Live Sound Compressors

[midget89]

I'm searching for 4 channels of compression, mostly for vocals, but it will probably need to be used on other areas, for around $100-$150/channel. I've been looking at the 166's from dBx, mainly the 166XL. I've read mixed reviews, some say that it is terrible, while others say it is great for live. These compressors will never be needed for recording, so I'm not too picky about the musicality of it, as long as it does a good job holding down peaks.

-Thanks!

[lozion]

just get a dbx1046, you'll be set...

[xmostynx]

the 166 sucks

the 1076xl? is alot better

i have been beggin my cheif engineer to rip the 166's off the vocals.. and out of our racks.

if you hit it with anymore more than 2db it MURDERS your clarity, you can obviously hear it, well any engineer out in the audience will hear it.

if you do use it use very little of it.

its muddy in general.

the i think its 1076 i use on kick drum as a soft limiter 10:1 with a VERY thres. contour button on. let this smack a little bit 1-2db's and its nice. makes pop out.

[xmostynx]

shit i didn't even read the musical thing...

if you want something to really hold down peaks the 166 will do it.


you'll hear it tho, and if i'm ever at your mix it'll driive me nutttss! haha good luck brother

[Jim vanBergen]

you can find used 160's for as little as 150/each sometimes. I prefer the Drawmer DL441, or BSS DPR-404, but a 1046dbx will do a fine job. Even the Presonus 8-ch unit is fine sounding for 98% of live sound applications.

Another way to go is the ART ProVLA, which, even with tubes, is a total steal at the price.

Hope these options are useful!

[midget89]

Thanks guys. I just realized how inappropriate the term "vocals" was. This setup is in an auditorium that is used mostly for speeches, etc. I wanted to give them a fire-and-forget setup for the mics that require very little adjustment, so it obviously needs a lot of compression. Thanks for the input.

[maxsample]

+1 on the BSS DPR-404

[SparkyCanada]

I have 3 BSS DPR 402's for sale.

I used them for a recording project and have been trying to sell them for a while...

SparkyCanada

[rmx16]

Originally Posted by midget89

I'm searching for 4 channels of compression, mostly for vocals, but it will probably need to be used on other areas, for around $100-$150/channel. I've been looking at the 166's from dBx, mainly the 166XL. I've read mixed reviews, some say that it is terrible, while others say it is great for live. These compressors will never be needed for recording, so I'm not too picky about the musicality of it, as long as it does a good job holding down peaks.

-Thanks!

What about four "RNC's" ?

Peace

[studjo]

I just mixed a concert with some DBX 10.. compressors - dare I say I didn't really like em?
I prefer the Drawmer stuff (BSS or Klark are fine too). From the DBX range I only care for the 160A/X/XT (whatever fancy number they have)

Jo

[pmcgowan88]

Do realize that as the BSS and Drawmer are better than the DBx stuff, they are almost 3 times as expensive. The 166xl's are great for their price range (like $250 right?). If you can afford something better definitely do that, but I think the 166xl's are great for the price.

Also, +1 on the ACP88, love it for drums.....

[tombak]

Originally Posted by midget89

I'm searching for 4 channels of compression, mostly for vocals, but it will probably need to be used on other areas, for around $100-$150/channel. I've been looking at the 166's from dBx, mainly the 166XL. I've read mixed reviews, some say that it is terrible, while others say it is great for live. These compressors will never be needed for recording, so I'm not too picky about the musicality of it, as long as it does a good job holding down peaks.

-Thanks!

DBX 1066's work well for vox, Drawmers DL241's work even better.
DBX 160x's are my go to for kick and bass.

BSS and Klark Teknik comps are quite nice to use as well but rare to find in house anywhere.

166XL's are the middle class engineer's 3630. They work well but always my last choice.
I couldn't say the Presonus perform much better though...I might have to say that I'd rather use some Aphex Compellors over the Presonus .

Trying out RNC's is an idea.....

[studjo]

Originally Posted by PhilyG

Do realize that as the BSS and Drawmer are better than the DBx stuff, they are almost 3 times as expensive. The 166xl's are great for their price range (like $250 right?). If you can afford something better definitely do that, but I think the 166xl's are great for the price.

Also, +1 on the ACP88, love it for drums.....

For me there comes a point of diminishing returns while using compression. So I never use any B compressors and I hardly use any of those cheap DBX boxes. I prefer having one 241 than having 3 166 - it just doesn't make sense to me ...
Sometimes I just have to mix without compression at all ))) and it's really not that hard.

Jo

[dynamo]

I'm not sure about the price but this one is worth checking out:
C4 Quad Compressor / Limiter / Dynamic EQ
also I've used the Ashly comps in.....studio-an old model actually-and I was quite impressed, way better that the cheap dbx's.

[studjo]

wow that's a killer unit for FOH if it sounds good - I hope to see those in the racks soon (well not my own racks but the rental companies )

Jo