Help with Alesis 3630 Compressor/Gate

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btaggart3

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Need a little help here. I've got a Fostex digital 8 track recorder and am mixing songs down to a Tascam DAT machine. Recently I was given an Alesis 3630 Compressor/Gate, but I'm not sure if I'm getting the most out of it. I don't have the manual for it and so I'm a little clueless as to what it's capable of doing.
Specifically, I was wondering if I would benefit from sending my final mixes that are on DAT, back into the recorder and then back out to the DAT again but this time with compression?
My mixes are too boomy the way they are now and I thought this might be one way to fix that. Any suggestions or ideas?
 
Honestly... Good Luck! I've owned the 3630 for approx year and found it to be 1 of the worst compressors on the market.
Amongst the many flaws of this unit is the audible "clicks" during compression and the heavy breathing sounds during bass compression.
The only advice I can provide is set ratio@ .1 and adjust the thresh and attack @.5ms . These are only guesses as I have thrown my hands up and given up on this poor unit.
Again, Good Luck.
(Experimentation is always the key)
 
Compression will not fix a boomy mix... and the 3630 will not fix anything - it does make a good doorstop though!
:)

You can try some playing with EQ to fix some of the boominess, but more likely you need to find where the boominess originated from (which tracks(s)), and tweak them on a remix.

Bruce Valeriani
Blue Bear Sound
 
Help with a 3630? Kindly......>:)

Okay, pick that sucker up by the ends. Walk upstairs in your house to a bedroom window. Set the unit down. Open the window. Pick the unit back up. Throw it out the window. CLOSE THE DAMN WINDOW BECAUSE IT IS STARTING TO GET COLD OUT NOW!!! :)

Okay, so I don't really care for the 3630. No big secret there! :D

Like bveleria said, a compressor is not really going to help your boomy sounding mix. In fact, it will probably make the mix more boomy sounding!

His advice to track down the source of the boominess is sound advice (pun intended of course....:))

In addition, I will add that you are probably experiencing a hard time telling just how to mix your material because what you hear while monitoring the mix is a lot different then what you ultimately hear when you make a CD or a cassette tape that you play back on a consumer playback system. If that is the case, then you either are not using very good monitors, or your mixing room has significant acoustic problems that lead you to think something sound right but that decision is not accurate because the room is really messing with what you hear, or, you are just not used to the difference between what your mixes sound like in the studio compared to how they sound on regular playback systems. More then likely though, you are experiencing two or all three of the above!

This being the case, you need to concentrate much harder on knowing the difference between what you WANT to hear while mixing, and what actually works well while you are mixing. If there is a big difference between what you hear while mixing and what you hear on a playback system, then you need to take that into consideration to mix effectively.

Good luck.

Ed
 
Damn, three thumbs down, two from engineers and one from a gear junky. That just about nails it, then. The 3630's Crap Gear.

Next?
 
I will be fair!

I have a 3630 in the rack. I use it from time to time. In fact, on certain things, it provides just the right amount of color and distortion to make a sound right.

It is just not the first compressor I reach for. It is seldomly the second compressor I reach for. Often, it is not even the third compressor I reach for. It is usually the last thing I will try if the others are not exciting my ears. Even then, it still may not be the ticket either!

I would NEVER consider using one to compress a mix either! For that, may I suggest something from Crainsong, GML, Manley, Focusrite, Valley, etc......But sell your first born at a good price as you will need every dime to afford one of these "across the mix" classics! :)

But if invisible compression is not what you are after, then the 3630 is more then qualified for the job! :(

Ed
 
well what can you recommend in the close price range?


Could I just not compress and leave it raw and then try to compress the mix like crazy through the TC finalizer I have??
 
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