I'm looking to buy a portable compressor/limiter. My goals are
1) to dampen those ear-busting trumpet blares that are so common in 30s/40s recordings
2) to improve the chance to actually hear the music when playing in venues with crappy sound system, crappy acoustics and a noisy crowd.
I guess that for 1) I should ideally go for a multi-band compressor, where I can limit only those ear-busting frequencies. But those tend to be very very expensive...
I've had my eyes on the Really Nice Compressor (RNC 1773) for a while - the specs look good but I've never heard it in action.
http://www.fmraudio.com/rnc.htm
Does anybody here have any experience with it? Or do you have other buying suggestions?
Looking to buy a compressor/limiter
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- Posts: 154
- Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 8:27 pm
A "PA Manager" is going to be a better buy. You can get a full digital system with a compressor, limiter, parametric EQ, crossover, and much more for around $300.
I have/use/like the Behringer DCX-2496. This has everything I described and more. Behringer had a bad reputation....but this is a really solid bit of gear. All the connection are balanced xrl.
I have/use/like the Behringer DCX-2496. This has everything I described and more. Behringer had a bad reputation....but this is a really solid bit of gear. All the connection are balanced xrl.
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- Posts: 6
- Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:15 am
I am not sure if you are using a laptop and if you are, what software, but I use these in the master channel of software:
BBE Sonic Maximizer VST - I have only subtle settings - but this helps with playing 160K and VBR mp3s. Adds a little bass response and some midrange expansion
Compressor VST - I use a variety of these. The ableton compressor is okay, reacomp in Reaper. There are other free ones here:
http://www.wavosaur.com/vst/compressor-plugins.php
I have an outboard Focusrite compressor, but this is only for studio use. It's a bit overkill to be lugging around.
Warren
BBE Sonic Maximizer VST - I have only subtle settings - but this helps with playing 160K and VBR mp3s. Adds a little bass response and some midrange expansion
Compressor VST - I use a variety of these. The ableton compressor is okay, reacomp in Reaper. There are other free ones here:
http://www.wavosaur.com/vst/compressor-plugins.php
I have an outboard Focusrite compressor, but this is only for studio use. It's a bit overkill to be lugging around.
Warren
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- Posts: 12
- Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:54 pm
Ableton Live contains a full range of EQ features built-in for DJ's.
Dependant on your persuasion, a cracked copy will be the cheapest
option.
Also, to compensate for bad PA systems, address the output of your laptop by installing an Audiophile soundcard.
Eg: http://www.hboutlet.com.au/catalog/asus ... medium=cpc
And importantly, don't play anything less than 320 or FLAC bitrate.
Dependant on your persuasion, a cracked copy will be the cheapest
option.
Also, to compensate for bad PA systems, address the output of your laptop by installing an Audiophile soundcard.
Eg: http://www.hboutlet.com.au/catalog/asus ... medium=cpc
And importantly, don't play anything less than 320 or FLAC bitrate.