Alesis micro limiters for 18 euros . . . . .

Just snaffled me two of these puppies for the princely sum of 18 euros each on Da Ebay-type-interweb-thingy. MAn! I'd forgotten how cool they were. Over easy comp-limiters. Strange metering, with led's showing the effective RATIO instead of gain reduction, but makes sense in the field. I really love them! Not like anything else in my armoury, and believe me I've got a few corkers in the esoteric/discrete/sexy/vintage stakes. So forgiving, smooth, and predictable. Seriously folks, at these prices you simply can't go wrong! If you don't like 'em, bin 'em. - Or send 'em to me! I want MORE!

snag yourself a REAL usable bargain before all the Pratts cotton on. There aren't many real BArgains left. Still, that's progress for you . . . . . .

Can't believe I'm so inspired by something so cheap and underated . . .



ANdyP

"Yesterday's junk is today's treasure..."

I bought one of these new when they first came out (late '80s?). I never cared for it much; it seemed pumpy and very noisy to me at the time. When my last band decided to split and we were divvying up our rehearsal PA, I let the drummer take it--along with some Shure Vocalmaster columns and other junk I didn't want.

Opinions, of course, are HIGHLY variable.

hiya NYD - longtime . . . .


maybe my ears are strange, but I ALWAYS cared for these puppies! Cost me LOADSA flak back in the day - "they can't be any good, they're so damn small!" etc . . . .

truth is, they are most useful as a leveling device, not a flavour-enhancer. Used in CONJUNCTION is the key, especially wiv da SSL channel dynamixes . . . .

slightly limited headroom - only +/- 12v - still, no more than my Helioses!

who nose, the novelty might wear off, but I don't think so! I used to have pair 10 years ago. they are just as good as I remember.


each to his/her own, etc etc.


Alll I have to say is, ignore me at yer peril. Seriously, there are so veery few bargains left out there with Ebay etc. Take it from an old hand that these work really well at any price, and at only 18 euros, you can afford to disagree! Just a heads -up for the penniless.


LOve to all!


Andy-the-very-very-busy-P

I like them. Try it as a bass di, or as a master comp...18 euro..Im off to ebay! :grin:
jo

there are a few low end peices that , to me, do a great job of compressing; its just that they rob the tone of a principal track too much. Id have to add hi's or something to get any presence in the mix. that cheap focusrite is that way to me. an LA2 or tubetech CL-1B on a lead track will never dissappoint me.

Are there any mods for them?

I LOVE the Micro Limiter. Absofreakinlutely LOVE them! (I have three).

For those who have one, the next time you track drums, but an extra mic or two out in the room.... anywhere. Then run that signal from the preamp through the ML and turn the input WAY up. It has a fixed threshold and simply increases the gain of the input that feeds the threshold. What you will get is over-the-top compressed, distorted drum sound.

I practically always wind up using a small amount of this signal in all my mixes. It just adds life to the drums and makes them more excited to listen to. Experiment with mic placement in the room to get different 'clarities' of drum sound.

Another trick is similar: If you're mixing drum tracks where the kick and snare sound boring, run them, individually, through an ML slammed as described above and print that to another track. Then, slip the tracks forward so they are in phase with the original source track, and blend them into the mix lightly. Again, this gives life and beef to otherwise weak, uninspiring drums.

This will also work on the overheads and room mics, etc, but use it sparingly. I find that most of the time just doing the kick and snare is all that is needed. Again, BLEND these with the original tracks. The point is only to augment the weakness of the original signals.

I have found NO plug-in that will do anything close to what this thing does. It is absolutely not a 'quality' compressor, but what it can do is like nothing I've experienced anywhere else.

They're cheap and plentiful, and that's not likely to change for awhile, so snag one and try it!

You'll thank me.

:green:

JC

... still looking for a schematic...

but I think alesis schematics are very rare...

http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=12177



anyway, I also really like the ml... it is a special tool for a special purpose..

but I don't like small boxes with wallwart power supplies that doesn't fit into my rack... so sooner or later I'll rack the ml up..

so I'm thinking of what I can improve...??
balanced inputs/outputs with bb drv134/ina134 ics ??
individual control for both channels??
better power supply..
change the tl084 with something better..

what do you think..?

mat

Are these a different animal to the nano compressor?

Can't find an alesis micro limiter on ebay?

[quote author="matthias"]... still looking for a schematic...
but I think alesis schematics are very rare...
[/quote]
Years ago I traced the brother of this box, the microenhancer.
So FWIW:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~chickennerdpig/FILES/Alesis/Al_uEnh_circ.zip
It uses the CEM3381 as well. In case ebay has dried up, who knows, maybe this box can easily be changed into microlimiter. Not unlikely.

Regards,

Peter

Mods mods, did anyone do some on the Alesis Micro Limiter ?

I have some of them upcoming and was wondering
if the stated noisyness could be tackled by swapping the TL084's
for TL074's or that these are not the source of the noise.

Can imagine the thing better left as is (so if I swap, I won't go further than 074's),
But I'm still curious to what others have tried - and enjoyed or regretted :wink:

Cheers,

Peter

[quote author="clintrubber"]Can imagine the thing better left as is (so if I swap, I won't go further than 074's),
But I'm still curious to what others have tried - and enjoyed or regretted[/quote]

Bump - I'm curious too!