Amp, Preamp, Compressor - Which Order? - Edited...

[DaRQsiDe]

Hello,

I just bought a compressor and a preamp to use in both live setups and home recordings but I need some assistance about how to connect them. I am a mainly plug&play bassist so I never used stuff like effects loop or interconnect line outs and stuff.

My equipment are,

- Ampeq SVT3-Pro
- dbx 166 Comp/NoiseGate/Limiter
- Tech21 SansAmp 1.1
- MOTU 828 mkII Firewire

Thanks.

Edit - After going more through the forum I realized that this subject is already been discussed and I am sorry. Now a more specific question..

So I am ok with Bass -> Comp -> Preamp -> Comp -> Amp -> OUT setting. For the second compression (post - Preamp) should I connect the compressor via effects loop or should I get an output from the preamp and stick it into the compressor?

Thanks again.

[bassman1185]

The effects loop is probably going to be most effective for you. That way if you bump up the preamp volume, you won't overcompress your sound. That's what I would do, anyway.

[bongomania]

Actually, the fx loop is post the preamp stage, so "bumping up the preamp volume" is exactly the same as boosting the signal into the compressor, which could of course end up overcompressing the sound.

To the OP, the solution is to carefully identify/observe the signal levels found at every stage of the path, and carefully identify/observe the signals levels needed at every stage of the path. You can't assume that they are the same.

[DaRQsiDe]

I have a dbx 166xl, so what I was thinking is to use mild compression (like 2:1 ratio, -2dB threshold, little attack, little to moderate release) to even out the signal pre preamp and at post preamp include gate and limiter functions and little compression (mostly playing with attack and release) before amplifying for output.