Symetrix 501 compressor/limiter

  • Thread starter Thread starter teainthesahara
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teainthesahara

teainthesahara

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I have a chance to pick up a symetrix 501 peak-RMS compressor/limiter for 75$ total. I was looking for a compressor that would perform adequetly on vocals. Would this do the trick, or are there better comp's for vocal use for about the same cost ?

Thanks,
T
 
there will be nothing in that price range that will perform as well as any symetrix....that being said it is not ideal for vocals though it will work as a limiter....uhh somewhat...the most important point to watch for on this piece is the input...its pretty easy to clip the input and it imparts a particular odd sounding distortion that is not all that pleasant...if you watch this closely you can achieve a good sound....as with all less expensive outboard gear, there are limitations to what they'll do and generally if you identify and work within these limits you can achieve a decent sound...the symetrix gear is by far the 'best' less expensive gear you can find....for some reason it seems to be a 'forgotten' brand....i have two 525 units and love them ...they are way way better than any alesis 3630 comp and you can get em for around the same price...as always...YMMV
 
pick it up

symetrix makes good stuff. and that sounds like a fair price. if you dont like it you should be able to get that money back.
 
Thanks guys; I got more questions for ya!
What characteristics on a compressor would make it more suitable for vocals ? I guess the 501 will work, but it's missing some features needed for involved vocal work (I was planning to use the 501 primarily at the tracking stage with a digital recording setup - does this make a difference in it's suitablility) ?

Also would the 2 channel behringer comp's for 20$ or so more than the 75 US$ 501 be preferable? Or does the 501 still give better sound/quality ?

Thanks, your comments are much appreciated!
T
 
first off, yes the symetrix will be better sounding than the behringer. not as versatile, but better sounding.

i have a behr composer, and while it sounds OK, it is pretty lo fi, and wouldnt use it on voice unless i wanted to degrade the signal a bit.

i think the problem that you are going to run into is that cheap compressors come in two varieties: colorful/lo-fi (furman, ashly, symetrix, shure, dbx, uh.. there are more), and decent but boring (the RNC).

you really have to lay out some cash, as in more than $500 used, to get anything better/different.


i say: get one RNC and get the symetrix. they should complement eachother pretty well. both will work for voice in different applications. then save up for something really nice.
 
Eeldip, thanks for the info. What do you (or anybody else) think about these lo-fi compressors in context of an entire set up then - meaning, would my finger on the gain knob of my pre-amp resulting in 'manual dynamic control (!) ' give me better sound quality than running the signal through an inexpensive comp? Less convienient, but less intereference with the original sound ? Or are they simply different sounds (original signal Vs signal through the comp), not really better or worse ?

T
 
eeldip said:

i think the problem that you are going to run into is that cheap compressors come in two varieties: colorful/lo-fi (furman, ashly, symetrix, shure, dbx, uh.. there are more), and decent but boring (the RNC).


i say: get one RNC and get the symetrix. they should complement eachother pretty well. both will work for voice in different applications. then save up for something really nice.
Click to expand...

I can think of some inexpensive comps which probably outperform symetrix, or are at least more musical, namely focusrite's recent line of channel strips with opto compressors...the penta, voicechannel pro, etc.
Also the RNC sidechained (vs straight) becomes a dif beast altogeather.
 
i hesitate to compress anything 'going in'..i hesitate to add ANY artifacts 'going in'...once they're there you're stuck with em and believe me once the mix starts getting busy or a bit complicated having pre made artifacts is going to APITA...if all you're worried about is peaks ie. volume spikes and you want to avoid these then the symetrix can be used as a bit of a limiter...that way its not 'compressing the signal only limiting the amount of gain spikes the recorder will see...mostly though, i would work on mike positioning and mic technique...these are FREE and worth so much more than any device could give you for the money...still, at $75 you should own that symetrix...and avoid, like theres a plague, any of the current crop of CHEEP compression gear out there....berringer,bellaris,some of the low end consumer dbx,most of the art(not the pro vla)stuff,that kind of crap...you can do so much more with technique...........the rnc is a very very good choice and with the 501 you would have a couple of pieces that will serve you well...remember, the symetrix was not that low end when they built it....a lot of sound companies swear by them...
 
I've read that the 501's with a toggle switch are superior to the
push button 501's as the the older "toggle" model used a
Valley People VCA that was better than the later one.

Chris
 
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