Most likely to compress without coloring

Ok, This is just a short list of compressors, I would like to hear what yall think, and feel free to mention any other awesome comp/limiters that I may have not included!!! Steve

The Avalon will give you option of "coloring" or "not coloring" so it gets 1st place....

The RNC will NOT color at all, but you have no say in the matter, so it gets 2nd place!

Bruce

RNC Color...........

I can get any or no color from a RNC depending how I set it up.
It's really clean in Super Nice mode, but will produce all kinds of color or distortion in normal mode with the right settings.
A snare thru a RNC in normal mode at about 3:1 with a fast attack and fast release gives me a bone every time. Of course,
I'm easily excited............
C

Poll Happy?

little z,
Got the poll thing working now....

Working overtime!!

Queue

Cranesong STC-8!!!......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hooray for polls!!!!!!

Hey Q, I think it's just a phase. LOL Steve

You forgot the Alesis nanocompressor, Bruce's favorite!
I use it to "compress" empty soda cans and it doesn't "color" the
sound of them crunching (highest and best use so far...).
Seriously, I also vote for the RNC-unless you have the $ for the Avalon.

Luv my AutoComm & MultiCom!

The Avalon is an amazing unit. I use it on a lot of the commercial work i do, brings a smile to my face everytime i use it! lol.

Try some plugins...

Just an idea...check out the Waves stuff. Plugins are probably your best bet at getting uncolored compression cheaply, other than the aforementioned RNC.

Avalon, expensive but worth it.

After trying a bunch of compressors, (including Bruce's favorite nanocompressor), I settled on the Avalon 747 and a 737.

I use the 737 when tracking vocals. It has a warm pre-amp capability and gives some great up-front compression. It was pretty pricy for a single channel, but it has given me some good control over vocals.

By the way, if you own a nanocompressor, don't throw it out. I found out that it makes an acceptable, cheap guitar effect for live performances. You can plug in a guitar, put it on the floor and STOMP on it just like the other guitar effects. You will get some really interesting sounds!!

Re: Avalon, expensive but worth it.

Sonic Misfit said:

By the way, if you own a nanocompressor, don't throw it out. I found out that it makes an acceptable, cheap guitar effect for live performances. You can plug in a guitar, put it on the floor and STOMP on it just like the other guitar effects. You will get some really interesting sounds!!

Click to expand...

The nanocompressor also makes a very good percussion effect for your drummer!! Well, at least when a "hitting a piece of metal" sound is needed that is....

Obviously, nobody here has tried a Cranesong STC-8!!! I used one for vocals on a big mixdown session. I was able to squash the hell out of the voice and there were NO audible differences in tonal quality in the vocal track when using it. I was amazed because in some cases the thing was providing up to 15dB of gain reduction!!!

I also used it on bass guitar and a snare drum for certain songs (we had two channels so I had to find a use for it on something.... ) Me and the producer were constantly amazed that this unit didn't color!!! We TRIED to make it color. To our ears, it just didn't.

That same CD was mastered through the Cranesong too. It was the main compressor the mastering studio was using. In this case, we didn't want the compressor adding color. But in other cases, I like to hear a little coloration from the compressor. Not much, but a little. The GML stuff is VERY suited in this kind of use. Although, it is fairly colorless too. You can just hear it add a tiny bit of darkness to the sound when it is setup right.

Manley is killer stuff too!!! You cannot talk about great compressors with very little color without naming Manley. It is very expensive too...., but not out of league with Cranesong, GML, and Avalon.

Another that can be added to the list of no color compressors (although, it is not really considered a compressor. It is a leveling amplifier....same thing to most except those that like to argue points....) is the Aphex Compellor. Now, I don't really like the Compellor, but, when it squish's the hell out of the sound, you don't hear any color when it does so!!! The Dominator looks interesting, but it fits the traditional "limiter" roll.

I don't know that "colorless" compression is such a big deal. Many great sounding recordings used compressors that "color" the sound, in some cases quite a bit. To each their own, but I personally will work with whatever is there and make it work... Hell, I have gotten great results using a 3630 compressor on bass guitar during mixing! ( check this out.... ) I used the 3630 on the bass track while mixing this. I don't hear anything wrong with the bass sound that would make me not want to use the 3630 if it was the last thing available!!! It certainly doesn't sound all that bad at all.

Just my $1 worth on the topic.

Ed

Come to think of it, I also used the 3630 on the Triangle on this mix!!!

Used a ART Dual Levelar on the Rhodes.

Used a Behringer Composer (old style) on the Sax solo.

Behringer Composer on the kick drum.

Color can be good.

Ed

Re: Re: Avalon, expensive but worth it.

sonusman said:

Obviously, nobody here has tried a Cranesong STC-8!!! I used one for vocals on a big mixdown session. I was able to squash the hell out of the voice and there were NO audible differences in tonal quality in the vocal track when using it. I was amazed because in some cases the thing was providing up to 15dB of gain reduction!!!

Click to expand...

Ed, Have you heard the Cranesong Trakker yet? If so, what are your thoughts.

Re: Re: Avalon, expensive but worth it.

sonusman said:

Hell, I have gotten great results using a 3630 compressor on bass guitar during mixing!

Click to expand...

OK Eddie, have you ever had this problem with 3630?

I went to use it on bass track but it was really distorted and not in a controlled way. I bypassed it, turned knobs every which way and nothing helped. So I unplugged it from the channel I had it inserted on and turned it of and rechecked my signal path and it was definitley the 3630. I then plugged it back in to the insert and it was fine. Its happened a few times before. Why would it work, then not work?? Do I have bad unit and should I throw it out, I wasted 2 hrs trying to debug my path, swapping cords etc...

SoMm

was it run via a patchbay? could be an explanation there. ive come across a similar thing with my mates studio.

ive used the 3630 on a few things now and again and i have no problems with the compressor (...are you running it at the correct operating level aswell)...?

Damn. Too late to make 3630 jokes.


In all seriousness, aside from whether the 3630 can be appropriate for certain situations, they have poor QC. For example, they are fickle and can be prone to dying. But hell, if it sounds good and still works, use it.

LongWaveStudio said:

was it run via a patchbay?

Click to expand...

Nope. Its split into 2 mono, where one channel is used on a channel insert, and the other is run through one of my verbs on aux2 send return loop which I use for my drums buss mostly. It was acting like I was overdriving the input but none of the "lights" reacted like it was. Like I said, I unplugged it, turned it off and it sorta fixed itself. I double checked my track sheet on the previous settings and everything was kosher.

SoMm

I don't understand why the Joemeek SC2.2 is there. It does nothing but color..Hell its Green!!!

Color Good....Clean Bad... Only kidding, but why the hell is the SC2.2 on this list. Even I did not vote for it. Great compressor if you want color and effect.

I've got a bunch of the old Composer models (MDX2000 and 2100), and while they're not absolutely colorless, I like their color very much. They're great on guitars and drums. I like 'em on vocals, too. Plus the old ones are pretty rugged. I bought all of them used, and they still work fine. Still haven't used a Composer Pro (MDX2200), so no vote from me.