UTILITY Compressor actually used for LIMITING!?!?

[6dyslexicelephnt]

Hi I'm looking for a compressor that's colorful and can do some serious squashing. I've been recording a lot of experimental/noise bands in the area and they like to start out super quiet and get really really loud. Usually I'll ride the levels, but I want to have it running through a compressor for limiting the sudden bursts. Right now I have an ART PRO VLA which sounds pretty nice but it doesn't really have the limiting capabilities that I need. The maximum compression is 10:1. I had a AT 4033 recording some piano from about 4 or 5 feet away and it the dynamics were between very gentle playing and literally pounding on the keys. I had it set to minimum threshold, maximum compression, fast attack, and auto decay and still had to turn down the insert send so that the quiet parts were a little quieter than I would've liked (although I fixed this manually in the computer). I don't need something that's super transparent, I just want something with a nice color that will be able to tame some big peaks. Thanks for your help

[CoteRotie]

Seems like you might want to check out the Distressor. Just got one today, it will take me a while to get used to it, but so far it seems like what you describe. Get the British mod for extra flexibility.

Regards,

John

[6dyslexicelephnt]

Aah I've just figured out that anything over 10:1 is usally considered limiting. So I guess I just need a good comp/limiter not just a good general compressor. The only ones I've found are the ART, a Neve, and JoeMeek have models with 10:1 or under. The FMR RNC is more in my price range for now, and it has up to 25:1 compression ratio, so would this be the way to go? I guess there's already a million posts on this subject...