| User Review | | Sound Quality | | 5 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 |
Overall:  4.5 |  FMR Audio RNC1773 Really Nice Compressor | | FMR Audio RNC1773 Really Nice Compressor
The RNC aka Really Nice Compressor is one of the most discussed pieces of audio equipment ever - and for at very good reason!
It is a stereo (no dual mono) compressor in a 1/3 unit size. racktrays for 2 RNC's (or other FMR audio products) are available from Funk Logic, but even 3 units will fit in a single blank 1U tray. The retail price for one stereo unit is as low as 200 bucks!
The RNC has two modes; Normal and Really Nice.
In "normal mode" it is a pretty standard analog compressor with adjustable, ratio, threshold, attack, release and make up gain. It is very fast and snappy on drums and just about everything else you throw at it - except bass. The RNC is simply too fast for bass. The release distorts the low frequencies. In use that is just about the only problem I have encountered with this model.
In "Really Nice Mode", according to the manual, the RNC daisychains three compressors in order to achieve what is just about the most transparent auto-leveling control in a piece of audio gear that will fit normal deadly peoples wallets. I have used it as main buss compressor with great results. Also for single tracks. For instance combined with a 1176 on vocals or electric guitars. It loves drums too, but I tend to favor more colored and aggressive units for this purpose.
There is one thing that the RNC does better than anything else. That is squashing ambience mics. Just pour in the ambience track into channel one, output of channel one goes directly into the input of channel two. ratio of 1:8, fast release, adjust attack to taste and threshold to a compression of around 10dB's. That means that the gain reduction is up to around 20dB. It sounds AWESOME! Try this in both Normal Mode and Really Nice Mode.
This is arguably the best deal ever in the world of recording equipment!
It comes with a US$200 price tag, but at that price you'll have to accept unbalanced audio connections and a wall wart power supply. These are the only two cons I can possibly find.
Buy one - buy two! | | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 4 |
Overall:  4 | | very useful tool
I own a fairly decent collection of different compressors, including four RNCs. They stand up very well among other classics like the DBX 160 or an APHEX Compellor, but they are all different and all have their own uses and place in my racks of gear.
I end up using the RNC for both live work and studio work. For recording it is just a great tool to have on hand and for live the relatively low cost makes it an option for me to take it on the road.
For live sound reinforcement, I have an RNC inserted on the stereo bus and another one inserted on the kick drum. There are arguably much better choices for the kick drum, but it works well in the live setting and I have no regrets using it there. On the stereo bus the RNC does what I think it does best: controls the levels and gets out of the way!
I think that last statement pretty well sums up the RNC--it does it's job of compression but imparts very little in regards to artifacts or color to the signal. Sometimes that is exactly the right choice for the job at hand.
I find the RNC to be very useful. The unbalanced inputs and outputs have not given me any trouble to date. The wall wart... well, they are annoying, but the RNC is only one of many devices out there using wall warts, so that does not really bother me. I really appreciate the compressor's small, very small, foot print. And a single rack screw on the bottom of the RNC will hold it nicely onto a rack shelf. No special rack needed. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 3 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 4 | | This little compressor deserves its praise.
The really nice mode is great, and while people have called it transparent, it is not transparent,like a plug in is.
It has very subtle tone. This is what makes it preferable to any of the software compressors.
Subtle inflections of an analog signal path are more what good audio is about then drastic to me.
Now as far as comps go drastic can sound good for squashing room mics etc. but this is for a particular effect and I would not look to an RNC first for this.
It can.do.it better then a plug-in but thats a real weak point for software comps (slamming lots of gain reduction)
It is not the best comp around at any price but for the price it is one of the great bargins out there.
For me the normal.mode I could take it or leave it.
Its the really nice namesake mode thats what this design is all about.
For a first comp get it!
Have lots of high end comps?get it, it will see use! | | |
By
ksm
on
16th February 2012
| | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 4.25 | | I bought one RNC because of it's price and also for the praise I was hearing at the time. Bit later I bought another RNC and one RNLA, and they are now in my "lifesaver" rack.
I use them mostly for live use, and they usually are used for vocals. With Super Nice Mode, it really is "set and forget" kind of thing. Using fairly fast attack and release and Super Nice -mode they'll keep the vocals where they should be. It can take ridiculous amounts of GR, and still I can't hear any distortions.
The Super Nice mode is not that intuitive in the beginning, but when you stop thinking, it does what you expect it to do. I have had also good results for squashing the drum rooms.
The major PITA is the wall wart. It's okay for one unit, but the mess with three units is not so nice. I always end up trying to open the spaghetti when I open the rear lid of my rack. I'm thinking of buying a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power AC, to power all three.
Still, one of my favourite compressors. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 5 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 1 |
Overall:  3.5 | | sounded great while it lasted...
i bought one of the early ones ... did a great job, sounded good... after using for awhile, it freaked out... went in and replace a blown out diode, after that i noticed some distortion... so sold it... my friend brought over one, and was excited about using it again.. and man it did nothing...DEad... so i opened up ... Man I know... they say not to open... but all i see is micro electronics... where is the diodes i replaced... and no fuse... so no usable parts was right on... well my 163 ... man has never let me down... and man, i think i paid $35 for it. Go Figure. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 2 | | Features | | 2 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 3.25 | | Right for the price, but takes patience to master
The sound quality is nice and clear. It can sound boring at times but it's not supposed to color the sound. This is not a compressor for beginners. The settings can be very tricky. At first I found myself not liking the unit so much until I put in the work and learned how to master the settings. Search online for advice with settings. Also, there is great range in values so just turning a knob slightly can change the way the comp responds dramatically. The lack of balanced i/o's is really a bummer and something I hope they change in the future. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 2 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 3.75 | | +1 for FMR CS
I had a crazy woman smash my RNC against the wall. Totally smashed in 
Called Mark and he basically replaced everything in it for $50.00. Awesome service. Oh yeah the reviews on this have been pretty much covered. First timers that don't have much experience on compressors can learn alot from this gem and the proce is right..Cheers | | | |
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