TUBE-TECH SMC 2B Stereo Multiband Compressor

[RoundBadge]

Very curious. I'm using a Smart C-2 and/or a fairchild 670 for the 2bus these days ...Ive seen a few blurbs here and there on the SMC-2b.Whats the deal?...sound/vibe? apps?strengths?weakness? ..is it worth the price? any info would be very much appreciated! ...Thanks I/A ..RB!

[GCL]

I have one for my mix buss and love it. Allows me to compress lows and some mids while leaving the highs open. I bought it to take the place of Waves plugs (C4, etc.) and it turned out to be a great move (but expensive one) for me. And of course it has a very warm character.

[syra]

Lives on my Mix Buss. Did a shoot out against a Vari-mu 2 years ago and the "Blue Monster" got my $$

[Revelation]

Originally posted by syra
Lives on my Mix Buss. Did a shoot out against a Vari-mu 2 years ago and the "Blue Monster" got my $$

This was my thing with any single band compressor. It does not give you the flexiblity that a multiband unit gives you. Being able to cut the bass and mid's and leave the high end alone is very nice.

It seems that the MU compressors add a flavor mostly when mastering. Then with the attack, and threshold you can work it do a decent job on a master Mix. However it does not offer you the flexibiltiy of a multiband compressor. Am I missing something on this issue, or am I correct?

[jon]

It's on every mix I do, usually followed by a Massive Passive or occasionally Sontec EQ.

Further to the above, I like the overall gain adjust knob which lets me gain down the mixes a couple of dB before hitting the EQ or converters, as the direct output from the SSL is a bit too high for either of them when the mix is gained properly and the console is singing.

[C.Lambrechts]

same here ... allways on it ... recently been starting to use it 'heavier' ... at higher ratios. Up till now it was just sitting there ... treshold meters dancing lightly away to the beat ...


how about settings ?

I tend to use slower attack / release on the low band, faster on mid and fast on high bands. Xover is usually set to x4 ... low to mid cross round 400 Hz .... mid to high round 3.2 - 4k

I never almost never use the indivudual gains on the bands ... but tend to give some more on the master.

[Drumsound]

I've worked with a mastering engineer who uses it very well. I think it's a really cool unit. I need one someday.

[MichaelT]

Don't mean to steal the thread away from the 2-bus, but does anyone have any success stories on things like OHs? The studio I'm going to be tracking drums in for my album has the SMC-2b and my engineer and I were thinking of throwing a hint of it on the OH mics...any thoughts? Thanks!

-Mike

[jon]

Cool on OH and BVs, if I didn't always have it on the 2-bus. Haven't tracked with it tho...

Rough 2-bus settings for me:

1-4 dB GR on bass channel, slow/slow
1-2 dB GR on mid channel, midslow/mid
0-1 dB GR on high channel, midfast/fast

Xovers 100-300 Hz and 3-4 kHz

Slight trimming of individual outputs but not much.

[CraigC]

To me the smc-2B acts like a cross between an EQ and a compressor. Its the best outboard compressor on the market if you need to brightnen up a mix without using a dedicated EQ.
Craig Calistro
pro audio sales
CalistroMusic.com

[GCL]

Hey Craig.
I bought my SMC-2B from you -- thanks! Use it everyday.
-Gary

[syra]

It took me long time to learn the beast...given the amount of control you have, it is a lot easier to destroy a good mix instead of making it better...

My mentality now is that it should react as close to a normal comp with a sidechain as possible. So...my low cross over point is 100 Hz and I'm compressing lightly the lows (to emulate how I would go about using a sidechain with reduced lows) and the middle band has a midslow attack with a midfast release...top cross over is the highest possible (6. something I think...)

I use the master output to pump my 192 I/O input...thank God for that 10dB of gain!

peace, syra

[amathie]

Jon and Chris,

Do you mix with the SMC 2B across the 2-bus or do you mix and then kick the SMC 2B in - or perhaps a combination of both?

[jon]

I kick it in after I have all the faders up, EQs and compression in, and the main levels set.

Like checking up on the bigs every now and then, I flip back and check SSL mix out (flat) versus the mix return off from the PSX100SE with the 2-bus chain in pre-PSX...it should be a subtle enhancement at equal monitoring levels ... not mud versus sizzle.

[C.Lambrechts]

would be similar here. I bring it in after basic sound making has been gone through... which if you look at the entire mixing process is quite early imo. From that point on it will just sit there. I guess one could compare Jon's SSL to my Dangerous 2 bus and his PSX to my Hedd. ( ) as in listening to the 'flat' (dangerous) and 2bus chain (smc / hedd) versions of the mix.

A subtle enhancement of the sound at similar monitoring levels .... yes ... that's it.

[RoundBadge]

It looks interesting to me.I like stuff that adds color.can it give me that?I just have to justify wether these "enhancements" are worth 4 plus grand.I know there is no magic "do all" box,but it seems like the smc 2b has some tweakability that the others don't have.Anybody in LA have a demo around?

[C.Lambrechts]

anyone mentioned using the smc during tracking yet ? I have used it a couple of times. realy realy works great. Used it for vocal tracking a couple of times . you can apply compression in an EQ'ish way. Not chirurgical but effective nevertheless and in some cases a very handy way to work imho.

[Gie-Sound]

(like I've said before in another topic
I've worked with the SMC-2B very often... but I don't always like it.... Sometimes I put it on my mixbus after the 1969 and let it touch the mix a little... less than 2dB of GR for each band... (1dB would be closer to the truth ). If I use it more, I don't like what it does to my mixes... If I use it just a little (like I described)... I sometimes like it (In those cases it brings some "rest", but that's not what I'm looking for most of the time, because "rest" can become "boring" pretty easy).
It can also be used as a mix-bus eq without compressing

I like to use it on a BV-mix. it can help reduce nasty SSssss (without touching the meat) when I added a lot of air to the BV's.

[Poutine]

Watched Gene Paul at dB+ use one in his mastering chain; barely tickling the low band gr meter.


Try it for acoustic gtrs; helps tame body resonance/boom while still allowing for full sound
Yeah, it's can be like a dynamic eq - not sure whether it sounds good in all situations; sometimes sounds too slow - then again, I work with a house producer who insists on it when mastering his singles: fell in love when he heard what it could do for his low end and mid attack

Worth calibrating the L/R balance trimpot with a tone before using for critical stereo applications like 2-mix / mastering.

And definitely get to know it before using it on a session: takes a bit to understand how to get the best out of it. Can wreck stuff pretty well if you're not on your toes.

Don't know if I'd ditch a vari-mu for one though...

[syra]

Originally posted by Poutine
Worth calibrating the L/R balance trimpot with a tone before using for critical stereo applications like 2-mix / mastering.

That won't help because the L/R balance changes depending on the compression and the material...you should calibrate it after you set up your settings...

[Poutine]

Originally posted by syra
That won't help because the L/R balance changes depending on the compression and the material...you should calibrate it after you set up your settings...

Sorry not clear on what you're implying - unless you mean calibrating balance using the program material itself, rather than a tone?
Also, do you find that the individual band settings for threshold, etc. are not that reliable, given that they are master stereo controls per each of the 3 bands?
And are you referring to the SMC specifically, or stereo comps in general?
I find that strapped stereo tracking is reasonably consistent on most units, except opticals -
Doesn't hurt to check the cal. before & after program setup; although usually, post setup, listening seems to be the best: although with units like this, there's no option to go without stereo link, or to calibrate tracking, as in the VariMu, or Requisite.

Wish Tubetech would be a little more forthcoming with their products' technical info in this regard, to help users better understand how/why stuff works.

[syra]

Sorry not clear on what you're implying - unless you mean calibrating balance using the program material itself, rather than a tone?

Yes thats what I mean...you can (should) only calibrate the L/R balance after you finalize your compression settings for that specific material.

Also, do you find that the individual band settings for threshold, etc. are not that reliable, given that they are master stereo controls per each of the 3 bands?

Are you talking about a multiband comp versus a normal one...or the fact that you only have one set of controls for both channels?

And are you referring to the SMC specifically, or stereo comps in general?

SMC2B

[Poutine]

Originally posted by syra
Yes thats what I mean...you can (should) only calibrate the L/R balance after you finalize your compression settings for that specific material.

Are you talking about a multiband comp versus a normal one...or the fact that you only have one set of controls for both channels?

SMC2B

Well, I think you're on to something here:
When I do a L/R cal. it's with the thr pots set to "off", & ea. band gain set to "0"
I haven't noticed any image shifting so far: but you've got me thinking: might be fun to run some sweep tones and see what happens...

But yeah, potentially what you're driving at is the relative stability of the L/R image in each of the bands, and whether that's being affected by any one set of band controls: I think it's the fact that the unit is designed to work like it does: Now imagine if they'd done it up with SEPARATE L/R controls in each band, and link/unlike options for all three: BOY HOWDY!!!
Stereo linking comes in a variety of iterations, according to designer; I think it's interesting how some units behave in "link" vs. "unlink".
I don't automatically link my sides. It's nice to have the option.

But regardless, it's still a very cool unit: I'd like another one.