emusonacid!

Hey does anybody have some compression settings that I could snag (for breaks, kicks and snares)? I'm a little lost when it comes to compression. I'm going to get some RNC compressors soon so I can use it real time and figure it out by ear, but how about the EMU compressor, how the hell does the threshold percentage correspond to db? Is 100% equal to the max db of the signal? Who's got me?

I dunno about the "new" compressor in the the latest EOS (maybe someone else can voice in) but if it's anything like ones in the old EOS than they are total crap. Get those Really Nice Compressors as soon as you can! (and then start saving for a tube)

This is a damned good question. I don't know if 100% is calibrated to digital 0, or the actual peak level of the signal. This should be easy to test, by making two copies of a sample, one at 0dB and one at -6dB, and see how a threshold of 50% affects them, BUT... the EOS compressor is really bad, and never works like it's supposed to, so the test would be pointless However, now that I'm thinking about it, I'll probably spend a few hours this weekend tweaking with it anyway, so I'll get back to you

The RNCs are definitely a good way to go, I've got one and I love it. As far as tube comps go, anybody have any suggestions for a good one?

Klaseed wrote:The RNCs are definitely a good way to go, I've got one and I love it. As far as tube comps go, anybody have any suggestions for a good one?

It really depends on your price range ...

What I have ... and what I would consider to be "lower range" would be the HHB Radius 30. It's about US$650 and warms tings up nicely. Josh Gimpulse and Kemal (or at least he used to) use the same compressor.

If you have more skrilla (US$2500) I would recommend the Avalon VT-747 SP. This is a wikkid machine, used by respected professional studios around the world.

If you are a spoiled poncy bastard (or a lawer - I dunno which is worse), get the MANLEY VARIABLE-MU? LIMITER / COMPRESSOR. This is the DON machine, used by the top producers in the majors. It is killah!!! However, it will also set you back about US$3500.

Oh Fwibble ... In da UK, I believe that HHB is known as TLA ...

Anyone try the Behringer Tube Composer?

I also want to check out their tube preamp... Gotten some good reviews on websites I've looked at.

No snobby remarks about "Behringer sucks," please.

hey i have a behringer mixer and compressor

yea that's right. HHB is TL Audio. Very nice stuff imho. I have the Radius 20 which is a tubed dual channel parametric EQ and its quite nice if I say so myself.

Hmm, I might look into the TL Audio/HHB stuff, then. I'm also looking at the Tube Tech LCA-2B, but it's a *bit* more expensive, and I'm neither a lawyer nor a spoiled poncy bastard :)

Okay, so I did the test with the onboard compressor. I created a simple wav file of a triangle wave, normalized one copy to 0dB, one to -6dB, and SCSId them both to the Emu. I then compressed each, using these settings: Peak, Above, threshold=50%, ratio=62:1 (just to make sure I could see the compression happening).

The results: 100% threshold is calibrated to digital 0dB, as the sample that was at -6dB didn't get compressed at all, which means it was (just) under the 50% threshold. The 0dB sample got compressed down to -6dB (50%); actually it got compressed to closer to -7dB which means the compressor settings aren't completely accurate.

Hope this helps, although the compressor still sucks [/b]

Well it looks like I'll definitely be getting those RNC's. I've been tinkering around with the EMU compressor and it does so many things to signals that a real compressor wouldn't. But Klaseed, thanks for testing it out, that info should help me out in the meantime.

All digital compressors are DICK for using as an effect (rather than their intended boring purpose to control peaks/increase signal density).

I've got a separate Joe Meek MC2 for each of the EMU's outputs. They come up for sale 2nd hand now and again around ?80-?100 and have absolutely the best sound-for-pound and were specifically designed with sound colouration and drum popping mayhem in mind.

They're also good as a normal compressor or for fattening the final mix. Can't recommend them enough. Wonderful, and very cost effective.

The Behringer composer is a good option if you're skint.