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EXCERPTS FROM CRAIG ANDERTON'S FEBRUARY EQ REVIEW OF THE RNC
Does the world really need another compressor? After all, there are tube compressors, high-end compressors, digitally modeled compressors... and, surprisingly, this latest compressor actually manages to do something that other compressors don't - and for very little bucks.
The RNC1773 has two modes: "Normal" and "Super Nice". Normal mode acts functionally like a standard compressor giving effects that range from "is-this-thing-really-compressing?" to major pumping and breathing. However, even with extreme settings the compression action is well behaved with little or none of the popping and distortion sometimes experienced with other low-cost compressors (especially on bass). With more rational settings, the sound quality and compression action is, in a word, superb.
I tried the RNC1773 on drums, guitar, voice, bass, synth, and program material. For individual instruments, Normal mode seemed most appropriate when you want the instruments to "sound" compressed...
I've never heard any compressor produce something like Super Nice mode, which was definitely the way to go with program material. The effect reminded me of what you get with something like a "loudness maximizing" software plug-in, but with more analog character.
This compressor came as a major surprise to me. It is musical and controlled, without relying on tubes, optoisolators, or other "magic" components. As a result, there's also a clarity often missing with vintage compressors, which sometimes thicken the sound. And at this price you really can't go wrong. If the RNC1773 were a car, it would take corners at 120mph, get 50 miles per gallon, and if you slammed into a wall, it would just bounce off harmlessly.
Bottom line: This box is awesome.
UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS
"I can tell you right now, [the RNC] blows the pants off any compressor I've ever heard for under $2000."
Larry Seyer, Grammy-winning engineer (Asleep At The Wheel, Manhattan Transfer)
"Maintains its sonic integrity, even at extreme compression ratios."
Mick Conley, engineer for Kathy Mattea
"Yeah, what he said."
Kathy Mattea
"The RNCs work great for me on kick drum on crunch setting. They are killer on piano and electric guitar also. In fact, I can't make them sound bad on anything! Unbelievably quiet and very adjustable... the RNC is a real winner!"
Ed Seay, engineer/producer, Martina McBride
"The RNC1773 has accuracy and transparency typical of compressors costing many times as much... I'm still amazed by the price!"
Robert McEntee, guitarist for Dan Fogelberg, Carole King
"The RNC's SuperNice mode is super smooth!"
Bob Power, producer/Grammy award winner for Eryka Badhu
"Really clean compression... we used it on our main audio feed for the last Farm Aid broadcast..."
Malcolm Harper, ReelSound Recording
HEARD AROUND THE NET
There's a pretty amazing RNC buzz on the internet. Just read rec.audio.pro for a few days and you're sure to see the RNC mentioned more than once. A quick search at DejaNews will turn up hundreds of posts singing its praises. Here's a few we found:
| The RNC is one of the best bargains in compressors. I find the sound extremely transparent, and the controls to be quite responsive. I use the Super Nice Mode all the time for vocals. In this mode, the RNC uses three compressors in series, minimizing the artifacts usually associated with relatively heavy compression. If the bypass light weren't on, I would honestly have a difficult time hearing whether the compression was on or not! It's stunning on vocals and pretty much everything else. At just about any price, the quality of the RNC would be good; at less than $200, it's amaaaaaaazing!! Ken Lee, Eleven Shadows |
| The verdict is in... Love it, love it, love it! I've tried it on snare, on kick, on stereo drums, on bass, on drums and bass, on female vocals, and on several stereo pairs of program material (my own crap and Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark," Janet Jackson's "The Velvet Rope" and on Jellyfish's "Belly Button"). Love it. It's horatiously transparent, though it has it's own flava when I want it to. Even at extreme settings (25:1 at -20) it held up very very well. I was able to get some compression artifacts at this extreme with some attack and release settings, but a little finesse and it passed the "torture test" very well. At settings that would be more often encountered and musically useful, I found it to be incredible (is this thing on? etc). Just the volume increase without apparent dynamic change is worth the price of admission. Lyle Caldwell , Psionic Music |
| No audible artifacts that I could hear, except for the unusual clarity and extra punch... In short, it is a really nice compressor. Harvey Gerst, Indian Trail Recording Studio |
| There is a little thing called the RNC. It's about $200, and sounds quite a bit more expensive than that. It can be used in stereo or mono, it is remakabley transparent sounding. I could with all confidence recommend this over units costing 3 and 4 times as much money! Fletcher, Mercenary Audio |
| I picked one up a week or so ago for $180 shipped, which turned out to be an absurdly low price for this unit. It's 1/3 rack space, stereo (not dual mono - one set of controls), and sounds really, really good. The thing I am most impressed with so far is the precision of the controls and metering - one of the two modes is called WYSIWYG, and it's completely true - .2 ms seems to be a true .2 ms (i.e, really fast), etc. In comparison, my Behringer (anyone want a Composer?) and mid level dbx seem like buckets of mush. I've used this compressor on several sources, mostly vocals, kick, and acoustic guitar, and it is remarkably transparent and flexible - it seems that if you have something that can be fixed, enhanced or solved by compression, this box can do it. There's a second mode called "super nice," which is supposed to layer three compressors together, and it works very well for me on vocals and acoustic guitars- really good, very transparent control at much higher gain reduction than other compressors I have used anywhere near the price range. The next 3 or 4 compressors I buy (new, at least) will be RNC's. Jon Best |
| It's hard to give first impressions about the RNC without sounding a little daffy. It arrived last week and I used it right off for a bass track and an acoustic guitar track. Quite nice. Then I stuck it onto an aux feeding a DP4 during tracking so I could play with it on a variety of signals while messing also with effects. Sounded very nice, very flexible, very clean.
Came mixdown time and I'm faced with a client who for legitimate financial reasons is not going to purchase real mastering. So I must do exactly what I tell people not to do: I'm going to do the best I can to deliver mixes that will hold up when they're housed in a CD. I often don't use a comp/lim across the mix bus, preferring to work the dynamics of tracks within a mix. But this time I decided to stereo limit at the master out inserts and I put the RNC there for a trial run to see if it would cut the mustard, using its "Super Nice" mode that is alleged to offer three comp/lims in series, each with their own knee characteristics.. I kept it right there throughout the mix and I'm pressed for words to say enough good things about it without sounding like I've taken too much tea. Some of the stuff being mixed was quite sparse, just a vocal, a couple of soft acoustic guitars and a dobro. Other stuff ranged through sorta-old timey to fairly kickin' "Americana" acoustic stuff, with vox, blues harp, flogged acoustic guitars, bass & drums. The RNC, with appropriate dialing-in to the cut at hand, did a really great job on all of it. I'll say the point here was to manipulate dynamics not for effect but for transparent control. The RNC managed that superbly without breaking a sweat. My take on this little box is two-fold. Firstly, if one is looking for a comp/lim on a budget, perhaps one's first such device, this is, IMHO, the one to get. It has all the appropriate parameters and they cover a broad range of settings so one will get a proper education from using it. On top of that, it's so much the very real item that one will also have an enduring tool in one's kit. Secondly, the RNC is so damn good it could well serve in any setup, even one with all the big guys hanging in the rack. I'm not saying you should toss the Cranesong and replace it with an RNC. I am saying I could own a Cranesong and still want an RNC. I think it's a box to rave about, and not just for the price. Sonically I think it easily competes in the "4-to-6 times its cost" league. As far as I'm concerned, that little box is a really big deal. |