Vintage sounding compressor <$500

[ROCKER STUDIOS]

FMR

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[Dr. Mordo]

Which FMR? I have an RNC, which is too transparent.

How's the RNLA on the 2 buss?

[ears2thesky]

This:
FMR Audio PBC-6A Mono Compressor

[ROCKER STUDIOS]

Yes PBC or find a used LA4a wich are mono dont think you can find a 2 ch comp for $500 also look in to Overstayer

[peter.m.junior]

Art Pro VLA II can go dirty if you push it hard. Otherwise it sounds quite transparent. This is what I love about it!

[dxavier]

FMR RNLA on the 2bus is great IMHO. It is alot warmer than the RNC. Had some great results with it.

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[bayouland]

FMR RNLA. Nice and thick and gooey.

David

[Dr. Mordo]

So I guess it's between the vla and rnla. Thanks for the tips I sorta expected some obscure dbx/symetrix to make the list.

[homestudioguy]

ART Pro VLA II and replace tubes with mullards.....
LINK:ART Pro-VLA II | Sweetwater.com

[homestudioguy]

ART Pro VLA II and replace tubes with mullards.....
ART Pro-VLA II | Sweetwater.com

[e3p0]

+1 RNLA

[muska]

i do not post often but could not resist to reply to this one. Do not buy a fmr rnla or an art pro vla because they are both shite. They can not be pushed without sounding dull and that's dull in a bad way. you are better off with your software comps.

I own both and regret buying them. Yeah they are cheap allright and they also suck. Save up for a real tube compressor or a transformer one or a compressor that has both. That will give you some real character without breaking up the source... or in other words, make your source sound better!!

[Chrisc_o]

Originally Posted by muska

i do not post often but could not resist to reply to this one. Do not buy a fmr rnla or an art pro vla because they are both shite. They can not be pushed without sounding dull and that's dull in a bad way. you are better off with your software comps.

I own both and regret buying them. Yeah they are cheap allright and they also suck. Save up for a real tube compressor or a transformer one or a compressor that has both. That will give you some real character without breaking up the source... or in other words, make your source sound better!!

Harsh words for two highly regarded compressors.

Also, tubes and transformers can add character in some cases, but they are far from necessary for a compressor to be considered worthwhile.

Please describe your experiences in detail and maybe suggest an actual compressor or two. Post clips if you can.

[muska]

i only own two good compressors and that's a tl audio c1 and an summit audio tla 50. You can push them both alot harder before the sound becomes dull, and by dull i mean the killing of detail of a sound and/or the loss of high or low frequencies. I do not own an la2a or an 1176 but i am pretty shure they also sound great. Also the compression action of both the rnla and the vla 2 isn't special at all. They sound just like any other vca based compressor. And also software doesn't sound dull when pushed... but not special either. And no i will not post audio examples for i do not have to prove anything. I am just trying to warn this guy not to make the same mistakes i did.

[muska]

edit

a little bit too quick: i wanted to say " like any other CHEAP vca based compressor"
there probably are alot of great vca based comps, i'm sure...

[southshadow]

Without going too far into 'expensive land', this gem is at a nice halfway point:
JDK Audio R22 | Sweetwater.com

[kev2288]

Summit Audio TLA-50 if you can squeeze out a few more dollars.

[ttown23]

Well, if you're going for a vintage VCA compressor, pretty hard to go wrong with the dbx 160X (I prefer the 'X' version to the 'XT'- the former has the transformer and the latter does not).