Compressor/external effects unit for syntakt?

maybe look at an old cheap 19" alesis 3630 rack compressor and a zoom 1201 reverb/multi fx. They’re super cheap, light (they’re not very deep rack wise) and were the secret ingredients to a lot of late 90’s early 00’s sound from likes of Daft Punk and Warp artists, which is kinda what’ll work well with the Syntakt.

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I am in the same boat and right now I like the idea of combining ST and Hologram Chroma Console, but I am not sure yet.

Really interesting !
And works for guitars and stuff…
Btw the BOUM works really well with a passive guitar straight in, so do AH, for drive/distortion and filters.

As master I read about some negative points like low cut and lack of dry/wet…

Cutting at around 16 Khz.

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Platforms a good one. I’ve got it and wad surprised by it’s versatility at its price. That EH characteristic drive sound is also on board and can be dialed in and out as needed.
For me the lack of a dry/wet isn’t as big of a deal as it may seem on paper. You can lower the impact of the compression, and the drive has a seperate switch.

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I meant low cut, high pass, but I got confused with EHX Overload, so forget it ! :wink:

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If you’re not interested in drive/FXs there’s the Atlas Compressor from Source Audio. Stereo pedal with a lot of stuff under the hood, not particularly hands on, but you can assign everything to the knobs.

Also cheaper than most EoC stuff.
I have a Heat MKI that I’m planning to sell for a Boum or for an Atlas, as to be more portable and with a real compressor onboard.
Still didn’t took the plunge as I’m wondering if a Digitakt or the new S4 from Torso can cover the compressor/warming duties with the sampling bonus added

Source Audio Atlas Compressor is a further candidate.

Thanks everyone. I am glad I asked. There are quite a few effects units I haven`t heard of.
Now I just need to make a decision :grin:

Chroma Console is $400 and does a lot of what you’re looking for.

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What about Line 6 HX One ?
It’s targeted to guitar but has a stereo input with line level suitable for synth & keyboard.
It’s small, relatively cheap, and has all the effects of the Helix modeler including different kinds of compressors.

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I would always upgrade to a HX Stomp. Six effect slots instead of one is just so much better. I am mainly a guitarist, but I send all my gear (syntakt, synths, MPC) through my big Line6 Helix. Every kind of distortion, preamp, time- and modulation FX, compressor, EQ. It is all in there and it works really good with all kinds of sounds, not just guitar.

Sure.
But the OP is mainly interested in a compressor and would like a very small and cheap unit.
The HX Stomp is bigger and more expensive than the HX One.

I own a couple and while they are rlly fun, they’re definitely janky and have a very specific tone to them.

the compression action is almost woody if very fast and very goopy when slow, and finding the inbetween sweetspots is very difficult.

also the model you get matters significantly, typically the Revision D models are typically the best unmodded and also the easiest to improve the tone of by simple mods (snipping the gate wires cause the gates are wired poorly and mess with the overall compressor action).

it’s awesome at parallel processing and drum bus smashing but imo it 100% requires the gate snip mod and a sidechain equalizer paired with it to make it sound musical and workable, which also immediately detracts from its reliability live.

for studio work, if you want to experiment, get your hands dirty, and get an EQ for sidechain sculpting, they’re decent comps that can sound pretty good!

putting one on a mixbus is a commitment tho, and you would have to mix into it to get a feel for how much lowend it can take before it starts to give out (sidechain EQ helps immensely here).

I used to run a 3630 Rev D with the mod as my parallel compressor for live shows (sidechain through a 10 band donner EQ pedal) and it worked alright.

FMR Audio RNC1773 Really Nice Compressor

It’s a fantastic compressor for its price range

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Not sure how you’d use a hardware compressor with Syntakt? It just has one pair of stereo outs. Are ppl panning kick or something?

:thinking: Plug it in compressor inputs ?

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And use what as ‘key’ to trigger the compressor?

No selection of signal in and you’ll just get mush? … assuming you’re making music with bass drums.

:thinking: Earth frequency ?
A stereo compressor can be used on master without key/side chain. Btw it would be interesting to try with ST headphones, use a low pass or bandpass filter and use the signal for side chain…

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mix buss compression doesn’t need an external key, you can just send a stereo output through a compressor and compress the entire buss.

though having sidechain EQ makes this process much better, and keeps the lows from heavily triggering the compressor

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