The Spy Husband Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Folks, Not a live venue related sound question so please forgive me! I'm looking to get a compressor for my voice over studio. The budget doesn't quite stretch to a Focusrite Voicemaster Pro just yet, so I'm hoping to grab a good budget compressor to level out the vocals a bit. Now, I know that 'good' and 'budget' don't often go together, but I was wondering if there is anything fairly decent that anyone could recommend just to get me started? Ideally I don't want to spend any more than around £100. Are there any surprisingly good budget compressors out there? Any brands/models I should steer clear of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesperrett Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Are there any surprisingly good budget compressors out there? Any brands/models I should steer clear of? It might be worth looking for something used - like a Drawmer LX20. Personally (if looking for something used) I would avoid the Yamaha 2020 or the Alesis 3630 as they're nowhere near as good as the Drawmer. I've also heard conflicting reports about the Behringer Composer - some say it is good value for money while others don't like it. If you can stretch a little higher then the FMR RNC1773 is well worth the money. It will tame the dynamics without colouring the sound and is something you will hang on to - no matter how far you upgrade. However, if you are recording digitally, do you need a hardware compressor? With 24 bit recording you can store the audio with its full dynamic range and then compress digitally afterwards. Even the built-in compressors on a decent recording program sound good nowadays. James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timtheenchanteruk Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 seconded, I do all the compression/processing on the PC when its been recorded in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I'd second the suggestion of a good second hand unit in preference to cheap and new. My personal favourite for voice overs is the Drawmer DL241--I've used a lot of them in TV studio installations. They're easy to operate, sound good and seem very reliable. I had a quick look on second hand listings and they do seem to come in within your budget. If it has to be new, the Behringer Composer is probably the best economy unit I've heard--but not in the same league as the Drawmer. Finally though, I'll add another voice to asking whether you need a hardware compressor. I use Audition in my home studio and record in 32 bit float without any hardware compression then compress "in the box" when editing and mixing. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spy Husband Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 Agreed about compressing afterwards, and this is something that I do often. However, a lot of the VO sessions are done live over ISDN. Many producers actually prefer the VO to be flat so that they can potter with it in post-production, but in my experience in radio commercial production you actually end up compressing the VO anyway as it would often get lost in the mix, especially if it was particularly heavy with music and sfx. One man's meat is another man's poison, I suppose, and it is down to individual producers' preferences although the vast majority of ISDN voice over artists I record have compression in the chain (the aforementioned Focusrite Voicemaster Pro being the most common) and it really does make the vocal cut through. It would be nice to have the option available. I'll check out the models you suggested. Thanks! A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on. I've just Googled the Drawmer DL241 and it appears to be the one that I use in my other job... in the theatre! To be honest I've never paid any attention to the model number as I don't get a chance to use it that often, but I do know that it's a Drawmer. It does look the same as the pictures that Google threw up. If that's the case, then it's a unit I'm familiar with and I'm happy with the sound. Some good second-hand prices too. I'll do more digging... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Makes great sense. If you're feeding voice overs down the line over ISDN, compression at the source is almost essential. Indeed, in TV and radio design, we used to put compression over all our outgoing lines--often Drawmer. One other thought: Audio Developments (known for doing the portable mixers very commonly used on film sets and location shoots) produced some very nice compressors back in the 80s and 90s. They've stopped doing them now to concentrate on their core business, but if you come across an AD055 compressor in good working order, snap it up--lovely units but not well known so some deals may be there to be had. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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