Re: two compressors
So thanks to this thread, I rearranged my rack and put one of my Alesis 3630s in it (I know, not exactly booteek tubey goodness).
Since the unit can act as two separate compressors, I ran through various configurations. First, I used just one side of it in the loop of my line mixer (through which everything must pass on the way to the MOTU interface). While the difference between in and out is noticeable, I'm not getting the "hard squash with slow inflate" one normally associates with the effect. This is a good thing since my preamps (Digitech 1101, ADA MP-1, Digitech 21 Legend) have their own Compressor "pedal-type" thing going on (with the MP-1, V1 handles all the compression, while the others are set up more like a pedal chain).
I played around with the various features of the 3630 - Hard/Soft Knee and Peak/RMS combos - and left it set for Soft Knee and RMS.
The controls on the unit are
Threshold (-40 - +20)
Ratio (1:1 - infinity)
Attack (0.1ms - 200ms)
Release (50ms - 3s)
Output (-20 - +20, I keep it about 0)
I started out with a Threshold of -25, Ratio of about 2:1, Attack 0.1, Release 50ms. This didn't have a prominent effect, even though the NR meter was lit about halfway. Since I run a fairly screwed-up EQ curve in my rack gear (lots of bass and piercing highs, which sounds great through headphones or for bedroom volume), when I turn up the volume through my monitors, my palm mutes get a bit farty and the highs are even more annoying. With the 3630 set as above, the palm mutes weren't farting and the highs weren't piercing, so that was good.
Next, I decided to see if I could run one side of the unit into the other, and used Twilight O's example settings from his previous post.
This did give a noticeable effect, but remember, I'm also running compressors in the preamps that are set for a noticeable effect (pushing the gain/dirt sounds). I did have to tweak the ratio and threshold settings on both sides, as well as set one for Hard Knee and the other for Soft Knee (can't recall the exact settings for the knobs though).
It did introduce a fair amount of noise, though, as TO said it would. Still, it's only there in the quiet parts, and the unit does have a noise gate.
How I've got it set now, however, is the line mixer's FX Loop going in side A and the line mixer's Main out going into side B, and the output of side B going into the MOTU interface.
Side A (mixer loop) is set for:
Thresh -25
Ratio 3:1
AT 25ms
Rel 150ms
Out 0
Peak
Hard Knee
Side B (main out) is set for
Thresh -20
Ratio 3:1
AT 5ms
Rel 50ms
Out +3
Peak
Soft Knee
This is keeping my palm mutes and single Gs (3rd fret, 6th string) from pegging the meter on the MOTU, as well as keeping the average volume between various gain sounds (Marshall to Mesa) even, and keeping those even with my clean tones (which run from JC120 to Twin to ridiculously bright and jangly).
Previously, I would have had to tweak a few things whenever I switched tones to control the spikes.
As I said, I'm sure there are a million better units out there, but I like what I'm getting from the 3630.
Gonna play around with it a bit more, maybe run one out of my Switcblade8 so it's before all my preamps, then loop them back through the other side before going into the mixer.
So thanks to this thread, I rearranged my rack and put one of my Alesis 3630s in it (I know, not exactly booteek tubey goodness).
Since the unit can act as two separate compressors, I ran through various configurations. First, I used just one side of it in the loop of my line mixer (through which everything must pass on the way to the MOTU interface). While the difference between in and out is noticeable, I'm not getting the "hard squash with slow inflate" one normally associates with the effect. This is a good thing since my preamps (Digitech 1101, ADA MP-1, Digitech 21 Legend) have their own Compressor "pedal-type" thing going on (with the MP-1, V1 handles all the compression, while the others are set up more like a pedal chain).
I played around with the various features of the 3630 - Hard/Soft Knee and Peak/RMS combos - and left it set for Soft Knee and RMS.
The controls on the unit are
Threshold (-40 - +20)
Ratio (1:1 - infinity)
Attack (0.1ms - 200ms)
Release (50ms - 3s)
Output (-20 - +20, I keep it about 0)
I started out with a Threshold of -25, Ratio of about 2:1, Attack 0.1, Release 50ms. This didn't have a prominent effect, even though the NR meter was lit about halfway. Since I run a fairly screwed-up EQ curve in my rack gear (lots of bass and piercing highs, which sounds great through headphones or for bedroom volume), when I turn up the volume through my monitors, my palm mutes get a bit farty and the highs are even more annoying. With the 3630 set as above, the palm mutes weren't farting and the highs weren't piercing, so that was good.
Next, I decided to see if I could run one side of the unit into the other, and used Twilight O's example settings from his previous post.
This did give a noticeable effect, but remember, I'm also running compressors in the preamps that are set for a noticeable effect (pushing the gain/dirt sounds). I did have to tweak the ratio and threshold settings on both sides, as well as set one for Hard Knee and the other for Soft Knee (can't recall the exact settings for the knobs though).
It did introduce a fair amount of noise, though, as TO said it would. Still, it's only there in the quiet parts, and the unit does have a noise gate.
How I've got it set now, however, is the line mixer's FX Loop going in side A and the line mixer's Main out going into side B, and the output of side B going into the MOTU interface.
Side A (mixer loop) is set for:
Thresh -25
Ratio 3:1
AT 25ms
Rel 150ms
Out 0
Peak
Hard Knee
Side B (main out) is set for
Thresh -20
Ratio 3:1
AT 5ms
Rel 50ms
Out +3
Peak
Soft Knee
This is keeping my palm mutes and single Gs (3rd fret, 6th string) from pegging the meter on the MOTU, as well as keeping the average volume between various gain sounds (Marshall to Mesa) even, and keeping those even with my clean tones (which run from JC120 to Twin to ridiculously bright and jangly).
Previously, I would have had to tweak a few things whenever I switched tones to control the spikes.
As I said, I'm sure there are a million better units out there, but I like what I'm getting from the 3630.
Gonna play around with it a bit more, maybe run one out of my Switcblade8 so it's before all my preamps, then loop them back through the other side before going into the mixer.
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