Possible compresor/limitors

[bradn7]

I am working on building up my mixer and I have come to the conclusion I need some compressors. To start off I'll list my pa.

Mackie 24.4 Mixer
1 Peavey FX
1 Alesis FX
1 DBX 2x15 channel EQ
1 EV 31 Band EQ
DBX driverack 260

Amps:
2 QSC RMX 2450

Subs:
2 Titan 48 24 Inch wide

Tops:
2 JBL 215 *not owned*

I would like to have 20-24 channels of compression and gating. I have found a few presonus ACP-88s for around 200-300 dollars. The only other one that I can find is the Behringer 4 channel Compressor Gate. One of my friends from a Band I used to run sound for told me about compressors that eq's on them? I haven't found anything.

Question: Do any of you have any experience with the two listed? Do you have any better idea's for a good compressor/Gating that is affordable?

[Bruce Weldy]

Why so many channels of compression? The most important thing is the gates for cleaning up kick drum and toms.

A little compression on the bass guitar and the vocals is nice sometimes, but a single rack of 8 would do the trick. The presonus looks like a good unit, since it has compression and gates. But at $900, why not buy a digital board that has everything you need on every channel.....with no patch cords and way less setup time?

[bradn7]

Buying a digital board is in the plans but as of right now its more accessible for me to spend a few bucks here and there and keep building this system. As for 20 I was thinking that festivals that I have run sound for never tend to follow; 1 goes to kick, 2 to snare and so forth. I didn't want a lot of confusion at front of house if things got switched around. So having a 1 to 1 was kind of what I was looking at.

Have you heard anything about a Compressor/gate that has eq? When my friend was talking about that I was just confused.

[Bruce Weldy]

Have you heard anything about a Compressor/gate that has eq? When my friend was talking about that I was just confused.

I've never heard of that unless it's a high-end channel strip/preamp. But, even those don't typically have all of that in one box.


As far as running sound for multiple bands. You'll want to always use the same channels from band to band just to make everything easier. Sure, there will be some overlap and changing, but if you find out ahead of time what the drummers will be bringing, you can pre-set all the drum channels to the biggest kit starting with channel 1. Then find the largest number of vocals from any one band and position them at the other end of the board. Everything else falls in the middle. Then it's much quicker to change out bands.

I always preset my board before every gig and I always check with any band that I don't know to find out what they are bringing and especially what the drummer has. Being prepared will make your life much less stressful.....especially when the drummer shows up 20 minutes before downbeat.

[NukePooch]

I used ACP88's about three churches ago. It's a good unit, didn't have any issues. Behringer's not too bad and a whole lot cheaper.

I personally would get 4-8 channels of compression (4 actually does rather well, especially if you compress a vocal group/submix, rather than individual channels), and 4+ channels of gates for drums. I agree with Bruce, drum gates are mighty important. I also wouldn't worry about getting 20 compressors...just make sure your compressor insert cables are labeled correctly so you can patch in a flash...but more than likely, you'll just keep em on vocals and bass. If there's any extra compressors, you'll have them for problem areas.

I think the friend talking about 'compressors with EQ' might be referring to multiband compressors, which are more of a studio software thing. It enables you to compress certain frequency bands of the signal separately... If this is what the friend is referring to, don't worry about it. It's not something you're going to want to deal with live.

[NukePooch]

I always preset my board before every gig and I always check with any band that I don't know to find out what they are bringing and especially what the drummer has. Being prepared will make your life much less stressful.....especially when the drummer shows up 20 minutes before downbeat.

...and forgot his sticks.
...and his throne.
...and his shoes.

~sigh~

[Grant Bunter]

I agree with Bruce.
The 8 channel presonus unit would be fine.

So you could use 4 if you have 4 vocalists, and still have 4 spare.
You don't need to compress every drum channel.
You could insert a compressor over a drum subgroup, or the mains faders and achieve much the same thing, without having 20 channels of compression.

I use a couple of Alesis 3630's live. And I read all about them before I bought them.
I think you have to be somewhat wary of cheaper units that also have noise gates. Most of the gates are terrible, and you're better of with a dedicated multi channel gate unit as well.

By the time you buy all that, even used, you're up for the same money as a used digital desk...

[Bruce Weldy]

You could insert a compressor over a drum subgroup, .

I have a little compressor on the kick, but no other channel compression on the drums.

However, I route all the drums straight to the main faders AND a subgroup. I then put a 7:1 compressor over the whole thing and route the subgroup to the mains. The fader stays down on the subgroup until there is a big drum fill or solo, then I just hammer it up. The heavily compressed signal on top of the regular channels adds some nice punch and presence - then it's right back out after the fill. There isn't so much of a noticeable change in volume as there is in punch - it just hits you in the face.

Of course, this is real easy to do on a digital board.....could be a PITA on a board that doesn't have really good and easy routing.

[bradn7]

Thank you all for the great ideas. I think I will go ahead and pull the trigger on an ACP88 and use it sparingly. My big worries was with getting separation and a bit extra volume (thump) out of the kick drum.

One idea that I really liked was the kick no matter was is always 1 and work from there to the right and then with vocals start at the right and work to the left. Generally that's what I have been doing but the last gig was a new music fest. I kept asking that the band come up and talk to my assistant and get an instrumentation list so we can pre plan but that was like pulling teeth.

Thank you all for the quick replies.

[Bruce Weldy]

I kept asking that the band come up and talk to my assistant and get an instrumentation list so we can pre plan but that was like pulling teeth.
.

I get phone numbers and call 'em all a week before the event.

[NukePooch]

I kept asking that the band come up and talk to my assistant and get an instrumentation list so we can pre plan but that was like pulling teeth.
.

I get phone numbers and call 'em all a week before the event.

+1 This.

You need to know ASAP that the lead guitarist has two amps that "NEED" to be miked in stereo, or that the keyboardist is going to show up with 3 keyboards, two samplers, a turntable, and a keytar.

Pulling teeth is easier. Generally, I've found that contacting the band ahead of time is easy....it's getting the band contact info out of the promoter that often gives me fits.

[bradn7]

.it's getting the band contact info out of the promoter that often gives me fits.


You are right. It was worse than pulling teeth with the event coordinator. But luckily they were very happy with how everything turned out. Found a few groups that I would love to run sound for on a pretty regular schedule. The only big problem we had was the storm that came through and totaled the trailer, and several vehicles from hail damage. (My system was safe)