Alesis CLX-440 Compressor/Expander

I could say that it's a compressor, you either know how to use it or not.... however, the Alesis CLX-440 has a few extra features that other compressors don't have and there are some nuances which may take a little time to learn if your coming from using a different compressor. First, theres a "look-ahead" features.... if you play around with this a bit... you'll see that it does actually make a difference... (sometimes, I think for the worse)... and you have to compensate on the settings and deviate from your "usual" preferred settings or it won't do what you want it to.

The CLX-440 also has a continuously variable hard versus soft knee... it's not just a "hard" or "soft" switch like other models have... you can change the value infinately. I also noticed some eccentricities with this feature. I swear that the attack knob no longer functions when set to soft knee.. but the attack knob clearly works when set to hard knee. I have other compressors and I'm damned sure that the effect is not nearly as pronounced with other units.... so if I want to use a long attack.. I have to keep the damned knee knob at medium to hard setting.

Also, the Alesis CLX-440 sports another interesting feature, a continuously variable DETECT knob which lets you vary infinately between RMS and peak... it's not just an either or switch/button as with most other units.

Lastly, the CLX-440 is great value for the money, because your getting essentially 2 units in one... First, it's 4 channels (technically, 2 independant stero-linked channels) or 2 independent channels.

Also, the CLX-440 is a great value because its not only a fully functional compressor with no knobs ommited as on some other compressors..... but its a fully functional expander and noise gate!! 2 seperate units in one! This is not just a simple "expander/gate" as on other compressors which merely has a threshold or ratio know.... Rather, it has the full range of knobs including thresh. ratio from 1:1 to inf:1, attack, release, hold, and knee... (much like the excellent 8 channel presonus unit which also has both).

Having compared my CLX-440 to other top-notch and premium brand studio quality units, my subjective opinion is that teh CLX-440 is very transparent; no coloration. Furthermore, the specifications back this up and are very impressive. Very low noise and distortion specs, and it shows.

A perfect unit????

No. HOWEVER, the only noticeable artifact is on the attack of the noise gate... you get a subtle click... sometimes.... it depends how you have the settings.. The "click" is usually very subtle and much less or a problem than on other units such as the piece of crap dBx 266 that I own. I've seen plenty of premium brand gates that clicked just as much. The compressor has no artifacts that I could perceive, although I don't have "golden ears". There seems to be absolutely no problem when you pump high level signals into the unit, nor have I noticed much pumping or breathing or other problems when you intentionally set the unit to extreme settings. Its very clean in that respect.

I should inform the reader that this is a "digital" unit. That is, it performs an analogue to digital conversion and then back to analogue. You should have been clued into this when I mentioned the "look ahead mode". The look-ahead mode delays the signal by an imperceptible amount (which is easy enough to compensate for if your running a very serious studio where things have to be synched in
time). Some people have complained that if this is a digital unit, then it should have a digital input... which is a fair enough criticism... but hey, it wouldn't be $200 if it had digital inputs. I have not seen one magazine which mentioned any sonic degradation due to the A/D/A conversion... on the contrary.,... Actually, the lack of any distortion is the units strong point... and so any complaints about A/D/A is just making a mountain out of a molehill.

The unit has gotten a glowing review by virtually every audio magazine in the world... and I tend to agree... with the exception of the minor gate clicking on attack and some wierd eccenticities of the unit... I say its a solid unit for the money.

I do feel that the noise floor could be a bit lower... but no worse than other units of higher price... so I'm not giving it a 10 or even a 9... maybe a 9.

Reliability? Does a compressor ever break? I'll let you know if mine breaks anytime soon... I have nothing to say here.

Alesis has had MAJOR< MAJOR, MAJOR issues in the last few years, some of which have been resolved. Many pros who deal with Alesis and have inside contacs have had no problem with service.... but for the poor average scmuck guy who just wants his equipment fixed.... I've heard dozens of "horror stories" (and some good ones) about people who bough Andromedas and Ions and other top notch Alesis products and couldnt get it fixed for months... this is particularly disheartening when the product is broken after a week and you cant get a new unit for months.

I've never had a problem.. but I've seen enough horror stories about Alesis' brutal takeover by Numark or something which led to a decline in customer service. Supposedly it's better now... but its a fact that certain products will not be fixed if broken because many of the old Alesis staff was supposedly fired and so no new "pacthes", fixes or anything will be made for certain products... just the way it is.

I do "industrial" (like electronica and techo) music so I give this unit a run for it's money. I put alot of different signals in this thing at all different frequencies, and it performs flawlessly at all frequencies and levels..... and believe it or not... even though a compressor is SUPPOSED to be frequency independant (unless you side-chain it)... in reality many cheaper units (dbX included) have had issues when you pump low frequency sounds into them whereas artifacts were noticeable.... no problem with the CLX-440.

I'd definately reccommend to others, even though I'm a fanatic for very expensive "premium" gear... I still like this unit for the money. I'd say I'd buy it again also.... although... I kind of like to have different compressors because each one does have a different "sound" and characteristics to it.