Compressor hardware for M:S

Give the Platform a shot
$100ish on Reverb.

Gives you some flexibility with the knee curve and Limiter buttons, and the drive section goes from ultra subtle to violent.
The LPF is a nice bonus.

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Not quite a compresser but the strymon deco is very easy to use (my primary send effect on my mixer), compact, and sounds great for saturation.

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909 through 3630

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Team Platform!

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I also highly recommend the Alesis Micro Limiter if you use your MS for more than just drums. After borrowing one from @tr909, I am a believer!

I just didn’t want to say so until I won this ebay auction over the weekend. Didn’t want to make my chances of winning at a fair price any more difficult. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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My budget idea was about 50€ (or maybe near 100€ if the stuff is great), thanks for all feedback anyways :grin:

If we talk about 200€, 300€ or higher then I would consider buying another kind of toy, not a compressor

What about a pedal like the BOSS CS-3?

Legowelt runs his TR-808 through one for “steamy, smudgety, lo-fi, pumping, jacking beats!”

(See page 2)

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It’s obvious… octatrack!

I love the Deco. Makes everything sound great. Love the saturation and wobble

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I recommend you skip the redundant D/A conversions and just use the class compliant USB on the m:s for recording your audio. Then use software compression to do compressing.

There are some decent freeware comps out there that cost 0$! Besides the price, you get advanced features such as filtered sidechaining, Mid-Side, wet/dry for easy, phase-aligned parallel compression…

you’d need to pay an arm and a leg for similar features in hardware land, and IMHO 2-bus compression without a HPF sidechain is a bad idea for most club music contexts anyways.

TL;DR - I dont recommend anyone to buy a HW compressor if they’ve just started making music. Software is a much safer way to get started nerding out with comps

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:ok_hand:t3:

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I am finally trying to play with Pulse Effects
Let’s see :slight_smile:

i second the alesis micro limter. super useful little beat up unit.
i can also vouch for the boss cs3 and the 3630 for that pumping breathing sound. as for a set it and forget it i’d recommend the alesis micro limiter or the rnc.

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Though it is redundant I’ll also recommend the micro-limiter. I like it more than my rnc and rnla

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I’ve looked this up before for my DT, but sold it and just bought a M:S. I didn’t like the compressor on the DT.

Used Alesis 3630. The famed “Daft Punk” sidechain compressor. Usually like €50 on ebay.
Personally I’ll be getting the RNLA, vs RNCC. The RNLA has some color to it, while the RNC is crystal clear. Both are incredible value.

Re: BOSS CS-3 I mean it’s hard not to trust Legowelt, but in my experience I’ve not been happy with Boss pedals sound overall. They all have a… tinny, metallic sound to em. I like warms like Strymon delivers.

If you just want color to your sound, you could consider getting something like an old Boss BX-8 or BX800 mixer, which would allow you get some warmth, crunch, lo-fi saturation on the sum, and still have channels left over for any other drum machine or synth you want. It’s not compression but i mention it as some people simply want saturation and crunch when they’re asking about compression.

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I have seen some cheap Alesis 3630 in eBay, just 25$
I have never used eBay before, but I am going to try :slight_smile:

they’re a cult favorite, though many people say they degrade sound quite a bit on the way in. i suppose this is to be treated more as an effect than a healthy part of a signal chain :slight_smile:

i’d definitely take a look at the FMR RNC or RNLA. Check this thread:

But that’s over 200€
For that budget I’d wait a little & buy a M:C (nothing to do with compression, I know… it’s all about budget :face_with_hand_over_mouth:)

hahaha well sure i mean that’s not even apples and oranges… it’s like apples and 1983 Buick sedans.

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I hated the 3630, ended up giving mine away. It colored the sound way to heavily for me to use it. It was great for noise/chiptune stuff but I couldn’t handle how it made everything else sound.

Moved on to a FMR RNC and haven’t looked back.

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