-=> Quoting Lee Jackson to T Owen <=-
 TO> Personally, I don't care for the Alesis; it is less versatile than
 TO> other compressors out there, but you certainly can't beat the price,
 TO> and they do seem to be reliable.
 LJ> I don't care for it either - I'd much rather have a dbx 1046.  Or is
 LJ> it 1066?  Whichever one isn't the 4 channel one - I can never keep
 LJ> their model numbers straight.  
 
It's the 1066; it replaced the 166, and it is one of my favorite toys,
or at least I use it constantly.. next toy will be the 4 channel model.
 LJ> Either that or an Aphex Tube Compressor.
 
The Aphex "tubessence" compressor is nice, but it isn't the same thing
as a true tube compressor; it sounds "tubey", but it also sounds 
like solid state. It's a good compromise between transistors and tubes,
but if you want something to fatten up digital recordings it isn't the 
best for the application.
 
 LJ> However, the Alesis is something I inherited, more or less.  The
 LJ> beginnings of a studio were already bought and paid for before I even
 LJ> got the job, and I am now sort of stuck with the 3630 and a MidiVerb IV
 LJ> (which I kind of like). 
 
The Midiverb 4 is a decent unit, with some good programs, used to have 
one myself, and I liked it just fine.
 LJ> Do you have a personal preference in compressors?  If so, which
 LJ> one(s)? 
I do have preferences. For solid state units, in a mid price range, it 
would be the Drawmer DL241. For no compromise units, it would be the 
Focusrite Blue 330 (beautiful unit). For tube units, I am fond of the 
Manley 10dB variable MU, or the ADL 1500 (others too, but those are 
the ones I like best). Most of what I do is live mixing, so I don't 
use the really expensive toys that often; the DL241 is the most 
valuable compressor that I use live, and it is a nice unit for 
compressing an entire mix, because it has a HF expander that allows you
to dial in the amount of high frequencies to add after compression, to
compensate for the HF loss of the squashing. For mixing down from a 
multi-track deck to 2 track (both analog) I use the 330; god, I love 
that thing, but the price is not for the faint of heart.  Take care.
... There is no such thing as too much "clean" when it's audio!
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30
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