compressor for 2 bus and tracking

[salomonander]

after my shitty focusrite compounder beat the hell out of my uad copressors i decided to go the hardware route for compression.
now, budged wise i am limited. and i need two channels. i want to be able to use it for tracking as well as on the 2bus. the music i produce is acoustic/folk/singer songwriter. all acoustic setting with double blass, brushed drums etc.

i was narrowing my choice down to the portico 5043 or the drawmer 1968...both are rather cheap. or should i spend more and get a dual germanium setup? that compressor looks amazingly flexible.

cheers
jakob

[Fletcher]

I beg your pardon Jakob... the 1968 is far from "cheap"... it's inexpensive in comparison, but far from "cheap".

On a less semantic note... all the units you've mentioned are excellent tools... and all VERY different. FWIW I've found the Portico and Drawmer are more suited to "general use" than the Chandlers... so you may want to investigate them first. The Chandlers are exceptionally cool... but [at least in my world, YMMV] are more "character" units that do far more than just reduce the dynamic range of stuff... they really add the "Chandler character" to the sound run through them [which is why the "mix" control is absolutely vital on those units!!!].

I'd recommend you check out the Portico and the Drawmer on the first round... pick which one best suits your music, send the other back. When you get up to your next round of purchasing [and let's face it... you'll have another round sooner than you think you'll have another round] shoot out the one you didn't get this time against a Distressor... then on the 3rd time through add the Chandler to the shoot out process.

Please don't get me wrong in these comments... I love my Germanium compressors!! ... but if it were my first compressor I would be going for something with more "general use" / "multiple application with a little less of a signature" than I've found the Chandler units can provide... for breaking your compression cherry, I would suggest you find something with a bit less of a signature...

Best of luck with your search!!

[salomonander]

hey fletcher

thanks for the advice. no, i did not want to dismiss the 1968 as cheap in any way. it's just available for a rather low price here in europe. i was considering the chandler, since i heard that it can really colour the sound as well as provide transparent compression. but if you say, that the "germanium colour" is always apparent in its sound i think i really rather listen to the 1968 and the drawmer first.

[Zuewi]

maybe a thermionic colture phoenix if you want something with tubes and if you can invest some more.
Otherwise as already said check out portico and drawmer, maybe also api 2500 and some other and test what fits best on your music.
The Groove Tubes Glory Comp is also a great thing, love mine and i think it would work good for acoustic/folk but for starting with comps the portico/drawmer would be better, they have also a much lower price.

[TonyBaseball]

Has anyone tried the Langevin ELOP. How does that stack up to the Neve Portico?

Regards,

Tony

[steffo]

I have the 1968, api2500, mc77, ssl, distressor..just sold my second cl1b. I have never considered selling the 1968 because its not that expensive and I really usefull.

The 1968 is the best allround 2buss comp I have used. It can be pretty invisble and sometimes I forget it's there until I turn it off. I like the ssl thing for heavy modern music but that is not what i like in general so.. When tracking I use it when I want to smash things. I really like it when its pushed cause it can be very agressive. Piano, drum room, sometimes bass. It super cool on acoustic guitar if you drive it really hard.

Not very fond of it when tracking vocals (unless i have a bright mic and aim for some retro vibe and want to mellow it down a bit).

I would rather go for a mc77 If I had to pick one hardware compressor. Its a very good vocal and bass compressor. It was my first good hardware comp and since my reference was uad-1 compressors It sounded insane to me. It still does..

[Fabio]

The 1968 is a really great compressor and improves all the things that pass through it...2bus, keys, vox, guitars etc.
Yes, it's cheaper than other units but not in quality!
Try it!

[Doctor Rockter]

I am also interested in the Langevin ELOP.

Anyone tried this thing on the 2Buss and drums/el. guitars?

[Fletcher]

Yeah - the Langevin El-Op is really in the "nice to have if you have a lot of options" as an extra... it wouldn't be something I would want as a "go to" unit [but they do work... and there are certainly far worse alternatives in the price range].

[Doctor Rockter]

Thanks for the comment on the ELOP!!

Where does it excel?? El. guitar- or drumbuss?

How about mixbuss-use?



I am currently thinking about the Buzz Audio SOC 1.1 for this application and used it for a Metal-remastering which I liked it for. Though I would like to consider alternatives..

[1radicalron]

Manley Elop is a traditional La3 Optical type compressor. Good for tracking Bass, Kick, Vocals and other slower attack type sounds. Not designed for 2 buss use.
The Drawmer 1968 has much more features, such as adjustable attack/release etc... So is much more versatile. The "big" switch is a very nice feature as it removes low end from the compression circut. Nice with Drums.
The Empirical Distressor is probably even more versatile, as it has gentle and variable distortion/color that can really add a nice vibe for tracking. But you will need 2 for Stereo or Buss use.

[BigGreen]

Don't confuse the Langevin and Manley Elops.
They are very different creatures.

I don't care for the Langevin. I have 10 plug-in's I would use first.

The Manley is one of my favorite squashers. In regards to busses, I have used it on the 2 buss, no limiting, for the trannies alone. It can be wonderful on a backing vocal buss as well.

To answer the OP:
Daking FETs. This is what you want.



D

[4blades]

Originally Posted by Zuewi

maybe a thermionic colture phoenix if you want something with tubes and if you can invest some more.

In the same vein, I would strongly suggest the Variable-Gm tube compressor from QES Labs.
Fat warm sound, still retaining it's transparency.
Check my post on the drum buss.

Cheers.

[feck]

Crane Song STC8. Amazing at pretty much everything.

[Kelly Cameron]

Originally Posted by BigGreen

Don't confuse the Langevin and Manley Elops.
They are very different creatures.

I don't care for the Langevin. I have 10 plug-in's I would use first.

The Manley is one of my favorite squashers. In regards to busses, I have used it on the 2 buss, no limiting, for the trannies alone. It can be wonderful on a backing vocal buss as well.

To answer the OP:
Daking FETs. This is what you want.



D

Yup, a pair of Daking FET 2's and your covered for a lot of stuff, and versatile as their not excessivley colored, just "sweet" sounding. Just finished traking a pile of custom shop Tele ryth and multiple SG ryth/ld guitar parts on a pretty big tune track-wise and WOW, the Daking stuff keeps blowing me away the more I use it. LDC ld vox to Daking mic pre/eq and then Daking FET 2 before the convertor sounded great earlier today, I was stomping the Daking compressor as the singer was a bit unwieldy, and it was very subtle sounding despite massive GR, very cool unit. And the SG ryth/leads going tube, Sansamp, then thru a Radial DI and then into the Daking stuff was just killer; warm and sweet but clear as well, just a we bit of gain reduction. All those Jensen transformers in line was pure magic, best gtr sound I've gotten so far.