors, and pretty cheap for what they can do.
 
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