Question about low end and these compressors( Distressors, 1176, Alan Smart C2 )

[RIZ Records]

Which one of these can you make stuff like kicks punch the hardest, without losing any low end and without getting clipping distortion?


I got 2 distressors and i was playing around with them today for a while, i dont know i wasnt really feeling them all too much in terms of adding colour. They arent really that coloured, and i found it hard to make one of my kicks really bang hard the way i want without me getting distortion or clipping. Is there any way around this? I made some kicks sound really big, punchy as hell, and huge, but i got distortion and clipping which i didint want. I dont know i just dont see myself using or needing all these settings it has, im liking 6:1 for most things.


Can the 1176 ( purple audio mc77 ) get a kick to bang really hard without losing any low end and without me getting distortion or clipping? How about the Alan Smart C2?


Thx!

[mahasandi]

api 2500 is <heavy> bass , and punch~like nothing else but you already have the c2 for 2 buss.

[RIZ Records]

well i was going to use the C2 for the 2 buss, and for tracking some things in, basically take it off the 2 buss when i want to track something, then throw it back on the 2 buss when im done.

[TonyBelmont]

Use the Distressor on kick, and engage the DIST modes.

[RIZ Records]

first post revised.

[RIZ Records]

Hey Tony, haha thanks yeah ive been messing around with the distressors all day, and i dont know they sound kinda boring to me, but they were the only thing in my signal chain.


I got a few kick drums to punch nice and sound big, i got unwanted distortion on a few, but this one miked up kick i got sounding really nice. Its funny when compressing you start to hear all the noise,ect, on these crappy samples you buy online.


Anyways, how does the Distressor sound on kicks compared to the Purple Audio MC77 (1176) ? Does the Distressor retain more low end and punch harder? Is the MC77 more noisier than the Distressors?

Im thinking the 1176 would sound better on snares, percussion, samples. keyboards and synths when i dont use the Alan Smart C2.


What do you guys think?



Just to let you guys know the other current gear i have is:

- Aurora Audio GTQ2 mk3
- API 512c x 2
- A-Designs REDDI x 2
- Tube Tech CL1B
- Alan Smart C2
- Avedis Audio E27 x 2
- SSL Duende ( when available for PC )

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by RIZ Records

Hey Tony, haha thanks yeah ive been messing around with the distressors all day, and i dont know they sound kinda boring to me, but they were the only thing in my signal chain.


I got a few kick drums to punch nice and sound big, i got unwanted distortion on a few, but this one miked up kick i got sounding really nice. Its funny when compressing you start to hear all the noise,ect, on these crappy samples you buy online.


Anyways, how does the Distressor sound on kicks compared to the Purple Audio MC77 (1176) ? Does the Distressor retain more low end and punch harder? Is the MC77 more noisier than the Distressors?

Im thinking the 1176 would sound better on snares, percussion, samples. keyboards and synths when i dont use the Alan Smart C2.


What do you guys think?



Just to let you guys know the other current gear i have is:

- Aurora Audio GTQ2 mk3
- API 512c x 2
- A-Designs REDDI x 2
- Tube Tech CL1B
- Alan Smart C2
- Avedis Audio E27 x 2
- SSL Duende ( when available for PC )

I would use the 1176 on vocals, guitar and bass over the Distressors... Distressors are great for everything you're asking, though.

It's all how you use this stuff.

[RIZ Records]

Hey Tony, thanks for the reply. Why would you use the Distressors over the 1176 for drums, synths,ect?


I dont know i a/bing between the Distressors in action and in bypass, and i hardly notice any colour going on, yeah, its making my drums louder, but not really to much punchier and tighter. Any idea of what im doing wrong?

[RIZ Records]

Bump for Tony please.

[cap217]

color?

louder?

mojo?

Compressors are not magic... they compress. Color should be had from the start. and when the kic clips it is probably b/c you just turn it up. And you think louder is equal to punchy.....

Layer kicks.... 3,4, 8 kicks at once. And eq and separate and you will get there.

[matthew.sawicki]

I don't know how the outboard would sound (if you could even get your hands on one) but a fairchild 660 plugin is about the most amazing sound on a kick to me at the moment. I just love how punchy it makes a boring kick sound.

Oh well, sorry if that's a little too off topic since it's ITB.

[TLMUSIC]

bump..anymore views on this, specifically for drums ... distressor or 1176???

[Sirocco]

i thought the distressors werent worth the price and a tad boring also
sold it on ebay

[HoPMiX]

hmmm maybe your kick sux...
i assume you are tracking to your daw through the distressor??
if so record one dry and one in nuke mode. make sure you use the dist modes... play with attack time and create some transient.
then mix em together... its gonna punch aight...

[bgrotto]

Originally Posted by RIZ Records

Hey Tony, haha thanks yeah ive been messing around with the distressors all day, and i dont know they sound kinda boring to me, but they were the only thing in my signal chain.


I got a few kick drums to punch nice and sound big, i got unwanted distortion on a few, but this one miked up kick i got sounding really nice. Its funny when compressing you start to hear all the noise,ect, on these crappy samples you buy online.


Anyways, how does the Distressor sound on kicks compared to the Purple Audio MC77 (1176) ? Does the Distressor retain more low end and punch harder? Is the MC77 more noisier than the Distressors?

Im thinking the 1176 would sound better on snares, percussion, samples. keyboards and synths when i dont use the Alan Smart C2.


What do you guys think?



Just to let you guys know the other current gear i have is:

- Aurora Audio GTQ2 mk3
- API 512c x 2
- A-Designs REDDI x 2
- Tube Tech CL1B
- Alan Smart C2
- Avedis Audio E27 x 2
- SSL Duende ( when available for PC )

Dude! You've gotta CL1B...use that ****er! It's killer on kick drums...it almost seems to add an extra octave below what's already there. But I'd say use a lower ratio than the 6:1 thing you're digging with your EL8s.

If you do stick with the EL8s, I think if you were to engage their sidechain's HP filter, you'd be able to better sculpt and add size to your kicks while retaining your bottom end, especially if you experiment with the Distortion buttons.

I think with the EL8s in general is that, envelope-wise, they can do just about anything any other compressor can (heeh, am I gonna get flamed for this...?). Those things are so deep it's ridiculous. It's kinda tough to call any compressor punchier or (insert subjective audio term here) than an EL8 because EL8s are so insanely configurable, that any time you're getting a BAD sound outta them, you're probably just setting it wrong. BTW, I don't mean that as a diss, it's just that those things don't do ANYTHING badly. if you're hearing some kinda weird distortion (especially in the bottom end), try a lower ratio and/or slowing down your release time. And remember that 2:1 and 3:1 on those things is a soft-knee curve....veeeeery useful for boomy kick sounds...

As for the 1176 and MC77, they're great work horses, but wouldn't be my first choice for kick drums, especially if you're talking hip hop. They both tend to thicken up the mid range, which can be a bit weird-sounding on hip hop kicks. You might wanna look into trying an opto compressor (like your CL1B!!thumbsup); they tend to work a bit slower which can be ideal for bottom-heavy instruments.

As for snares, your C2 is pretty ideal. However, if I were mixing with your gear, I'd probably try to leave it open for mix buss compression or parallel drum buss compression, so the EL8 is a good alternative. The 1176 and MC77 don't work at all for me on snares; again the lower mid range becomes too heavily colored in a frequency range that I find unflattering to snares.

[Flymax]

throw that avedis eq before the distressor..
if you cant get it to knock like that...maybe the sample sux