Best rack mount compressor to use for bass?

[shaneybaby]

Any suggestions for a rack mount compressor to use live. i have repeatedly blown speakers over the past few months
(thanks a lot Ashdown! ) with my MM Stingray.
So....... i wanna help protect any new speakers which are now being powered by an ever more powerful GK 1001 RBII
and i want the rig to last.

Any suggestions?

[Lozz196]

DBX seem to get good reviews, but instead of compressors, it may be worth looking at one of these. Check the youtube vid out, and see how the speakers are protected by this little bit of kit:

http://www.sfxsound.co.uk/mainpage.asp?page=micro_thumpinator

[simwells]

RANE DC24 or the DBX 166 or 160 models I'd go with.

[paul_5]

I've got a DBX 1066 in my rack and it's a lovely little piece of kit.

[jensenmann]

dbx160 (A, X or XT) have been used by many many pros in their rigs. dbx1066 is a more flexible descendent of these. Leaving out 3 RU or tube monsters, todays studio standards are Distressors, Universal Audio 1176 or clones of these (esp Purple Audio MC77), Universal Audio LA3As or - what I use a lot for tracking Bass - SPL Dynamaxx (a more or less one knob compressor which is impossible to let sound bad). There are many more of course....
I´d stay away from cheapo comps like Behringers, Alesis or even the cheaper dbx stuff. They often sound dull, kill transients or even create ugly noises when hit with slap signals.

Edited June 22, 2012 by jensenmann

[winterfire666]

Rane DC24, iv had loads of different compressors and the Rane kills em all, in my honest opinion.

[Dood]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1340218618' post='1701336']
.....instead of compressors, it may be worth looking at one of these. Check the youtube vid out, and see how the speakers are protected by this little bit of kit:

[url="http://www.sfxsound.co.uk/mainpage.asp?page=micro_thumpinator"]http://www.sfxsound....cro_thumpinator[/url]
[/quote]

I'm inclined to agree with this - and maybe that a limiter although a help may not be getting to the root of the problem, just hiding it. Maybe look at the causes of the speakers blowing first. For example, the usual cause is to force the speakers to do things they simply can't cope with. Speaker over excursion being one such problem.

What cabinets have you been using?

Do you find that your speaker cones flap around lots when you play low notes? - I mean, you can see the cones moving back and forth? Then it is likely you are driving large sub frequencies in to the cabinet and not getting anything really in return.

Do you boost the bass control on your amp/bass/effects units? Too much bass will cause those speakers to flap around and depending on the cabinets you are using, you may not be getting that much back for all of that boost as many cabinets on the market simply can not reproduce any useful frequencies below say 45Hz - sometimes as high as 100Hz! A bass peak at 30 Hz will just leave the cones moving back and forth wasting energy.

So, to sum up - instead of buying more kit, you might find that trying a few judicial changes in your signal path, you'll save money and speakers.

Here's my fave tip to start with. Start with all the EQ controls set at neither boost or cut. Instead of boosting the bass control, cut some of the mids instead. This will have the effect of making your amp sound deeper in tone, but not boost frequencies some cabinets have trouble reproducing. You'll have a much clearer signal and without the speakers rattling about like mad, the ability to get more overall volume that they can produce out of them! Bonus!

Obviously, without knowing what kit you are using, this is a general approach - but it will help.

Good luck

Doooood

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1340736055' post='1708963']
I'm inclined to agree with this - and maybe that a limiter although a help may not be getting to the root of the problem, just hiding it. Maybe look at the causes of the speakers blowing first. For example, the usual cause is to force the speakers to do things they simply can't cope with. Speaker over excursion being one such problem.

What cabinets have you been using?

Do you find that your speaker cones flap around lots when you play low notes? - I mean, you can see the cones moving back and forth? Then it is likely you are driving large sub frequencies in to the cabinet and not getting anything really in return.

Do you boost the bass control on your amp/bass/effects units? Too much bass will cause those speakers to flap around and depending on the cabinets you are using, you may not be getting that much back for all of that boost as many cabinets on the market simply can not reproduce any useful frequencies below say 45Hz - sometimes as high as 100Hz! A bass peak at 30 Hz will just leave the cones moving back and forth wasting energy.

So, to sum up - instead of buying more kit, you might find that trying a few judicial changes in your signal path, you'll save money and speakers.

Here's my fave tip to start with. Start with all the EQ controls set at neither boost or cut. Instead of boosting the bass control, cut some of the mids instead. This will have the effect of making your amp sound deeper in tone, but not boost frequencies some cabinets have trouble reproducing. You'll have a much clearer signal and without the speakers rattling about like mad, the ability to get more overall volume that they can produce out of them! Bonus!

Obviously, without knowing what kit you are using, this is a general approach - but it will help.

Good luck

Doooood
[/quote]

+1
Maybe something as simple as a change in gain structure or as Dood has put too much bass.

I got that SFX thing though and even on a four string it is extremely good, you'll only notice it makes a difference when it's not in the signal chain. Helps keep the cones from jumping around too, I believe the cabs I have have really high excursion anyway but all those low frequencies are helping anything. Everything runs a lot more efficiently.

Some amps have this filter built in(some Genx Benz for example) to help stop the tremendous power killing cabs.

[51m0n]

The thumpinator should help a lot. The advice above is excellent, but you dont mention your budget, and without that , when it comes to rack compressors we cant be sure we are in the right ballpark.

In order to be a protection against dangerous spikes you really want a limiter at the end of your signal chain before the power amp (in the fx loop is good) rather than a standard comrpessor.

For one thing a standard compressor will allow (encourage) you to open the attack time up to let the naughty (but nice sounding) transient through,and that is exactly the part you need to control!

Many compressor's shortest attack time comes in around 10ms, a good limiter will be 10 times quicker than that at least!

If you have no care for cost then an Urei 1176 is the big bad daddy limiter for grown ups only, max attack time 800 microseconds, min attack time 20 microseconds (!) set the ratio to 20:1 or use 'All button mode' and just tickle the input with normal playing ( you dont want to see the needle move more than a couple of mm). Any spikes will be jumped on really hard though.

UNiversal Audio make a licensed version of the Urei still, but a lot of people dont reckon its a patch on the original. You'd pay over £1.5K for the modern one.....

Edited June 26, 2012 by 51m0n

[charic]

When we tried a thumpinator at the bash through 2 barefaced cabs the majority decided that we could hear a difference and not particularly for the better. It seemed to pull some of the "guts" out of the sound