Compressor Question.

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Vedder

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Hello,
I just had a general question for whoever wants to answer. I am going to be starting a home studio, but it is going to have to be built up slowly. My first step is going to be buying an effects processor. Now my question is, should I bother buying a compressor after the effects processor, or should I wait until I set up the studio? Basically, how useful will the compressor be in regards to using it with my guitar and effects processor alone? Is it worth it? Any comments are welcome. Thanks.
Cheers.
 
If you want to use it with you guitar, you will find it very usefull.

Many guitarist that I work with have one in their setup
and so when I record with them I leave it up to them o find the right adjustments.
 
Thanks for the comment. I was hoping to find a compressor that I interchange use of between the studio and guitar. I am not sure if you have any recommendations.
Cheers,
Amit.
 
hey amit,

depending on how you run your guitar effects, you can use a rack mount comp for both as long as you send it line level signal. if you learn to use compression properly, ie the same settings don't work for guitar and vox :-), it can really be the key factor in a cohesive recording. if money is a bit tight, buy yourself a behringer autocom comp/gate (used about $100 and very easy to use and sounds great and 2 channel) and a lexicon alex (about $150 used and also very easy to use with classic lex effects and stereo). you can use both for your studio and guitar rig. the alex has some killer preset effecys using classic lexicon algorithms.

tony
 
Hey there

All I have to ssy is....Alesis Nano Comp! This was one of my first purchases back when I was only using a 4 track...it's portable....really portable! It's great sounding and easy to use! It's also really cheap! You can use it for comp/limiting/ducking/deessing/etc.... I love this unit! As my studio grows it is still going to be there as it is a great piece of equipment and it holds it's own nicely!
 
Hey there,
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will be sure to check both of them out. The only question that I would have is how is the Alesis with the guitar? I have not heard much about that. Thanks
Cheers,
Amit.
 
Do a search on the Alesis nanocompressor and see what others have to say about it. Ravin' Jon might find this especially intresting. :)

-jhe
 
hey there james he

Just because you have heard some bad reports or whatever does not mean that I should be unhappy with my gear that I have come to trust OK? And callin me Ravin' jon while you are telling me this only makes you an idiot in my books and probably in a lot others too..... I did not say that he had to go out and buy a nano but as he asked for advise.....I gave him some! So eat it buddy!
 
Whoa there! Hey i didn't mean any harm. I just thought that you (or anyone else) might be intrested in reading some different opinions. I myself don't really have any bais towards or against the Nano. I did choose a dbx compressor over that and the 3630 because it sounded more transparent, which is what I was looking for.

I refered to you as Ravin' Jon because you seemed so emphatic about the Nano. So I'm an idiot for using word play??!! All I did was reverse your name that you gave for yourself, so are you an idiot for being JonRaven? am I an idiot for being James HE? NO!

There has been a lot of debate in the past on this BBS about the merits of Alesis compressors- I just thought that you may want to be aware of that before another debate started.

I would not like to eat a NanoChomp, it might not settle well in my bowels, I guess my words will have to do.

Maybe I should have been a little clearer about my intentions.

-jhe



[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-09-2000).]
 
JONRAVEN

I think that you may have misinterrpreted JamesHE's point. At least in my eyes, you made a pretty big deal about a compressor that is not highly regarded in many circles at all, so he was just providing a different point of view to your gleaming review... :D

While I enjoyed his creative change of your nickname, I can see where since you haven't really posted much here, and don't know JamesHE's sense of humor that you would take offence. I don't think he meant anything by it.

But, I will make my recommendation. This comes from having used ALL of the Alesis processors. Any Behringer unit would beat the Nanocomp any day of the week. The Behringer Composer is going new for like $150 at some places and provides a much more usable compressor than the Nanocomp. Also, you gain an excellent Peak Limiter, and a decent enough "smart gate" (it doesn't seem that smart though... :) ) All in all, it is a very clean compressor that rivals compressors that cost up to 5 or 6 times as much.

Compared to the Nanocomp, the Behringer is a sweet deal. The Nanocomp is about what you would expect from a $100 compressor. The Composer is an absolute steal for only a little bit more.

I don't think I have ever run across a recording engineer anywhere that prefers either the Nanocomp, or the 3630. Both units tend to distort the sound a bit, add a lot of low end color, even when no compression is being done, and the make up gain on the units is horrible. I have found them to be very hard to set to get transparent compression, if not totally impossible to do so.

So, while you may like your Nanocomp friend, you are most certainly in a very small group of people that do. This may be because of limited experience with other units, or, a somewhat "unique" taste in compression. If it is the first, well, try out a Behringer Composer and hear what a decent mid level comp/limiter can do for your tracks. If it is the later, well, I don't know what to say. If you prefer the color and distortion it creates, then that is what you like.

Oh. One other thing. As my studio grows, I too keep a lot of the stuff that I originally had. But, I usually use the older units less and less. They become more of a "oh, I need another box for that 4th guitar track" type of thing.... :D Keeping them around does not neccessarily mean that I care for them, but rather that I might have a need for the unit in a few rare cases. Mostly, when I upgrade one thing, I find that many others need to be upgraded too. At some point, I suppose you wind up with a bunch of Class A rack gear and say enough is enough. It will be awhile before I am there though as better compressors cost in the thousands as opposed in the hundreds. But, their sound is certainly worth it if pritine, clean audio is your goal.

Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio www.echostarstudio.com
 
Hey there,
Thanks for the information on the compressors guys. The tension was a little exciting too. Let's try to keep it civil. I apprciate the advice and will definately look into the suggestions.
Cheers.
 
No mention of the RNC by FMR here in this thread about budgetable compressors; hmmm...
 
Yeah, how about some opinions on the RNC? I've heard wildly conflicting reports.....
 
Please point me to some bad reports... I've yet to hear or see any.
 
I too thought I was satisfied with the Alesis 3630 until I took Ed's advice and purchased the Behringer Composer Pro. It's funny how I'd grown accustomed to coloration having nothing to compare to. Weighing in at the same price ($150), the Composer Pro is without question the way to go. Just my two cents worth.
 
As re: the RNC, I've been using it since December with a 424mkII. I record guitar, drum machine, sampler & vox typically, and the amazing thing I've found w./ the RNC is that you can find settings (in Nice mode) that will work for both guitar & vox. I've tried the Nano and a Beringer (sp.?), and found the parameters too specific to get such wide use. I've never been disappointed with the RNC, nor the company. Nor have I heard bad press. The signal path seems really clean. And it's cheap. And from Texas.
 
You know, I never seem to see anyone ever mention DBX gear when it comes to compressors. Is this considered and unfavorable brand these days? No offense, but it always seems to be between Alesis and Behringer in the comp department and DBX (or anything else, really) is usually not mentioned. Ok ... here I am mentioning it ... so nevermind I guess :D
I used a DBX Project One comp/gate (around $200 I think back in 1993) for a while and I think it's pretty good. I don't really know if this project series has been discontinued or not. But, I thought it worked very nicely for what I was doing. I got a pair of (I think) 166 compressor. These are those "dumbed down" ones with just the slider for the amount of comp you want and an output gain knob. Certainly not the best compressor, but functional and easy to use to be sure. I still use the 166 on my guitar rig.
I'm not sure if either of these models are still around ... but you can probably find them used. If you're after new gear The DBX 266XL's price looks right at around $150 ... If that's anything like the Project One, I think you'll be happy with it.
Hope that helps ... :)
Good Luck!
 
I'm happy with my dbx 226XL. The gate works well too. Before I bought I A/B'd it with the 3630- no contest. I haven't had a chance to try it out beside the Composer so I'm not sure about the comparison there. I do like what I heard from the Behringer, but you really can't compare unless it's side by side with the same program. Geez I wish there was a store that carried everything. :(

-jhe
 
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