Help me choose comp for budget home studio :-)

[Jack of Alderaan]

Hi guys, first of all, happy new year! After years of mixing in the box i thought it would be nice to equip my modest homestudio with some analog hardware. Nothing too expensive since i just can't afford high end gear, everything i buy have to be 400/500euros maximum (second hand price) and most stuff i usually buy is actually in the 100-300euros range..

So far i only had two entry level cheap compressors (Alesis 3132 and Behringer mdx2100) but never had much use for them. To upgrade things a bit i just bought a dbx160xt and it seems to be doing good to my kick/snare tracks! Now for 2024 i'd really like to get me a Fet compressor, 1176-style. It seems both Klark Teknik and Warm Audio are doing affordable 76 clones but i've read good and bad -real bad- things about them. What's tour opinion? I must Say i don't expect any of them to sound exactly similar to a proper UREI unit are be as good as more expensive clones but the question is: would one of them brings a little something to the tracks i record? Or it just wasted money? And it thery're decent enough is WA's higher price worth it? If not, any other affordable alternative?

This is primarily about FET comp, but if you have any other advice for analog hardware in the same second hand price range i'd be more than happy to read them: VCA, Opto or tube Comps, EQ and mic preamps, dont hesitate

For info here's my (guitars, amps, drums and synths not included)


Mics: sm57/Sennheiser md421-u4/akg d190/rb500/akg c214/akg d112
Preamp : GAP pre73jr
EQ: dbx231s
comp: mdx2100/3632/dbx 260xt
exciter: ultraflex ex3200
FX: lexicon lxp1/Alesis midiverb II
Mixer: mackie 802
Recorder: MacBook air m1 + SSL2 audio interface (planning to buy a revox a77 for a hybrid setup!)

 

[rob aylestone]

Buying an A77 was for me a total waste of money. It's really nice to see it work, but in every way, it's a little bit less good than my memory told me when I bought it, and the running costs are huge. Nearly £70 for a spool of tape is just madness. I've decided to sell it in the new year, and probably the Tascam 34 4 track too, had both over a year now and they just are not worth their keep.

The one 19" compressor I should not have sold was an old Symetrix - it just sounded really nice. If you see that brand come up, I'd investigate.

 

[Jack of Alderaan]

Buying an A77 was for me a total waste of money. It's really nice to see it work, but in every way, it's a little bit less good than my memory told me when I bought it, and the running costs are huge. Nearly £70 for a spool of tape is just madness. I've decided to sell it in the new year, and probably the Tascam 34 4 track too, had both over a year now and they just are not worth their keep.

The one 19" compressor I should not have sold was an old Symetrix - it just sounded really nice. If you see that brand come up, I'd investigate.

Was it the sonic character of the revox you didnt like? Too lo-fi? Or just that it didnt add anything special to your recording (but hiss!)? Just asking coz we all have different views on sound coloration. For info i have made a whole album on a tascam cassette recorder, a few years ago. And i loved the sound of it despite the limitations (or because of it?). Maybe i could dig the revox too? But thanks for your advice, Always nice to know other prople's opinion!

There are a few symetrix comp often for sale in my country: the 501 and 525...i dont know if that's the good stuff you're talking about?

 

[rob aylestone]

The one I had was the 525. I really liked it, as long as you didn't crank it up to silly ratios. On the reel to reel front, neither of the two machines I bought sounded bad, and the noise level was pretty low to be fair. It's just that I don't write or record the kind of music in did in 74-84, my first music period. Nothing I record nowadays would be better on them. I've also become so used to just hitting record and not having to think about quality, or maintenance, or if this is the spool of tape that makes a noise at 21:12. I get the analogue thing, but my effort to recreate what I had left me just a bit disappointed. I don't know why but I bought a 19" rack effects unit today - cheap on ebay and a make I've never heard of just to see if there really was something to the old outboard? I've just got used to the really authentic, variable ones I have in the DAW - maybe it will be good, but I bet the patching will annoy me, or it will sound artificial or hiss a lot? I hope I like it?

 

[jamesperrett]

A good tape machine like the A77 sounds better than most people expect. The effect of analogue tape is very subtle unless you use poor tape at low speeds. The A77 will sound very different to your Tascam cassette recorder.