TC Electronic C 300

Very easy. The hardest thing about using compressors is getting your attack and release times right. In a live PA situation this is time consuming. There are presets for everything and if you don't like the allocated one spin the dial until you find what you like. eq. Female vox may sound better on a male vox or whatever. There is also a gate switch that transforms the unit into a gate with presets.

For the price they are very good. They are not a DBX 160x/a. Better tham DBX 166/266 and in my opinion 1066 as well. It is a digital unit with analogue controls but sounds far better than any digital desk I have used. (Under US30K)

So far so good and they have been on the road for a while.

Just buy one and try it. I now have four which gives me 8 channels of quality comp or gating. They are a bit like the FMR (I own two) in the "why is this thing so cheap" catagory

Its a compressor, simple enough. The only thing different about it are the frequency dependent presents that you switch depending on what your using it on. Very straight forward and easy to use.

I use this working in live sound and its a great sounding budget compressor. Sounds like it should cost more. The presets and desser's alone are worth the money. Although the de-essers are at fixed frequencies (4 and 6k I believe), they still can do wonders.

Example: I used to do this cover band where the lead singer was a female with a very warm, powerful voice that extends to many ranges. Occasionally the keyboard player would sing on her mic which used to drive me nuts, because his voice is high pitched, kind of harsh and whiny. I'd be hacking the eq strip every time he used the mic and switching it back when she got back on. Once I got the C300, all I did was switch to De-esser 1, and BAM!! All the harshness gone, didn't have to touch the eq, and the first time that happened was when I realized how cool this little budget comp really is. I love a compressor that does my work for me ;)

And the gate on it is more usable and sounds better than any other gate that comes w/ a comp, though you have to choose whether you want a gate or a comp for each channel of the unit. As opposed to others that you can use at the same time. This doesn't really matter to me, I just use this for the comps anyway.

Never had any problems with anything from TC.

I've emailed them a few questions regarding certain things and they always respond in a very timely and friendly matter. Never had to deal w/ any repairs with them.

Seriously, this comp kicks ass. If your considering something along the lines of a DBX 266, 166, or even 1066, take this one into consideration. Actually its way better than the 266 or 166, and definitely holds its own to the 1066, for about 150 bucks less. The frequency dependent presets are work great, and its got a basic layout and everything is easy to see and use. It'll work quite well on any application. I also like how they are very shallow and lightweight, easy to carry around if they don't live in a rack.

I own two of them that replaced my 266xl's and I never looked back. I also own a dbx 1066 that I'm keeping just to have at least one quality analog comp in the rack but if I had to choose I'd keep the C300's for their versatility. I take at least one with me anytime I do other gigs besides my house club gig. Can't say enough good things about this compressor. And for more rave reviews, check this out.

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/15845/18010/