have you used the 3630?? then please HELP ME!!

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countparkula

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in the description of this discussion, it mentions the Alesis 3630 and says "shudder".

im pretty new to all this, and was just about to pick up a 3630. i need a basic compression unit for my home 4track recording. i do it for my own fun, im not recording bands or anything like that, just songs i've written over the last decade.

why "shudder"? should i avoid this unit for some reason? if so, whats another decent rackmount unit? i wanna spend around $150 - 200 bucks for compression.

any help is greatly appreciated!

thanks, brothas and sistas.
 
3630

I was curious about that too. I have a 3630 and although I know it's not top of the line or as delicate as others, it serves a purpose and has helped to enhance my material. It limits when it's supposed to and the gate functions properly. I liked it because I was fairly new to the process and it was easy to comprehend. Any other comments?:confused:
 
Get yourself those behringer compressors... they're less than 100 bucks and no shudder there!! ;) :D
 
My 3630 makes a great door-stop! Get 2 of 'em and you'll
have matching bookends!
 
The 3630 is "out-shuddered" only by the NanoComp.... and maybe the Peavey CEL....

The unit is sh*t... sonic artifacts (even when the unit is in bypass), unstable circuitry prone to chaos - especially at +4dbU.... when you do actually engage the compressor, you get noise, pops, clicks galore...

It is just plain bad.... you can do far better for the same money.... and the aboslute end in budget compressors is FMR Audio's RNC........

Bruce
 
I once had a 3630, and promptly got rid of it. Trust me when I tell you it is a garbage piece of equipment. You'll do much better with a behringer composer or autocom, and the RNC for the price is basically unbeatable
 
As Ive noted somewhere before on some lost thread, I bought the 3630, and noticed instantly the extreme coloration the product added to my sound. While Im used to it now, and I only use it for Bass guitar and as a gate on the mic for my Marshall 4x12. To be more specific it thinned out the tone, the gate barely works. Though its cheap, its better to wait and save for something more functional, you save yourself that buyers remorse multiplied by the fact it will definitely bum you out when you hear it...

Peace,
Dennis
 
well.

i guess that answers that question.

much thanks to you all for chiming in and saving me from a bad purchase. good work.
 
While I would rather buy a Behringer Composer for the same money, the 3630 isn't HORRIBLE. Just about EVERY mix I have posted used one.

I think a couple of people on here got a bad unit. I have used a couple through the years that had the problems described, but have used SEVERAL that didn't.

I would get a Composer Pro though. If you are going to run balanced, the RNC is out.....:(

Ed
 
ok fellas youve all been so helpful and good to little old countparkula.

just letting you know i picked up a behringer composer at mars the other night

$90. couldnt pass it up.

and thank you all so much for all the valuable info, i would have been totally lost without this bbs

peace my brothas and sistas
 
I use my 3630 to compress the dynamic range of the audio from my Hi-FI VCR while late night viewing (down-stairs neighbors).

And I've always said that it's far more colorful than a blank 1U rack spacer.

Steve
 
3630, etc., etc...

I don't think anything, anywhere on this BB has been slammed more than the 3630, and I'm beginning to get the impression that a lot of the criticism is not based on personal experience. Yeah, sure, I've got one, and it's been a pretty dependable unit for several years now, though I would agree there is colaration (and sometimes we want that, or?). I'm using it for live gigs with the acoustic through one channel and voice through the other, and sometimes I squash the hell out of the signals. Does the job. And on some of the garbage PA's in the bars and clubs, any "artifacts" are pretty much a non-issue. As far as recording, I'll admit that I haven't used in that much, but for some 4-track demos a while back; it did okay.

I guess the point is, that for $100 (and I paid over $200 about 5 years ago...) there isn't much else in that range, except the Behringers, that even has the features. So, for someone with a low-budget, entry-level, setup, buying one of these isn't going to be the end of the world. Use it and sell it in a year. But don't just make a decision to spend more money (when you don't have it) because all the BB snobs say it sucks. Be more critical, sure, but make your own decision.
 
I've got 2 of em that I'd love to "beam" over to some other space traveller like myself. Make me an offer! You can have em at warp speed if the price is right!

Kirk out.
 
Well, I didn't say buy 2 of 'em...But getting one 2nd hand, like from our friend here (or on Ebay), would probably make the price point that much more attractive.
 
I have one. One word, NOISY! I only use it on my drum machine. Wish I had a different comp.
 
Are you sure it's the comp that's noisey? What about your source (or cables, or mixer, or, or...)? Obviously any noise in your signal chain is going to be "pumped" up by compression. There could be any number of things involved, and that's why I'm not sure all the criticism of the unit itself is totally justified.
 
gelon said:
Well, I didn't say buy 2 of 'em...But getting one 2nd hand, like from our friend here (or on Ebay), would probably make the price point that much more attractive.
Click to expand...
I borrowed one from a buddy just to use the gates on it considering my rnc doesn't have gates and it totally was unusable.I used the insert jack and the signal level with it inline was terrible,I took it out of the insert and my signal was alot louder, this was with the compressor in bypass and the gate open.With this unit in bypass mode the signal is terrible.Stay away from this unit!!!!!!!!!
 
Another thing, You've got to wonder why there are so many of them on ebay at any given time?I know why.........
 
gelon

I thought it could have been my source also but after taking the unit out of the chain all together (totally our of the rack) it got quiet as a mouse!

I'm convinced it's just a noisy unit. Having said that I still use it for my drum machine and it's OK. I'd just rather hava a comp. that I wouldn't hesitate to use with any source.

This is the process we all go through when we first start buying outboard gear....buy and learn. Unfortunately when I was purchasing I didn't have a computer and access to this site and others. I'd say this site and the VS Planet are the best sites I have come across.

Thanks to eveyone here for their help in the past and in the future.

Happy Recording guys!
 
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