which HW comp should I go for?

dbx 160 X or Aphex 651 Expressor.

Both are old models, nothing new about them.

What are you using it for? The Aphex stuff is very suspect and mainly works for filling empty spaces in your rack. The aphex stuff seems to work bet when it isnt hooked up.

FMR is the only cheap compressor that is good for multi-purpose stuff.

The DBX will sound great on kick drums and well kick drums...

Never heard nothing bad about the Aphex 651 Expressor. It's "great" on bass, and also vocals, and guitars. dbx 160 x, vox, snare, kick, dunno what else it would work on.

But, I'm going to use either one in a vocal chain. The expressor again is great on bass, so I've heard.

Not sure about the "aphex" suspect. Maybe the new gear aphex is bad. Dunno.

At all the spots I have worked at and when I was an undergrad - we used the Aphex gear as doorstops and paperweights. The old stuff is awful, the new stuff has a warranty and is awful.

Why did you even reply to this post. You're not making sense. And your tone is annoying.

I guess all I can sift from your "I think Aphex is bad" is to get the dbx 160 x.

Thanks, but steer clear next time, it's taxing to read what you've wrote.

The Aphex 612 gate was one of the best gates ever made.

Thank you for a legible post. By what you're saying you have no exp with the 651 compressor then?

It's alright, I may just go with the Aphex since everyone has a dbx. Don't hear much about the 651 and it has lots of extras in it's circuitry.

Thanks.

the 651 is a good, clean workhorse compressor too.
The 160 has a bit more tooth and character but just as usable.

doublethumbsup

The 651 is solid as well.

My vote is for the 160, great sounding lots of character.

Do you mean the 160 x does that snap thing when you abuse the tres and attack knob? I have no idea what it does on vocals (during recording not post recording). I would imagine that it's a tighter sound than my mushy dbx 166 compressor I have now.

I hope the Aphex isn't in the same category.

Thanks.

I would go for the 160X just for the character alone. It's great for reeling in peaks and controlling average levels. It will add some tone that the aphex comps won't. I have 2 Aphex compellors and 1 Dominator, and they are not my first choice for adding character as the compellors are transparent. Besides, sounds like 'Parkay' hasn't tried the dominator on sub freq. It kicks **s! I'd take a few Dominator doorstops anyway.

Thanks Black Seal. I ended up getting both. Your compellors are newer right? But I probably want to look into the dominator, since I used a Behringer Low end thingy. It was great, and a lot better than plug in versions of this effect. It's funny how even the 1000 dollar plugs really don't sound anything like. . . say a cheap analog compressor. They just have so much more balls and attitude to them. Plug ins def better for super transparent sound though.

Can't wait to get both in my hands. Oh and I picked up a dbx type I noise reduction. Does wonders for the overall structure of any sound source, including full 2 tk mixes.

I happen to own 4 651's they are very good non character compressors, very clean and very versatile, If you're talking about a 160 xt I say go for the aphex.
Parkay 909 what ever you learned in school about aphex gear you learned wrong.

I only have experience with the Dbx 160s and I loved them on alot of different things. Bass was killer though, I loved the way it gave that bite I wanted.

I have both. I would go for the DBX.
The Aphex has a lot of parameters and is harder to use on the fly.
The DBX is quick and dirty.
I use the DBX 160VU, and 903s for rap all the time.
They work great.

I have a client who is a novice to recording who is using a 651 on her vocals while recording, if you cant use a 651 you need to do something else than recording music. Yes it has more knobs, it sounds better and is more versatile.
I used to have 160's, I still have 160s which is a different animal

anybody doing hip-hop ever try the ashly sc-50? seems to get decent reviews. woah, old thread!

you are kidding right? the dbx is good on a lot of things my man man...

i have many on many comps and for the 5th time in the last two months... the dbx won over the summit, vari-mu... and the distressor... so... maaaaaybeeee.... its just a opinion your your part.... and mine...

let me ask you something... is the ssl on your avitar yours? or do you work on an ssl?? if so... how many time do you use the on board comp? because its pretty much the EXACT same thing as a 160..

Im partial to the Aphex. As this is a very subjective thread. But my vote is for the Aphex on this one.

As I said, its up to personal taste, so take what we say with a grain of salt and good luck on what ever you get.

CJ

Im just saying it has a lot more parameters and not as easy to tweek on the fly.
If you have a budget session with tons of overdubs, the 160 is more set it and forget it.
And I DO this for a living. Im not a part timer, I rawk 6-7 days a week in my studio. Its my day job.

To the OP, getting both is a great idea, they sound very different.
I have the 9651s, but Im sure its simialr to the rack.

Sure it has more knobs, it's way more versatile. It's not rocket science.

still, I find it hard to use. It is very transparent, so I feel it tends to over limit if your not careful with it.
Not like the DBX, where you can hear it grab, then you can back off the threshold.
Maybe its because I don't have my dog running my studio like you do
I should, I have a rednose.heh

Set it to a low threshold not to fast attack and release, easy. You need the dog
running your studio, they hear things we can't

I'm going to give it a try today.
Usually when I use it on vox, it squares of the wav files, so I'll set a lower threshold.
I also have the 9651 ( the 9000 rack version) the the knobs are on top of each other. Kind of hard to get my fat fingers in there.

I've got vocals all week, I'll give it a shot with less threshold and slower attack.

For what its worth, I use them all the time on Overheads and they work great!

Hi,

I'm really interested in both of these compressors and will be using it for vocal tracking with either a UA Solo 610 or Focusrite ISA One preamp.

One of my goto vocal mics has been the AT4047 (which I've been borrowing) and I may end up getting either one of these or a CAD E100s or Neumann TLM102.

Which of these compressors would you recommend to add to my chain for vocal tracking?

I'd choose DBX160x.
I saw Robert John Mutt Lange use it for tracking BG vocals when I was assisting.

The 651 is said to be a very transparent compressor so how does the 160x sound compare?

Was experimenting with parallel compression with the 160A today . Which I never really do. It really sounds amazing on kick drums. Works great on rap vocals. You may not need versatility. maybe just what works great for hip hop. Drums ,bass and raps. This is where the DBX 160 shines.

I have a dbx 160xt and its awesome for rap vocals that need to be aggressive. I usually dont even compress with it but I use it for its character on alot of songs. Really mellow or lovely dovey stuff isnt as suited for it but all trap stuff, grimey hip hop, etc its the way to go.