What's a good mastering compressor?

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monkie

monkie

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I've created some beats that I want to pass it out to friends and families to promote myself. Since I'm a little tight on budget I want to master my own mixes. I understand it's not going to be as good as a professional mastering engineer but just want something that will get the job done at an decent level. I currently use Digidesign's BF76 as a master compressor and Waves L3 for mastering. I'm not totally satisfy with the results because of the compressor. Are there other ones that I should look into?

Thanks:D
 
What is your budget? For a 2 buss comp, the Drawmer 1968 is a relative bargain, but the key term is relative. A used one is still @ $1500 for 2 channels, and there are some who would still view it as insufficient for mastering, preferring Alan Smart, Crane Song, GML, Weiss, Pendulum and the like. Of course then we are talking about @$3,000 - $8,000 for two channels.
 
What's a good mastering compressor?
One that gives you a good master.

What's a great mastering compressor?
One that gives you a great master.


There are probably bad ones too, with the same predictable outcome.
 
I think you need to consider the context.

You're doing beats.

And if I was looking for a two-channel outboard strictly for beats, I would probably want something that can pump a little bit. Nothing too overboard, but I might actually look a little outside the box on this.

I'm going to throw a bit of an oddball out there; check out the Valley People Dynamite 3. They're not easy to get a hold of. But they're reasonably priced (when you can find them), and they can take a beat and do some interesting things to it. And as you can probably guess, they do interesting things to drums as well. Anything percussive.

The dbx 160X is another one that can do some cool things to percussive material, but I'm not sure if they can be stereo linked or not (and I've never used it on a master bus before, but I'm guessing it would be very cool to use on beats).

For absolute dirt-cheap, but very cool color piece on beats, drums, percussion, etc. ... the Symetrix SX208. Absolutely idiot-proof, and very cool to have around.

Just something else to consider.
 
+1 on the 1968. i got mine for 1350 used and just make the lights turn red on peaks...i barely compress...makes a significant difference in my chain. with the sound of the 1968 and the functionality of your computer i think you'd be happy.

Mike
 
sajs said:
I've been using the RNC with great results:
http://www.fmraudio.com/RNC1773.HTM
Click to expand...

I just happened to read this on FMR's site:
Can I use the RNC for my stereo mix bus?
Yes. In fact, the RNC's SuperNice mode was designed for and tested extensively with stereo program material. One of our goals was to have a 2-mix compressor that sounded good, gave some signal control and didn't cost gobs of money. So, how should you hook it up to your mix bus? Probably the best way is by hooking it into your console's stereo bus inserts. BUT, you could always take the simplest approach and just take the output of the mixer, connect it to the RNC's inputs and then connect the RNC's outputs to your monitoring system. Just follow some of the guidelines we've given you above (and follow hook-up instructions of the equipment you're hooking the RNC to).
 
sajs said:
Yes, I put it on the master bus.
Click to expand...

Do you mean that you're using it as a mix-buss compressor? In that case, I can see it. I love my RNC as much as the next guy, but I wouldn't use it for "mastering" work.

I love the ART Pro VLA for the mix-buss as a budget option. I'm not sure there is anything under the $1,500-$2,000 mark suitable for real mastering work.

Frank
 
JTC111 said:
I just happened to read this on FMR's site:
Can I use the RNC for my stereo mix bus?
Yes. In fact, the RNC's SuperNice mode was designed for and tested extensively with stereo program material. One of our goals was to have a 2-mix compressor that sounded good, gave some signal control and didn't cost gobs of money. So, how should you hook it up to your mix bus? Probably the best way is by hooking it into your console's stereo bus inserts. BUT, you could always take the simplest approach and just take the output of the mixer, connect it to the RNC's inputs and then connect the RNC's outputs to your monitoring system. Just follow some of the guidelines we've given you above (and follow hook-up instructions of the equipment you're hooking the RNC to).
Click to expand...

Wow. Is it really that good? Have you tried it? Liked it/hate it?:)
 
Personally, I don't like it on the mix-buss at all, and it's not out of "it-ain't-expensive-enough" snobbery. I like thick, gluey mix-buss compression to build RMS density for the most part; the RNC just isn't that animal.

Frank
 
JTC111 said:
I just happened to read this on FMR's site:
Can I use the RNC for my stereo mix bus?
Yes. In fact, the RNC's SuperNice mode was designed for and tested extensively with stereo program material. One of our goals was to have a 2-mix compressor that sounded good, gave some signal control and didn't cost gobs of money. So, how should you hook it up to your mix bus? Probably the best way is by hooking it into your console's stereo bus inserts. BUT, you could always take the simplest approach and just take the output of the mixer, connect it to the RNC's inputs and then connect the RNC's outputs to your monitoring system. Just follow some of the guidelines we've given you above (and follow hook-up instructions of the equipment you're hooking the RNC to).
Click to expand...

I use it in the SuperNice mode and I think it sounds great. However, I have never owned an expensive one so I really can't compare it to anything else.
For the price, I think it's a good bang for the buck.
 
Weasel9992 said:
Personally, I don't like it on the mix-buss at all, and it's not out of "it-ain't-expensive-enough" snobbery. I like thick, gluey mix-buss compression to build RMS density for the most part; the RNC just isn't that animal.

Frank
Click to expand...

What is it good for?
 
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