Alesis 3630 Compressor/Limiter/Gate

The easiest divice ever

The thing I love about this gear, it tames the vild dynamics, without coloring the sound

Sofar no probs, 3years

I have a project studio, but use this with my effect rack. Dont care much for using outboard gear thru AD/DA. But as I said I use this in the signal chain in the live rack, my effects there are digital and I have to keep the levels down to some degree, otherwise the digigear would start distorting on me(and the listeners).
I've seen people flaming the 3630,as being essentially a box of lights etc etc. For those people, if you dont hear this thing working, you have no business in the music business. It does exactly what it's supposed to and it can even go to extreeme without pumping. Pumping is for disco or something, not music.
Of corse you can get better comps, but for a helllot of more money.

Easy to use.

Might be OK live. But DO NOT BUY this to record with. It's much to noisy and there are many better units at this price.

Had it for about 6 months. No problems.

Alesis had great support before they were bought out. I'm not sure about now.

I most engineer Pop, R&B and Jazz records. I had this unit for about 6 months before I sold it. It's probably it OK unit for live work but it's much too noisy to be used anywhere in the recording chain...

To be honest, it's been so long since I bought the thing, I have no recollection of the manual. But it's a compressor...you either know what it does or not.

Regarding this "clicking" thing, this seems to be a possible problem for any lower end compressor. Reviews of dbx's units make this case. Gotta wonder if it's the incoming signal.

I use the 3630 in a bass rack. GK pre to the 3630-->BBE 462---> back to the GK. I use the gain control on the GK to get the signal up to around unity (using the input LED's), and THEN set the remaining controls. Anything less and I gotta wonder why even bother compressing. I will say it is difficult to get this unit to increase sustain much, or to pump (if you want that effect) compared to dbx's units. I've never noticed any noise, and the gate is very usable for me. Got me out of some potentially embarassing 60Hz situations.

Reliablity seems good. The power switch on mine screwed up a few years ago. Takes repeated attempts to power up if it's ever shut off (my kids like to push buttons). I just leave the thing on so when my rack powers up, it's already on.

No experience with Alesis customer support.

I think this is a good unit to have in an instrument rack. I see these things in LOTS of project studios, but they are usually only used for bass or drum leveling.
Overall, good for bass/guitar/drums...probably not for mixing.

Using this compressor is a breeze; it's no different from any other compressor. If one you can't use it, it's because you don't know how to use a compressor. The input/output meter is a big plus for a compressor in this range. My only major complaint is the lack of a sidechain bypass switch. With my current arrangement with these units permanently racked, the sidechain feature is completely unuseable because the it is activated by the presence of a 1/4" plug in the sidechain jack. Not ideal for ducking or triggering effects.

I have two of these boxes that I use in my project studio. I just bought it, but have already used it on bass, vocals, and a DX7 all with good results. I find that for a compressor of this price range, the compression is really gentle. The gate is actually useable too. The attack is preset, but sounds ok. The threshold and decay settings are actually enough to make it acceptable. As far as sound quality, though, I do have some gripes. While it does operate at +4 and -10 dB, it's I/O is unbalanced. With a 15 foot round trip from my board, to the patchbay, to the 3630 and back, this does add some noise. Also, as another reviewer noted, the piece does not really handle anything close to 0 dB full scale while in +4dB mode. It just seems sort of strange. The I/O meter only goes to +6 dB, where as 0 dB fullscale is actually 18-20 dB. However, you can very easily workaround this by adjusting the incoming level while watching the input meter. I can usually even achive close to true +4 dB by adjusting at the output. Anyway, despite all of these reservations, I am very pleased with these units for the price. By the way, Alesis 3630 totally stomps on the DBX 266 XL. The 266XL DEFINITELY clicks. However, I'm not sure if it did it at first. But, in any case, despite what another reviewer had stated, I can't here any adible click when the compression kicks in on the 3630.

When I bought these two units, they were both completely dead. I was able to fix them by replacing the two 1000uF 16V capacitors on the power supply (on the mainboard, not the wall wort). I suspect the failure of these caps was due to the units being left turned on for 9 years straight. Anyway, since the repair, both units have worked very well.

Never had to deal with Alesis, but I hear they filed for bankruptcy. I would expect that might negatively affect customer service. But, I don't really have any personal experienc.

I am a studio owner with no particular allegance to any genre. But, for all of the rock, folk, rap, metal, punk, etc. that I've used the 3630 on, it has exceeded my expectations, though low they may be. I'm not going to put this unit up against an 1176, but honestly, it really is a steal for this kind of bread (especially used). It definitely sounds better than equivalently priced DBX crap. Don't get me wrong; DBX has some good stuff, but their bottom end isn't too great. To compare the 3630 to the 266 XL, the XL has no I/O meter (which is a major drag); the XL is "clicky"; the XL has envelope settings labeled "slow" to "fast" (what in the hell does that meen?), as apposed the the 3630's use of ms; the gate on the XL is worthless because it has no envelope settings; the 3630 has both rms AND peak detection (nice perk for such a bottom shelf piece). The only distiction that the 266 XL has over the 3630 is its balanced I/O. All in all, I would have to give the 3630 a positive review.

Knobs and plenty of LEDs to tell you what the unit is doing. If you know how a compressor works, they don't get any more intuitive than this.

Works well on vocals, we use it live in a club. Too much leakage to use the gate, so no comment. Since I started using the 3630 in the inserts of the vocal channels, the monitors have been clearer with almost zero feedback and almost no complaints from the singers.

I tried using bass guitar on the 3630 - doesn't work well, even in peak mode. The Furman compressor sounded better with bass guitar. The 3630 didn't work well on program material either - the FMR RNC worked better. Haven't tried it with drums or percussion.

The 3630 isn't the highest fidelity compressor nor does it add much coloration - thus it's good for vocals. If you want compression for coloring the sound/dynamics of bass guitars, drums, percussion, and vocals then go for the tube compressors.

Zero problems so far.

Make sure you have the 10VAC wallwart, not the 9VAC wallwart. A lot of clubs have poor AC wiring and they're less than 120VAC - I found some that are 90VAC (thank you Furman for the PL-Plus!!!). The 3630 can "brownout" and wreak havoc because 9VAC is barely enough when the line voltage starts dipping below 120VAC.

Useable but no one compressor does everything.

I like the LEDs, I can glance at it quickly and tell it the settings are set right. In a dark club it's easy to use.

BTW, I'm using with an Allen & Heath board which is +4dBu and the 3630 works fine. Remember, get the 10VAC wallwart.

I have several of these and they are fairly easy if you know how to use a manual compressor. OTOH if you are a novice to compressors they may take a bit of figuring out but are really no better or worse than any other manual compressor on the market

I use these as inserts on the FOH board usually on vocals and the 3630 certainly keeps things under control. I have not experienced any clicks/pops or other noises often attributed to them (without trying hard to make the thing pop) and suspect that most of the problems attributed to them are by people who have a bit of trouble using a manual compressor

If it were not for the wall warts I would be able to say I had never had a problem with them. The cable from the wall warts can be prone to failure however since I have them Racked and plugged into a power board in the rack I have had no problems - except for when a guitar player borrowed my spare plugpack without my knowledge and pluugged it into a boss fx pedal......

They work very well and IMO tend to be under rated however were I to buy a compressor today I woulld probably go with the DBX266 at around the same price but if the 3630 were cheaper I would stick with it

Easy enough, read the manual. i like peak mode, but i use it for bass rack.

Well i never noticed the click playing out, which is the only place i use my rack, but after a period of time at home i certainly here a click as the compressor kicks in. it doesnt do it in bypass mode. overall if it didnt click id be quite happy. but i worry that it gets to the board at times. i put headphones on and checked the direct out. with out a lot of post eq highs the click is barely dicernable. but i would prefer it not be there at all . by the way i have an early model 1993ish i bouhgt it new. maybe the newer ones sound cleaner. basicaly on the ampeg i dont hear much , on the swr its really noticable.

in the rack for almost 10 years of constant use. no problems.

never called.

well im still using it, but if i get an extra couple of hundred ill replace it, like i said its fine without a lot of high end in the amp , i play all kinds of music. and use a minimal compression (2:1) to smooth things out. i dont like the rms mode too much for bass. really the ampeg probably doesnt need compression. but i hate to send something to the board and have them kill the sound by really clamping me down. id be interested in hearing how others have approached the click problem.

Very easy to use...I would fault it for one thing though. The writing on the face is dark gray on a black background. Thats fine but it can be hard to see in less than well lit situations. Other than that it is beyond simple to use. Manuals are available (free) on the Alesis site.

I use it with my custome Strat and my Taylor 510 for finger style work. Sound quality is GREAT. All the reviews with clicks and pops and stray noises DO NOT reflect my experiance at all. This thing has worked, worked WELl, sounded great and been noise free!!

Yes I depend on it...great unit!

Never called them but their web site provides manuals and thats all good!!

This is a great unit. If you're looking for a great compressor/gate/limiter don't hesitate to buy it. They run $149 new and about $80 on e-bay...great compressor for the money

very easy to use, bought used without manual, the knobs and layout are pretty streight foward.

not as tranparent of a compressor, but what more can you ask for at this price range,

this unit has taken all my abuse in stride

haven't had to use their consumer support

my style of music is brash electronic dance music and for me it works wonders. i also own a samson s com 4 and the 3630 is a better unit when it comes to performance, i am planing on buying a second one for use in combination with other units

I bought this bad boy new about 2 years ago, and haven't had a single problem with it!

I wonder about quality control, simply because of the comments made by some other users about "clicking" and weird noises. I have experienced none of these problems- nuless I crank up the limiting on this boy. But thats what its SUPPOSED to do at higher settings- BECOME AUDIBLE!!!

Luckily, since I have years of stage and studio under my belt, I was able to figure this this out without a manual (even though I had one). It currently resides in my bass guitar rig.

As I mentioned above, if you set the controls to the highest settings (max. compression), then you will get those mentioned noises. I don't use that type of setting, even in my bass guitsr rig, so I don't have problems.

One thing I am not convinced on totally (although I do use it) is the noise gate. Regardless of decay setting, it can be audible at times. Just a little annoying, thats all

Since I've never had a problem with it, I can't think of another comp/lim. that I'd want in my rig- except maybe a vintage DBX or Urei!
I've lugged this damn box around most of Canada with me and have NEVER had a problem. I keep my Ibanez TC-999 tube comp. stomp box around just in case...

Never had to deal with Alesis ever (online or vox) so I can't comment on this.

Since my playing style incorporates so many types of music (Alt-rock/top40), I had many memorized (in my head at least!) settings for different tones before I got this box.

Most people screw around with their FX until the cows come home, but I pretty much found a setting and stuck to it. Now I don't even bother touching it, except to turn it on and check levels at soundcheck!