KVR Audio

sinkmusic · Post by **sinkmusic** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:13 pm

Hi
Please suggest me a cheap but decent/good compressor limiter (150-300$).
I am in the need for something to use with beatboxes, analogue synths & digital bass.
THank you !

Lance · Post by **Lance** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:53 pm

http://www.behringer.com/T1952/index.cfm?lang=eng

Shy · Post by **Shy** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:05 pm

I would get the ART Pro VLA tube compressor/limiter. It has excellent features, very good signal quality (clear, low noise) and sounds very fine. Their products are all very reliable, built to last.

sinkmusic · Post by **sinkmusic** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:08 pm

Lance wrote:http://www.behringer.com/T1952/index.cfm?lang=eng

Really ?
It works fine and sounds good ?
Many people had told me to stay away from Behringer's comp (and the compressors on my Virtualizer are bad), so i didn't noticed this one. Thank you for reminding it to me, i'll give it a look.

sinkmusic · Post by **sinkmusic** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:16 pm

Shy wrote:I would get the ART Pro VLA tube compressor/limiter. It has excellent features, very good signal quality (clear, low noise) and sounds very fine. Their products are all very reliable, built to last.

You're the third to recommend it !

Could you describe a bit the sound & features from your personnal experience ?
And could you tell on what kind of audio signal do you use it, and to reach what goal (peak limiting, coloration, fattening, pumping, etc) ?
Do you used several other compressors, and how would you tell it works/sounds, compared to them ?
I was also looking for a cheap Dbx266XL, or the FMR comp, and saw a good review about the Samson S-com Plus, so i don't really know what to choose and i can't try any where i live...

THak you for the advices !

Lance · Post by **Lance** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:32 pm

sinkmusic wrote:
Lance wrote:http://www.behringer.com/T1952/index.cfm?lang=eng
Really ?
It works fine and sounds good ?
Many people had told me to stay away from Behringer's comp (and the compressors on my Virtualizer are bad), so i didn't noticed this one. Thank you for reminding it to me, i'll give it a look.

Virtualizer is digital. Phooey!

This one is analogue. It's only $150. I have no personal experience with it but I've heard a lot of positive reviews about it from my queasy taste Hungarian fellows (otherwise they use to bash everything, almost every software).

For that money it beats every software and hardware competitors. And no doubt it is more analogue sounding than any software can be.

Shy · Post by **Shy** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:01 pm

If you require some serious coloration, pumping, etc., I would recommend the ART Pro Channel (instrument/mic preamp/compressor/eq), that's what I use. However, it's one channel, not stereo. The reason I'd recommend it over others for that is that it has 3 tubes, has an absolutely huge gain range due to its stages, and can give some lovely coloration/distortion. I find that I can use it on pretty much anything and for any kind of task, from very standard and simple to plain weird sound and extreme distortion. It's very flexible. Too bad it's not stereo

. You could pass a recording through it twice, left channel and right channel, but still sometimes it wouldn't be optimal since there's no stereo linking, so balance could be way off, though often you can fix that. I make electronic music (or mainly electronic), and find that it's great for spicing synths up.

Compared to it, the Pro VLA is more subtle in the coloration/distortion ability, but it has a similar character overall. It excels at subtle compression with nice pumping, and you get good attack/release speed. And it has a large threshold. It handles pretty much anything fine. But it won't go to extremes compared to the Pro Channel. It definitely is good at adding some nice coloration and it has very high quality specs, and things passing through it sound like they should.

Others I've tried extensively are the DBX 266XL and Bellari RP583. I was really pretty unimpressed by the 266XL. It sounded like it had a harsh, lifeless character. Not bad, but not anything pleasing at all. The RP583 was far nicer, but very unique in its character. Not standard "warm" character, kind of exciter like, but nice. But, it's very noisy, and seems to alter the sound of anything that passes through it considerably. Both won't go to extremes either, compared to the Pro Channel.

I can't really say anything about others at this range, I have no serious experience with any.

I hope I haven't just gotten you into more of a dilemma

..

dickiefunk · Post by **dickiefunk** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:07 pm

FMR RNC! Awesome!

sinkmusic · Post by **sinkmusic** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:15 pm

I hope I haven't just gotten you into more of a dilemma Smile..

ah ah
no, thank you very much !
It is quite helpfull :

SO, tu sum up & clarify :

- I don't need that much pumping, i already have some nasty units for this task

- I owned a Art TCS, and so i already know Art a little bit

(and i won't go for the ART Pro Channel, as 1- i don't need that much nastyness, and 2- i have a tube MP = some other stuff to reach quite similar tube sound) ;

- I see that most of the advices lend towards "coloration" with tube units (may it be Behri or Art) : are they both good for basic but efficient limting ?

- 2 years ago, I used during 2 days a Dbx266XL, and wasn't either impressed at all ;

- There is a huge hyper around FMR RNC, but i fear it is not really suited for limiting and dealing with several beatboxes playing together (more aimed for vocal & guitar, isn"t it ?)

- Nobody knows the cheapo Samson S-com Plus ???

...
So, if anyone has any other suggestions or experiences to share

dickiefunk · Post by **dickiefunk** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:24 pm

[quote="sinkmusic"]

- There is a huge hyper around FMR RNC, but i fear it is not really suited for limiting and dealing with several beatboxes playing together (more aimed for vocal & guitar, isn"t it ?)
[quote]

Yeah probably. What about the FMR RNLA?

Shy · Post by **Shy** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:27 pm

Ah, about limiting, the ART Pro VLA isn't very great at "hard limiting", as it is in fact a "soft knee" limiter/compressor. Actually, I don't know any compressor/limiter at this range that offers thorough hard knee limiting ability.
I must say that for any hard limiting I think only very high end hardware compares to a quality software limiter like Voxengo Elephant which is absolutely amazing. Of course, it may not always be an option to use software for limiting.

sinkmusic · Post by **sinkmusic** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:42 am

In the same price range than the Art Pro VLA, i found the Drawner MX-30.
It has no tube and it is VCA, and it has a compr + a limiter.
Does anyone know anything about this one ?

markroom · Post by **markroom** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:55 am

Alesis 3660 is another alternative to the Behringer composer- no colouration but then its called a compressor not a colourer- i pick one up for 40euros second hand the other week

cheap compressor / limiter