Need a compressor, which?

The hows and whys of running sound.
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SeisTres
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Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:53 am
Location: Dallas, tx

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#16 Post by SeisTres »

With those amps and speakers (and going by your first two questions) I assumed you were doing PA. But now I'm confused, are you going to use this set up for HT too?
Built:6 t39, t18, 4 Jack10, 2 autotuba, 2 SLA,2 wedge, 2 TT, 2 Tritrix, curved sla, 2 otop212, 2 SLA pros, Ported 8" sub, 2 ported 210, dual ported 8" sub

ronny31
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 3:14 pm

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#17 Post by ronny31 »

SeisTres wrote:With those amps and speakers (and going by your first two questions) I assumed you were doing PA. But now I'm confused, are you going to use this set up for HT too?
Its PA parts but its for home use. 2.1 stereo.

SeisTres
Posts: 2689
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:53 am
Location: Dallas, tx

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#18 Post by SeisTres »

OHHH, in that case I'll give my opinion.

I think it's a horrible idea trying to compress everything except the bass frequencies. For home use, I'd go for a consistent flat curve (slightly eq'ed to your liking) and let everything play through as it was recorded and meant to be played. Saying that, I recommend the miniDSP for an all-in-one processing unit. Yes, it also has limiter, but at he expense of reducing the parametric eq's by two (or maybe one, I forgot).

However, if you do insist, the only way I can think of is running the signal through a compressor with a side chain going through an eq that will trigger the compressor on the non-bass frequencies. It'll set you back around $150-$300 for the two processing units. But instead of wasting your money on that, I advise you use that money to get a dsp along with a measurement mic.
Built:6 t39, t18, 4 Jack10, 2 autotuba, 2 SLA,2 wedge, 2 TT, 2 Tritrix, curved sla, 2 otop212, 2 SLA pros, Ported 8" sub, 2 ported 210, dual ported 8" sub

ronny31
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 3:14 pm

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#19 Post by ronny31 »

SeisTres wrote:OHHH, in that case I'll give my opinion.

I think it's a horrible idea trying to compress everything except the bass frequencies. For home use, I'd go for a consistent flat curve (slightly eq'ed to your liking) and let everything play through as it was recorded and meant to be played. Saying that, I recommend the miniDSP for an all-in-one processing unit. Yes, it also has limiter, but at he expense of reducing the parametric eq's by two (or maybe one, I forgot).

However, if you do insist, the only way I can think of is running the signal through a compressor with a side chain going through an eq that will trigger the compressor on the non-bass frequencies. It'll set you back around $150-$300 for the two processing units. But instead of wasting your money on that, I advise you use that money to get a dsp along with a measurement mic.
Is that a "Its horrible to compress everything. It is not bad to compress bass frequencies" or "Its horrible to compress everything (and also the bass frequencies)"? The lack of comma makes it confusing.

For normal listening the compressor settings won't ever be reached because the gain chain will be just short of insane, but once every quarter the stereo has to move the house off its foundation.
It is an entirely more enjoyable experience to play at a reasonable volume on a stereo that can play illegally loud, compared to playing at a reasonable level on a stereo that can't play loud.

Image

I have a presonus PRM1 measurement mic by the way. It works with the phantom power on the PA2, but I'm unsure if the PA2 can run that signal to the PC via the ethernet (for example for skype) or if it will be limited to the automatic RTA. I'm thinking I need to send DBX an email and ask them a few questions.

SeisTres
Posts: 2689
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:53 am
Location: Dallas, tx

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#20 Post by SeisTres »

After rereading my previous post, it now does seem ambiguous. What I meant is that trying to compress non-bass frequencies in your signal chain in order to boost the bass levels is a bad idea.

Since you already have a measurement mic, then I would recommend the minDSP even more.
Built:6 t39, t18, 4 Jack10, 2 autotuba, 2 SLA,2 wedge, 2 TT, 2 Tritrix, curved sla, 2 otop212, 2 SLA pros, Ported 8" sub, 2 ported 210, dual ported 8" sub

ronny31
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 3:14 pm

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#21 Post by ronny31 »

SeisTres wrote:After rereading my previous post, it now does seem ambiguous. What I meant is that trying to compress non-bass frequencies in your signal chain in order to boost the bass levels is a bad idea.

Since you already have a measurement mic, then I would recommend the minDSP even more.
Well, I would probably only compress the bass frequencies.

The miniDSP 10x10HD is a pricy option, worth an entire EP4k and faital pro 18".

SeisTres
Posts: 2689
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:53 am
Location: Dallas, tx

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#22 Post by SeisTres »

You only need the 2x4 minidsp since you're running 2.1.

Check out the thread called "amp recommendations", should be easy to find with active topics button. I posted more detailed reasons there.
Built:6 t39, t18, 4 Jack10, 2 autotuba, 2 SLA,2 wedge, 2 TT, 2 Tritrix, curved sla, 2 otop212, 2 SLA pros, Ported 8" sub, 2 ported 210, dual ported 8" sub

ronny31
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 3:14 pm

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#23 Post by ronny31 »

SeisTres wrote:You only need the 2x4 minidsp since you're running 2.1.

Check out the thread called "amp recommendations", should be easy to find with active topics button. I posted more detailed reasons there.
No, the 2 fronts are 2-way actives. And there's basically no 4x10s available in Norway.

I'll check out that thread.

SeisTres
Posts: 2689
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:53 am
Location: Dallas, tx

Re: Need a compressor, which?

#24 Post by SeisTres »

ronny31 wrote:
SeisTres wrote:You only need the 2x4 minidsp since you're running 2.1.

Check out the thread called "amp recommendations", should be easy to find with active topics button. I posted more detailed reasons there.
No, the 2 fronts are 2-way actives. And there's basically no 4x10s available in Norway.

I'll check out that thread.
So I was thinking how you could go about setting up this system without having to shell out for the 10x10. The only solution I could come up with was getting two of the 2x4 and using the the main one to split sub/top and the second one for top-mid/high. In this case you could get your compressor/limiter built into the plugin since you would have more than enough parametric eq's from cascading the two units. If you didn't have the amps and needed normal wattage, getting a 2x4 and an inuke1000dsp would also, however, it will not work for you case as the amp cannot output the processed signal.
Built:6 t39, t18, 4 Jack10, 2 autotuba, 2 SLA,2 wedge, 2 TT, 2 Tritrix, curved sla, 2 otop212, 2 SLA pros, Ported 8" sub, 2 ported 210, dual ported 8" sub

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