compression / connections

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songsj

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I'm lame and confused here so please bare with me,

I am recording with a Tascam 788 digital work station. All of the inputs are 1/4 inch with trim controls for mic and line levels.

I have a Alesis Nano-Compressor that I plug my bass into directly
and then run a regular guitar cord into the 788 input. Seems to work fine.

I'd like to do this with 4 drum mics [ get 2 DBX 266XL's ] and run the mics directly into the compressor channels and run the outputs of the compressor channels into the 788 inputs.

A long as I'm matched with xlr or TRS connectors am I okay?
Some say have I need a preamp before the compressor and where that may be the best way to do it, if the mic works plugged into the compressor shouldn't I be okay? The 788 has Aux sends on it but I want at least 4 channels of individual compression and gating for my drums so one aux send receive
ain't gonna get it done. My goal is to do a good job of basic compression with a little gating on the recorded signal. Then touch up all the drum tracks with one stereo signal during mixdown. I don't need a lot of flexability here as I only record my own songs and I'm the only drummer. I just need to get a very good recorded drum sound and then I'll leave most things set
until next time.

Thanks
 
I may be wrong, but I don't think compressors are designed to accept mic or instrument signals.

Everything probably sounds okay and seems to "work", but only because the input signal to the compressor is too small to trigger any compressor action. For instance, the threshold control on the front of your compressor tells the compressor when to start acting on a signal. If the input signal is too small, the compressor will never kick in, and will just pass the signal through unmodified.

If you have effect inserts on your Tascam, this is where the compressor should plug in. The microphone/instruments plug into the input channels, the Tascam pre-amplifies them, sends them to the insert jack, they get compressed, and sent back to the Tascam using the same insert jack.

Oops, just checked out the 788, looks like you don't have inserts, but you do have internal effects like compression, reverb, etc.

If you want to use your outboard compression unit you could buy an external pre-amp to feed your compressor, then run the compressor output to a line level input on your Tascam.

Your other choice is to use the internal compression routine in the Tascam. I'm not sure how many channels you can put internal effects on though, that may limit how many drum channels you can record at once.
 
Last edited:
I swear when I plug my bass or a mic directly
into my nano-compressor it works. The led's
flash and change as I adjust the controls.
[ so does the sound] I used it on a kick drum mic and it sounded pretty good. The Tascam 788 will allow you to use 8 channels of compression while recording. I've just never been crazy about the onboard effects on these digital work stations. However from the posts I've viewed on the boards here it doesn't look as though people are all that impressed with the unit I was looking at.
[ The DBX 266XL ]Maybe I'll play with the onboard effects a little more before I buy anything more.
 
Well it sounds like I'm full of shit, and it wouldn't be the first time!

I wish someone with more knowledge would chime in.
 
If you like them, they are fine. You do not have to please a panel of experts. Harvey gets incredible tracks with gear that is very low on the fool chain. Wortk your gear, when you hear something YOU want to change, then go shopping
In His Name
Big Kenny
 
songsj said:
I swear when I plug my bass or a mic directly
into my nano-compressor it works. The led's
flash and change as I adjust the controls.
[ so does the sound] I used it on a kick drum mic and it sounded pretty good.
Click to expand...

Sure it will 'work'. But it won't sound anywhere near as good as it would with a preamp. Preamps are designed to amplify a mic or instrument signal with as little noise as possible. Compressor's aren't. They can raise the gain but nowhere near as clean as a preamp would.

It's not as big of a deal with instruments but it very much is with mics.
 
songsj said:
I swear when I plug my bass or a mic directly
into my nano-compressor it works. The led's
flash and change as I adjust the controls.
[ so does the sound] I used it on a kick drum mic and it sounded pretty good. The Tascam 788 will allow you to use 8 channels of compression while recording. I've just never been crazy about the onboard effects on these digital work stations. However from the posts I've viewed on the boards here it doesn't look as though people are all that impressed with the unit I was looking at.
[ The DBX 266XL ]Maybe I'll play with the onboard effects a little more before I buy anything more.
Click to expand...

Yes, plugging in a Bass will work. However, what is happening is that the signal from the Bass is being loaded down. You really need a pre-amp for a microphone and a direct box for a bass or guitar. Both of these devices convert the impedances to line level.
When the impedances are correct, your bass and mics will sound much better. It is important to understand that a bass or guitar is a high impedance device (passive ones). A mic (dynamic) is a low impedance device. A mic needs to be amplified to reach line level even though it is low impedance. A bass needs to have the impedance of the signal converted to a low impedance/line level signal. If you are recording bass, you need a simple DI box.
If you are recording a mic, you need a mic pre-amp.
 
I have a little Presonus compressor that has a +4/-10 switch on the back. Would this not be good enough to plug a bass in directly ?
 
Thanks for all the info everyone, it is now much clearer to me why it my bass and mics work when plugged directly into my compressor and also why it is probably not the best way to do it.
 
acorec said:
If you are recording bass, you need a simple DI box.
If you are recording a mic, you need a mic pre-amp.
Click to expand...

You need a preamp with both. A DI converts an instrument level signal to mic level not line level.

Vestast- The same thing applies like I said earlier. It will 'work'. Set it -10 for the hottest signal but you would still be better off with a preamp.
 
TexRoadkill said:
You need a preamp with both. A DI converts an instrument level signal to mic level not line level.

Vestast- The same thing applies like I said earlier. It will 'work'. Set it -10 for the hottest signal but you would still be better off with a preamp.
Click to expand...

Sorry, you are right. The only DI box I have is an Avalon U5 and it converts to line level. Those "stompbox" types don't covert to line level.
 
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