ProAudio Review - February 2009 - (Page 35)

What Is Super Nice? “A clever technique to reduce compression artifacts is the use of multiple compressors cascaded serially,” offers FMR Audio owner/designer Mark McQuilken while explaining the performance of the RNC1773’s “Super Nice” feature. “In this way, none of the individual compressors has to work quite as ‘hard’ as they would if there was only one compressor doing the same amount of gain reduction. “If things are properly adjusted, you can accomplish a good level of signal control without the usual ‘choked’ sound of the typical lone compressor. By the way, this technique works well with almost any type/brand of compressor(s)!” Compressor 1 Compressor 2 than the clean-as-a-whistle RNP8380 (priced at approximately $250 a channel)? I honestly don’t think so. Are there similarly priced stereo compressors and limiters that perform as ubiquitously well as the RNC1773 and RNLA1773 (priced at $199 and $249, respectively)? I’ll have to say no. Thus, I highly recommend the Really Nice Series to the widest variety of audio recordists — from ambitious hobbyists with good ears and small budgets to discerning professionals who buy gear based on performance rather than price, peer pressure, and/or image. You simply can’t go wrong in buying an FMR product. They are really nice, indeed. Fast Facts Output Input Compressor 3 Applications Project to professional recording, live sound, audio for broadcast Key Features Two-channel Class A mic/line preamps with +48V phantom power, polarity invert, Hi-Z front-panel input, and insert per channel (RNP8380); Stereo compressor with Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, and Gain parameters, eight LED Gain Reduction meter, bypass, and “Super Nice” feature (RNC1773); Stereo levelling amp with Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, and Gain parameters, eight LED Gain Reduction meter, bypass, and “Log Rel” feature (RNLA7239); Compressor and levelling amp both feature 5 1/4-inch jacks left and right unbalanced inputs, left and right unbalanced outputs, and a sidechain insert. All three are 1/3-rack-space units. Price $499 (RNP8380), $199 (RNC1773), and $249 (RNLA7239) Contact FMR Audio, Inc. | 512-280-6557 | www.fmraudio.com sure—and you can cripple the high-end frequencies, squish, smear, and soil your transients, and create a completely distorted view of the source material. And it can all be good and bad—sometimes simultaneously, which gets confusing. That’s mainly why I would recommend FMR Audio’s compressor, the RNC1773; it reins in the dynamics and does those other things only if you want it to. Matter of fact, the RNC does everything so “naturally” that it’s hard to screw up a good performance, even with a heavy compression hand. In my own applications, the RNC held cymbal transients tight, but didn’t smother them and even smoothed them a bit—all cleanly and unobtrusively, leaving them sounding nice. And speaking of nice, the Super Nice feature is just that: On the aforementioned drum-kit overhead mics, it reinstituted the transients I first “smeared,” accomplishing a rather aggressive (at least for me) compression scheme with its drum transients right back in front, where they were on the previously uncompressed and unequalized track. Elsewhere—on other acoustic instruments such as guitar and vocal—the Really Nice Compressor behaved similarly. To summate in other words, the RNC1773 works most naturally, and very well, when used for most sonically transparent goals in typical pop music applications. Meanwhile, the RNLA7239 can provide comparatively unnatural, yet attractive sonic compression-based control and character to a wide variety of individual sound sources as well as stereo “room” signals. During my time with the RNLA, I liked it on kick and snare in mixdown, as well as on many electric bass guitar tracks I recorded during that time period and some vocal performances. The RNLA, when used alongside the RNC on drum overheads, it brought some depth, fat, and “glue” to kick and snare tracks, making the overall mix easy and pleasurable to both myself as well as the musicians I was working with during this evaluation period. Summary Is there a better bargain out there in microphone preamplifiers Product Points Good sound; unique features; hard-tobelieve price Not rack-mounted (although Funk Logic rack kits are available for all three models at www.funklogic.com) Score You will likely not find a better “affordable but high-quality” option in preamps and dynamics than the Really Nice Series. www.proaudioreview.com February 2009 | ProAudioReview 35 http://www.fmraudio.com http://www.funklogic.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - February 2009

ProAudio Review - February 2009 Contents From Razor Slice To Mouse Click Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Studio Prioritizing Good Acoustics In Tough Times Digidesign Pro Tools 8 Allen & Heath ZED-R16 Analog Mixing Console Mike Rivers Nevaton MC Series Studio Condenser Microphones FMR Audio Really Nice Series Pre-Amp and Dynamics Modules Mojave Audio MA-201 FET Condenser Microphone Genelec 6010A and 5040A Powered Loudspeaker and Subwoofer Massey Plug-Ins De:Esser Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Live White Space Regulation: What It Means To Us Recording Live Sound Summit Church in Fort Myers, Florida Bag End P-Crystal R Loudspeaker Mark Olson & Gary Louris’ “Turn Your Pretty Name Around”

ProAudio Review - February 2009

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