What rack mount compressor?

[lil'bass]

I've left a space in my rack for a compressor. Any ideas which one works well with the bass guitar? Ive heard the focusrite's are pretty good. Thanx in advance for your help. xx

 

[MJ5150]

I have always been a big fan of the ART Dual Levelar. It is tube compression, sounds great.

-Mike

 

[guyplaysbass]

I've had really good results with the Alesis Nano-Compressor. I use it primarily as a limiter. I've used it for a little extra gain at times with a nicely "slightly squashed" sound. It's very inexpensive ($50 US), easy to use, and only takes up a half rack space. The other half houses my Shure ULX/S digital wireless. YMMV!

 

[GrooveSlave]

I love my Presonus ACP-22. It may be a bit of overkill for my rig, but I can always move it into the studio. It sounds totally transparent to me. About $300 new, if I recall.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I use the Rane DC-24 Dynamic Controller. It's on the pricey side (got mine used for cheap), but it's a really nice device. The best features for me:

1) It's a two-band compressor: has a tunable crossover and compresses highs and lows separately.
2) Has more precise control of compression ratios less than 2:1 than most limiters

 

[monkeyfinger]

DBX 160A. This is the classic bass compressor sound of the seventies. Really thick sound. Smooth in over-easy mode and very punchy in hard-knee mode. Designed to be easy to use live in that you don't have to do a lot of fiddling to get a great sound.

 

[RevGroove]

Used to use a NanoCompressor, but IMHO it worked better with g****r. Now I use a dbx 266XL compressor/gate...though I don't use the gate...dbx is the way to go, I think...

 

[thrasher717]

DBX 163x. Easiest compressor to use and works great for bass. I got mine on eBay for $35.

 

[Planet Boulder]

I have a dbx 262, which is apparently hard to find but easy to use and quite nice.

Take a look at the dbx 266 or the ART SC2 (which I used to own) - both work great.

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

I use a Behringer MDX series two channel compressor. They also make a 4 channel compressor, but it has fewer controls.

I've been happy with it and it was quite inexpensive....about $80 IIRC.

 

[Finger Blister]

I use a Behringer MDX 2200 Composer.

Works most excellent for Bass.

 

[Bluesbarrister]

I use a NanoComp with my GK800. When it comes to technolgy, I'm a card-carrying Luddite, but it was cheap and I agree that it gives great squish and good boost.

 

[complexprocess]

I've had really good results with the Alesis Nano-Compressor. I use it primarily as a limiter. I've used it for a little extra gain at times with a nicely "slightly squashed" sound. It's very inexpensive ($50 US), easy to use, and only takes up a half rack space. The other half houses my Shure ULX/S digital wireless. YMMV!

I also use a nanocomp with my setup. I picked it out because all I knew was that I wanted a compressor to do some squishing and boosting, and it was cheap. (~$35 on ebay in flawless shape with box and manual). It does what I wanted and sounds good to me, but I'm no expert.

 

[bgavin]

I have the Rane MC22, which is the less expensive little brother of the DC22/DC24 series.

 

[K-Frog]

Owned a Boss CL-50 for a while. Great comp/lim/gate, full of usable features, fully tweakable compression controls(threshold, attack, release, ratio, etc.) CL-50 is 1/2 rack.

I used the Alesis Nano-comp before, really liked it too.

 

[rockindoc]

Another vote for the Rane DC24.

 

[Lockout]

DBX 160A. This is the classic bass compressor sound of the seventies. Really thick sound. Smooth in over-easy mode and very punchy in hard-knee mode. Designed to be easy to use live in that you don't have to do a lot of fiddling to get a great sound.

Yep, I've been using one for a while, and it has served me quite well. It has a simple control setup, but it is still versatile and sounds very nice.

However, lately I've been thinking about selling it. With my new Aguilar all-tube setup, I can dial in a compression-like punch into my sound, so I no longer need the compressor to do it for me. Rather than letting it sit here collecting dust, I'd like to get rid of it.

I'm not sure if I'm violating any rules by advertising this here, but if you (or any other TBers who read this) are interested in buying it, drop me a PM.

 

[RevGroove]

However, lately I've been thinking about selling it. With my new Aguilar all-tube setup, I can dial in a compression-like punch into my sound, so I no longer need the compressor to do it for me. Rather than letting it sit here collecting dust, I'd like to get rid of it.

I'm not sure if I'm violating any rules by advertising this here, but if you (or any other TBers who read this) are interested in buying it, drop me a PM.

Post it for sale in the "For Sale" forum!!!

 

[Zentner]

Ok, a bit off topic.. but i have a question... and a NOOB question it is...

WHAT IS A COMPRESSOR!?!! (and what does it do?)

 

[Lockout]

Post it for sale in the "For Sale" forum!!!

I plan to. Eventually.

I'm just not quite positive I wanna part with it yet, so I was just checking if anyone browsing through this thread was really interested or looking for one.