Hardware compressors around £400

[CS70]

And on a side note: 121dB!! Probably short bursts, but holy cow!

I think there's generally someone like this at most gigs...

Remember that not all of us have your screaming fans...

[Drew Stephenson]

And on a side note: 121dB!! Probably short bursts, but holy cow!

I think there's generally someone like this at most gigs...

Remember that not all of us have your screaming fans...

I think you know that's not what I meant!

[twotoedsloth]

Have you considered the Aphex Easy Rider?

Not too many knobs to mess with, but it really makes some material pop, which I guess is what you're usually trying to avoid if you're using a compressor. That being said, you get four compressors that sound great for not a lot of money.

Best of luck!

[The Elf]

Would anyone be interested if I did some IRs of a few of the RMX16's presets?

Definitely!!!!!

[Arpangel]

And on a side note: 121dB!! Probably short bursts, but holy cow!

I imagine that was measured within a metre... but yes, professional singers can certainly belt it out!

My partner was a trained opera singer, but now a shadow of her former self owing to health issues, I’ve tried to record her many times, it’s OK, but not great in a smallish living room, even with her voice as it is now, I find I have to use compression, or ride the faders, and a score is essential to anticipate the loud bits.
I can’t get her far enough away from the mic's, like you can in a large hall, where it evens out the levels a bit, and yes, 16 bit is fine, I’ve been on opera sessions where we used DAT, and provided it’s a decent sized hall or rehearsal room there were never any issues, and we never used compression.

[CS70]

And on a side note: 121dB!! Probably short bursts, but holy cow!

I imagine that was measured within a metre... but yes, professional singers can certainly belt it out!

My partner was a trained opera singer, but now a shadow of her former self owing to health issues, I’ve tried to record her many times, it’s OK, but not great in a smallish living room, even with her voice as it is now, I find I have to use compression, or ride the faders, and a score is essential to anticipate the loud bits.
I can’t get her far enough away from the mic's, like you can in a large hall, where it evens out the levels a bit, and yes, 16 bit is fine, I’ve been on opera sessions where we used DAT, and provided it’s a decent sized hall or rehearsal room there were never any issues, and we never used compression.

We've been there before, it's always operator mistake. We're all been there, if it's any consolation. Unless she's shouting directly into the microphone like a rockstar, you just need a few cm of distance - enough for a pop filter and a bit of space behind..

If you record into 24 bits, your gain is just set too high. If you record into 16 bits, it's still set too high, but it's the sweet spot band where you have enough gain and keep far from the noise floor is narrower, so it's a little harder to keep the super quiet parts.. super quiet. But in a living room I bet my house vs. a beer that the ambient noise is far higher than the noise floor.

In short: lower the gain, no need of compressor, done. If your preamp has a set minimum gain, change preamp.

(there's other good reasons to use a compressor but when recording digitally, of course, I do it all the time, but controlling dynamics just ain't one)