Tell me why I should NOT sell my API 2500

[PhilE]

It's not working for you.
Sell it. Or more to the point, keep it and use it on your drum parra.

[ttown23]

I also write and produce electro pop, and have an API 2500, what a coincidence. BUT, I really don't like it on the 2-bus. I use mine exclusively on the drum buss, in combination with PSP Vintage Warmer. Those two together are IMO a match made in heaven!!!

So maybe try it on the drum buss before selling?

[Tim Davis]

Originally Posted by ttown23

I really don't like it on the 2-bus.

What don't you like about it?

[SWAN808]

plenty more fish in the sea

[ttown23]

Originally Posted by Tim Davis

What don't you like about it?

Like you, I just found that it squashed the transients too much for my liking. Plus, I'm pretty set on my current 2-bus configuration of SSL G-series ---> Smart C2 ---> GML 8200. This config. works great for me.

BUT, that having been said, the API 2500 lives on the drum buss. Love it, love it, love it!

[psycho_monkey]

If you're working on electro-y stuff and you're in London, you owe it to yourself to give Alan @ ASAP audio (they're based at musicbank in bermondsey) a call, and try out one of the TK Audio BC1s....I much prefer it to the SSL-G for electronic mixes, and the HPF and parallel compression options make it more versatile overall.

If you need contact info PM me...I can totally see why the API might not work for you (if you were doing rock stuff, it'd be different...)

[AndreH]

You should sell it to me...PM me.

Andre

[AllAboutTone]

I like the 2500 much more with a high end desk, with cheaper consoles the bottom end was loose, muddy, to much color etc, hey it wasn't the 2500, it was the console I was using in the past.
I haven't understood why more people like the old setting instead of the new, both are great, just depends on how you use the other options, and running a short attack is just stupid with a 2500.
On the 2 buss, the compression seems not to mess with other tracks after I get the drums in groove with it, plus I use 525s post on drums before they every make it to the 2500 2 buss.
Also a Rolls 755 is pretty close to the 2500 the way it grabs.

So you shouldn't sell it, perhaps it's another piece of gear you have no letting you hear the full effect of the 2500, I know that was the story for me and I have owned many over the years.
I have been back and forth on 2 buss compression many times.

[Tim Davis]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

.. try out one of the TK Audio BC1s ..

Looks interesting - and pretty cheap. The API makes me think that I'm mad to use bus compression at all, and could do a lot more track-bettering with an 1176 or another EQ.

Would be great to hear what the API does so dramatically for the people who love it.

[Emwolb]

Its strange how we, me included, get attached to gear/purchases.

Its a tool, not a collectible.

Why force yourself to use something thats not working for you? ESPECIALLY if you gave it a chance and tried to make it work for you... and it still didn't.

The best gear/tool is always the one that you use without thinking- it just does the job the way you expect.

[AllBread]

Gear that doesnt turn me on (especially after 2 years) gets sold and replaced with something else. For every compressor, eq, guitar and guitar amp in my studio, I've owned two or three others that didn't make the cut (fwiw, the 2500 I've had for 4 years now - love it on the drum buss and on layered rhythm guitars).

With 2500s going for a pretty steady 2k on the used market there are all sorts of great things you could find to put that money into so why keep it around?

[greenhirny]

If you are not feeling it, sell it. There will be plenty of buyers. I tried to make one work for year and could't. I realized though that I can't make any MixBuss compressor work very well, although I'm digging a pendulum right now.

[pan60]

I would not sell it!
Maybe if you hate it shove it in the closet, someday you'll want it I bet. Every time I sell some I inevitably regret it.
I say horde it all!

[psycho_monkey]

No shame in not liking something that lots of other people like.

If you can afford it, hoard it like Pan says, or more ideally try it in other situations - drums, subgroups etc.

But if you really don't like it - sell it. Get a good price for it, and you can always buy another one back at the same point.

I'd rather have a piece of gear I like, rather than one I don't!

And yes - the TK is great value for money. I tried it with an open mind, and so preferred it to the X-Logic SSL that I bought one.

[kats]

The API 2500 is the only piece of gear I've ever regret selling. I needed to finance an SSL 6KE. The reason I DID sell it was because the only time I never got along with it was when I was mixing down to tape - it just got a bit too thick for me.

Now I mix everything down to tape with the quad comp engaged on the SSL ( a combination with suits me perfectly).

That said, I think the 2500 is the finest 2 bus comp I've ever used, and if I was soley in digital land, there would be no way in he'll I would have part with mine.

I think you either need to experiment with how you use the unit, or your simply just a freak ( NTTAWWT)

[greenhirny]

I must be a freak. A year of use and it ended up about as useful as a boat anchor in the studio for me.

[Keire]

i had one. sold it. dont regret it.

i thought it was pretty meh for 2 bus. g comp is much better imo

[ejbragg]

Originally Posted by ttown23

I also write and produce electro pop, and have an API 2500, what a coincidence. BUT, I really don't like it on the 2-bus. I use mine exclusively on the drum buss, in combination with PSP Vintage Warmer. Those two together are IMO a match made in heaven!!!

Speaking of PSP's Vintage Warmer, I suggest you download the trial version of this plugin and try it out on the output buss, fiddling with the left two knobs - the [speed] and [knee] controls. And you might switch to multi-band limiting or compression... you'll have to pull the drive down when cranking those up. It has a very natural limiting effect that sounds quite transparent at lower input levels, but still sounds quite nice (for a plug-in) when pushing the inputs.

Like you, I haven't had a lot of luck w/ compressors on the output buss. I still try new compressors all the time, trying different methods. I have yet to find anything that works better. The Vintage Warmer really shines in this department. If you like it, it's a bit pricey for software, per se. But these guys have a terrific product! I use mine all the time, and have for years.

[Mr. Light]

I don't love it (the 2500) on the mix bus. Maybe I haven't dialed it in right but I did try for the better part of a year and always thoughts it was TOO noticeable. On the drum bus though.....I can't make it sound bad. No other compressor does what this does to drums. I'm very glad I didn't sell it. Just ponied up for another compressor for mix bus like a true slut.

[chet.d]

Originally Posted by kats

The API 2500 is the only piece of gear I've ever regret selling. I needed to finance an SSL 6KE. The reason I DID sell it was because the only time I never got along with it was when I was mixing down to tape - it just got a bit too thick for me.

That said, I think the 2500 is the finest 2 bus comp I've ever used, and if I was soley in digital land, there would be no way in he'll I would have part with mine.

The 2500 constantly saves my ass when ITB. But- very dependent on how you dial it in! I use very little GR.
And I agree, when I mix to tape it can get a bit thick at times.

For mix to tape I tend to like it better on a buss ...but for me it shines on instruments or vocals. Love it there almost always. But not so much drums. Guess I'm the weirdo there.

Every time I try to consider what I could sell to help fund a SFC I just can't let it go. For me, It's just too useful to part with.

[u b k]

Put it on the synth bus and cream the living piss out of the inputs, then squash the bejeezus out of them while you're at it.

Or put it on lead vocal, feed into channel one then out that into channel two. 3:1, 10ms attack, med release, old mode, no link. Activate manual makeup, then use the threshold and gain knob knob to balance the compression in the two channels.

If you don't love it after that, just sell it, it's not for you. It's definitely more in the 'gentleman's compression' camp than the fiery creative stuff you get with a 176 and the like. But it does make soft synths sound real, and it'll pin a vocal to the front of a mix without the top sounding hashy or reamed to death.

I, too, never liked it on drums, not ever. Mix bus, it's great but again only with a light touch and then it's a subtle beauty, not the kind of glue that makes you jump out of your seat and sing the praises.

For emd/electro/dubstep etc, I'm thinking it's too buttoned up. You need something that unties its tie and gets down.


Gregory Scott - ubk

[dxavier]

If you do decide to sell it, PM me a price. I am in London too :-)

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by Tim Davis

Am I missing something that'll make my eyes pop out with excitement?

I write and produce electro pop.

Send a mono sound into one side of the compressor, and then send it into the other side on feedback mode. Adjust to taste for the proper eye popping results,

[Jack P]

Swap out the op amps for Red Dots..

[greenhirny]

sell it and get a STA level.

[string6theory]

Originally Posted by Tim Davis

...it confuses the hell outta me.

At least keep it until you're not confused! That same confusion will likely pass on to alternatives as well. Truly try to master it (applies to much quality kit) and work through the confusion before deciding.

If the confusion reference was just about people acting like they wanna marry this box, I'm with you. I would only go so far as mistress or booty call.

[Magnus]

I'm not a fan of the API 2500 either. Just sell it and buy something that you like.

Life is too short!

[Silver Sonya]

A lot of conflicting opinions in this thread!

Good luck!

- c

[greenhirny]

That's because the piece in question really isn't anywhere near as good as the hype surrounding it on the inter web. So when folks get down to using it, they confused as to what all the talk was about, and then when they realize that it's definitely not worth the over 2k they paid, they get disappointed. The others that don't have to worry about money or are using someone else' like it just fine as it is just another tool in the arsenal.