Yea that DSP chip was special. It must be rollover when creative bought ensoniq. Could of been the next Ensoniq DP effects rack that never made it into fruition
Sorry to go a little OT hereā¦ what style(s) of music do you make and how do you find the MBP? Iām somewhat lusting over one as another compressor and flavor/tone option. I realize itās not necessarily genre specific, but some compressors are too slow/heavy for electronic (bass heavy) genres. I think of vari-muās like this usually. The MBP seems pretty brilliant, but nearly everything Iāve read or watched doesnāt have it in the context of house, techno, electro, etc. I have no way of demoing one, so like just about all I the gear I get itās going to be research the hell out of it, but ultimately somewhat a leap of faith.
The MBP is really flexible and can respond SUPER fast. The dynamics section is amazing but the other features on the box really take it to the next level. Good sounding M/S processing and the simple eq for both mid and side shaping can really help a mix that doesnāt have enough width or de mud the sides without affecting the mono or add presence to the center or all of the above at the same time as well as many other tricks. The Blue silk option is almost always active on mine, even if just one or two clicks up the dial. Killer box, highly recommend if you have the needs and funds
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have you tried using a highpassed sidechain with those compressors? I always use a highpassed sidechain with my SA4000, otherwise the lowend just makes the comp pump like crazy.
Yeah, absolutely. In fact, within a mastering context if a compressor (hardware or software) doesnāt have SC HPF capability I typically wonāt use it unless I can run it in a parallel/mix mode. I generally donāt compress anything below 120hz (90hz if thatās the only option) and if I do itās always (as of right now anyway) doing so ITB and just using a single band via FabFilter MB. If I have to do that itās generally more āfixingā vs. āenhancingā, so Iām doing it very targeted and selectively.
Ty for the suggestion though.
I make hip-hop and downtempo stuff. (92 - 110BPM) ā¦When using the MBP I have the compression set to FB (feedback), a light tap on the red silk, and ratio set between 2:1 to 4:1. Is 4:1 still considered soft knee compression? I also have the attack at a fairly low level and work my way up as I am listening.
For my house, tech house, and garage 2 -step. (122-130BPM) I am using the FF (feed forward compressor), and the ratio starts at 4:1 then I nudge it higher as needed. For attack and release settings I work my attack slowly after each listen just to hear the added punch. FF compression is great for fast transient material.
Red and blue silk are nice additions to the compressor. Or if you are just tracking material red can add emphasis on the low end while blue can bring out more of the high frequency stuff. Blue is also great if your low end is getting just a little muddy and you need to thin it out.
SL1200 I will try to post demos of each one on soundcloud on Sunday in a bypass then wet signal setup.
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What Drawmer is that mate?
Thatās a DS201 dual noise gate. Pretty cool little box, has low and high pass filters for the sidechain signal that you can use for audio if you donāt need the gating. Can be keyed by the incoming audio or from an external source. You would think it would be a very utilitarian box, but it has some great creative applications
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Even better is the Symetrix 562e, Iāve had both and kept the Symetrix
Iāve always been curious about the Symetrix stuff. At this point my hardware gating needs are largely covered between my Dynamite, Ds201, and SSLās, but if they have something special about them let me know
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The 562e has a nice phase-shift sort-of lookahead function which I find eliminates the distortion the ds201 is prone to when using extreme settings. A creative sort of distortion sometimes but not always what you want.
Symetrix in general is really cheap for the quality of the gear - love their stuff.
Nice. Iāve got a couple of Drawmer units. A DL241 and a noise gate - a Drawmer DF320. I recently took them out of my set up though, theyāre great but I want to use less and focus on a studio thatās geared towards a somewhat lightweight live performance. Do I miss them? Hell yes! But I havenāt sold them yet. May do butā¦ Theyāre packed away for now.
Enjoyed reading the thread.
Dude, you are going to love the Burl. I have a mothership that Iām working on filling up and the AD/DA is unlike anything Iāve heard. So punchy. You can slam it and it justā¦ takes it to another level.
Too bad I barely get to use it. I canāt take it to our practice space to record because one of my dudes still smokes cigarettes. Who does that anymore? Juul ftw.
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HĆ©ritage audio made a successor to the Neve 33609. 1800US
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Hello,
Someone have tested the Drawmer 1968 MKII and/or the ART Pro VLA II ?
What do you want to do? Track with it or mix with it?
Generally the Art would excel in vocals, basses, guitars, pianos. This is an opto compressor and what itās good at. Opto compressors are good for keeping levels with the transients. Think of keeping things smooth. Great for tracking.
The drawmer 1968 is a FET compressor. This can handle faster transients like drums. This can also do vocals and guitars but designed to handle a bitter signal in compress it. Great for tracking and mixing.
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Drawmer 1978: as already stated above is good for drums (or the AR) at the sum, a nice sidechain with dedicated eqs for shaping the SC
Elysia Xpressor: precise & clean (with a touch of extra), wonāt disappoint you, is good on nearly everything, like all of Elysias gear 
- they are going very well with Elektron gear
Drawmer 1968 MKII: FAT-circuit, i thought once to buy one, the tubes inside are not in the compressor-pathway, they are there for adding something
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I was thinking about a real analog compressor to put after the Digitakt. Iām making hip hop with real drums samples and vinyl records samples.
I use VSTs like shadow hill compressor but I was thinking about a real one that can give me more warm. I donāt mind about coloring the sound, if itās sound good, Iām ok with that.
Get the drawmer. You will like it more. You can track with it at smaller ratios then smash the drum bus with it. In general if you want nice punchy hip hop drums get a FET and after you use it for a while you will realise thatās why your favorite snares and kicks sound like that.
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thanks for advice. I will look at FET and espacially the Drawmer 1968 that have good reviews.
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