FMR Audio: RNC 1773

It seems like more people are mentioning these cool little compressors lately. They're 1/3 rack space sized jobs that do a better job than a lot of compressors that cost way more. They have the usual front knobs, threshold, attack, release, ratio and output. There's a relay-activating bypass and another button that puts the compressor into "really nice" mode, where the compression is very subtle. It will work on a stereo signal but since there's only one set of controls you can't separate the sides. Basically this guy rocks. It's very fast and nearly undetectible when pulling down transients, but also able to offer smooth program compression. I bought three and I use them on overheads, room mics, guitars and vocals all the time. And they're less than $200! (FMR Audio, 1-800-343-9976)