FMR Audio Really Nice Compressor 1773

similar to other compressors, easy to use.

it is a no thrills compressor. sound decent at a certain setting, not really versatile because it sucks at other settings. i dont know what the fuss is about. sold it to some kids for $120 and bought a nano comp new for $49 at guitar center and very happy. better and much cheaper

didn't keep it for long

never dealt with them

i play a LP thru a marshall 9000 preamp and a crate tube power amp. i got this one to do PC recording. i got it at a pawn shop before i even read the hype about it on the newgroups. it's just an average compressor. i sold it and made an easy 50 bucks. in my opinion it's not the best bang for the bucks. the RNC is advertised for $175 new. i'll never buy one at that price. it buy it again if i found one at pawn shop for cheap so that i can sell it to some snobs.

As easy or difficult as any other real comressor.....all of the same controls, etc. If you don't know how to use a compressor take some time to learn or you'll never be able to apply it effectively.

Very clean and transparent. It is not big and fat, it is not thin and noisy. The tone you put in is what comes out, only smoother or more squashed, depending on how you use it.

I use it for recording and use it on every sound source. The SuperNice mode is really smooth. I like to use it subtley most of the time but it can do the squash thing, and without the loss of much high end, unlike most compressors.

As for the two people who heard the digital aliasing, yeah, I experienced that. Only it has nothing to do with "digital". This unit is all analog and is controlled digitally....make no mistake though, the signal path IS analog. The "aliasing" is due to the settings you had. Altering the release will eliminate that. That's what you're hearing, the compressor grabbing and releasing the sound, basically just working. It is intermittanly grabbing and relasing the "compressing) the signal because the release is set to short. Set the release longer and it will hang on to the notes, thereby eliminating the "aliasing" you heard. This is what happens with compressors, others do it too. Apparently you have never used a real compressor before, just pedals/toys or something.

Overall this units sounds fantastic. It is definitely a 10 on the soundometer.

I have two that have been used for 3 yeas and never had a single problem. However, it doesn't move much.

This is where the last reviewer is dead wrong. Mark McQuilken not only answered my questions directly, he spent time to explain the operation of compressors (not just his own). He carse about his customers and his product and is passionate about what he does.

I learned a few things from about the finer aspects of using a compressor from him.

We need more companies like FMR here in the USA. It just goes to show that American companies CAN compete, and beat, companies that manufacture their gear in other countries, not only in performance, but in price too.

Great sound, great price, great customer service, USA company..... this is a no brainer.
A definite 10 in the satisfaction category.
It may be the best performance to price winner in pro or semi-pro audio today.

it's simple and straight foward A+

low frequencies mess it up --digital aliasing bigtime. It's a digitally controlled DBX VCS chip in this same as the Alesis 3630 I think, sounds great on many things but beware of that digital crap that shows up now & then. It would stutter and choke on lower frequency material.

no idea I didn't like the sound had to return it.

not responsive...weeks without a response. Then gave me the run-a-round -- avoid them.

can sound good or like crap, it depends on the material you're putting through it, so that really scares me and it messes up many things. I chose to run from it --who knows when those digital artifacts may mess something up-- and very poor customer service.

This compressor is a no brainer. The sound is pristine & the knobs all do something. 1/3 rack space so it's small enough to mount on a pedal board. I was told by the designer that Eric Johnson uses one with his studio rig. I can believe it after having one myself for a while.

I go into the RNC 1773 & then straight to my amp. This unit is an analog audio path thats digitally manipulated. I use the output knob as a gain control to drive my amp. It's got plenty of output level.

I haven't had any problems so far & I've had it for 2 years. You might order a spare power adapter just in case you misplace one.

The people at RNC always answer the phone & know their sh*t in & out.

If I had the money, I'd have a rack of these...

If you know ANYTHING at all about compression you will get a good sound as soon as you power it up for the first time. This is truly a foolproof device. The manual is pretty spartan, but to be honest unless you know nothing about compression you will probably never use it. As some other reviewers have mentioned, the action of the controls is very very smooth and even and never involves guesswork like a lot of cheap compressors do.

"What guitars and amp setup"? This one always gives me a laugh when those killer-tone-obsessed guitarists list like 3 paragraphs about their stupid amps and distortion pedals and how the new famous "vintage" model reissue does not sound anything like the original 1976 model.

Anyway my own setup is a synth/sampler/computer deal and I am using the RNCs on almost everything. The RNC is very smooth and well-mannered, with very little artifacts even at high ratios (unlike my paperweight dbx 1066) and does EXACTLY what you want it to do and does it well. Since that's usually your goal, it's safe to say the RNC is a winner. The Supernice mode is fantastic, and very useful for stereo bus compression, but since the RNC is not balanced (%^*&$$%!) it really limits its applications in this area. BUT how can I complain? This thing costs less than peanuts. It is a stunning value, and easily the best value in pro audio IMO. I should emphasize the pro part because the sound of this compressor is absolutely professional in every respect and completely suitable for professional work, unlike ANY other compressor less than about a thousand dollars, period.

I will take one point off for a noise floor around -88db just because I feel like I need to take a point off (I can't give anything a 10 sorry, Mr. McQ).

I don't know about this one. The bottom of the case seems to be made of aluminum but the sides and top are made of plastic. If you dropped it I'm sure it would be ok, and it's nice to have something so compact that you can throw in a backpack or something, but if you need to do live sound I 'd probably recommend one of those rackmount cases that Mercenary sells (the RN-Chevy things) that hold 2 RNCs. It's a very small firm and I think the owner assembles them himself so I'm sure that the box is reliable, knock on wood.

Have not dealt with the man personally but I see him on r.a.p. all the time and everyone else seems to have positive things to say about him.

This compressor is outstanding for anything where you don't need a balanced connection, period. Any style of music at all. If I lived anywhere near the guy who makes these things, I would pester him every day to make a 1 rackspace balanced +4 version with an internal power supply (yes it uses a wall-wart unfortunately for all mankind) with a brushed aluminum case. I would pay $1000 for it. If the RNC were stolen or lost, I would be annoyed for a little while, but would quickly order a replacement. Get this now. Take it in to the worthless asshole working in the "pro" audio dept of your local music store who keeps trying to sell you a dbx, and has never heard of the RNC. Tell him that the RNC blows the piss out of anything he has heard, give him a demo, and then tell him you will never buy anything from him or his store ever again! Well regardless, it's very refreshing to buy a product that lives up to the hype the RNC has gotten on the net though it seems like only net-savvy engineers/musicians/hobbyists have actually even heard this hype! Well I think the RNC is better than sliced bread (it goes stale a lot faster than unsliced) and you should get one now if you are reading this!

Well, it's a compressor with standard compressor controls...as long you used compressors or know how to it's very simple.

I've worked with Hi-End stuff and when it came to spend my own money the RNC was my first choice. It's clen, behaves as you would expect and sounds as you have paid it 5 times more.
The supernice mode is something different, could be the answere to your needs, cantrols in this mode bahave a litle different, so you need to experiment.
You have to play with it to get a nice setiing, which to me is a very positivce thing, It's gonna help you build up you hearing skills.

still works, so it's a 10

I wonder if any other manufacturer customers support cals you by name...

Get at least 2 of this boxes...

Quite easy to use as compressors go. Controls include: Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, and Gain, along with two buttons: Bypass & Normal/Super Nice Mode. Also includes a meter to indicate gain reduction. SuperNice mode is a bit deceiving since the controls don't exactly correspond or react like you'd expect them to (this is probably related to the fact that SuperNice mode is designed to make it near impossible to get a bad sound :O)

Mine is very quiet and sounds simply great. In SuperNice mode it's very subtle compression; it's nearly impossible to get it to pump & breathe. In Normal mode it also sounds very good; smooth & clean. Mine is VERY quiet.

I've been using it for nearly 2 years with no problems. I've used it both in my home studio and in my live PA rig to add some mild compression to the entire mix. It is built very well but is in a plastic case so you can't really toss it around and I wouldn't recommend using it outside a rack.

Mark has always responded to my questions promptly. When I first got the RNC I emailed him because I thought my SuperNice mode wasn't working (as I mentioned above the controls don't react like you'd expect them too so my meters would never even light up unless I cranked the Threshold down to -30 dB). Mark called me back 15 minutes later and set up a time that he could call me at home and run through some tests. He ended spending 30 minutes on the phone with me running through various tests and explaining how SuperNice mode works. Now that's customer service.

The RNC is the best compressor you can buy for the price. Is it as good as a $2000 tube compressor? No but you're talking about an entirely different realm here. The RNC is great for both PA and recording set-ups. I've used in a variety of rolls (as a limiter for digital recording, to compress a final mix, to compress a single PA channel, to add mild compression to an entire live mix, etc.) and it's worked flawlessly for everything I've tried.

Pretty straight foward.

It can sound VERY digital, aliasing almost sounding like a ring mod effect on low tones: bass and really destroys sinusoidal waves... and this was at ANY setting. be careful.

? returned mine because I thought it may be defective.

returned it to get it replaced...waited over 30 days, finally just asked for my money back, they never even said if my unit was defective or not...? From talking to them initially about the problem I got the feeling these were "normal" artifacts (for the RNC) it was producing and NOT defective.... who knows? at least I finally got my $ back less shipping.

I bought it based on other people raving about... yeah, yeah, don't believe the hype! I dunno maybe it sounds fine for pop musik..like a car stereo does.

Super easy. Impossible to get a bad sound out of this. It even provides two modes: Regular and Super Nice. Regular has more flexibility of control, Super Nice is pretty hands off and almost does all the work for you.

This thing is VERY transparent for its price. It doesn't have the "sound" of say a LA-2A, but that's not the point of this box. I've used this on nearly everything, from bass to vocals; from serious compression to just limiting. I've had engineers with lots of experience in big studios be really impressed with this product's sound, especially for the price.

Never had a problem. Never failed me once.

Absolutely the best. I broke one of the knobs by dropping it. I sent it back and they fixed and retested it for free!!! I only had to pay for shipping. And they're really, really nice.

Also, when I ordered the product through them, I needed it for a project I was doing. At the time there was a three week turnaround on the item, but they speeded that up and sent me one within a few days. All for no charge. Very cool!

I can't say enough about this product. It really is what people have said it is. Possibly the best bang for your buck in the entire industry. I don't know how the guy stays in business!?!?!

As compressors go this unit is about as easy to use as they come. Manual is small, but helpful. It gets to the point.

Setup is a cinch.. just follow the manual if you can't figure it out.. It's dead simple. Everyone recording should own at least one of these. Do a search on Deja news for this box, and you will see just how many nuts out there concur. I could b*tch about the wall wart, and unbalanced ins, but this box does what others struggle with that cost far more. It offers great dynamic control without coloration, or artifacts, and you have to strain to hear it working.. Exactly what a good compressor should be!

I racked mine and it stays there, but it takes my steady abuse, and holds up well.

Never had a problem. But I see the owner on rec.audio.pro from time to time. He seems to be a very cool guy.

Let's see... it's only 200 bux. and works and sounds great... Go buy it!!!