16 more channels of analog compression

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alexdingley
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by alexdingley » Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:45 am

And I’ve never used the comparable Drawmers, but I’ll bet they’re even nicer that the 1046/1066.

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Snarl 12/8
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Mon Aug 17, 2020 2:34 pm

I appreciate the offer Alex, but I can't afford anything right this minute. I'm trying to compile a list to provide to loved ones who require exact brands/models and expected price ranges in order to shop for me. It is also possible that I will do some extreme low-balling on ebay, hopefully not to TOMB members.
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alexdingley
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by alexdingley » Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:18 pm

No problem — I’m not in a hurry, and there’s no shortage of those on eBay/reverb

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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by Burnt Ernie » Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:02 pm

I'm still dreaming about these as front end/line sweeteners/tube flatliners.
https://www.retroinstruments.com/produc ... _id=500PRE
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by Burnt Ernie » Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:03 pm

Also-Aphex Expressors are a swiss army knife.
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Calaverasgrande
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by Calaverasgrande » Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:19 am

Big fan of the DBX sound. Suppose it is what I cut my teeth on so I just know it.
The 160 and 166, skip the cheap models.
I used to know the differences between the various 166 models. I think the unbalanced ones are the good ones? Or maybe that is backwards. Dammit.
Presonus makes an 8 channel dynamics box. I wanted one for years than figured out that it is really best left for SR work. It isn't studio quality.

If I was in your shoes, I'd get a good patchbay set up to let you swap those units you do have among various channels.

IMHO you really don't want to use 8 compressors at once usually. More often it's one here, one there, maybe a pair on a buss.
If I got up to 8 compressors in the box or out of the box, I'd wonder what I'd done wrong tracking. But that's just me.
I like a good healthy dynamic range.

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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by digitaldrummer » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:20 am

DBX 117, 118, and 128 can be kind of cool and cheap too. From that 160/161 lineage. Especially cool if you find them at a garage sale or Goodwill (not the stupid prices on eBay).
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by DrummerMan » Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:42 pm

Hey Carl I just pm'd you
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by kayagum » Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:03 am


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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by gravitychapters » Tue Apr 13, 2021 11:54 am

You want the RNC.

I say this because I used to be you. So trust me.

(But seriously, RNC is well made, reliable, more versatile than ppl give it credit for. Can do transparent and can do crunchy vibey crushed stuff. And doesn't require any ebay scouring.)

Man, I miss my Alesis HD24. But...I have no idea how or why I resisted using a DAW. I can't begin to tell you how much easier life is this way.

But that's another thread...
Snarl 12/8 wrote:
Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:27 pm
Thanks for the thoughts so far. It's helping me.

Just thought I'd chime back in on a couple things.

Plugins aren't an option. I record to an Alesis HD24XR through an Allen & Heath GL2400-24.

I guess having 24 channels (what I got, plus 16) would be kinda ridiculous. I'm recording in 12 channel mode, so maybe 16 channels overall is more reasonable. I am a total slut for compression though. I like to have it on most inserts (hitting very lightly) AND parallel squash. I track with compression and then mix with more compression on individual tracks and busses. Plus, I love mixing into a "master" compressor. I guess I'm also pretty happy with the sound of shitty compression (I'm realizing), although I have no idea what I'm missing, since the 266XL is the "best" compressor I've ever owned.

Mostly, I think I was looking for opinions on the Drawmer and the 1046 AND wondering if there were any sleeper hardware units out there that I should be looking for. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to justify an La2a or something. I think I'm a strictly less than $100/channel man, at this point.

Thanks again,

ck

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Snarl 12/8
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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:03 pm

I do want the RNC.

I thought I'd report back since this thread has popped back up. I guess 2 main developments.

1) I really took to heart what Calaverasgrande said. I think I gravitated towards analog compression back in the 16bit days as kindof my cheat for filling up those bits without going over and having it sound cool. The utter shittiness of my previous mixing boards also, somehow furthered my use of it even at 24 bits. Now that I'm recording at 24bit, 96khz, through a cleanest mixer I've ever used there's room for a totally different technique to getting cool sounds. I'm really only using parallel comps in the tracking stages and not finding a need for serial comps at all in the mix. I have limited number of channels of parallel I can use at once. And it kinda changes what you're looking for in a compressor, too, if it's only going parallel.

2) I'm recording at 96khz, into a HD24XR. It can only do 12 channels at once. So, I'd only need a few more channels if I was sticking to my original premise.

Thank you so much for all the ideas and discussion.

*I'm really happy with how I'm doing the parallel compression, btw. I just have my DBX266XL on buss 1-2 and my ART VLA on 3-4. I can parallel compress any channel with the press of a button. I think of the DBX as my clean, crisper path and the VLA as toobie goodness. It's really quick and versatile and giving me sounds I like, at the moment.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by vernier » Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:51 am

An alternative to 16 channels of compression is to have one great stereo compressor/limiter for mix-down. :)

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Re: 16 more channels of analog compression

Post by Brett Siler » Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:30 pm

DBX 163X are awsome and usually around $75-100 used. Those have a lot of "snap" to them on drum shells. The 163a's the attack is faster so it has a slightly different sound. Pulls out more resonance of a drum shell.

Presonus ACP88 actually sounds good and can be had cheap. I think reliability might be an issue for some but it could be totally fine. 8 channels right there.

Klark Technik makes an 8 channel compressor gate that looks cool, but I have no personal experience with it. They generally make great stuff though. Their KT76 is incredible!

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