Ok, so i got my A4, and will buy an OT in two months… i’ll also add a Blofeld for some digital sounds… That should be my setup. Simple and beautiful.
A4 and Blofeld will go trough OT’s inputs. The thing i want is to get a better output from all the machines together (trough OT’s output), for studio and also for live… Just want to get that final touch on the mix itself.
My expirience with comps in software is OK, but as hardware compressors go very expensive, i want to hear opinions on which one to buy, for all the purposes i already mentioned… My budget is 500$, could go to 600$… thanks.
I’ve heard good things about these and i love the portable size. I’m considering getting that one and the RNC (http://www.thomann.de/gb/fmr_audio_rnc_1773.htm)
RNLA would run the main output from Octatrack and the NRC between the A4 and octatrack.
great idea, paland! i think ill get the rnla first, and if i like the sound, ill buy the rnc later on. also loving portability, which is my main consern these days.
My setup is currently a Mackie 802 with an OT, MD, MnM, with the RNLA acting as a master compressor.
I love that compressor to death.
The RNC is very clean and is meant to act as a transparent compressor for recording and mixing.
It will work as well as a master compressor, but I wouldn’t expect much color; it mainly just keeps things playing nice together.
The RNLA makes everything sound beefy and huge.
People use the word “gooey” a lot to describe it and when you hear it you’ll know exactly what people are talking about.
It’s simply the glue for me.
It gives everything a nice warm edge that matches the sound of the Elektron units perfectly.
It makes them sing.
For the price you won’t find anything even comparable in the same ballpark.
I find I prefer it to the sound of many far-more-expensive units.
For your budget a TC Finalizer might be a good option also. Definitely more flexibility than the FMR or Ovca. The advantage of this is that you can change presets (per song) via program change in a live setting.
To those using the FMR RNLA on the master bus, what are you using (roughly) for settings? I have had mine for about two years and have never cared for the results using it that way, though i love running individual channels or subgroups through it before sampling into the OT. I might just need to experiment more, but I always preferred the results I got using the OT’s comp on the master track (since i run everything through the OT).
Hopefully not de-railing the thread due to my lack of experience, would be nice to find I was just doing it wrong though. I would recommend the RNLA either way, it is really wonderful.
Start with v. slow attack, v. fast release for bus. Then gradually start moving the knobs the ‘other’ way. The perfect cure for MD digititis, gives you a gooey and warmer feel. Let mine go b/c I am not as MD-centric anymore but almost backed out of my sale when I heard it warm up the MD one last time. Might get another someday.
Focusrite Compounder Platinum is good for club/techno stuff, a cheaper option is the Alesis 3630 was quite widely used but it has a very definite sound which some do not like, if you push it hard it is basically that french sound in a box. There are a number of mods for it too IIRC.
I like the Compounder because it also has a decent noise gate and vactrol based bass circuit, I would not dream of using it for delicate/critical stuff, but for bunging across a mix its pretty great once you find the right settings.
