hatred for the 3630

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luminosityband

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why does everyone hate the 3630 so much?
i hear people say its noisy, but mine is not noisy at all. at least it doesnt seem noisy to me.

what do you guys think of the dbx 266xl?
 
luminosityband said:
why does everyone hate the 3630 so much?
i hear people say its noisy, but mine is not noisy at all. at least it doesnt seem noisy to me.

what do you guys think of the dbx 266xl?
Click to expand...


When I got my RNC, I used my 266XL to smash my 3630 into small pieces. I put the pieces in a sock, and used the sock to smash my 266XL. :p

Bottom line: the 266 is nicer than the 3630, neither is a gem. Both will work for you until you are able or want to upgrade them. Either you will get enough cash, or your ears will develop to the point where you notice the difference, and have to upgrade to be happy.

The 3630 just has a very signature effect on the sound. At anything other than very light compression, it kills the sound of what ever you put through it. It has the effect of rolling off all the high end, among other things. It has limited headroom. A hot signal will cause it to distort. With medium to heavy compression, almost any signal will be distorted by both of these units. And not in a pleasing way.

People value compressors for two basic reasons: They do their job without coloring the sound, or they do their job and color the sound in a pleasing way. Both of these units manage to fall short in these categories.
 
what make/model compressor represents "the next level" up from the 266xl and 3630?

ie. what do you recommend I buy once I realize how crappy my current equipment is? :)

Thanks,
Alex
 
luminosityband said:
what make/model compressor represents "the next level" up from the 266xl and 3630?

ie. what do you recommend I buy once I realize how crappy my current equipment is? :)

Thanks,
Alex
Click to expand...

:D

I'm trying very hard to stay away from trashing gear anymore. "Kinder, gentler" and all that. Everyone starts somewhere. No need to put yourself down. I also don't like to heavily recommend specific gear, but rather encourage you to learn and then decide on your own.

There are a bunch of decent ones out there now. So much is on the market it is hard to know them all. A good thing to do is go through a couple of catalogs, pick some makes/models in a price range, and search the bbs here or post a thread. Odds are someone has used it.
And I am very out of the loop about compressors at this point. I have enough for now, and haven't looked in about a year. There seem to be a bunch of decent under $300 units out there.

A couple things to check out, that I personally have and like:

FMR Really Nice Compressor- fantastic for the money, or even for twice the money. Only drawback is though it has two channels, it can only be one mono or a stereo compressor. Many two channel boxes can be dual mono or stereo. Should be around $200?? at this point. Very transparent, but with a bit of it's own sound. Excellent on vox and acoustic guitar, among other things. It has a "really nice" button that stacks both compressors in line, making for almost unreally smooth clear compression. This one, actually, I do recommend, no matter what style of music you do.

dbx 1066- a "real" dbx. Good clean compression, nice and punchy when driven harder. Not too cheap, though. About $400.

dbx160A- one channel, $400, one of the classics. Very nice bass and snare, clean up to the edge, thick, warm, punchy when pushed hard.

ART Pro VLA- two channels, tube, very fun. Sounds good, warm, and adjustable from pretty clean (with color) to smashed and crunchy. $269 Highly recommended.

Behringer Composer- much cleaner than the 3630 or 266XL. Not much headroom, sounds grainy when pushed, but quite usable. Very cheap.
 
what about the dbx 160A mono compressor?

why does it cost as much as a 1066 with only one channel?

what do you get for that price even as it reduces the amount channels?
 
so how are they against the behringer composer pro?
 
I guess as long as you accept the 3630 for what it is, an entry level comp/gate, then it is ok. Like someone else said, you will know when it is time to upgrade. I agree with the RNC being a great deal but it has it's limitations as well. I bought one when they were first released and while satisfied with the overall performance, I wish they would have made it dual channel, as in independent channels.

I had a 3630 back in the early 90's but really did not do any tracking with it. I used it on a "one man sequencer band" at the beach resturants. Not bad for controlling bass and kick drum overkill and the gates worked like a charm for stopping the equipment noise between songs.

-Craig
 
I always sort of assumed that the 3630 was more intended for live situations than for recording, but I don't really know too much about it so don't take that for anything.

This also seems like a good opportunity to bring up some of the mods people are doing to the 3630. Has anyone here tried the mod suggested in the last Tape Op, or gone a step further and gotten one of the Black Lion mods? The last Tape Op promised a review of the Black Lion 3630 in this issue, but, upon a quick perusal today, that review doesn't seem to be included. Any real world reviews on any of this?
 
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