Symetrix 501 Peak RMS Compressor/ Limiter

[Q Value]

hello there nice people..
this is regarding the product at the subject..

"Symetrix 501 Peak RMS Compressor/ Limiter"

any info on how good/bad is this thing?

thanks.

[Bob Ross]

Pretty darn good for a 20 year old design that cost <$500 new. Especially nice for electric bass. You can usually find them on eBay for around $100.

[Sonic Bloom]

It was my first hardware compressor. I used it for everything at the time. Didnt like it much on vocals or acoustic guitar, my RNC beats it out easily in those applications if that says anything. Its really cool on drums especially drum OHs/room. Its okay on rock bass too. For less than $100 its worth having in your rack, but not as a go-to, more of a "special circumstances" comp.

[Q Value]

thanks guys for the infos.
actually i saw one in ebay that costs £25 (nobody bid it)..

[hociman]

I used it at the college radio station I worked for. We replaced it with a dbx 16x. It's certainly not a bad unit. I think the US price mentioned would be acceptable.

[everybody's x]

Joel Hamilton at trainwreck in Brooklyn, raves about them and his work is exceptional

[Sonic Bloom]

Originally Posted by everybody's x

Joel Hamilton at trainwreck in Brooklyn, raves about them and his work is exceptional

His zeal for it (over at TapeOp) is one of the things that made me want to get one. For the price I figured its worth checking out.

[Joel Hamilton]

I have two of these, and I use them all the time. otally fun, cheap compressor.
My studio is actually called "studio G Brooklyn" and you can check out the gear list via my site below. That is my personal site...

Anyway:

The 501 is a really fun box, that I used to use before distressors came out for room mic distortion and limiting. They can do pretty insane amounts of limiting, and the diode clip on the output is awesome as well. For destruction, I love them. They are serviceable as a "regular compressor."

For the money? yes please.

[monkeyxx]

Joel how do you use the diode clipping feature? pad on the output and crank the output gain?

never knew about this "feature"

PS I like my 501s a lot on bass, and have used the limiter to good effect on drum room mics, soft synths. each of the three I have, with different colored face plates, has a different tonal response, but similar compression characteristics.