Alesis 3630 _ Bad Rep.. But Can It Do 'Normal' / Techno ?

[Críoch]

The majority of comments I see about this compressor online, especially over on GS are quite negative or involve Daft Punk; celebrating them for pumping out (literally) a hit album with cheapo gear - and being negative about that fact. Pumping is bad, m'kay!

The minority of comments I see about the 3630 are somewhat more positive, advocating mods that for the most part will cost many, many more times that what you have originally spent on the compressor, or saying that you should mix 'into' the compressor from the beginning.. with a hot kick. They also say that need to add some bass back in.

Fair enough.

Thing is.. they are awful fucking cheap 2nd hand. Not a massive outlay to get one for an investigation. Makes you consider why they were ever popular if they made them in the first place. Were they really THAT bad?

I'm wondering if they can do 'normal' ? or if they are so coloured (do they colour the sound? ) that their colour is a bad colour? If thats even possible

Is getting overexcited & pump all that they can do? or would you be able to smash something with them, mashing things together in an interesting, intuitive way.. that would have merit over raping an audio file with plugin compressors etc..

I'm wondering whether it could be a useful tool?

Who has one?

[Lost to the Void]

I had one.

I wouldnt say it is a good compressor, but I wouldn't say its bad either.
They are cheap second hand, but you never know if you are getting a decent one because the build was inconsistent.

They can flatten the life out of stuff, so they don't "colour" the sound as such as kill it.
You can get em to crunch nicely, and of course they will pump.

So in conclusion, erm, I can't say I really feel anything about them.

I made good use of mine. Would I get one again? No, there's nothing particularly I remember about it that I desire to have again.
But they sell for like 60 quid so it's not the worst thing you can spend your money on.

For some dirty nasty drum buss compression they can be nice, but if you are comparing to soft comps then nah, there are far far better compressors in software land.

If you want a low price compressor that kicks ass, go with FMR stuff.

[Críoch]

Thanks Steve.. You make a lot of great points there. Thanks for going so in depth. You were pretty balanced there.. Most people just go nuts when they're discussing them.

Ok. So made my mind up. Avoid. Better to save some more beans to get something better quality, with better features & that'll retain it's value to some degree.

Interesting what you were saying about the build quality. Like anything, unless you are buying face to face & can test it out, you have no clue what is gonna get posted to you. Y'd really want to check these out. Check everything really. They're so cheap that when they're broke they're worthless. Not gambling.

[Mattias]

It's a piece of the past I'd say. Stick with the plan to wait and get something else!

[Críoch]

Thanks Matt.. Yep, best option I think. Was considering a dbx1066 or a FR Compounder.

Ideally I'd like something that can get aggressive , colour a bit, do 'light' tasks.. Be capable of subtlety.. An overall is a usable tool. A 2-or-3 trick pony hopefully.

[Críoch]

Found this review on GS about the 3630. Worth reading if anyone finds this thread on a bit of reconnaissance.. And wants some more sensible opinion.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/reviews ... 630-a.html

[Mslwte]

I've got two of these fuckers and I think for a cheap comp/limiter (£25-£30 secondhand) I don't think you can really go wrong. I don't use mine that much these days but the original reason for purchase was to limit the korg poly moog slayer mod which it did a perfect job.

I think read somewhere that they have been in production for 20 years and you can still buy them new in 2015 so there must be something about it.

If you ram stuff through it will crunch

[Mslwte]

It's a shit piece of gear which means it perfect for techno production haha

[Lost to the Void]

I got one of these for the drums to go through on my live pa

http://www.thomann.de/gb/fmr_audio_rnla_7239.htm

and I was so blown away I got one of these too

http://www.thomann.de/gb/fmr_audio_rnc_1773.htm

Really I don`t think you can get a better compressor for the money.

It actually sounds like you think compressors should. Most other stuff in this price range is just.....functional. There`s no "wow" to it.
This stuff actually has colour and musical movement.
I`m obsessed with compression, it is very hard to impress me.

[Mslwte]

That's a really nice compressor

[winston]

i have one which i got so i could do the 'hot' kick pumping thing that the french house people done. i like it for that, but as to quality of sound, i couldn't say either way. it gave me what i was/am after. i was just using it on the masterbus and recording back into Ableton so i don't know what it sounds like on individual channels or sounds. i had decent soft compressors that had character that i thought might be a better fit when sound designing and so i never experimented with using the 3630.

GS is pretty useful, but it's also full of gear snobbery. It seems to be full of people who are just there to say how the kit they own is the best piece of kit for the job and everything else is inferior. A lot of the hate for the 3630 is because it was made by Behringer, it was cheap, it was used for popular modern music and it was used for a technique that they didn't figure out or didn't use.

They're pretty cheap so it might be worth just saying fuck it and trying one out.

[SFBM]

Interesting..I had always heard of them originally because of what Daft Punk said, but that said I hadn't planned on getting one just because "daft punk uses one dude!" like a lot of people do with gear. Thought it would be a decent compressor for squashing and pumping more 90's style techno stuff.

That said, I do know you can get a lot better and nicer (like a RNC style comp or similar) and this unit I didn't expect to have a huge amount of colour, although from my perspective the pricing is a bit of an issue:

I know that in the UK and a lot of Europe, a piece of kit like this could just go for like 40 quid or something cheap so "would be worthwhile trying" and it's not like a huge loss on investment if you don't like it, however in Australia (where most sound stuff, even second hand, is a bit shitty on price) I think I've seen going for $150-$200 here? So whilst not *super expensive*, it's still a decent investment for a bit of gear. So based on what you guys are saying, it's maybe better off getting an RNC or similar?

[Lost to the Void]

That's a really nice compressor

really
nice

[Lost to the Void]

GS is pretty useful, but it's also full of gear snobbery. It seems to be full of people who are just there to say how the kit they own is the best piece of kit for the job and everything else is inferior. A lot of the hate for the 3630 is because it was made by Behringer, it was cheap, it was used for popular modern music and it was used for a technique that they didn't figure out or didn't use.

They're pretty cheap so it might be worth just saying fuck it and trying one out.

Gearslutz is pretty much a big dickhole now.

All the good people left about 4 years ago when they got sick of the twat buildup.
I only pop in now and again for a bit of info, or at least links to info that is worthwhile.
I`m not sure where everyone went really, the good old peeps are scattered across a few forums.

[Lost to the Void]

i have one which i got so i could do the 'hot' kick pumping thing that the french house people done. i like it for that, but as to quality of sound, i couldn't say either way. it gave me what i was/am after. i was just using it on the masterbus and recording back into Ableton so i don't know what it sounds like on individual channels or sounds. i had decent soft compressors that had character that i thought might be a better fit when sound designing and so i never experimented with using the 3630.

GS is pretty useful, but it's also full of gear snobbery. It seems to be full of people who are just there to say how the kit they own is the best piece of kit for the job and everything else is inferior. A lot of the hate for the 3630 is because it was made by Behringer, it was cheap, it was used for popular modern music and it was used for a technique that they didn't figure out or didn't use.

They're pretty cheap so it might be worth just saying fuck it and trying one out.

I had no idea they were made by behringer.
That would explain the build quality.
I would say if you compare them to similar priced stuff, the only thing you can get in that range would be pedal comps, and they don`t tend to be very good, so it is probably the best you can get at that price.
But, that`s not exactly a positive thing to say about them.

[winston]

I had no idea they were made by behringer.

they're not, i made a mistake. got confused with my mental list of 'things people hate on GS'.

Thought it would be a decent compressor for squashing and pumping more 90's style techno stuff.

i think that the 3630 was used in the early Bumload stuff and by Cari Lekebusch and in that whole swedish scene, although i couldn't tell you where i read that.

I know that in the UK and a lot of Europe, a piece of kit like this could just go for like 40 quid or something cheap so "would be worthwhile trying" and it's not like a huge loss on investment if you don't like it, however in Australia (where most sound stuff, even second hand, is a bit shitty on price) I think I've seen going for $150-$200 here? So whilst not *super expensive*, it's still a decent investment for a bit of gear. So based on what you guys are saying, it's maybe better off getting an RNC or similar?

i wouldn't have bought it if it cost that much, that's like double the price.

[SFBM]

I had no idea they were made by behringer.

they're not, i made a mistake. got confused with my mental list of 'things people hate on GS'.

Thought it would be a decent compressor for squashing and pumping more 90's style techno stuff.

i think that the 3630 was used in the early Bumload stuff and by Cari Lekebusch and in that whole swedish scene, although i couldn't tell you where i read that.

I know that in the UK and a lot of Europe, a piece of kit like this could just go for like 40 quid or something cheap so "would be worthwhile trying" and it's not like a huge loss on investment if you don't like it, however in Australia (where most sound stuff, even second hand, is a bit shitty on price) I think I've seen going for $150-$200 here? So whilst not *super expensive*, it's still a decent investment for a bit of gear. So based on what you guys are saying, it's maybe better off getting an RNC or similar?

i wouldn't have bought it if it cost that much, that's like double the price.

Sadly, everything here is like double the price. New or second hand. What compressor would you recommend instead?

[Críoch]

Man.. My heart is screaming 'buy one!!' & My head is muttering 'keep yer money & buy something else!'

[Mslwte]

If you can get one cheap then it's worth a punt but if wouldn't pay more than £30, plus postage

[Críoch]

I just seen one go for 30e a couple of days ago. I could have bought it but I resisted.

I'm strong