Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Rane DC 24: We have another winner! This one has long been known as a favorite among bassists. It is a two-channel rack unit with an excellent crossover built in, so it can be set up as a dual-band processor. This allows it to only compress the actual frequency range that needs it, for example preventing "drop outs" of your signal when a big bass peak hits, by allowing the highs through uncompressed. Because of this it is very good for a consistently articulate sound, as well as being good for heavy hitters who need to keep a lid on it while still sounding somewhat natural. There is barely any noise at all, and no rolloff of the highs or lows, although the low end is not quite as "big sounding" as some other comps. The crossover point has no artifacts that I can hear, although different settings will affect the way the lows and highs are heard, like using an EQ; the overall tone is very transparent.
 
The limiter function is pretty decent, and not especially prone to "pops" or other artifacts. The expander/gate is fairly hard to figure out, and that limits its usefulness. However it does work well, and at low ratio settings it sounds more natural than the gate on the dbx units. By activating the gate only on the high channel, you can gate hiss and high-pitched background sounds without impacting the lows, which is pretty cool. I wish this unit had attack/release controls instead of the expander/gate, but even so, the fixed attack and release settings happen to sound great for general bass usage. It does have a lot of knobs and switches, though, so it's not easy to set up; but the results are well worth the effort.
 
It's easier to get a full-sounding low end from the dbx 1066, 166A, or Symetrix 501, but patient experimentation with the DC 24 will get good results. The 166A and 501 are much easier to set up, and the 501 is also more aggressive sounding. But the DC 24 has a better limiter than any of them; also its high frequencies are smoother-sounding than the 501 and brighter than the dbx units. As an experiment, playing loud low bass notes -with the low EQ boosted- into the 501 and the DC 24 really shows their differences: the 501 will clamp down hard on the whole signal, resulting in a big bassy dub tone with minimal highs; the DC 24 will clamp down only on the lows, giving a more "controlled" sounding bottom end and allowing plenty of upper frequencies and finger articulation sound to come through. Each of them sounds awesome in their own way. With a normal, less exaggerated input signal, the difference is less obvious.
 

 
 
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