stereo comp pondering & distressor or eq2nv

[fanriffic]

My dear international gearsluts,

I've been eagerly supping from your spring of knowledge for a while but all in the shadows of anonimity.But now,for the first time,i come into the light,seeking your love on my particular predicament.

I'm in the process of completely upgrading my set up from,basically,a pre production set up to a full tracking-to-mix quality affair.

Money is not without limit,space is tight and decisions have to be made.

There will,i imagine,be a few points but we'll start with this and see how we go:

OK,firstly-.


I'm going to get a drawmer 1968 and looking at either a Buzz SOC or tfpro 38 to go with it,

Want something really nice to track vox(amongst other things),flexible on stereo buss,processing subs,etc.I'm thinking the combo of 1968 and one of these will cover most of my needs.Versatility is a major factor but good vox tracking/mixing is imperative.I understand the tfpro has the versatility but seems the buzz has the edge re:sweet vox tracking/mixing.

Anyway any thoughts on that would be appreciated,but my main point is this!:

Would there be any point in getting a distressor aswell as these(1968+either Buzz OR Tfpro38)or would i have most of my bases covered as far as comp goes and spend that money on beefing up my outboard EQ budget to get a (great river)eq-2nv instead of the,originally proposed,Specks.

BTW-am running UAD1(studio) and Powercore mk2 as far as software goes,which will have to take on some of my EQ/Comp demands.

My pondering is extensive at the moment so there will be more advice sought but lets tackle this first.

Any love would be appreciated,

I know this is all a bit dull -so heres a urinating monkey-dfegad

wweh hey!

(do they actually urinate like that?-i fear not...)

[James Lehmann]

Well, I can't offer a wide ranging comparison with more esoteric units, but I can tell you that I recently invested in both the Drawmer 1968-ME and a pair of Speck ASC-T EQ's. These seemed to be the best option for the mid-price level slut like me who is on a budget but fed up with plug-ins. Of course there's no such thing as 'one-size-fits-all' gear, but I must say I'm mightily impressed with the versatility of both units - the EQ, well it's just a really sweet-sounding EQ, but the Drawmer in particular is proving more versatile than I dared to hope - I was a bit concerned it might be a little too coloured for some applications but in fact if you back off on all the settings (esp output gain, obviously) it can sound very clean and nice.

So basically for a relatively modest (at least in the High End Forum!) combined outlay of around $2,500 for the Drawmer 1968-ME compressor AND a matched pair of Speck ASC-T's EQ's I have been able to take the sound of my productions to a whole new level. My sincere thanks to enthusiastic fellow slutz who turned me on to these two units - I think it would be a challenge to get substantially better-sounding stereo EQ and compression for the money I spent (and I'm talking buying new here - someone always jumps in and says that on eBay you'll get the moon for $1,000, which may or may not be a valid consideration for you).

[digibird]

Sounds like you'd be set on compression with your present plan - I would go for the Great River EQ2NV. Caution: the EQ2NV will make you want an MP2NV and vice-versa. You won't be happy till they're both in the rack. And then you'll wonder what kind of compressor Dan Kennedy is going to build so you can have that 3rd GR piece, too. (Oh, wait, that's not you, that's me.)

[fanriffic]

Thanks james and digi for your quick responses,
Interesting what you say about the 1968 james,as far as versatility goes.I didn't really think about that(..bear in mind i haven't had any experience with it)piece as versatile .Just thought it would be a my coloured option,where as the buzz/tfpro would be my more transparent(opto'ish)option,but that sheds a different light on it.I noticed you say you are a voice over artist,which presumably involves lower,less harmonically complex levels-do you think that you could still get it to 'act' tranparent-putting a whole full range mix though it for example?
Heard great things about the specks,for the price.I would be looking at a stereo pair of trannies to,were i to go down that route..

Digi,thanks again-have you compared the specks and the eq-2nv?would be interested to know?So do you think a distressor would essentailly be redundant,with present plan-i know -more=good,but practically speaking.

Anyone have any differing/supporting opinions ??

Thanks again for your time guys,

love-Fanny

[James Lehmann]

Originally Posted by fanriffic

Interesting what you say about the 1968 james...do you think that you could still get it to 'act' tranparent?

No - that's asking too much. The Drawmer is not transparent and isn't designed to be - it has a character but it's not an obviously tubey one unless you crank the output gain. Over a mix it can be clean but warm, and subtle but gluey - best words I can find! You'd really be best to try one yourself.

And for a thread on the Specks check here: Looking for a 1U 2-channel EQ for tracking and bus duties

I know there's at least one person on this forum who has compared the Specks with the Great River but keep in mind a matched pair of the former are around 1/3 of the price of the latter! - try a search anyway.

[fanriffic]

..sorry james that was inacurate paraphrasing-you actually said 'very clean and nice',which doesn't neccesserily (spelling?)equal transparent!

I did actually read the great river/speck comparison,which was usefull but my real point is not so much the comparison between the two,but which would be more usefull to my proposed setup-the distressor or the eq2-nv(instead of specks).

thanks for input james.

Come on slags!!what do you think???I need more-so much more.well a little bit more.

[fanriffic]

[fanriffic]

Ok,to put it a slightly different way-with the combination of a 1968 and a buzz SOC(or tfpro p38)-would also buying a distressor be money well spent??considering budget

need some advice.

thanks