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Looper's Delight
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Mark Hamburg asks. . . >I've got three places in my signal chain that could use compressors, and >I'm >looking for advice on each of them. > >(1) Directly off my electric guitar. Right now I'm using the DynaComp >simulation on the Line6 DM4 but I'm thinking about a dedicated compressor. >This is probably the least critical. Directly off the guitar, without first going through a preamp? Probably a Dynacomp. If it's post-preamp, then the ART Levelar. > >(2) Before my EDP. I'd like some protection from overloading the input >into >the EDP coming off of my Mackie 1642. I haven't had a lot of trouble but >I'm >also just keeping the levels moderately low. My priority on this one is >higher than the guitar case, but still much lower than the last... DBX 166XL is a great buy. Excellent sound. > >(3) I need a compressor to take the mix signal off my Mackier and >feed it to my DAT or my SP-808. Digital distortion stinks and I've >been sacrificing headroom by just keeping my levels low. Well, I really don't believe your headroom concern is warranted. Not in digital recordings. I seriously doubt anyone can hear noise in a digital recording that's, say, -10 or -12 decibels, or even -16, compared to something where the highest transient peak is exactly at 0 or -1. I've never, ever found that to be an issue. Now, if you experience something like, say, a horn player who moves with respect to the position of the microphone and causes unanticipated peaks, then that's a different story (limiting is the issue): I would try the ART Tube PAC, which is a preamp and Levelar in one unit. GREAT sound, and cheap! I use one for mic'ing my trumpet player, and I use it as a preamp for my Zeta electric upright bass. If you don't buy my argument and just *HAVE* to limit before DAT, again the DBX 166XL is a good buy. > I >don't need fancy mastering capabilities. AMEN TO THAT!!! That's the Manfred Eicher philosophy. Let the final mix "flow" without additional artificialities in the dynamics. You already will have been using enough compression and/or limiting in steps 1-3 above. Let your ears decide what the final mix levels for each song should be. Michael -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Michael S. Yoder, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Studies Texas A&M International University Department of Social Sciences 5201 University Blvd. Laredo, TX 78041 (956) 326-2634 FAX (956) 326-2459 http://www.tamiu.edu/~myoder/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=