good compressor at a decent price?

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mrcheesehead

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OK, i am looking for a good compressor at a decent price...(preferably under 300 or 400 bucks). im not trying to start a flame war here cause i have seen it happen so many times on these forums. i just want to know some good units. if youre going to post some bs, dont.
 
Let me be the first to recommend the RNC. Believe me, that will be the consensus answer you get to this question.
 
I don't see many flame wars over compressors. But I guess stranger things have happened. I'm glad you mentioned that, because I was going to give you three other suggestions for under $400 that absolutely smoke in my humble opinion.

But then I was also going to start a flame war . . .

. . . but then I remembered what you said about no flame wars or BS, so I thought better of it. Man am I glad you said something. This thing could have gotten really ugly ! ! :D
 
ha, well...if you were actually going to give advice rather than just say "there is nothing good" or some bs like that then please go ahead. im just sick of seeing a lot of replies like that.
 
In that price range, an RNC by FMR. ANd even though I still can't believe I'm saying it, the Berhinger stuff ain't bad for the price.
 
In no particular order:

FMR Audio Really Nice Compessor (RNC)
dbx 160X
Ashly SC-50
Aphex Compellor 320
Aphex Compellor 320A
Aphex 651 Expressor
 
mrcheesehead said:
im just sick of seeing a lot of replies like that.
Click to expand...

Well, a lot of us are also pretty sick of seeing "What's the best bla bla bla for less than $ bla bla bla?" threads, too.

So it kind of works both ways.

Somewhere along the line, I'm sure we can reach some common understanding, here. :D That said, I think there are some absolute gems out there as far as dirt cheap and fantastic-sounding compressors go. The RNC being just one of many.

I don't think I've every heard an Aphex compressor I didn't like. And they just keep popping up on ebay by the droves. DBX 160's are in abundance, and they sound great on certain things. I have one of the original Symetrix 501's with toggle switch, which happens to have the same VCA as the old Valley People Dynamites. I got it for $100 and it just flat-out performs and sounds good on anything.

At one point in time, some of UREI's models models were being sold by another manufacturer. It's a tad confusing how it all worked out, but you can basically get something that's somewhat similar to an LA3A or a distressor (in the same basic mold) -- only it has a different company's logo on it. And those usually go for less than $200.
 
Don't know about that one... And I thought I knew just about most of the ones out there...

So what's the company and model number? I'll seriously give it a try at $200! Know where I can pick one up right now?

If it really is somewhat similar to my LA-3A, it'll certainly have a permanent home in my rack!!!
 
I ain't letting the cat out of the bag untill my auction's done in a few days, lest one of you jerks gets the big idea to get in to a bidding war and jack up the price on me, :D which wouldn't be very beneficial to any of us. PM me if you're dying to know.

And no, it's really not like the meek thing. It's more like a dbx / Bob Orban thing where Orban was making pro audio stuff and then dbx came along and was all of a sudden selling orbans, but only they said "dbx 242" on them.

And it was a similar consumer flop, as well. Basically a victim of bad marketing that's since been discontinued, but still selling in abundance on the used market.
 
Cool Man!

Great! Then please check your PMs when you get the chance.

Thanks!
 
Id say the clear bang for the buck in comps nowadays would be a UAD-1 card. Aside from the 1176 and LA2A, UA is coming out with their fairchild version in a month or so. There is currently not a compressor out now in that price range, hardware or software, that will give you the snap on kick or snare that the 1176 gives. In my exprience actually, you will lose more top end with fast attacks on the RNC than with the 1176 plug. Other cheap hardware comps are not in the running with fast attacks and generally dull everything above 4k.
 
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