alesis 3630 compressor

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I Am Not The King
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Feb 8, 2002
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www.easternpromiseaudio.com
@ kama in particular, can you tell us a bit about your experiences with this compressor?

how is it for transient shaping, whats its color like and what does it do for the dynamic range and so forth, you know, technical words and whatnot
 
well, let me put it this way:
when our tutors showed us how to use the compressors we have, they went through the DBX, The SPL, the TLA, the Drawmers, the Behringers , and the Distressors.
When i asked "what about the Alesis ?"
he said : "well, if you must use that thing...."
at which point i stopped listening..

cant really say for sure tbh, havent used it, but it has a bad rep generally.
ive heard form other students that they use it as soft limiters, full ratio and high threshold, just to avoid clipping when recording drums.
but you wont get it to pump or give any nice attacks.
but then again, they go for cheap, if you can grab one for 50 euro, do it. Could be used as a light distortion at crazy settings.
(y)
 
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I agree mostly. But I've never tried it as a door stopper, can't comment on that.

As i said somewhere before it's half free and since it's my first and only hardware compressor i can't really compare it to anything else. Except i've tried behringer but that doesn't really count now does it. If you've never used a hw comp i suggest you get it if you can get it cheap, max 60€. It's quite different from a soft comp i can tell you that much. Not really up for transient shaping and when driven too much it produces strange artifacts. But has a better sound than you average software compressor on more violent settings, as an effect of sorts. Mostly i find myself using the sidechain for That Special Housey vibe.

One thing I havent quite figured out is that it somehow gives more attention to bass than anything else, it lets the bass through with less compression even if the bass has less gain... Or maybe i've just understood something wrong.
 
forgot, i've also got to tinker around with TC c300 which is priced like a chinese sex toy crafted by little child worker hands, but it sounds strangely addicting - like coke you'd say I believe. It has much better sound when applied lightly. Gordo is going to flame me for this i know. It looks so toy it even has those preset dials!

oh and the 3630 has a gate too but the treshold on it is maybe busted or something... it wanders around a bit.
 
shoot, i see one for 99 euro maybe i should get that i mean i really want heaps gear so... you know, but maybe the moneys better spent on a sound card


dont sweat it, there are a lot of them going around just keep a keen eye out. Another thing i forgot to mention, just a novelty thing but anyway. ShockOne was playing at a party my mate promotes and we had failure of an afterparty at my flat, a few mates spinning tunes and dozens of bikini skanks just wanting to get slapped on the bottocks and various other places. suddenlt shockone spots this compressor and starts going on about how he's tried to get one for a long time, it was a confusing situation.
 
here we go, this is the sidechain in effect, first dodging the kick then both kick & snare then with the whole beat. The tighten up has been ran through a light overdrive and heavy compression on the alesis (and some random dirt my tape deck) and mixed with the original. Then the dry break at the end. Lets see if i find something melodic or slower...

http://www.yousendit.com/download/Y2o4NHAzcVhtMElLSkE9PQ


....and another one which states the bass issue, the kick is overpoweringly loud (3630 applied to whole mix which could be the source of my problems), it really isn't like that without the comp, the drum elements are much more balanced.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/erimzv
 
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