Budget compressor

[PeterSchofield]

Hi guys, I'm looking for a decent priced compressor that doesn't completely destroy the band balance. When I say budget, I mean around 70/80 quid. I've been looking at the Ashdown Dual Band compressor, what are people's thoughts on this? If not, can anyone suggest me an alternative?

Thanks in advance,
Pete

[Gareth Hughes]

For about £90 you can get a Carl Martin Classic Optical Compressor. I am seriously in love with mine - has a lovely big sound to it with the gain turned up and great, user friendly flexibility with the attack and compress knobs. I'm a fan of simple compressors for live use and this ticks the box. Had previously used a DBX 163A and a Joe Meek 3Q preamp. The Carl Martin is a happy medium there for me. Well worth the money.

[Mabrothrax]

Compressors are such a personal and subjective thing. I use an Exar bass comp for hideous 80s squashing. Had the Ashdown, which I found to be little more than useless to be honest... and it's supposed to be the same as the old Trace Elliot dual band thingy...

Anyway go here: http://www.ovnilab.com/

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1354661703' post='1888970']
For about £90 you can get a Carl Martin Classic Optical Compressor. I am seriously in love with mine - has a lovely big sound to it with the gain turned up and great, user friendly flexibility with the attack and compress knobs. I'm a fan of simple compressors for live use and this ticks the box. Had previously used a DBX 163A and a Joe Meek 3Q preamp. The Carl Martin is a happy medium there for me. Well worth the money.
[/quote]

GAK has them for £80 but then delivery is a fiver. I've never tried them but they were one of the recommended cheaper optical compressors on Ovnilabs along with the BYOC (if you want to spend several hours soldering and assembling).

The Aguilar is praised on here if you can find one in the for sale section - edit - There's one on there but it's still £105 so out of your budget.

Edited December 4, 2012 by GarethFlatlands

[stu_g]

ive used a boss cs2 for many many years love it

[Mudpup]

You can get a 2nd hand EBS Multi Comp for about that price usually. They pop up here fairly regularly.
Have a look at Ovnilabs website for some reviews and info too.

[TRBboy]

I bought a GTX bass limiter from Dangleberry music on amazon or eBay, after reading on here that the guts are identical to the Boss LMB-3. It only cost about £38 or something but it's great! Just take into account what Ovnilabs says about the LMB-3 and keep the enhance knob turned right down.

[Ancient Mariner]

If it's not too cheeky, I have a GLX limiter for sale like TRBboy's - still boxed and almost like new - £22 shipped if you're interested. I used it just a couple of times at home, but have a Zoom B2.1U that gets used instead.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1354663161' post='1888999']
You can get a 2nd hand EBS Multi Comp for about that price usually.
[/quote]

That was my first thought too! I'm sure for your budget you won't do much better

[geoham]

I have the Ashdown and it sounds great. Looks cool too!
On the downside, can't adjust attack, decay etc - they are preset - but most pedals in this price range are the same.

[rmorris]

Does it have to be a pedal ? I'm thinking you wouldn't be needing to switch it in/out whilst playing ? If that's the case then you can get well spec'd compressor units well within budget. I'd suggest lookout for an Alesis NanoCompressor (1/3 rack format). Good quality flexible compressor. Seem to go around £30ish on ebay etc.

[terocious]

Try Joyo Dyna Compressor. I bought mine via ebay for less than 35$ shipped to Finland. It's cheap and does what it suppose to do.

[Lozz196]

If looking for an "on all the time" compressor, the Behringer DC-9 is a nice little pedal, and way below budget. At £70 - £80 a used EBS Multi-Comp would be a good buy. Three different modes on it as well, and very subtle compression.

[KingBollock]

Anyone know anything about the Alesis 3632 Dual Channel Compressor/Limiter/Gate?

[url="http://www.alesis.com/3632compressor"]http://www.alesis.com/3632compressor[/url]

It's £99 and a 1u rack unit. I was thinking about it for Bass but also to hook up to my mixer for recording and PA. Is it any good? Would I be better off going for one dedicated to Bass?

Edited December 20, 2012 by KingBollock

[bremen]

I have an Ashdown dual compressor, boxed, 40 quid and it's yours

[Stan_da_man]

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1354661703' post='1888970']
For about £90 you can get a Carl Martin Classic Optical Compressor. I am seriously in love with mine - has a lovely big sound to it with the gain turned up and great, user friendly flexibility with the attack and compress knobs. I'm a fan of simple compressors for live use and this ticks the box. Had previously used a DBX 163A and a Joe Meek 3Q preamp. The Carl Martin is a happy medium there for me. Well worth the money.
[/quote]
+1.

Been using mine non-stop since I bought it earlier this year.

[51m0n]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1356019458' post='1905832']
Anyone know anything about the Alesis 3632 Dual Channel Compressor/Limiter/Gate?

[url="http://www.alesis.com/3632compressor"]http://www.alesis.com/3632compressor[/url]

It's £99 and a 1u rack unit. I was thinking about it for Bass but also to hook up to my mixer for recording and PA. Is it any good? Would I be better off going for one dedicated to Bass?
[/quote]

Perfectly adequate for live. Recording, well, its a bottom of the range compressor. It will work fine, it shouldnt be too noisy, it wont reek of mystical mojo, but if you know what you're doing it should ok.

Plus points - it has great metering (the importance of which is not to be underestimated at all)

[KingBollock]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1356218053' post='1908186']
Perfectly adequate for live. Recording, well, its a bottom of the range compressor. It will work fine, it shouldnt be too noisy, it wont reek of mystical mojo, but if you know what you're doing it should ok.

Plus points - it has great metering (the importance of which is not to be underestimated at all)
[/quote]
Cool, thanks. It will be my first foray into the world of compressors and stuff. The only other one I have ever had is the rather simple thing that comes in a Behringer V-Amp Pro... From what I have read and seen about the 3632 it's not too noisy, certainly better than the 3630. I was hoping to get one that would cover more stuff than just Bass, to justify buying it. And I really would like to learn how to use it properly.

[51m0n]

It will cover far more than just bass, and its good metering will mean you will have a great tool for educating yourself, and your ears to comperssion.

Enjoy it!

[funky8884]

Do a paper round , save your pennies and buy a decent compressor as it will have a very low noise floor.
Do as much research as you can ( sample loads ) and use your ears.
Check out the ovnilab site and maybe pm a few chaps on BC.

[rmorris]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1356371494' post='1909666']
It will cover far more than just bass, and its good metering will mean you will have a great tool for educating yourself, and your ears to comperssion.

Enjoy it!
[/quote]

+1

You should really get a 'proper' stereo compressor if you want to use it for recording in general as well as bass.
Standard units from dbx / symetrix / alesis / behringer etc will offer you a great deal of flexibility but that also means access to a shed load of sounds which you won't actually want to use on a particular sound source. So if you want to be effective you really need to learn / read about compression - there's lots of info out there - to understand how to get the effects you're looking for. That's more important really than the particular box of electronics chosen.
Playing with software compressors on a DAW is a great way to get a feel for it without buying loads of kit plus you get visual info on the monitor.

Of course something like the Carl Martin mentioned may give a flavour of something you can't afford in it's fully fledged and expensive guise ( Urei / Pultec etc ) so it's a judgement.

[51m0n]

Yeah, have a read of my blog post on compressors when you get it, it should help (I hope!)

http://blog.basschat.co.uk/setting-up-a-compressor/

[terryat]

[quote name='terocious' timestamp='1356014488' post='1905724']
Try Joyo Dyna Compressor. I bought mine via ebay for less than 35$ shipped to Finland. It's cheap and does what it suppose to do.
[/quote]Actually no,my friend.It is $30 here.But is shipped from China:http://www.donnerdeal.com/pro-guitar-amp-effect-pedal-dynamic-compressor-joyo-jf-10-pro-true-bypass-blue.html .

Edited February 18, 2013 by terryat