Distressor on vocals-Bad sounding high freq´s

villeman · 26th August 2003, 09:40 AM

Hi all,

I´ve been recording a lot of rap vocals lately and I just bought a Distressor w.options for the purpose.
I just can´t seem to get any good sound out of it. The "s" sounds sound muddy, actually the vocal track in general sounds pretty muddy and dull.
I was beginning to think that the problem was somewhere else in my chain, but I then went back and listened to some recordings made with a mesely Summit TLA50 and they sounded very "hifi" compared to the Distressor recordings.
The reason I got the Distressor was to get a bit more aggressive feeling, kind of 1176 sound w. more flexibility, but it just doesn´t sound good to me, not without using a lot of high shelf EQ. The air kind of disappears.

The other day I tracked some vocals thru my STC8 and the difference was like night & day. The track sounded pristine and full of details.
I´ve tried all thinkable settings on the Distressor, 4:1, 6:1 Opto etc., but I still can´t make it sound "hifi".

I finally decided to try it on different material, like bass, ac.gtr, etc., but it doesn´t even come close to the STC, let alone my TLA50´s.
I´m actually thinking of selling it. Anybody else have mediocre experience with this unit?

BTW. My chain: ADK A51TC->OctoPre->Comressor->Paris.

I know some of you are going to comment my mic pre choice and maybe even my mic choice, but we are talking all things equal between the different compressors. Besides some of the other material compared is di´d, like the bass for instance.

For me this clearly show, "you shouldn´t believe everything you read", since I bought this unit based upon NG reading...

One man´s junk is another man´s tresure.

cymatics · 26th August 2003, 11:58 AM

Well I never go to the distressor for 'hi-fi'. One important thing to note is that the attack times on the distressor can be ridiculously fast. It's entirely possible that you are crushing the transient information that can help give a sense of 'air'. Try starting with the attack around 5 in the 'opto mode' and see if that makes any difference. Use the HP filter in the side chain and skip the harmonic section completely as that can make the tone a bit rounder.

The EL8 does a helluva a lot of tricks and it does almost all of them uniquley and with grace. It's the bees knees in a number of applications, so unless you must sell it to get something that suits you better, keep experimenting with it on some different applications and see what it can do.

- jon

Teacher · 26th August 2003, 02:32 PM

i'll buy it for 500

The MPCist · 26th August 2003, 02:44 PM

I use the Distressor on a rap album I'm producing at the moment. One of the rappers sounds great thru it. I mean it's so good that I don't have to add any EQ/Comp while mixing!

The other two rappers... oh well, the Distressor just doesn't like them. Ended up using a TubeTech on those.

If it isn't working right for ya, then back off heavily compressing and just use it to slightly compress and play with the attack/release.

I think your problem is that it's over compressing (nuking) so the vocals end up a bit muffled or lofi...

faeflora · 26th August 2003, 03:44 PM

try lower ratios with more db reduction

try higher ratios with less reduction

i have found thatratios above 6:1 aren't that great for voice except to limit.

try using or not using the deesser

Syki · 26th August 2003, 04:20 PM

I used my distressor on a female vocal recently. I tracked through a Summit TPA 200 B. It came out smokin , but as Fae Flora said my ratio was 4/1 and no distortion. I also have the britt mode on my distressors which gives it that 1176 aggressiveness. Doesn't work on all vocals all the time but on this one vocal it came out smokin . I'll give you $600. for your Distressor!

Syki · 26th August 2003, 04:23 PM

I'm serious, I'll give you $600 for your distressor right now!! PM me

Saucyjack · 26th August 2003, 04:49 PM

I'll give you $625

Syki · 26th August 2003, 04:56 PM

grudge650$

Teacher · 26th August 2003, 04:56 PM

damn syki how are you going to do a fellow gearslut like that?grudge

Teacher · 26th August 2003, 04:57 PM

villeman · 26th August 2003, 04:59 PM

Thanks guys,

I´ll try out the suggestions given.
Maybe, I´m pushing it to hard. I´ve been compressing approx. 6dB´s on peaks with 4:1, 6:1 and opto.

I´ve not as of yet decided to sell. The main reason for this post was to get some other opinions and give it another go.

Teacher · 26th August 2003, 05:00 PM

screw another go...

Syki · 26th August 2003, 05:09 PM

Damn teacher, alrighty then,hell i want another Chandler Ltd 2 anyway.....lol

Syki · 26th August 2003, 05:18 PM

Hey Villeman, do you have the britt mode installed in your distressor? Makes a helluva diff. IMHO
And not that much money to have upgraded.

blackcatdigi · 26th August 2003, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by villeman
I´ve not as of yet decided to sell. The main reason for this post was to get some other opinions and give it another go.

You may want to get Michael Wagener to chime in on this one (as that is his current tracking comp)...

He is (IMHO) getting most excellent results with it.

Should you decide to sell, I'd also be interested.

juniorhifikit · 26th August 2003, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by villeman
Thanks guys,

I´ll try out the suggestions given.
Maybe, I´m pushing it to hard. I´ve been compressing approx. 6dB´s on peaks with 4:1, 6:1 and opto.

I´ve not as of yet decided to sell. The main reason for this post was to get some other opinions and give it another go.

For a Distressor, that's not a lot of compression. The meters are pretty sensitive, as the manual states. It's not uncommon to pretty much peg the meter and have it sound fine. Perhaps something's wrong with yours, or maybe your cabling is funky - like your driving ground or leaving half the balanced circuit hanging.

Remember: "Distressors are good"

Kris · 26th August 2003, 06:16 PM

I think Juniorhifikit is onto something... Sounds like something is not working right...

Syki · 26th August 2003, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by blackcatdigi
You may want to get Michael Wagener to chime in on this one (as that is his current tracking comp)...

He is (IMHO) getting most excellent results with it.

Should you decide to sell, I'd also be interested.

See what you started Teacher

e-cue · 26th August 2003, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Syki
I'm serious, I'll give you $600 for your distressor right now!! PM me

Quote:

Originally posted by Saucyjack
I'll give you $625

Quote:

Originally posted by Syki
grudge650$

This ain't ebay yall....

Teacher · 26th August 2003, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Syki
See what you started Teacher

i know i'm an idiot...i should of PMed him...DOH!!

Syki · 26th August 2003, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Teacher
i know i'm an idiot...i should of PMed him...DOH!!

LOL......hey I just scored a Fostex 16 track 1/2 inch for $500 as we speak if the heads check out!!

villeman · 26th August 2003, 07:23 PM

Chill guys, I´m not selling yet. I´m quite sure the cabling and the unit is alright.

One thing though, I haven´t tried out the brit-mode yet. Maybe I should give that a go. Anybody using this mode on vocals?

Syki · 26th August 2003, 07:32 PM

I used my distressor on a female vocal recently. I tracked through a Summit TPA 200 B. It came out smokin , but as Fae Flora said my ratio was 4/1 and no distortion. I also have the britt mode on my distressors which gives it that 1176 aggressiveness. Doesn't work on all vocals all the time but on this one vocal it came out smokin . I'll give you $600. for your Distressor!

lol..i'll repeat myself

Teacher · 26th August 2003, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by villeman
Chill guys, I´m not selling yet.

lol

Syki · 26th August 2003, 07:33 PM

The Britt mode is pretty cool.

Tim L · 26th August 2003, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Teacher
651

Sheeeyyyutt, I'll see that 651 and raise you a 1773...

bloodstone · 28th August 2003, 07:36 AM

I've had one for about two years and use it all the time when tracking & mixing. Opto mode with a 10 attack and 0 release is one of my favorites. One explanation for your problem could be you're cranking the input too much. Especially in Dist3 mode, that will produce distortion. Also, there's a reason they call it Distressor (a distortion compressor). It's easy to make it produce distortion if you overdrive the input. When I started backing off on the input, such problems disappeared. Are your yellow and red THD lights on a lot when you're having this issue?

villeman · 28th August 2003, 07:52 AM

No Bloodstone,

I actually hardly used the dist modes. My input is set to approx. 5-6. I don´t think that the input level should be an issue.

I´ll do a couple of more sessions this weekend and give it another try though.

Thanks!

Schnert · 28th August 2003, 11:55 PM

I think thrill mentioned that he didn't like the Distressor for vocal tracking at all, since it had too little headroom. Are you sure you're not pushing it?

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26th August 2003, 09:40 AM	#1
villeman Gear Head Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 53	Distressor on vocals-Bad sounding high freq´s Hi all, I´ve been recording a lot of rap vocals lately and I just bought a Distressor w.options for the purpose. I just can´t seem to get any good sound out of it. The "s" sounds sound muddy, actually the vocal track in general sounds pretty muddy and dull. I was beginning to think that the problem was somewhere else in my chain, but I then went back and listened to some recordings made with a mesely Summit TLA50 and they sounded very "hifi" compared to the Distressor recordings. The reason I got the Distressor was to get a bit more aggressive feeling, kind of 1176 sound w. more flexibility, but it just doesn´t sound good to me, not without using a lot of high shelf EQ. The air kind of disappears. The other day I tracked some vocals thru my STC8 and the difference was like night & day. The track sounded pristine and full of details. I´ve tried all thinkable settings on the Distressor, 4:1, 6:1 Opto etc., but I still can´t make it sound "hifi". I finally decided to try it on different material, like bass, ac.gtr, etc., but it doesn´t even come close to the STC, let alone my TLA50´s. I´m actually thinking of selling it. Anybody else have mediocre experience with this unit? BTW. My chain: ADK A51TC->OctoPre->Comressor->Paris. I know some of you are going to comment my mic pre choice and maybe even my mic choice, but we are talking all things equal between the different compressors. Besides some of the other material compared is di´d, like the bass for instance. For me this clearly show, "you shouldn´t believe everything you read", since I bought this unit based upon NG reading... One man´s junk is another man´s tresure.

26th August 2003, 11:58 AM	#2
cymatics Gear addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Charm City Posts: 312	Well I never go to the distressor for 'hi-fi'. One important thing to note is that the attack times on the distressor can be ridiculously fast. It's entirely possible that you are crushing the transient information that can help give a sense of 'air'. Try starting with the attack around 5 in the 'opto mode' and see if that makes any difference. Use the HP filter in the side chain and skip the harmonic section completely as that can make the tone a bit rounder. The EL8 does a helluva a lot of tricks and it does almost all of them uniquley and with grace. It's the bees knees in a number of applications, so unless you must sell it to get something that suits you better, keep experimenting with it on some different applications and see what it can do. - jon __________________ There's nothing an agnostic can't do if he really doesn't know whether he believes in anything or not.

26th August 2003, 02:32 PM	#3
Teacher Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NY Posts: 1,769	i'll buy it for 500 __________________ "I hate it when they tell us how far we came to be, as if our people's history started with slavery...." Immortal Technique www.sicbeats.com

26th August 2003, 02:44 PM	#4
The MPCist Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,290	I use the Distressor on a rap album I'm producing at the moment. One of the rappers sounds great thru it. I mean it's so good that I don't have to add any EQ/Comp while mixing! The other two rappers... oh well, the Distressor just doesn't like them. Ended up using a TubeTech on those. If it isn't working right for ya, then back off heavily compressing and just use it to slightly compress and play with the attack/release. I think your problem is that it's over compressing (nuking) so the vocals end up a bit muffled or lofi... __________________ The MPCist • Gear minimalist •

26th August 2003, 03:44 PM	#5
faeflora Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: washington dc Posts: 2,010	try lower ratios with more db reduction try higher ratios with less reduction i have found thatratios above 6:1 aren't that great for voice except to limit. try using or not using the deesser

26th August 2003, 04:20 PM	#6
Syki Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: east coast Posts: 603	I used my distressor on a female vocal recently. I tracked through a Summit TPA 200 B. It came out smokin , but as Fae Flora said my ratio was 4/1 and no distortion. I also have the britt mode on my distressors which gives it that 1176 aggressiveness. Doesn't work on all vocals all the time but on this one vocal it came out smokin . I'll give you $600. for your Distressor!

26th August 2003, 04:23 PM	#7
Syki Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: east coast Posts: 603	I'm serious, I'll give you $600 for your distressor right now!! PM me

26th August 2003, 04:49 PM	#8
Saucyjack Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Knoxville,Tn Posts: 569	I'll give you $625 __________________ If you really want to make orginal results,work fast and cheap,because there's more of a chance that you'll get somewhere that nobody else did. Brian Eno

26th August 2003, 04:56 PM	#9
Syki Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: east coast Posts: 603	grudge650$

26th August 2003, 04:57 PM	#11
Teacher Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NY Posts: 1,769	651 __________________ "I hate it when they tell us how far we came to be, as if our people's history started with slavery...." Immortal Technique www.sicbeats.com

26th August 2003, 04:59 PM	#12
villeman Gear Head Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 53	Thanks guys, I´ll try out the suggestions given. Maybe, I´m pushing it to hard. I´ve been compressing approx. 6dB´s on peaks with 4:1, 6:1 and opto. I´ve not as of yet decided to sell. The main reason for this post was to get some other opinions and give it another go.

26th August 2003, 05:00 PM	#13
Teacher Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NY Posts: 1,769	screw another go... __________________ "I hate it when they tell us how far we came to be, as if our people's history started with slavery...." Immortal Technique www.sicbeats.com

26th August 2003, 05:09 PM	#14
Syki Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: east coast Posts: 603	Damn teacher, alrighty then,hell i want another Chandler Ltd 2 anyway.....lol

26th August 2003, 05:18 PM	#15
Syki Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: east coast Posts: 603	Hey Villeman, do you have the britt mode installed in your distressor? Makes a helluva diff. IMHO And not that much money to have upgraded.

26th August 2003, 06:16 PM	#18
Kris Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Tallahassee Posts: 1,356	I think Juniorhifikit is onto something... Sounds like something is not working right... __________________ http://www.fullblackout.com - band http://www.logcabinmusic.com - studio ... - Yours Truely "a GOOD mic pre is good with any mic on any instrument or voice for any genre of music and into any recording device." W. Wittman (ProSoundWeb)

26th August 2003, 07:23 PM	#23
villeman Gear Head Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 53	Chill guys, I´m not selling yet. I´m quite sure the cabling and the unit is alright. One thing though, I haven´t tried out the brit-mode yet. Maybe I should give that a go. Anybody using this mode on vocals?

26th August 2003, 07:32 PM	#24
Syki Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: east coast Posts: 603	I used my distressor on a female vocal recently. I tracked through a Summit TPA 200 B. It came out smokin , but as Fae Flora said my ratio was 4/1 and no distortion. I also have the britt mode on my distressors which gives it that 1176 aggressiveness. Doesn't work on all vocals all the time but on this one vocal it came out smokin . I'll give you $600. for your Distressor! lol..i'll repeat myself

26th August 2003, 07:33 PM	#26
Syki Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: east coast Posts: 603	The Britt mode is pretty cool.

28th August 2003, 07:36 AM	#28
bloodstone Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: East Coast, USA Posts: 658	Distressor & Distortion I've had one for about two years and use it all the time when tracking & mixing. Opto mode with a 10 attack and 0 release is one of my favorites. One explanation for your problem could be you're cranking the input too much. Especially in Dist3 mode, that will produce distortion. Also, there's a reason they call it Distressor (a distortion compressor). It's easy to make it produce distortion if you overdrive the input. When I started backing off on the input, such problems disappeared. Are your yellow and red THD lights on a lot when you're having this issue?

28th August 2003, 07:52 AM	#29
villeman Gear Head Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 53	No Bloodstone, I actually hardly used the dist modes. My input is set to approx. 5-6. I don´t think that the input level should be an issue. I´ll do a couple of more sessions this weekend and give it another try though. Thanks!

28th August 2003, 11:55 PM	#30
Schnert Gear nut Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Norway Posts: 79	I think thrill mentioned that he didn't like the Distressor for vocal tracking at all, since it had too little headroom. Are you sure you're not pushing it? __________________ Coffee time

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