I want a bad ass hardware compressor!

[funky shit]

http://www.mercenary.com/thcuphstvaco.html

[McQ714]

anyone try the Focusrite Compounder? i've had my eye on that for a while...

[Hidden Driveways]

The 3630 isn't discontinued, as far as I can tell anyhow:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1 ... tereo.html

I've owned a single Distressor for years. It's nice to have, but you have to face the fact that just owning one channel of good compression doesn't really make it a fully useful tool. You really need two channels of any of these things. Sometimes I'm tempted to sell my Distressor (because even though I've had it for years I can still sell it and only lose $100!), and sometimes I feel like buying a second one, and paying a tech to mod them out. I don't know.

Anyhow, I'm convinced that the most useful compressor you can buy to use with your MacBook Pro is the PSP Vintage Warmer:
http://www.pspaudioware.com/

[Dr Dub]

What about the "really nice compressor"?

I don t own it!!! So perhaps this thing just sucks, but the reviews are so good that i think about getting
one, but only from a place where i can return it.

http://www.fmraudio.com/RNC1773.HTM

Two good things about it: The price is VERY good, and it is mono and stereo (but not double mono).

[SubFunk]

anyone try the Focusrite Compounder? i've had my eye on that for a while...

apart from that the gain stage is rather noisy (but hey it's hardware and some don't mind), it's an OK unit, again not very transparent, so better suited for drums / perc.

[UKRuss]

I'm still happy with my Behringer gate/expander and compresspr/limiter...

[SubFunk]

What about the "really nice compressor"?

I don t own it!!! So perhaps this thing just sucks, but the reviews are so good that i think about getting
one, but only from a place where i can return it.

http://www.fmraudio.com/RNC1773.HTM

Two good things about it: The price is VERY good, and it is mono and stereo (but not double mono).

honestly, i don't see the point of having a hardware compressor vs software in that range... if hardware, then real stuff, dbx, manley, crane, etc.

i just said to johnisfaster that the alesis 3060 is a wicked compressor for the money, true. but he owns it already, buying something along that line does not make sense, i think, not anymore, unless you are just mad about boxes, but talking quality, go software or real equipment.

or it's ok if you need a compressor for let's say an instrument rack without the need of using a computer, etc.

[Dr Dub]

for mixing, i think i would also prefer software, for convinience and the sound is on par or better for a budget, but i would really like to have the possibility to compress a bit while recording, before AD Conversion
I know, with higher Bitrates it s not as important but anyway...

[Hidden Driveways]

If I bought another hardware compressor, I would by the ACP88:

http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail ... oductId=17

Why? There are 8 of them, they have gates, and the quality is good as opposed to bad/meh. It would be useful for live sound mixing, and you could send 8 tracks from your DAW through it just for the sake of experimentation toward creating a more compelling mix.

[McQ714]

^ just for that purpose alone.. Ableton should make a line splitter to send the same signal to multiple outputs. you could set up the hardware with different settings, have it all come back in on different inputs and pick whichever one sounds the best, without the need of duplicatiing the track. of course you would need to setup multiple audio tracks to record the inputs. does the external instrument device have multiple outputs? or just a single stereo/dual mono output? i only mention this because i would much rather do something once and get rid of everything i don't use, then to do it 5 or 6 times. Live is made for multi-track recording, right? why only record 1 input at a time when you could do 8?

[SubFunk]

If I bought another hardware compressor, I would by the ACP88:

http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail ... oductId=17

Why? There are 8 of them, they have gates, and the quality is good as opposed to bad/meh. It would be useful for live sound mixing, and you could send 8 tracks from your DAW through it just for the sake of experimentation toward creating a more compelling mix.

if the quality is really good, sounds appealing, but then again what you refer to, if i understand you correctly, then it's the point of having not just a few channels of compression, but different units with different characters as well... that makes fully sense, but is obviously not budget friendly...

[v76]

FMR RNC is a good little comp for quite cheap, try the RNLA if you need color.

[tigali]

+1 for the FMR RNC. For people who know their compressors waaaay better than I do, this consistently comes top of the 'bang for buck' compressor lists. I own one and I haven't managed to make anything sound bad with it. If you have loads of money you can probably do better, but bang for buck...
Just go here and do a search for RNC FMR : www.gearslutz.com , or google for reviews. It's shockingly good for the price.

[nebulae]

http://www.fugly.com/flash/787/Ass_Master.html

[willdahbe]

hey thanks for all the suggestions everyone! tons of stuff to start doing research on, check out some audio samples n' stuffs.