FMR Audio Really Nice Compressor 1773

The RNC has typical controls for a compressor which allows a wide sweeping amount of adjustment. I especially like the Super Nice mode--very, very smooth. The meter seems pretty accurate, but there is no output gain meter, so you really need to use your ears to match gain output. Of course there are not very many compressors that do have an output gain meter, so no biggie. Everything is very obvious and exactly where you would think it should be--no surprises if you have ever worked on any other compressor before.

To my ears this compressor does and is exactly what FMR Audio says: transparent. It compresses the signal very effectively with no apparent color. In the super nice mode it is even better. As I said, very smooth. And did I say transparent?

So far so good. I will always keep it in a rack, so the chance of damage is not very high. I read reports of folks taking these compressors on the road with major rock touring acts and never seeing a problem. Like I said, for me, so far so good.

I tried to send them an e-mail that was a random sort of comment and never heard back from them. However, I was not really seeking help, so my experience here is limited at best. I have heard they get behind on answering emails. They are a very small company in Texas--they do all their own manufacturing. These people are pretty busy. But their hearts are in the right place, so I will give FMR Audio a pass on not having fortune 500 customer service.

I play indie rock/ pop, do recording for other bands, as well as my own and do live sound. I use the FMR RNC for recording and live sound. It is awesome. I love that you can squeeze three of these onto a universal rack tray. Three STEREO compressors in one rack unit. Awesome. Plus they are a clean/ transparent sound with no color, which I like. Oh yes, the price is right, too. A less than $200.00 new, they are a very justified purchase. I read the complaints about construction and no XLR jacks,... Whatever. I have owned lots o gear without XLR jacks. I make cables to go from one box to the next, no big deal. Plastic? Well, that is part of the way they keep costs down and still make the stuff in the USA. I am okay with that. It is not as if the compressor in a metal case can be dropped on the ground and still be expected to work, right? Put the unit in a rack and never think about it again. I would buy another one, and in fact I PLAN to buy another one in the very near future. I also own an FMR Audio RNLA--there you can add some color to the compression.

Very easy to use. It has the usual threshold, attack, release, and output gain controls that most compressors have. One cool feature is the "super nice" button which, when activated, removes alot of the breathing you get from other compressors making the RNC somewhat more transparent than when this feature is not engaged.

I primarily use the RNC as a guitar compressor since it doesn't have XLR connectors on the input or output, making it somewhat clumsy to use with my high-end preamps which do.

To my ears this compressor is not as transparent as other good quality compressors I have used, although it is still very nice. For example, when I play my Fender Strat through it, it rolls off the high end to some extent and makes it sound more mid-rangy. In effect, it makes the strat's single coil pickups sound a little bit like humbuckers to my ears. My Demeter Compulator Opto Compressor, on the other hand, retains the strat's high end twangyness more extensively and keeps my strat sounding like a strat even though it compresses the sound quite a bit.

Also the RNC imparts a slight Solid State sound to the signal, much in the same way that a low end preamp would do. I only use high-end microphone preamps including those in the realm of Neve, API, John Hardy, Designs Pacifica, Demeter, as well as Avalon for recording, and each of these preamps are noticeably more transparent than the RNC. I don't record with junk and have spent thousands of dollars to get excellent sound. For this reason, I prefer not to use my RNC with any of these high end pre-amps because the RNC sometimes becomes the weak link in the chain when used with a microphone and an excellent pre. If you use a cheaper pre-amp, then this would not be a concern. I also don't like the fact that the RNC doesn't have XLR connectors.

In sum, the RNC is strictly a $200 compressor, but is a good value for the money. I strongly disagree with the hype that this compressor is a dragon slayer that compares with compressors in the $2000 range. I don't know who started that rumor but I disagree with it completely. In part I bought the RNC specifically because of this hype and was a bit disappointed when it didn't sound like the $2000 compressor that some have suggested.

It's built well. I anticipate no problems.

I opened the RNC up and looked inside. There appears to be no electrolytic capacitors in the signal path which is certainly a credit to good design. The only electrolytics found were in the Power Supply circuit. Electrolytics in the signal path can degrade sound quality in as little as a few years so I'm always happy when a manufacturer eliminates their use to ensure that the unit will deliver quality sound for many years to come.

No opinion

In sum, it's a nice compressor for the money, but I have other compressors I like better. I think it rolls of the high end noticeably, although not to the extent of making the unit sound muddy.

I would not buy it again if stolen, but it's still a keeper and I won't be selling it anytime soon.

You'd have to be retarded to build an outboard compressor for home studios, and not include XLR type connectors on such unit. I hated always using adaptors with my FMR compressor...really, c'mon dude...how much to wire in some XLR's. You get what you pay for in this world, and not having XLR's on my FMR is really a joke on the consumer.

Average sound quality for a compressor. British Joe Meek stuff sounds better to my ears.

The thing is made out of plastic. Another sin when it comes to building studio gear. Even the junkiest Behrenger Chinese junk products are built sturdier than this toy.

Who cares about customer service when the product you bought feels and looks like a toy with NO XLR CONNECTORS!

What a pile of junk! I'm so glad I sold this joke of a compressor. Hey FMR...put XLR connectors on your products! HELLO! MCFLY!!!!

If you can't figure it out, then yikes, I am sorry!

I own some nice mics and mic pre amps. I was ready to spend $2,000 on my first real compressor. I had tried several popular budget comps to little satisfaction. Here's what I recommend. If you are in a home or project studio, get your "mojo" from a nice mic and mic pre and use th RNC to transparently control the signal going into your DAW. No need to blow your wad on an 1176 or LA-2A unless you have clients paying for the name brand wow factor and want those colors. The RNC is a marvel. Smooth and transparent. A touch noisy, maybe just a touch. This is now an essential part of my signal path.

Seems solid. Time will tell.

Almost instant email response to a few tech questions. Wow. Try that with one of the "big" brands!

The RNLA is great too. Adds alot of 'ooomph' to badd and vocals.

Go get the RNC and the RNLA now.

Easy, if you know what a compressor does.

A little noisy if you go up with the output.
It is very transparent.
I have Aphex compellor, and the RNC is transparent as the compellor 320A. But the RNC costs 10 times less.
I put 9 because i cannot put a 10 for a inexpensive compressor, but i use it a lot. I record (professional), and you can not imagine, in how many recordings there are RNCs and RNLAs.

In a pair of months, perfect.

They have information in the web. Manuals...
Very well.

For its price, you could not find something better.

The compressor is very easy to use. The knobs do just what their labels indicate, and the LED display makes it easy to see what is happening. Because the Super Nice mode uses three compressors in series, the controls respond differently, but if you use the LED display as your guide and follow the simple instructions that come with the unit, you will get good results. In the Super Nice mode, the controls seem a bit sensitive and seem to have a delayed response with some program material, but if you remember to use the LED display, you should get good results. The results sound so natural that some reviewers whose messages preceded mine said they could not tell if the compressor was doing anything. I assure you that it is doing something (!), but it is more obvious with some recordings than others. If you like, you can produce a thick sound such that everything is at a fairly constant level, which would be good in the car with road noise, particularly with classical music where the dynamic range is large; of course, under normal conditions, less compression would be preferred. I also like more compression when I am listening while involved in various activities around the house, walking in and out of the room in which the speakers are located, because I can more easily hear everything in the recordings. Interestingly, the compressor seems to increase the loudness of the bass track so that it better matches the rest of the music.

I bought a Really Nice Compressor for use with electric guitar. After a couple of hours experimenting with it, I felt that a few more hours on several occasions would be required before I really had a good feel for how I would use it with electric guitar. (I have been using two Barber Tone Press compressors in series with electric guitar, and I am thrilled with the results.) I decided that before experimenting more with electric guitar, I would try it on my stereo with recorded music. I do most of my listening in the bathroom while I am showering, etc., and I had wondered how I would like additional compression with the music in there. Of course, the shower creates significant background noise, and I wanted to boost the quiet sounds without having the louder notes too loud. I am very pleased with the results. The Super Nice mode works wonderfully in this way. Also, it makes very percussive music more listenable. Piano, as you know, is a very percussive instrument, and I often find that the louder notes in piano recordings seem distorted and louder than I like. The Super Nice mode tames those transients and makes it more enjoyable without squeezing the life out of it.
I look forward to trying it for the sound track when I watch DVDs. I don?t enjoy startlingly loud explosions, etc., and I often wish the voices of people were louder. I suspect I will like compression here very much, and I wouldn?t be surprised if I buy a second unit, so I can use one for my bathroom listening and one in the living room with DVDs. Heck, I might have to buy a third one for electric guitar, but I want to do some more experimenting with it first.

It appears to be well made, but I have not had it very long.

I have not contacted them.

I play a wide variety of music. I like interesting, beautiful music, regardless of the genre. I suspect this compressor would be very valuable when recording, to avoid distortion. I have not tried it in that application, but it does a great job when I am listening to recorded music. I suspect it will be useful for electric guitar too, but I'll have to do more experimenting with it in that capacity.

easy... couldn't get much easier

there are some pieces of kit that you buy that you immediately become instant friends with. This and my groove tubes brick, are just like that.

anybody who thinks this compresor sounds bad is daft! you would need to spend thousands more to get a better one. no joke. this thing can squash things and suck up the room like you wouldn't believe! yet, it hasn't gotten too muddy or artificial sounding. it breathes real easy. i haven't had much use for the Super Nice feature yet though.

seems sturdy enough. no problems so far...

bought it used and haven't had to call anybody yet so can't say.

i plan on buying another if not 3 more. like i said, would have to pay THOUSANDS to get something better. no joke...

my only complaint is it doesn't have balanced inputs and outputs but really when you are dealing with line level signal that's not an issue. i've never heard much of a difference balancing a line level signal unless its to run cable at great distances (25+ feet). All instrument level signals should be balanced, of course, but htat's just because they are much weaker. would you ever not preamplify an instrument or mic signal before going into this? i think not. I just wish it had balanced inputs and outputs because alot of my other gear does and i'd like to keep my cables consistant.

Other than that i wish it did have a way to separate the stereo signals so you can control them separately but maybe they will come out with a model that does for more cash.

If you are even thinking about a DBX, Alesis or Behringer compressor you need to slap yourself and go pick one of these up instead.

Controls are intuitive. Connections are flexible and clearly marked. Not idiot-proof (as I will explain below), but very well designed.

The unit is always in a linked stereo mode where the left channel controls
the VCA for both sides (I'm pretty sure). It would be nice if you could have two independent sides, but for the money, you can buy two and run each in mono.

There is a convenient side chain loop i/o.

For the money, the sound is truly excellent! The RNC gives you a very wide and useful range of sounds, from subtle and heavenly to drastic as hell. The attack & release slopes are very musical.

While it has unbalanced i/o, the signal path is very clean. The gain that can be added is clean and usable.

The RNC has the fastest attack and release times of any hardware compressor I've ever used. This allows you to make very drastic compression effects. With the "Super Nice"
button engaged, it makes the compression very gentle and "transparent" (seems more like a very slow release, softer knee).

One of the reviews below mentions a "problem" with some audio material. This is due to the user not understanding a fundemental principle of compression. With very low frequencies and very fast attack/release settings, the RNC is fast enough to literally compress every cycle of the wave. This is what causes what that reviewer called "aliasing" or artifacts. If your program has very low frequencies, make sure that you increase the attack & release times accordingly. This is normal and good. It shows that the compressor is capable of running rings around your audio.

At one point there were rumblings that FMR would come out with a balanced, independent channel version. But it seems that never happened.

I have had only one problem. Sometimes when I power up, it is in a "crashed" state. All LED's are lit and no signal passes. I simply cycle off then back on again and it's fine. It's done this ever since it was new. Otherwise it works perfectly, and has for years.

I contacted the company about the "crash" problem twice via email. I never got a reply.

It is by far the best value in a hardware compressor there is. Though, without any manufacturer customer support, make sure you either buy through a reliable & helpful retailer with good support, or don't pay too much. With it's small size and very flexible sounds, you can and should take it with you for every recording and live sound gig you have.

standard controls in normal mode a little tricky in Super but fine in the studio

it's racked {2 in a funk logic tray and 1 in a RNC/RNP funk logic tray} I have Drawmer,Avalon,Dbx,Joe Meek,and Neve comps here so i can get a wide range of comp sounds.Thr RNC is the only one that you cant "hear" so it has a special role in our studio. Supernice is amazing even though the controls act a little funny. Try that on your acoustic guitar tracks,{I use a Neumann Km184 to API 512c preamp into the RNC} and it really keeps the feel of the performance while smoothing out the transients just enough to keep your quiet passages above tape hiss and your loud pops out of Digital DistortionLand, whichever format you use. Nice on MS pair for drum room as well, but you need to use 2 because you cant access both channels via the controls. Anything where you want to smooth out your tracking it shines on, but if you're looking to really crush something and make it sound funky you're kinda outta luck. Not really a problem though, as this is not what this is meant for. Acoustic stuff{except upright bass}, vocals, ambient mics, overheads on a quiet kit etc. really sound like what they sound like before you comp them,just a little smoother. Careful with your bass guitars and kick drums 'cause the release times are pretty fast on this guy. Havent tried it on a 2buss except for live recordings linked to the RNP because of the whole unbalanced deal, but we feed 2 KM184's into the RNP, comp them with the RNC to avoid DIgital dist. and mix that in with the board feed at 80/20 board/mics and get a really clear and punchy DAT of live shows in one rack space. First time i used supernice i had to check waveforms to make sure it was really working and it was, so i was able to compress a little harder than usual without any artifacts! Thats SuperCool.

Plastic box but pretty tough, cant vouch for the wall warts though. I have 3 and have used them mostly in racks so no problems yet {2 years} but i would never out one on the floor. We had one on our D.J. live for a while but the knobs kept getting turned and we got tired of resetting them, but it held up in a backpack for 4 months even with a few trips to the floor.

Dealt with the designer, talked for over an hour before my first purchase, great guy. Though one was broken and they overnighted me another at no cost but it turned out it was a bad cable and i felt like an idiot. Sent it back and all was well except for the shipping costs incurred 'cause i didnt check my cables!!!! Bought 2 more after i had the first one a month and ordered the preamp before it was even available because of the good experiences i had with FMR

Just love these things for what they are. easy to use so you can get to the tune, super clean and transparent, does what the tube and optical stuff wont and in the pro audio world it's damn near free! Wish it had a Left Right switch so i could access each channel and had a balanced upgrade or something, but the wall wart does not bother me as much as most people cause its racked. Fine product, AMAZING price, and a whole other flavor for tracking. I dont use them during mixdown though. Thts where you want to add flavor, and if the track is dynamically all over you either messed up the tracking, the player cant play, or you ride the fader in my world. If i was still on a 4-track or something this is the comp to get bang for your buck wise.

Pretty basic to use. I only use it on vocals prior to going to the PA for live shows. Easy to get set up and works great. One issue I have with it is that it supposedly has 2 channels (which are controlled by one set of knobs). Not really true. It has one channel with two inputs. I tried using it with one supposed channel for vocals and one for drums--whenever the kick drum boomed, the vocal level went down. They're not separate channels. Also, the knobs are no longer intuitive when in Super Nice Mode.

I only use the normal setting. I find it easy to use and very transparent. We record most of our live gigs, and the signal is smoothed out nicely, but there is absolutely no coloration or noticeable sound change. This is just what I needed.
I haven't found much success with Super Nice Mode (or whatever they call it), so I stick with the basic operation.

Had about two years and no problems.

Never had to deal with them.

The features are basic, but sound is very transparent. I'm very pleased.