Product: Demeter HXC-1
Price Paid: US $999
Submitted
10/12/2003
at
11:54am
by
Vinnie Zummo
Email: vazmusic at aol<dot>com
Ease of Use
:
8
This mono compressor is very straight ahead in terms of operation and I had it making musical noises within minutes of turning it on. The front panel, from left to right, has a set of buttons offering the following: input with a choice of normal or -10db pad, a compression choice of normal or high frequency, (Sweet touch!!) Next are attack, release and compression knobs. To the right there is a link out/link in button (For linking more than one HXC unit), a button for meter operation offering normal or a -10db pad, an output or input button, an out/in button, and a volume knob. The thin manual gives you the basics and overall unit is pretty easy to use.
Vinnie Zummo
Sound Quality
:
10
It has a great Opto Compression sound that's definitely on the LA 2A tip but without the high LA 2A price tag. It also has it's own unique compression sound. very transparent. I ran some drum loops through it and the loops really came to life. It had the snare really popping & the kick punching so I could feel it in my chest. Even better when I ran the kick & snare through it individualy. Sounding great on electric bass, guitars, vocals, and the previously mentioned drum loops, the HXC seems to be a versatile compressor that manages to straddle the line between being an emulation of a retro opto-compressor style while still capable of providing modern transparent compression. Quite frankly, I was pretty much unable to get a bad sound out of this box. I've been discovering all kinds of nuances in various sounds that I did not know were there. Linking two of them would probably sound great for mastering stereo mixes. You plug it in, and it sounds great. What a concept!
Reliability
:
No Opinion
So far I have been using it in my studio for tracking and it's been reliable though I have not had it very long. The other Demeter stuff has beeen very reliable so I imagine this unit will be as well.
Customer Support
:
10
I have always found the Demeter people to be very supportive and it's clear they are really gear heads who are into their products.
Overall Rating
:
9
I use this unit for tracking guitars, keyboards,vocals and in making drum loops. Since I program drum loops for my line of sample cds it is an invaluable tool. When making loops, you never have enough compressors. Having that LA 2 A tip handy with a more transparent edge really gives me more colors to work with. Definitely a major part of my processing arsenal from now on.
