USE THE SUPER THANKS IF YOU LIKED THIS VIDEO! 👆👆👆 SUCCESSOR: imp.i114863.net/zdJqM RHEA: imp.i114863.net/4eWjzZ NGBUS: imp.i114863.net/yNVB2 FATSO EL7X: imp.i114863.net/jvyEv My Small Monitors: imp.i114863.net/qaPmg My Headphones: imp.i114863.net/2Dzyz
Thank you for the comparison. Man they all sounded great at different times. Prime example how having multiple options is needed depending on the music type.
WOW 😮 That NG compressor made me relive my 90’s youth on that Peakok & Madison track. It sounded like Vinyl . Superb Low End . Appreciate the upload D 🔥🙏🏾
The successor is all about the presence to my ears... it definitely has that "3D" quality that diode bridge compressors bring. I would describe the color as deep and "dispersed". I actually really liked the FATSO best of all - everything sounds so big and "rounded". and the bass sounds exceptional. Never thought of the FATSO on Mixbus, but this might be worth saving up for.
@mixbustv nice comparison! I preferred the RHEA on nearly every genre. Next would be the the NGBUS. This is why it's good to have different options! You never know which will work best on which song. Thanks again!
Excellent shootout. They all had their moment on the mixes. If you love Carnhill transformers, then the NG is a competitive compressor for that vibe. I actually happen to love what they do on the bottom end and without filtering the top in an unflattering way. The feel of the compression on the Wes gear never floated my boat, but that's me. That said they're certainly top shelf. I was surprised by the presence of the Rhea. Tonally not at all subtle, but on the right mixes quite flattering. I could see using it without compression and just use for the lift in presence on a dull mix. The Fatso does something really flattering to the stereo field, quite euphonic, with sometimes a tight bottom, and sometimes with a nice thump factor but not flabby. The Heritage does that diode thing, buttery, slower, and rounder sounding. In my opinion the moral of the story is, and what David alludes to with analog gear, is having different tools for different circumstances is ideal, because no one unit is best for everything. And in my opinion, if you can only have one out of the David's shootout. Even though it wasn't for me, the NG is the way to go. It can go from fully transparent to colored, lots of bells and whistles for mix bus.
I use this shootout to help me decide whether to get the Fatso. I figure a handy “man” doesn’t just have one hammer, screwdriver, etc. because different tool helps in different situations. I have numerous bus compressors (Elysia, WesAudio, Drawmer and RND) however all have different applications. David thanks a lot for this shootout👍🏽
I don't, don't have any more channels nor space available. It's a great comp, more for busses than 2bus, harder than others to recall because pots, great on electric guitars and anything that you want softer and warmer.
I'm pleasantly surprised with the Successor, contrary to my initial expectations. It made a huge difference (perhaps a bit too much, but still) on the the rap song, especially on the vocals - which made it more pleasant. The Rhea was also very interesting. It's a 500 series even! I might get one.
I love your shootouts!...It seems to me with all these boxes, the mix opens up and sounds wider especially with the ngbus and successor..Am I hearing that correctly? even though the successor isnt a 2bus compressor (quite graby like you said), there was just something about it in the gentle settings (maybe the 1073 output) I loved on everythin I loved the rhea's open topend on all the low end heavy materials... the Ngbus was great on everything without the iron...the iron was amazing on some of the demos...its a mystry to me...I couldn't quit place my finger on what it was doing but it was really nice when it worked.... I loved the Fatso!I always have,,, but i agree that its not best suited to the 2bus in general. It brought something coll to the table though
Ng for “cleaner” material and fatso and successor for rock. If I had money for just 1, the fatso is the winner. Sounds really good on every mix. Never thought about working with fatso here. Big surprise!
Thank you for another great video! David, when do you find using Rhea (or Vari Mu in general) more often, as a 2bus compressor or in mastering for main compression? Would Rhea be a good mastering compressor? Thank you.
Thanks David. The Rhea sounds like the compressor I'd pick out of this bunch. Are Vari mu and VCA typically used together? Like say VCA first followed by Vari mu. The Vari Mu adds so much weight, it's such a nice sound compression.
Here I am thinking the same I want to hit some line amps into eq and Dione on the instrument bus and then perhaps an ngbus or rhea on the master bus after.
Thanks! Thank you David. Thanks to you I already have the ngBus comp, Successor, Empress and HA-609A. As a Vari Mu I have the Dictator that has a nice sound, I like it, excepty the fact that you cannot turn down the output if you are hard on the input. The Fatso is tempting.....
I bought rhea after I watched your review long ago 😉. I love that comp so dearly but surprisinglyI didn’t really feel the vibe on hip hop track but other tracks rhea outperformed all. Luckily I also have Dione for that case. Thanks again man. 🤙
Thank you for this David! I have the Dione and RHEA and love them both and I agree on your impressions and use of them. Did you try the Dangerous Compressor? I’m a blessed owner and just hooked up my Hyperion as sidechain EQ for it and wow!! It’s a dream combo. I’m just curies if you had the chance to try it out and what your impressions were?
Great vid again. I was very very impressed with the Rhea and damn it Im that every time I see a video of yours discussing it so at some point I should buy it. Also love the Successor, in fact I used that on 3/4 tracks on my EP on the 2bus; it did great in my genre. Also have Dione and Fatso; both great. Never thought of Fatso on 2bus though but will definitely try that at some point
@mixbustv when you're mixing, do you ever use tape emulation plugins or your Neve 542's at the end of your mix bus chain? In some of your videos, you mention the 542's always come first in your 2-BUS mastering chain. Since they're at the start of the mastering chain, I was wondering if you just skip using the 542's or tape plugins in the mix and just wait until you go to master. Thank you!
Mixing is not mastering. They're sre not interchangeable. Mixing into the 542 is nowhere near the same universe as mastering a finished mix with them. As a mix engineer, you never delegate anything to mastering. There are only very few SMALL things that I allow myself to think ahead if I know the client already booked me for both mix and mastering, and that's only because I've been doing this for 20 years. Mix bus processing is not mastering.
@@mixbustv Hi David. I think you're starting to get quick to jump to thinking many of your subscribers don't know what they're talking about. You should actually probably recognize me by now as I've been following and commenting on your videos since 2017. I'm very aware that mixing and mastering are two separate processes. I think maybe you misunderstood my question? As you know, many mixing engineers put tape on their mix bus during the mixing process. I was wondering if you do this? I was thinking you probably don't since you use the 542's first in your 2-BUS CHAIN that comes before everything in your Flock Audio Patchbay 'Mastering Chain' setup. Thanks again.
@@LesVegasMusic I'm a bit confused. You do know I mix with my 542s most of the time. They are 1st thing in the chain and not on the Flock because they never change position. Saturation on the 2bus likes transients, if I use my HG2, that will also come first. So yes I do mix with tape. I don't always use them for mastering, especially if it's my mix because they are extremely colored and I only use them in mastering if a mix is particularly thin and lacks power. With that said, having a process at one stage doesn't mean you can't also have it in the next stage. Compression, eq, is something you see on a full mix as much as at the mastering stage of that same mix.
@@mixbustv Aah. Yes, this makes sense and I totally understand. Sorry for the confusion. Thank you for your quick replies and for the additional explanation. Since you include your '2BUS OUT' at the top of your Flock Patch mastering chain preset, I was thinking you considered everything in the 2-BUS chain part of your mastering process since it's at the start of your Flock Audio Mastering preset. But I understand it's just there because you go out from the two bus chain into all your other mastering gear. I think was confused too because you put your tape emulation first in your 2-BUS Chain. Many engineers put their mix bus compressor first, and then follow it up with tape on their mix bus. Thanks again!
All were good in their own way! But holy shit both the WesAudio comps are so damn good. Definitely gonna save for those. Should I get the ngBus first or Rhea? Any thoughts?
Analog processing is still the go to for PRO’s for a reason. Whatever you do in life, details are always what set the excellence from mediocrity apart. Music is not different. I’m an amateur artist, and even I understand why pro’s are still swear by analog processing. Matter of fact, I realized that mixing and mastering in the box is not enough anymore. Fun fact: Where I’m from they say “the right tools 🛠️ are what make a craftsman a master! 🤷🏻♂️
@@mixbustv Nice! Would you use the same Fatso for the heavy parallel drum buss compressor? I’m trying to convince Alex Nasla to go in with me on a compressor or two. Right now we have the Stam SSL rack compressor for the 2Bus, and Stam just sent us his new SSL 500 series comp that we were gonna use for Drum Bus.
Anything Josh makes is top notch. I do use the FATSO sometimes for parallel as well yes but it depends on the genre, half the times I really want a nasty parallel for drums and that means, devil loc, loc-ness or my 1976
Fatso and Rhea sound fantastic. You've mentioned in other content that you use the fatso for a bunch of stuff, do you use the Rhea for other thins as well or is it mainly mix bus?
I don't really use Rhea for 2bus, I do use it for mastering at times though. I usually use it ij mixing for vocals or other things. Remember I have a lot so I'm a bit spoiled
Nice! I was really looking forward to hear how you would use the slow electronic song with the Rhea, unfortunately that was missing? I have the Rhea and the DIY GSSL and really like the Rhea on slow, acoustic songs, GSSL on uptempo rock. But the THD colour on the Rhea is also quite seductive on its own, lovely sound over all. The Successor also had a really cool colour and loved the transformer option on the ngBusComp.
The Successor can sound great on a mix bus with super careful use of the Blend knob. Once you have it dialed, it's kind of hard to justify disengaging it once you hear what it's doing to your snare region.
Really surprised that I liked the Fatso the best! Grips and levels the best, and makes everything big and round. I didn't think it would because ELI compression doesn't always sound the best. The Titan also sounded pretty cool.
Right, controversially to others views I like the Successor al lot, but in the context of starting out in analog. If I had a wealth of equipment I’d put it at the bottom of the list. The colour it gives I’d prefer to add slowly over a combination of units, but if I only had a few unit I’d save my colour add until this unit gets used. It would be dangerous to use if you already had lots of colour added elsewhere. It’s very versatile in function but the colour hasn’t much control… so a great choice if you are only starting out with a few items. The weight it adds is lovely but too much if you’ve already got a lot weight and thickness going. So as a first analog compressor I say it’s a great choice. The Fatso is my favourite hands down. That’s really a great unit for adding what analog gives you and you can be subtle or heavy with it, just perfect if you’re looking move over into analog and will give you something to step up everything you work on. The Ng is simply the most versatile SSL style compressor. Much prefer to the actual SSL compressor, it’s another side of analog that’s great other than the thick colour side. The surgical function, making a mix solid, job done… unstoppable duo with the fatso. The last one is just a great tube compressor and definitely not the least. The only issue is the lack of versatility unless you want the tube sound on everything. It’s a bit like the successor where you have to want this sound on everything… unlike the successor it’s not as heavy in its sound signature. I get why you’d never use the successor on the mic bus with everything you have, it’s a mix tool before it’s a mix bud tool… where this one is the other way around. With analog obviously the issue is you can’t buy when you can’t afford to a ton of units to create the perfect Frankenstein setup to just use a tiny bit of each to get that perfect sound so you have to be tactical. Plugins you can spend £30 here or there just to use something for one small bit of its function. So deciding what to start with in analog is one of the hardest dilemmas. Especially when it’s hard to trail a unit in most cases. I personally would go NG and the fatso… but would that be in the budget? In the end of the day, you simply need to be able to be creative with how you use a unit, creative how you mix into it… you might have to adjust some tracks to get it to do what you want it to do. When doing it as a business, you want to cut time down, so obviously, in time, for analog to cut time down for you, you need options. Most importantly is being able to mix in the box perfectly first, if you’re at that level, you’ll make a wise choice that fits your style of mixing quite easily. I’d want all of them and them some, if I was completely honest, the list switches from song to song, hence why it’s something you can’t say is better than one or the other. Lemon might be the secret ingredient in a dish, lemon might ruin a dish in another recipe, you can’t compare a lemon to a lime.
Damn, making me want to get a Fatso again... That Tranny setting is just too good. I sold my UBK version Fatso for the ngBusComp actually and have been super happy with that, but man, that Fatso Glue Tranny sound...
Occasionally chaining a couple together for their different characteristics can be cool. (Interesting, no FET topology in this shootout...) We sometimes follow a Tegeler Gravity in vari mu mode with the ngBus, or for more aggression, an IGS FET Volfram. Dramastic Obsidian is also a SSL beast, which we'll sometimes place after "kissing the needle" first with a Manley vari mu. For 70's style rock, the Successor often wins out, with the mix blend engaged. Thanks for your incredible effort in educating and sharing your skill and knowledge. Grazie
The sound change drastically when the compressor are turned up wow. I like all of them for different kind of material. But it sounds really different than plugins in many ways, his behavior is not linear or ramdon as plugins it have more personality in some way.
man i would be hard pressed picking one, lol but big wes on vocals fatso on bass heritage on drum bus and the lil wes on guitars n synths lol, and for a mixbus the tegeler magni thing and drawmer 1973 , my head is ruined now, im just going to send my mixes to you lol send back a master off each yeh :)
@@mixbustv very right, the squashing is vital it’s where the magic happens and the most important part at the end through the mixbus great ideas get forged, for sure David this year this year, I know your gassing for a neve mbp portico lol the Wes large might be close though as the saturation bump on the bottom was lovely, man those details kill me I know my mixes need it, love the mixbus :)
Here my takes off what I notice of each one of the compresora The ngcompresor give more bottom end and punch to the mix, its very warm but also give more life and emphasis to the Transients. The rhea give more body to the mix and glue, it like a combination of Tube and SSL buss compresor, it also adds more presence in the highs and miss. The fatso is the more bright of them all. Give a nice glue but not as much as the rhea even though it add a more power into the mix thanks to his distortion that add more highs and color to the signal. This compresor is very fast too! The Successor add a lot of character, very colorful on the Mid and lows. In some way it preserve some transients in the compression process, is not very fast but it add a lot of character and warm to the mix. I think I deserve my Heart Mixbuss 😂😂
NgComp with "iron ON" is the bomb in the house, No.1 for sure; second best (first regarding price...) is Succesor. I think if you pick one of these two you can't go wrong.
@@mrknoxonthebeat Experiment, try different takes (on individual tracks or mastering) and hear how it sounds. Less is more is your guiding moto:)) I would try it on vocals first ...
Rhea 4 ever i do hiphop and i just love the lift and shine followed by a nice passive eq and tube saturation like black box or Klanghabitat its UPPPPPPPPPPPPP there buddy (+1 for the Klanghabitat i have one
I have all the Wes compressors, including the NG which I just got last week, it's a beast :) The Rhea can be great on material like film scores and is a good vocal comp too. I really hope Wes does a 'big brother' version of the Rhea. of the others in your demo, the Sucessor sounds pretty cool here...
hi Peter! please how would you compare Dione vs NGbus for mixbus? I am just deciding whether to go 500 route, or it is worth spending for NgBus, for extra features (mainly Iron)
The NG gives the following features compared to the Dione. Switchable transformers (Iron) which you can drive with makeup gain and then pad down passively, it's sounds great and gives real weight and dimension. Also, mid side or dual mono processing, THD knob which allows you precise control of added distortion. Also choice of faster release time and a limiter (infinite) ratio setting. So the NG is super flexible tone beast. If you can afford to go NG, do it. Having said that the Dione is outstanding and I kept it because it's not exactly the same, it feels more snappy to me and is often great on a drum bus... @@MartinArchea
@@peterbondmusic thank you very much for the help Peter! Your comment together with all the previous research I did is steering me to towards NgBuscomp. It seems it is much better fit in terms of flexibility for mixbus. Even if taking into consideration steeper price point, as this is long term investment.
I have the HA609-A Heritage on my mix bus it,s the big brother of the successor I believe?. From what I understand is that they are the same design. All great great compressors but to my ears the successor is open more 3D as the 609. Thanks for your time.
Successor is a clone of the 2254 Neve, the 609 came after that with revisited layout (dual mono) and some extra functions but the original design has more "mojo" so to speak. Very similar tho, both diode bridge. I sold my 609, I think Heritage did well with the Successor (altho mine started acting up now) but a bit less with the 609, I'm getting the Stam 609 now
@@mixbustv i have a manley vari-mu mastering edition. I really love the unit but was impressed by the rhea sound. The rhea is way cheaper so i would have the money for a vca too.
Don't know if anyone realised the same thing as me. My Wes Audio Dione always has 1db too much gain at the output, even without compression and THD, which annoys me quite a bit.
@@mixbustv yea, it makes gain compensation a little harder. I always find gain compensation neither by ear nor peak value is accurate. The most accurate way I found is nul test by making a phase inverted copy and try to get as nul as possible. Do you have a better approach for it? Sometimes auto gain does a better job than human ear.
Always by ear. It doesn't bother me too much because if I engage a comp there's gonna be at least 1db of GR and by leaving the makeup gain at zero that's basically compensated.
@@mixbustv Indeed, for the compressed uncompressed comparison is ok. But I find choosing between different compressors like this video you did, even 0.3db can fool me, especially compare comps with the same topology, like a Dione with SSL comp.
Why annoying? This is why we need more than one unit, this is also why people pay engineers to combine and compile a chain that brings the best out of every song. Buying gear makes one a collector, knowing how to use it, when and how much is the difference.
@@mixbustv you make great content man and these are all fair points. At the start of the video you said people ask which 2 bus and now we know it's all of them. haha BTW thank you for pointing out the difference in the top end of the Wes Audio units. Knowing what to listen for has been my biggest learning curve.
Out of all the eqs to pick? Why would you want SSL eqs? SSL eqs are boring as they can be their transparent. The whole idea of picking hardware is to get some nice different coloration from real eqs.
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.83[1/2] เปิดแคมป์หลอนต้อนรับ 2 ตัวพ่อแห่งวงการผี!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2uPuHYHgwiI/mqdefault.jpg)
USE THE SUPER THANKS IF YOU LIKED THIS VIDEO! 👆👆👆
SUCCESSOR: imp.i114863.net/zdJqM
RHEA: imp.i114863.net/4eWjzZ
NGBUS: imp.i114863.net/yNVB2
FATSO EL7X: imp.i114863.net/jvyEv
My Small Monitors: imp.i114863.net/qaPmg
My Headphones: imp.i114863.net/2Dzyz
Thank you for the comparison. Man they all sounded great at different times. Prime example how having multiple options is needed depending on the music type.
Successor is one of my favs for drum bus. The makeup gain is amazing on that thing. Adds so much.
best selection of compressors thanks! RHEA sounds simple but right.
I have the NG but that Rhea compressor sounds very interesting. My fav of all actually
WOW 😮 That NG compressor made me relive my 90’s youth on that Peakok & Madison track.
It sounded like Vinyl . Superb Low End .
Appreciate the upload D 🔥🙏🏾
The successor is all about the presence to my ears... it definitely has that "3D" quality that diode bridge compressors bring. I would describe the color as deep and "dispersed". I actually really liked the FATSO best of all - everything sounds so big and "rounded". and the bass sounds exceptional. Never thought of the FATSO on Mixbus, but this might be worth saving up for.
@mixbustv nice comparison! I preferred the RHEA on nearly every genre. Next would be the the NGBUS. This is why it's good to have different options! You never know which will work best on which song. Thanks again!
The Successor sounded perfect for the slow song. Like how it boosted low end but made it soft at the same time kind of pillow like.
Excellent shootout. They all had their moment on the mixes. If you love Carnhill transformers, then the NG is a competitive compressor for that vibe. I actually happen to love what they do on the bottom end and without filtering the top in an unflattering way. The feel of the compression on the Wes gear never floated my boat, but that's me. That said they're certainly top shelf. I was surprised by the presence of the Rhea. Tonally not at all subtle, but on the right mixes quite flattering. I could see using it without compression and just use for the lift in presence on a dull mix. The Fatso does something really flattering to the stereo field, quite euphonic, with sometimes a tight bottom, and sometimes with a nice thump factor but not flabby. The Heritage does that diode thing, buttery, slower, and rounder sounding. In my opinion the moral of the story is, and what David alludes to with analog gear, is having different tools for different circumstances is ideal, because no one unit is best for everything. And in my opinion, if you can only have one out of the David's shootout. Even though it wasn't for me, the NG is the way to go. It can go from fully transparent to colored, lots of bells and whistles for mix bus.
I use this shootout to help me decide whether to get the Fatso. I figure a handy “man” doesn’t just have one hammer, screwdriver, etc. because different tool helps in different situations. I have numerous bus compressors (Elysia, WesAudio, Drawmer and RND) however all have different applications. David thanks a lot for this shootout👍🏽
Do you still use your Drawmer 1978? If yes, how does it compare in your experience?
I don't, don't have any more channels nor space available. It's a great comp, more for busses than 2bus, harder than others to recall because pots, great on electric guitars and anything that you want softer and warmer.
Wow. As you went through the samples, all of the gears were amazing and they have their place in your rack.
I'm pleasantly surprised with the Successor, contrary to my initial expectations. It made a huge difference (perhaps a bit too much, but still) on the the rap song, especially on the vocals - which made it more pleasant. The Rhea was also very interesting. It's a 500 series even! I might get one.
I love your shootouts!...It seems to me with all these boxes, the mix opens up and sounds wider especially with the ngbus and successor..Am I hearing that correctly?
even though the successor isnt a 2bus compressor (quite graby like you said), there was just something about it in the gentle settings (maybe the 1073 output) I loved on everythin
I loved the rhea's open topend on all the low end heavy materials...
the Ngbus was great on everything without the iron...the iron was amazing on some of the demos...its a mystry to me...I couldn't quit place my finger on what it was doing but it was really nice when it worked....
I loved the Fatso!I always have,,, but i agree that its not best suited to the 2bus in general. It brought something coll to the table though
Ng for “cleaner” material and fatso and successor for rock. If I had money for just 1, the fatso is the winner. Sounds really good on every mix. Never thought about working with fatso here. Big surprise!
Don't forget the THD and the Iron in the NG, yes it can be very clean but it's got great colors on tap. Fatso is amazing tho
Thank you for another great video!
David, when do you find using Rhea (or Vari Mu in general) more often, as a 2bus compressor or in mastering for main compression?
Would Rhea be a good mastering compressor?
Thank you.
I absolutely love the Successor. It’s colored in an amazing way. I love it on drum bus and even on 2bus.
Ng and Fatso for me, great video!
Thanks David. The Rhea sounds like the compressor I'd pick out of this bunch. Are Vari mu and VCA typically used together? Like say VCA first followed by Vari mu. The Vari Mu adds so much weight, it's such a nice sound compression.
No I wouldn't say that. I don't use multiple hardware compressors often, and definitely not on the 2bus
Here I am thinking the same I want to hit some line amps into eq and Dione on the instrument bus and then perhaps an ngbus or rhea on the master bus after.
very helpful- thanks for taking the time to make this
Thanks! Thank you David. Thanks to you I already have the ngBus comp, Successor, Empress and HA-609A. As a Vari Mu I have the Dictator that has a nice sound, I like it, excepty the fact that you cannot turn down the output if you are hard on the input. The Fatso is tempting.....
Thank you Michel!!
I bought rhea after I watched your review long ago 😉. I love that comp so dearly but surprisinglyI didn’t really feel the vibe on hip hop track but other tracks rhea outperformed all. Luckily I also have Dione for that case. Thanks again man. 🤙
Mannnn great timing!!! I just got the Successor and I’m still learning it. Not sure if I’m going to keep it yet.
I love that slow song with female vocals. Cool vibe, very well done.
Thank you for this David! I have the Dione and RHEA and love them both and I agree on your impressions and use of them. Did you try the Dangerous Compressor? I’m a blessed owner and just hooked up my Hyperion as sidechain EQ for it and wow!! It’s a dream combo. I’m just curies if you had the chance to try it out and what your impressions were?
It's a good comp, too clean for me
They all sound great, but to my ears I really like the Rhea and the Fatso!
Great vid again. I was very very impressed with the Rhea and damn it Im that every time I see a video of yours discussing it so at some point I should buy it. Also love the Successor, in fact I used that on 3/4 tracks on my EP on the 2bus; it did great in my genre. Also have Dione and Fatso; both great. Never thought of Fatso on 2bus though but will definitely try that at some point
Whats the rap song at the beginning, would like to add it to my playlist, sounds incredible!
th-cam.com/video/kQ1MO9GerCY/w-d-xo.html
Mastered by yours truly
🙏🙏🙏
@mixbustv when you're mixing, do you ever use tape emulation plugins or your Neve 542's at the end of your mix bus chain? In some of your videos, you mention the 542's always come first in your 2-BUS mastering chain. Since they're at the start of the mastering chain, I was wondering if you just skip using the 542's or tape plugins in the mix and just wait until you go to master. Thank you!
Mixing is not mastering. They're sre not interchangeable. Mixing into the 542 is nowhere near the same universe as mastering a finished mix with them. As a mix engineer, you never delegate anything to mastering. There are only very few SMALL things that I allow myself to think ahead if I know the client already booked me for both mix and mastering, and that's only because I've been doing this for 20 years. Mix bus processing is not mastering.
@@mixbustv Hi David. I think you're starting to get quick to jump to thinking many of your subscribers don't know what they're talking about. You should actually probably recognize me by now as I've been following and commenting on your videos since 2017. I'm very aware that mixing and mastering are two separate processes. I think maybe you misunderstood my question? As you know, many mixing engineers put tape on their mix bus during the mixing process. I was wondering if you do this? I was thinking you probably don't since you use the 542's first in your 2-BUS CHAIN that comes before everything in your Flock Audio Patchbay 'Mastering Chain' setup. Thanks again.
@@LesVegasMusic I'm a bit confused. You do know I mix with my 542s most of the time. They are 1st thing in the chain and not on the Flock because they never change position. Saturation on the 2bus likes transients, if I use my HG2, that will also come first. So yes I do mix with tape. I don't always use them for mastering, especially if it's my mix because they are extremely colored and I only use them in mastering if a mix is particularly thin and lacks power. With that said, having a process at one stage doesn't mean you can't also have it in the next stage. Compression, eq, is something you see on a full mix as much as at the mastering stage of that same mix.
@@mixbustv Aah. Yes, this makes sense and I totally understand. Sorry for the confusion. Thank you for your quick replies and for the additional explanation. Since you include your '2BUS OUT' at the top of your Flock Patch mastering chain preset, I was thinking you considered everything in the 2-BUS chain part of your mastering process since it's at the start of your Flock Audio Mastering preset. But I understand it's just there because you go out from the two bus chain into all your other mastering gear. I think was confused too because you put your tape emulation first in your 2-BUS Chain. Many engineers put their mix bus compressor first, and then follow it up with tape on their mix bus. Thanks again!
GREAT video with very helpfull information! Thank you!
All were good in their own way! But holy shit both the WesAudio comps are so damn good. Definitely gonna save for those. Should I get the ngBus first or Rhea? Any thoughts?
I have one. Buy it!!!!!
Analog processing is still the go to for PRO’s for a reason.
Whatever you do in life, details are always what set the excellence from mediocrity apart. Music is not different.
I’m an amateur artist, and even I understand why pro’s are still swear by analog processing.
Matter of fact, I realized that mixing and mastering in the box is not enough anymore.
Fun fact:
Where I’m from they say “the right tools 🛠️ are what make a craftsman a master! 🤷🏻♂️
NICE actually the RHEA handled low ends really good, sounded bigger even…could fancy replacing the dione for a change
It does as long as you watch the HPF and your gain staging
Damn that rap song is heavy as fuck!! What song is that?
th-cam.com/video/kQ1MO9GerCY/w-d-xo.html Mastered by yours truly of course
@@mixbustv and killed it!
David... do you have a favorite analog compressor for either drums bus or kick?
Fatso for drum bus, SSL channel eq or dione for kick, both of them light but each drum has a dedicated parallel heavy compression
@@mixbustv Nice! Would you use the same Fatso for the heavy parallel drum buss compressor? I’m trying to convince Alex Nasla to go in with me on a compressor or two. Right now we have the Stam SSL rack compressor for the 2Bus, and Stam just sent us his new SSL 500 series comp that we were gonna use for Drum Bus.
@@mixbustv I'm taking notes🤣🤣
Anything Josh makes is top notch. I do use the FATSO sometimes for parallel as well yes but it depends on the genre, half the times I really want a nasty parallel for drums and that means, devil loc, loc-ness or my 1976
Fatso and Rhea sound fantastic. You've mentioned in other content that you use the fatso for a bunch of stuff, do you use the Rhea for other thins as well or is it mainly mix bus?
I don't really use Rhea for 2bus, I do use it for mastering at times though. I usually use it ij mixing for vocals or other things. Remember I have a lot so I'm a bit spoiled
@@mixbustv good to know, thanks!
Nice! I was really looking forward to hear how you would use the slow electronic song with the Rhea, unfortunately that was missing? I have the Rhea and the DIY GSSL and really like the Rhea on slow, acoustic songs, GSSL on uptempo rock. But the THD colour on the Rhea is also quite seductive on its own, lovely sound over all. The Successor also had a really cool colour and loved the transformer option on the ngBusComp.
Nice collection of compressors! What mic are the rap vocals recorded with on the song at 4:46 ? 🙂
This was recorded with an sm7b going through a heritage audio 73 and than elysia mpressor ✌️
*With the dione on the mixbus* 🤣
Thanks for answering :)
@@DavidAskerMusik thank YOU for showing interest in the song 🤘
Wish the ssl bus+was also in the comparison
The Successor is REALLY colored, wow. Do you ever use it on a mix?
Not really
The Successor can sound great on a mix bus with super careful use of the Blend knob. Once you have it dialed, it's kind of hard to justify disengaging it once you hear what it's doing to your snare region.
I use the Dione and the Shadow Hills Vandergraph on my 2bus.. Rarely use them together more of a choice..
Really surprised that I liked the Fatso the best! Grips and levels the best, and makes everything big and round. I didn't think it would because ELI compression doesn't always sound the best. The Titan also sounded pretty cool.
Maybe a stupid question, but could you use a bus compressor on individual instrument tracks as well or would it not be suited for it?
It depends, yes you can generally speaking
Wes Audio Rhea is a jewel !
Nice one!!!
Going to have to give this a listen on proper speakers to have a better conclusion… will be back 😅
Right, controversially to others views I like the Successor al lot, but in the context of starting out in analog.
If I had a wealth of equipment I’d put it at the bottom of the list.
The colour it gives I’d prefer to add slowly over a combination of units, but if I only had a few unit I’d save my colour add until this unit gets used.
It would be dangerous to use if you already had lots of colour added elsewhere.
It’s very versatile in function but the colour hasn’t much control… so a great choice if you are only starting out with a few items.
The weight it adds is lovely but too much if you’ve already got a lot weight and thickness going.
So as a first analog compressor I say it’s a great choice.
The Fatso is my favourite hands down.
That’s really a great unit for adding what analog gives you and you can be subtle or heavy with it, just perfect if you’re looking move over into analog and will give you something to step up everything you work on.
The Ng is simply the most versatile SSL style compressor.
Much prefer to the actual SSL compressor, it’s another side of analog that’s great other than the thick colour side.
The surgical function, making a mix solid, job done… unstoppable duo with the fatso.
The last one is just a great tube compressor and definitely not the least.
The only issue is the lack of versatility unless you want the tube sound on everything.
It’s a bit like the successor where you have to want this sound on everything… unlike the successor it’s not as heavy in its sound signature.
I get why you’d never use the successor on the mic bus with everything you have, it’s a mix tool before it’s a mix bud tool… where this one is the other way around.
With analog obviously the issue is you can’t buy when you can’t afford to a ton of units to create the perfect Frankenstein setup to just use a tiny bit of each to get that perfect sound so you have to be tactical.
Plugins you can spend £30 here or there just to use something for one small bit of its function.
So deciding what to start with in analog is one of the hardest dilemmas.
Especially when it’s hard to trail a unit in most cases.
I personally would go NG and the fatso… but would that be in the budget?
In the end of the day, you simply need to be able to be creative with how you use a unit, creative how you mix into it… you might have to adjust some tracks to get it to do what you want it to do.
When doing it as a business, you want to cut time down, so obviously, in time, for analog to cut time down for you, you need options.
Most importantly is being able to mix in the box perfectly first, if you’re at that level, you’ll make a wise choice that fits your style of mixing quite easily.
I’d want all of them and them some, if I was completely honest, the list switches from song to song, hence why it’s something you can’t say is better than one or the other.
Lemon might be the secret ingredient in a dish, lemon might ruin a dish in another recipe, you can’t compare a lemon to a lime.
All great but Rhea and Fatso are my fav here!
100% agree!
I have the Rhea due to David's videos. By far my favorite!! TONS of vibe!!!
Super useful video, thanks!
Damn, making me want to get a Fatso again... That Tranny setting is just too good. I sold my UBK version Fatso for the ngBusComp actually and have been super happy with that, but man, that Fatso Glue Tranny sound...
Occasionally chaining a couple together for their different characteristics can be cool. (Interesting, no FET topology in this shootout...) We sometimes follow a Tegeler Gravity in vari mu mode with the ngBus, or for more aggression, an IGS FET Volfram. Dramastic Obsidian is also a SSL beast, which we'll sometimes place after "kissing the needle" first with a Manley vari mu. For 70's style rock, the Successor often wins out, with the mix blend engaged. Thanks for your incredible effort in educating and sharing your skill and knowledge. Grazie
I'm thinking about Dion or Rhea to be paired with Neve Portico 542. What do you think would be the more ideal combo for mixing and mastering?
Mastering Rhea, Mixing Dione
@@mixbustv perfect, thanks!
The sound change drastically when the compressor are turned up wow. I like all of them for different kind of material. But it sounds really different than plugins in many ways, his behavior is not linear or ramdon as plugins it have more personality in some way.
man i would be hard pressed picking one, lol but big wes on vocals fatso on bass heritage on drum bus and the lil wes on guitars n synths lol, and for a mixbus the tegeler magni thing and drawmer 1973 , my head is ruined now, im just going to send my mixes to you lol send back a master off each yeh :)
let me pick for you lol that's why they pay me :D
@@mixbustv very right, the squashing is vital it’s where the magic happens and the most important part at the end through the mixbus great ideas get forged, for sure David this year this year, I know your gassing for a neve mbp portico lol the Wes large might be close though as the saturation bump on the bottom was lovely, man those details kill me I know my mixes need it, love the mixbus :)
Here my takes off what I notice of each one of the compresora
The ngcompresor give more bottom end and punch to the mix, its very warm but also give more life and emphasis to the Transients.
The rhea give more body to the mix and glue, it like a combination of Tube and SSL buss compresor, it also adds more presence in the highs and miss.
The fatso is the more bright of them all. Give a nice glue but not as much as the rhea even though it add a more power into the mix thanks to his distortion that add more highs and color to the signal. This compresor is very fast too!
The Successor add a lot of character, very colorful on the Mid and lows. In some way it preserve some transients in the compression process, is not very fast but it add a lot of character and warm to the mix.
I think I deserve my Heart Mixbuss 😂😂
You do!
NgComp with "iron ON" is the bomb in the house, No.1 for sure; second best (first regarding price...) is Succesor. I think if you pick one of these two you can't go wrong.
I need to learn how to use the iron function on my NGBUS COMP. I never use it because I don't fully understand it.
@@mrknoxonthebeat Experiment, try different takes (on individual tracks or mastering) and hear how it sounds. Less is more is your guiding moto:)) I would try it on vocals first ...
Greaat video David!
Do you rate the Bus+ ?
Rhea 4 ever i do hiphop and i just love the lift and shine followed by a nice passive eq and tube saturation like black box or Klanghabitat its UPPPPPPPPPPPPP there buddy (+1 for the Klanghabitat i have one
Won what?
I have all the Wes compressors, including the NG which I just got last week, it's a beast :) The Rhea can be great on material like film scores and is a good vocal comp too. I really hope Wes does a 'big brother' version of the Rhea. of the others in your demo, the Sucessor sounds pretty cool here...
hi Peter! please how would you compare Dione vs NGbus for mixbus? I am just deciding whether to go 500 route, or it is worth spending for NgBus, for extra features (mainly Iron)
The NG gives the following features compared to the Dione. Switchable transformers (Iron) which you can drive with makeup gain and then pad down passively, it's sounds great and gives real weight and dimension. Also, mid side or dual mono processing, THD knob which allows you precise control of added distortion. Also choice of faster release time and a limiter (infinite) ratio setting. So the NG is super flexible tone beast. If you can afford to go NG, do it. Having said that the Dione is outstanding and I kept it because it's not exactly the same, it feels more snappy to me and is often great on a drum bus... @@MartinArchea
@@peterbondmusic thank you very much for the help Peter! Your comment together with all the previous research I did is steering me to towards NgBuscomp. It seems it is much better fit in terms of flexibility for mixbus. Even if taking into consideration steeper price point, as this is long term investment.
Damn i think i liked the fatso over all!! It was just smooth and brought some more life to everything that went through it
I have the HA609-A Heritage on my mix bus it,s the big brother of the successor I believe?. From what I understand is that they are the same design. All great great compressors but to my ears the successor is open more 3D as the 609. Thanks for your time.
Successor is a clone of the 2254 Neve, the 609 came after that with revisited layout (dual mono) and some extra functions but the original design has more "mojo" so to speak. Very similar tho, both diode bridge. I sold my 609, I think Heritage did well with the Successor (altho mine started acting up now) but a bit less with the 609, I'm getting the Stam 609 now
@@mixbustv Thank you for the info brother! I’m sure the Stam 609 will be great. Always Thank you for you time.🙏
Got the Dione... but sounds like I will need to get his little brother to move in aswel... the rhea really opens it up nicely
Yep, it's really a gem of a compressor
Heritage audio sounds great on the rap song
Amazing video!
It's the rhea for me 👑
Thank you!
I went another route: Elysia xpressor neo qube
Expressor is a cool comp, but a utility one, not a statement piece
Exactly!
@@mixbustv even the neo rack version?
Who is that first song? that's good
th-cam.com/video/kQ1MO9GerCY/w-d-xo.html
Thank you man! Please check out my channel for more... and subscribe if you don't want to miss out on the next releases✊️
Ng is bomb!
Maybe i sell my manley for a rhea and a dione. Any thoughts?
What Manely? Vari-Mu? The Rhea is one of the best comp I've ever heard regardless the price
@@mixbustv i have a manley vari-mu mastering edition. I really love the unit but was impressed by the rhea sound. The rhea is way cheaper so i would have the money for a vca too.
Successor sounds better than I thought it would.
This music...! 🔥🔥🔥
Don't know if anyone realised the same thing as me. My Wes Audio Dione always has 1db too much gain at the output, even without compression and THD, which annoys me quite a bit.
Yes it does, the NG is the same
@@mixbustv yea, it makes gain compensation a little harder. I always find gain compensation neither by ear nor peak value is accurate. The most accurate way I found is nul test by making a phase inverted copy and try to get as nul as possible. Do you have a better approach for it? Sometimes auto gain does a better job than human ear.
Always by ear. It doesn't bother me too much because if I engage a comp there's gonna be at least 1db of GR and by leaving the makeup gain at zero that's basically compensated.
@@mixbustv Indeed, for the compressed uncompressed comparison is ok. But I find choosing between different compressors like this video you did, even 0.3db can fool me, especially compare comps with the same topology, like a Dione with SSL comp.
Rhea is amazing sounding.
Also people are going analog bc having to oversample all your master plugins takes up all your processor lol
26:41 28:27
It's kind of annoying (and interesting) how different units bring out certain elements of the different songs.
Why annoying? This is why we need more than one unit, this is also why people pay engineers to combine and compile a chain that brings the best out of every song. Buying gear makes one a collector, knowing how to use it, when and how much is the difference.
@@mixbustv you make great content man and these are all fair points. At the start of the video you said people ask which 2 bus and now we know it's all of them. haha BTW thank you for pointing out the difference in the top end of the Wes Audio units. Knowing what to listen for has been my biggest learning curve.
for sure! 🙏
Successor
ok.
Out of all the eqs to pick? Why would you want SSL eqs? SSL eqs are boring as they can be their transparent. The whole idea of picking hardware is to get some nice different coloration from real eqs.
❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥💯
👍
Beef cocka mathason. Idk
Oh my God listening to this goofy wannabe rap whatever you wanna call it so annoying I can’t watch the presentation- next
Out of curiosity, how much power does all this gear draw on average? I'm wondering what the electricity bill is every month 😅
Not much to be honest, consoles draw current, outboard not so much