Good compressor under $500

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aloha
  • Start date Start date
I'm sure you'll find plenty of info if you run a search for "Good Compressor".

For me, I took the advice of this forum and got the Really Nice Compressor. Was less than 200 and I like it alot!

SpaceBoy
 
I've got an RNC ($175) outboard compressor, you can't loose with that one...unless you need something extra specialized to handle the crack of a snare or something you might need an 1176 ($2000)...

what do you need ?

I use a software Ultrafunk multiband compressor/limitor that has both opto and VCA simulation that came with Sonar3.

There's also free VST plugins if that's your fancy - what's your fancy ? :)

VSpaceBoy - say hi to Riverfront and eat a coney for me ! My old stompin grounds...

kylen
 
I'm looking for an outboard unit preferably rack mountable, but dosn't have to be. And maybe a limiter too.
 
RNC *Symetrix 501 (the older ones with the toggle switch). Valley People (if you can find any). *Ashly. DBX 160X. Aphex Expressor. *Aphex Dominator Peak Limiter/loudness maximizer.



*Comes with peak limiter
 
used focusrite green,,,, Urei, LA-4 USED on ebay,,,,, Aphex studio dominator,,,, Old school!
 
RNC definitely...but it doesnt do limiting worth poo....a Behringer Autocom ($69) will do great for limiting.......
 
The ART VLA works very well, and is held in high regards after a simple and inexpensive mod is done to it.

HHB/TL Audio has some decent Opto stuff too.

The dbx 160x is an excellent choice for a tracking compressor. Will squash the hell out of something without making it muddy! You could easily get two of them for under $500.

The RNC is unbalanced, making it simply unusable as a tracking compressor, unless you are setup for unbalanced, which would suck anyway. ;)

The Behringer stuff is okay at mix time, but usually not smooth enough for tracking. Possibly the Composer Pro's peak limiter while tracking is usable, but for compression while tracking, it requires too close of attention to make it feasible. At mix time, I don't might playing with it a little more to make it work well.

Good luck in the search.

Ed
 
Oh, and I agree too that the Symetrix 501 would be decent too. It is a hair more colored for a tracking compressor compared to the dbx 160x though, and it isn't quite as capable to my ears, but you can do some impressive gain reduction cleanly with it for the money! They were always a very underrated comp.

Ed
 
sonusman said:
The ART VLA works very well, and is held in high regards after a simple and inexpensive mod is done to it.
Click to expand...

Do you know what that is (modification), by chance? Someone was just asking about it on another thread. Thanks in advance.
 
Basically, replacing the tube. Also, I believe there is a OP Amp mod that improves things a bit more too. I will need to look into where I read about that, but I am sure a google search will turn it up.

Ed
 
The RNC is unbalanced, making it simply unusable as a tracking compressor, unless you are setup for unbalanced, which would suck anyway.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I keep forgetting I have mine in the unbalanced effects loop of my dbx386 pre...
kylen
 
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