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[breathe]

I just ordered a SPL Transient Designer 4.  Originally I wanted to get the UAD-2 card so I could run their emulation of the SPL TD as well as the Little Labs IBP (and some of their other stuff) but it turned out my Mac Pro which I have a PT HD3 Accel system in did not have a spare PCI slot like I thought, so if I wanted to get a UAD I'd have to get a Magma Expansion chassis which costs more than the fucking Mac Pro, so that idea got put on hold.  I still really wanted the SPL unit's functionality so I just ordered the analog hardware version.  I know that the functionality of the SPL is independent of the gain of the signal sent into it, but I imagine if I was to compress (for example a recording of a tom drum) in the computer before it was then sent out of an Apogee into my patchbay, this would adversely affect the ability of the SPL to shape the envelope of the sound.  

So, with this post also being a general inquiry into building a studio that is weaned off of plug-ins and is more or less totally analog in the mixing stage, can anyone recommend a compressor unit of low cost that would be good for compressing the lower priority sounds in a mix?  Before I sold much of my outboard gear when I moved to Los Angeles to do forensic audio restoration, I enjoyed the DBX 160XT on drum sounds, which I suppose could be reproduced equally well with a DBX 903 module in their 9-space rack.  And although my Valley International rack of Gain Brain II's was giving me trouble way before I left Portland, I found those to be high quality and very versatile compressors (albeit not very useful on bass-centric sounds, though not nearly as bad as the FMR RNC in this regard).  Does anyone feel the units I have just stated are good starting places for compression when buying more API 527's (which I looooove!!!!) is not financially possible?

Best and Happy Thanksgiving!

Nicholas

[jetbase]

Aphex made some really transparent compressors, so if you're after dynamic control without really wanting the compression sound I would recommend looking into what they have available today.

[CWHumphrey]

The RNC stereo compressor is a lot of bang for the buck.  Don't be fooled by the wall wart.

Cheers,

[Podgorny]

breathe wrote on Wed, 24 November 2010 13:40

I know that the functionality of the SPL is independent of the gain of the signal sent into it, but I imagine if I was to compress (for example a recording of a tom drum) in the computer before it was then sent out of an Apogee into my patchbay, this would adversely affect the ability of the SPL to shape the envelope of the sound.

Not sure what this has to do with the main question, but the transient designer does just fine post compression.

And as far as inexpensive compressors go, I'm a big fan of the LT Sound CLX-2. If you can find one, they usually for for about $250.  It's hard to complain about the DBX 160s, except to say that the market for them is inflated.  LA-4s can still be had relatively inexpensively.

JBL 7110
Valley Dyna-Mite
Aphex 661

[Fletcher]

All of the FMR stuff is amazing - my personal favorite is the PBC-6A

The SPL "transient designer" is an amazing unit - once you get past the obvious drum applications you can do some really sick shit with bass, vocals, and even guitar!!!

[breathe]

I owned (3) of the FMR RNC's 10 years ago.  I've sold them all.  I don't know if the design has been improved, but those things seriously castrated the bass of any sound fed into it.  All the power disappeared.  Though to its credit, with the default sound degradation of the unit taken into account, the unit did a remarkably good job of not fucking with the sound with increased compression.  I should probably investigate FMR more, but the PBC-6A gets into a price range of something with a legit power supply and that doesn't look/feel like a toy.  I recently bought a pair of LA4's.  The high frequency response was really bad so I've put them in the custody of my "eccentric" repair tech who says "Bob Alach has nothing on me" so who knows what my tech can pull off with those!  Ignoring the high frequency loss, I could tell the LA4's had a lot of potential.

Nicholas

[jetbase]

breathe wrote on Thu, 25 November 2010 10:58

I owned (3) of the FMR RNC's 10 years ago.  I've sold them all.  I don't know if the design has been improved, but those things seriously castrated the bass of any sound fed into it.  All the power disappeared.  Though to its credit, with the default sound degradation of the unit taken into account, the unit did a remarkably good job of not fucking with the sound with increased compression.  I should probably investigate FMR more, but the PBC-6A gets into a price range of something with a legit power supply and that doesn't look/feel like a toy.  I recently bought a pair of LA4's.  The high frequency response was really bad so I've put them in the custody of my "eccentric" repair tech who says "Bob Alach has nothing on me" so who knows what my tech can pull off with those!  Ignoring the high frequency loss, I could tell the LA4's had a lot of potential. Nicholas

I agree about the RNC's regarding bass.
I have an LA-4 with this upgrade & I love it: http://www.proharmonic.com/la4.htm

[J.J. Blair]

Urei LA-22 is great.  You can find them cheap on eBay.  There's a mono unit, too.  

Brian Kehew loves the JBL 7110.  Sounds cool.  Not transparent, though.  

[wwittman]

What's a "low priority sound" and why do you need to compress it?

[breathe]

Well, Mr. Esteemed Wittman, if a sound is going to be put low in the mix, compression will be even more important to keep said sound audible, though the importance of audio quality will be less since the volume of said sound is turned down.  Basically this whole thread is about finding good compression for recordings of tom drums.

Nicholas

wwittman wrote on Wed, 24 November 2010 18:05

What's a "low priority sound" and why do you need to compress it?

[Podgorny]

J.J. Blair wrote on Wed, 24 November 2010 19:53

Urei LA-22 is great.  You can find them cheap on eBay.  There's a mono unit, too.

LA-12?

[Podgorny]

breathe wrote on Wed, 24 November 2010 20:14

Basically this whole thread is about finding good compression for recordings of tom drums.

Oh, well why didn't you say so. if it's for toms, I'd have to recommend Funk Logic's Digilog Dynamicator.

[Tim Halligan]

breathe wrote on Thu, 25 November 2010 10:14

...if a sound is going to be put low in the mix, compression will be even more important to keep said sound audible, though the importance of audio quality will be less since the volume of said sound is turned down.

Wow.

I find nothing in here that I can agree with.

Cheers,
Tim

[Seb Riou]

Podgorny wrote on Thu, 25 November 2010 05:21

J.J. Blair wrote on Wed, 24 November 2010 19:53 Urei LA-22 is great.  You can find them cheap on eBay.  There's a mono unit, too. LA-12?

Yup, and LA-10 for the same one channel compressor without the side chain EQ. Still works great.

For bass I really like my 163XT with a THAT VCA chip.

FMR are sick, I love 'em.

Well all I have is B-grade so go ahead ..

Oh wait, is CBS Audimax III B-Grade ? It is price wise ...

[Tomas Danko]

Fletcher wrote on Wed, 24 November 2010 23:11

All of the FMR stuff is amazing - my personal favorite is the PBC-6A The SPL "transient designer" is an amazing unit - once you get past the obvious drum applications you can do some really sick shit with bass, vocals, and even guitar!!!

Reverb sends!